More than 90 kinds of sausage, or kielbas, are made in Poland. These sausages are served in a variety of ways, including served cold with horseradish sauce or mustard, or boiled in beer, or cooked in wonderful stews. A distinctive flavor of the sausages comes from smoking them over juniper wood that grows in the forests of Poland. They are picked during the long season that extends into late autumn. Most Poles learn as a child how to distinguish between different varieties of mushrooms.
Wild game is also plentiful in Poland.
Much of it ends up in Poland's national dish - bigos, the appropriately named hunter's stew. A typical stew might contain 5-6 different kinds of meat. From the Polish garden come beets and that most favorite of all Polish foods - the cabbage. Both of these vegetables are used for salads, soups, stews, and more. Although an acquired taste for some non-Poles, Polish cuisine would not be complete without these two flavorful vegetables.