What to eat in Krakow, from the bread cart to the cake plate

The first thing to eat in Krakow costs almost nothing and is sold on nearly every corner. The obwarzanek krakowski is a ring of twisted dough that the Polish Tourism Organisation calls the city's symbol, and it is baked every day and dusted with salt, sesame or poppy seeds.^1,9 Its EU specification of 2010 counted between 170 and 180 carts selling it in the city, and almost 150,000 sold on an ordinary day.^10,11,12 Buy one in the morning while it is still warm.

What makes it different from a bagel is the water bath. Bakers dip the twisted dough into water of at least 90 °C before it goes into the oven, which gives the crust and the crumb a faintly sweet taste.^2,13 The scalding also stops the yeast from working, so the outside turns crisp while the inside stays soft.¹⁴ The toppings can be salt, sesame, poppy or nigella seed, herbs and spices, cheese or onion.¹⁵ Plain salt is the version most carts lead with, and the one to judge the others by.

Freshness matters more than with most bread. The protected recipe says an obwarzanek keeps for only several hours, and a warm one from a cart or a street stall is how a tourism portal of the region says it tastes best.^16,17 The EU registered the name as a protected geographical indication in 2010 under Regulation 977/2010, and it may be made only in Krakow and the districts of Krakow and Wieliczka.^12,18 Leave the bagged ones in supermarkets for later and buy from a cart.

Ask what food is Krakow famous for, and the honest answer goes beyond pierogi. The city's own sandwich is maczanka krakowska: pork loin or neck in a roll soaked with caraway sauce.⁵ VisitMałopolska, the regional tourism portal, says it was known in the 16th century and was a favourite of the city's carriage drivers.³⁰ It was served at a restaurant on the corner of Grodzka and Poselska Streets as early as 1892.⁴

The regional portal lists more of the city's own dishes: Krakow tripe, sour rye soup and Krakow-style duck with groats and mushrooms.^38,39 Kaszka krakowska is a buckwheat groat with a lighter colour, which the royal kitchen cooked sweet with milk, vanilla, butter and raisins.³¹ Mołdrzyki are pancakes of white cottage cheese, browned in the pan.⁴⁰ None of these is hard to find once you know the names, and asking for them by name gets a warmer reaction than pointing at the menu.

Then there is the sausage. Dry Krakow sausage is matured from beef and pork for several weeks in cold, damp conditions before it is dried, which the regional portal credits for its character.³⁵ Nearby villages add their own smoked meats, with Lisiecka sausage often eaten with kukiełka, a spindle-shaped wheat bun.⁴¹ The city's list of traditional flavours puts all of this beside the obwarzanek, Prądnik bread, bagels from Kazimierz and trout from Ojców.³⁷ It reads like a picnic, and you can assemble one at the markets.

Oscypek is the cheese to look for. It is a smoked sheep cheese from Podhale, made every day from May to September, and the EU registered it as a protected designation of origin in February 2008.^51,52 Poland and Slovakia agreed that it differs from the Slovak oštiepok, despite a shared history.⁵³ In Krakow you meet it grilled, with cranberry, at markets and street stalls, and the Christmas market serves it the same way.^6,54 Eat it hot, before the rind hardens again.

Prądnik bread is the city's old loaf. VisitMałopolska describes a 4.5 kg dark loaf of rye sourdough named after a Krakow district, and dates the baking tradition back to the 15th century, as recorded in the chronicle of Jan Długosz.^55,32 It now carries the EU's protected geographical indication symbol.⁵⁶ A slice with butter is a fair test of a good bakery, and bakers sell it by weight, so a small piece is easy to buy.

Smaller breads complete the set. The bagel from Kazimierz has been baked in Krakow since the 17th century and was entered on the list of traditional products in 2008.^34,57 The Krakow pretzel is a small, flattened figure of eight.⁵⁸ The bakers' trade here is old: the city charter of 1257 already allowed bakers' stalls, and the region has 230 entries on the Polish list of traditional products.^59,60 Bread is not a side here. It is a large part of the menu.