Returning to Poland's Roots

After the collapse of communism, Poland, like most other former Soviet bloc countries, took to "imported" fast food — burgers, pizza, kebabs — with a hunger stoked by decades of deprivation. Now celebrity chefs Robert Maklowicz and Maciej Kuron — and food critics like Piotr Bikont — are spearheading a return to traditional Polish cookery.

No, that doesn't mean all dumplings all the time. Inspired by the Italian Slow Food movement, the chefs emphasize flavor, quality and authentic technique. In hugely popular books such as Dialogues of the Tongue and Palate, TV shows and newspaper columns, they aim to reclaim such age-old specialities as golonka (succulent pigs' knuckles stewed in beer) and pierogi (small pastry envelopes filled with meat, cabbage and mushrooms). For a taste of the traditional, try Polska Tradycja — tel: (48 22) 840 09 50 — in downtown Warsaw.

Maklowicz and Bikont, both self-taught food pundits, have launched the Institute of Good Taste, a collaboration with a Kraków butcher who makes traditional products. Their latest: a range of wood-smoked, naturally dried hams. At $12 a kg, the hams cost no more than burgers and fries for four, but the taste is pure Poland.