LINK BY LINK
For years I’ve been passing by the local Polish butcher shop in my neighborhood. Through the window I could see long links of sausages dangling above the counter waiting for a chance to enhance a soup or stew. I could hear the Polish-speaking customers ordering oddly named meats as the men behind the counter wrapped up links and slices.
One day I finally got up the nerve to go inside where I was welcomed with a small smile and a stare. The sausages were lined up one after the other — some thick, some thin, some light, and some dark.
“I’d like a link of kielbasa, please,” I ordered, not knowing which sausage I’d get.
“Which one?” asked the owner.
It turns out that kielbasa is the generic name for all Polish sausages, which I didn’t know at that moment.
“I’d like a smoky one.”
“They’re all smoky,” he said impatiently.
Clearly, in his mind, I’m an idiot. I pointed to a few that looked good and then paid as quickly as I could, fleeing the store mortified.
When I got home and tasted them, they were so much better than the traditional half-circle tasteless kielbasa you find in the supermarket. They were lean and smoky, each with a unique and delicious flavor profile well worth the humiliation I had just experienced.
Determined to find out more about Polish sausages, I started my research. Wiejska is polish for rural or country, so Kielbasa Wiejska is known as “Farmer’s Sausage,” the most traditional of all sausages. It’s a lightly smoked, garlicky sausage that can be eaten raw.
Kabanos sausages are long, thin sticks that have the flavor of allspice and smoke.
One that I love to use in cassoulet is Kielbasa Myśliwska, otherwise known as “Hunters Sausage.” It’s about an inch thick and is usually a short link that’s very dark and smoky.
I could keep going, but you get the idea. Kiełbasa Starowiejska, Jałowcowa, and Żywiecka are a few more varieties, but they’re way too hard for me to pronounce.
A few weeks later, I decide to go back to the butcher shop. This time I throw around a couple of names and the stern look from the owner seems to soften. For those that I can’t pronounce, I resort to pointing. All in all, I leave the store with 4 pounds of a variety of sausages and a loaf of Chleb Ziemniaczany, (Polish Potato bread). Now I just need some mustard, a few bottles of Zywiec Beer, and a bunch of friends for a taste test. Wanna come?