Hospitality was one of the most important traits of the Slavs. Their attachment to tradition and love of feasting meant that the table was always laden with a variety of dishes that delighted with their flavour and simplicity. What did the ancient Slavs eat? What did they eat every day, and what was prepared for special occasions? Let's take a culinary journey back to the time when Slavic culture flourished in what is now Poland.
Slavic societies were mainly agricultural, which influenced what ended up on their tables. Their everyday diet consisted mainly of what they grew in gardens and fields. Their staple foods were a variety of vegetables, grains, groats, dairy and plants gathered in the forests. Remains of burnt pots found by archaeologists confirm ingredients such as carrots, cabbage, onions, turnips, dill, cucumbers and legumes.
Bread and its traditional forms, such as flatbreads, which were the basis of many dishes, were always on the table. Flatbreads were baked directly over the fire or in simple clay ovens. They were eaten with various toppings such as cheese, buttermilk or whey.
Groats also played a key role in the Slavic diet and were served both sweet and savoury. Millet, buckwheat and barley groats were the basic ingredient of many one-pot dishes, which usually had a semi-liquid consistency similar to today's stews or soups.
At Wyraj, our most popular soups are polewka and zalewajka. Both come in seasonal versions, so you can discover a new flavour every season!
Contrary to popular belief, meat was not the basis of the ancient Slavs' diet. Although meat from farm animals – pork, lamb or poultry – was prepared for special occasions, the everyday diet was more plant-based. Hunting wild animals was not common, and game was considered a delicacy. To preserve meat for longer, people salted, dried and smoked it. The Slavs used both cold and hot smoking, which produced foods with a variety of flavours and a longer shelf life.
If someone wanted game, they used stępice – traps based on mechanisms we still know today. Fish, however, appeared on the table far more often. The Slavs used a variety of fishing tools – from nets and hooks to fish traps called więcierze. The latter was a long trap from which a fish could not escape once it had swum in.
At our restaurant you can taste Warmian cured meats and discover the flavour of real game with homemade beetroot relish and horseradish. A truly special dish is guinea fowl breast served in a meat sauce with creamy polenta and pickled cauliflower. Sounds delicious, doesn't it?
Slavic feasts were full of simple but tasty dishes. Most often they served one-pot dishes, polewka soups, breads and flatbreads, various kinds of groats and dishes made from vegetables and mushrooms. A variety of fruit – apples, pears, plums and rowan berries – also often appeared on the table.
Today, by returning to the traditions of Slavic cuisine, we can recreate old recipes and flavours. Serving traditional flatbread, enriching dishes with pickled vegetables and combining ingredients in the style of old polewka soups is a great way to travel back to the times of our ancestors. It's also worth trying traditional infusions, which were a healthy alternative to today's teas.
Despite its simplicity, Slavic cuisine offered a variety of flavours and was closely tied to the rhythm of nature. Our ancestors valued what was local and seasonal, and every dish told the story of their daily life and rituals.
We'd like to invite you on a journey into the past. Visit Wyraj, where the scent of herbs will welcome you. Make yourself comfortable and enjoy our hospitality. Remember to book a table!
Our menu changes not only with the seasons but also with the time of day. Until 14:00 we serve delicious breakfasts. Free-range hen's eggs, artisanal sourdough bread and wild boar sausage are a true Slavic delicacy.
We serve a vegetarian flatbread with pumpkin spread and goat's curd cheese. With your bread you can order herring or baked bryndza cheese.
A sweet Slavic breakfast : buckwheat with dark chocolate and Jerusalem artichoke, sprinkled with sunflower seeds, will put you in a good mood for the whole day.
When the sun sets, the night spirits come out of hiding and begin a true feast. Aromatic mushrooms, including saffron milk caps and porcini, will take you on an ancient journey into the forest.
Pickles and boards of aromatic cheeses, cured meats and game are wonderful companions for any get-together with friends.
If you'd like to try our spirited cocktails, mead or aromatic beers in the evening, we recommend our special Zagryzka do kielicha – a board of nibbles to go with your drink. It includes aged delicacies, salo, dried meats and fish that will bring out the flavour of your drinks and make every evening more enjoyable.
If you're hungry for a real Slavic feast, we'll treat you to a hot polewka or an aromatic zalewajka. Among the main courses you'll also find salads, celery with mushroom sauce, and pike-perch with sea buckthorn sauce and pumpkin dumplings.
The crowning glory of a Slavic lunch can be a dessert straight from the forest: frozen sękacz spit cake with sunflower and Jerusalem artichoke mousse, served with marrow in elderflower honey and decorated with sunflower seeds. Do you like fruit? Order our buttery apple cake topped with a sauce made from egg yolks, sugar and cream. There's also the warm aroma of cloves combined with pickled apple.
Would you like to hold an event at Wyraj? Write to us and we'll prepare an offer tailored to your needs!
ul. Krochamlna 59/lok U2 . 00-864 Warszawa
