Polish Chocolate in the Newcastle

I love all chocolate, especially Polish chocolate and especially the famous Nestle Princessa bar (which is much like the Nestle Kit Kat).I usually find one of these in the bottom of my stocking at Christmas as they’re truly my favourite.  I recently heard for a friend that you can buy Polish chocolate in the Grainger Market (though have never seen it sold there myself). Meantime, if you are looking to source a good Polish chocolate bar in the North East try our local Polish shops, Małgosia’s and Groszek for example; they seem to have a good supply of Princessa: Polish Shops in the North East Link

And for those interested in learning how to appreciate a little Polish chocolate, I recommend this very enthusiast little You Tube exert: You Tube Polish Chocolate Sketch

Polish Restaurants in the North East of England

Here are names, addresses and opening hours of Polish restaurants / takeaways in the North East of England. Sadly I’ve only found two listings, so please feel free to email me with details of other Polish restaurants / takeaways in the region. This information has been requested by several people eager to try Polish food in the North East.


The Gospoda
Upper Level,
Princess Square,
Newcastle upon Tyne.
NE1 8ER
Tel: 0191 261 0197

Opening Hours: 7 days a week, Mon - Thurs 12 noon - (last orders taken) 9.00pm, Fri - Sat 12 noon - (last orders taken) 10.00pm and Sun 12 noon - (last orders taken) 7.00pm


Website: http://thegospoda.com

Serving a range of traditional Polish dishes including pancakes, soups, Polish sausages, bigos, goulash and sauerkraut salad. A range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available, including teas, coffees and homemade cakes and pastries. Vegetarian options available.

Pierogi Place
34 Pilgrim Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne.
NE1 6SE
Tel: 0191 232 3332

Opening Hours: 7 days a week, Mon - Thurs 7.30am - 9.30pm, Fri 7.30am - 11.00pm, Sat 10.30am - 11.00am and Sun 11.30am - 7.00pm

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pierogiplace
Website: http://pierogiplace.co.uk/

Serving eat-in or take-out Polish inspired foods, such as bigos Hunter’s stew and pierogi dumplings with a choice of sweet and savoury fillings. Also serves Faitrade coffee. Vegetarian options available.

Please do support local business here in the North East of England. Here's a link to my blog about Polish shops in this region: http://polishfamiliesnewcastle.blogspot.com/2010/11/polish-shops-in-north-east-of-england.html

Gołąbki: Made in Newcastle

This week we’ve been cooking up some Polish treats at home, making ‘gołąbki’- Polish cabbage parcels. British cooking generally places cabbage as a lowly side dish boiled up or steamed and left to go cold on the side of the plate, but something I really like about Polish cooking is that cabbage gets the status of main feature.
So when a cabbage came in our vegbox delivery this week, my partner (the resident cook) turned to ‘The Polish Kitchen’ by Mary Pinińska, for some trusty ideas. Here’s our variation on her recipe for gołąbki and some photos of the resulting ‘little pigeons’ made by us here in Newcastle.

Ingredients:
1 large Savoy cabbage
175 grams of long-grain rice
2 large brown onions (chopped)
450 grams of flat mushrooms (diced)
85 grams of butter
1 litre of tomato juice
25 grams of flour
½ litre of vegetable stock
And we added: a pinch of cinnamon and two handfuls of sultanas.

Method:
Select some nice juicy cabbage leaves, boil for a minute, set aside. Meanwhile boil the rice until tender and set aside. Fry the onions in butter, add the diced mushrooms and fry, then mix with the rice. Season to taste and add a pinch of cinnamon. Add two handfuls of sultanas (removing any stalks).
Place a spoonful of the rice mixture in each cabbage leaf and wrap. Fold the ends of the leaf under like a parcel.
Grease a roasting tin and preheat the oven to 200oc. Place the parcels neatly in the tin and pour over the tomato juice and stock.
Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes. Cabbage parcels should go slightly brown (ours were a little too over-baked!) Add the flour and remaining butter to the juices to make a tasty accompanying sauce.


We served with extra vegatables - here's a photo of the outcome:

Smacznego!

Polish Shops in the North East of England

Here are names, addresses and opening hours of Polish shops in the North East of England:

Groszek: Polskie Delikatesy
85 Clayton Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 5PY

Opening Hours: 7 days a week, Mon - Sat 9.30am - 6.30pm, and Sun 11am- 4pm

Małgosia’s Shop: Polish, Czech and Lithuanian Food
Unit 23,
Newgate Shopping Centre,
Newcastle,
NE15RE

Opening Hours: Open 5 days a week, Mon - Wed 10am - 4pm, and Fri - Sat 10am - 5.30pm

Polskie Smakołyki: Polish Delicious
199 High Street,
Town Centre
Sunderland,
SR1 1UB

Opening Hours: Open 7 days a week, Mon - Sat 10am - 8pm, and Sun 12noon - 8pm

European Foods: Polski Mini Supermarket
7 Borough Road,
Middlesborough,
TS1 4AA

Opening Hours: Open 7 days a week, Mon - Fri 10am - 6.30pm, Sat 9am - 5pm, and Sun 11am - 4pm
(No picture available as yet)

**** Newly added material with thanks to Irena, Tadek and Olga! ****

European Foods
67 Middle Street,
Consett,
County Durham

Opening Hours: Open 7 days a week, Mon, Tues, Thurs 10am - 7pm, Wed 10am - 6pm, Fri 9am -7pm, Sat 9am - 6pm, Sun 12noon - 4pm
(No picture available as yet)

And, not forgetting our neighbouring Poles in the North East of England, here's details of a shop I came across in Cumbria:

Krakow Polish Shop
4A,
Corney Square,
Penrith,
CA11 7PX

Opening Hours: Open 6 days a week, Mon - Thurs 12noon - 7pm, Fri 12noon - 8pm, and Sat 11am - 6pm

For a more comprehensive list of Polish Shops in the UK follow this link:

http://www.uksimple.info/UKInfo/Links/PolishShopsintheUK/tabid/414/language/cs-CZ/Default.aspx?udt_1311_param_page=9&udt_1311_param_search

To find out more about Cumbria's thriving Polish community visit: http://www.cumbria.pl

British Children’s Television Programme Explores Polish Family Cuisine

Yesterday, Monday June 28^th 2010, on the CBeebies channel an episode of the educational children’s programme ‘Same Smile’ took a trip to a Polish shop in Glasgow and then home to make dumplings with the Polish mum!

Brytyjski telewizyjny program dla dzieci o tradycyjnej polskiej kuchni.

You’ll be able to watch this episode of Same Smile (available for ten days from now) entitled ‘My favourite food’ by downloading it on BBC iPlayer. Here’s the link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/cbeebies/episode/b00srhh5/Same_Smile_My_Favourite_Food/k

(Photo above: 'Polish Taste' -a Polish shop and delicatessen in Glasgow)