Six springtime vegetables you must try while they are in season in Poland

After months of winter root vegetables and frozen or canned veggies, spring in Poland welcomes us with the first fresh local treasures. In Polish, they have a unique name – ‘nowalijki’ – bringing something new. Don’t miss them! Some vegetables come and go quickly, so make the most of them while they last.  

Sorrel (szczaw) – green leaves triumphantly announce the end of winter in Poland

Sorrel is a leafy, edible green plant (similar to spinach) with a characteristic acid lemon flavor. In Poland, it can be found in grassland or on a woodland edge, and it’s also cultivated as a garden herb. Sorrel is in season in Poland from late spring until mid-summer (usually May – June). As sorrel is incredibly sour, it shouldn’t be eaten in large quantities. You can use it fresh in salads. But of course, Polish cuisine is all about soups, so… voila – the traditional way in Poland is to cook a sorrel soup (zupa szczawiowa)!

Fresh vegetables are now available in Poland throughout the year. However, before 1989, only local vegetables were available during communism. This meant that until the end of April, only root vegetables and preserves were eaten in Poland. No tomato, no fresh salad. Can you imagine our enthusiasm at the sight of fresh sorrel green leaves!?

You will find hundreds of recipes for sorrel soup on Google. It’s made of broth or water and sorrel leaves. It is usually served in Poland with sour cream, egg, and potatoes.

Kohlrabi/cabbage turnip (kalarepa or kalarepka) – a super-healthy snack in Poland

You’ve probably spotted light green kohlrabi bulbs at the markets in Poland. Although it’s available throughout the year, the best one – crunchy, aromatic, delicate – is sold in Poland in late spring and summer. This super-healthy, low-calorie vegetable has a taste and texture between radish and cabbage.

The easiest way, and very popular in Poland, is to eat raw kohlrabi as a snack (it’s necessary to peel off the skin first). It is worth using the leaves of young kohlrabi, a valuable part of the plant; you can add them to juices or salads. In Poland, kohlrabi is also used as an addition to soups. When buying kohlrabi, pay attention to the leaves – they should be fresh and their color intense. The best bulbs are the smallest ones, firm, with a “healthy, vibrant” color.

Rhubarb (rabarbar) – for many Poles, a memory of their childhood

The rhubarb season in Poland begins in late April. Although the plant grows throughout the spring and summer, it’s recommended to buy it by mid-June. Rhubarb (actually a vegetable) is one of the first plants to grow in the open air (not in the greenhouses or plastic tunnels) in late spring and early summer in Poland (before strawberries!).

Rhubarb is known for its sour taste (rarely eaten raw) and is usually cooked with sugar (only thick stalks, not leaves). Rhubarb bun with crumble (drożdżówka z rabarbarem), pies, tarts, are very popular in Poland early summer. Rhubarb drink / kompot rabarbarowy (peel some of the skin, cut, add water and sugar, and boil; serve chilled) was the number one summer drink for every Polish kid back in the times when sodas and juices were not popular or available in Poland.

Cress (rzeżucha) – a symbol of Easter in Poland

You may notice small bags with cress seeds in Polish stores before Easter. It’s a fast-growing (kids will love to observe it growing – you can see it even the next day!), edible, and very healthy herb. It’s a tradition in Poland to grow cress for Easter – not only to eat it but also for decorative purposes. You can grow cress indoors in a shallow container, plastic food tray, or plate. Line it with a wet kitchen towel, sprinkle seeds, and water a bit every day. Cut leaves with scissors.

Click here to read our post about Easter food and Easter traditions in Poland.

Botwina beetroot – the base for the queen of spring soups in Poland

Botwina beetroot – young beet leaves, stems, and roots uprooted in early spring. They make a delicious soup with a graceful name botwinka. Young beet leaves are also used to add to salads and vegetable cocktails. Because of its richness in many vitamins and minerals, botwina beetroot is recommended as part of a vegetarian diet. When you notice the botwina beetroot at the market stall – there is no doubt that spring has come to Poland for good!

Botwinka is the queen of spring soups in Poland. There are many different recipes for this soup. The basic one is very easy to prepare – boil chopped botwina, carrots, and diced potatoes. After cooking the soup for 20 minutes, add some butter or olive oil, chopped dill, sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Serve with a spoon of cream/yogurt and hard-boiled eggs. 

Thanks to the vinegar/lemon juice, the soup will preserve an excellent red color (pink after adding cream). You can use the botwinka soup as a base to prepare another delicious Polish soup of the spring and summer seasons – chłodnik. It’s a cold (chłodnik meaning ‘chilled’) beet soup with hard-boiled eggs. It’s easy to prepare when you keep some cooled botwinka soup (you can freeze it and use it later). Mix in a bowl or a pot: cooled botwinka soup, grated raw cucumbers, grated radishes, chopped dill and/or chives, and yogurt, kefir, or sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Smacznego!:)

Asparagus (szparagi) – spring novelty in Polish cuisine

Although asparagus has been known in Poland for several hundred years, Poles have not included it in Polish cuisine for a long time. The plant was instead cultivated for decorative purposes! Fortunately, this has changed in recent years – asparagus is now easy to buy in Poland, and Poles are learning how to prepare them. Poles love to top cooked vegetables with buttery breadcrumbs, and that’s how they serve asparagus – Polish style.

We find two types of asparagus in Polish stores and market stalls – white and green. The asparagus season in Poland starts at the beginning of May and lasts quite a short time, for about a month. The season’s peak is the end of May (then they are also the cheapest).

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