ASK THE EXPERTS

OUR PANEL ANSWERS YOUR CULINARY QUERIES, FROM WHERE TO EAT IN KRAKOW TO DRINKING CACHAÇA IN SÃO PAULO

I’m planning a weekend in Krakow — what and where should I be eating?

Anita Isalska: Most locals would recommend pierogi, half-moon-shaped dumplings traditionally stuffed with cheese and potato, mushroom and cabbage, or minced meat. In Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter, Pierogi MR Vincent crams dumplings with spinach, beef or chanterelle mushrooms. Close by, Plac Nowy 1 offers artfully presented dishes that combine Polish ingredients with Mediterranean inspiration, like duck with cherry sauce, or buckwheat and chicken risotto.

For more Polish classics, try Pod Aniołami, which is famous for regional dishes such as herb-marinated trout and deer steak. Enquire in advance for roasted specialities like whole, clovestudded ham.

Krakow excels at casual, good-value eats, too — whether from a bar mleczny (no-frills canteen), street-food stall selling oscypek (chewy grilled sheep’s cheese) or a hole-in-thewall doughnut shop. Cukiernia Cichowscy is a bakery whose sernik (cheesecake) and makowiec (poppy seed roll) have won a loyal following.

No trip to Krakow is complete without vodka. Wódka Cafe Bar pours dozens of varieties of flavoured spirits. Get a flight of apple, cherry and bison grass, and work on pronouncing ‘na zdrowie’, which means ‘cheers’.

Fried pierogi