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Here comes a list of modern and traditional Polish appetizers, as well as typical ingredients. Under descriptions you can find some authentic recipes. Going to visit Poland and would like to taste some delicious foods not choosing on spec? You are welcome. All Polish foods listed below constitute a typical Polish menu up to this days. Therefore, while visiting Poland, one will certainly come across many of them. I wish you good luck in exploring Polish tastes and… Smacznego!
List of Polish appetizers
Polish: kiełbasa, wędliny
Kielbasa is very well-known product from Central and Easter Europe. In general kielbasa is made from the pork and some special compositions of spices. Many kinds of the sausages exist - both in terms of composition, the appearance, as well as the way of processing. E.g. smoked and dried sausages are very popular in Poland and considered exclusive. The easy way to recognize good quality sausage is by the amount of meat used for the production (about what producers are supposed to inform on the package).
Poles also love their cold cut, of which selection in Polish butcher's shops is enormous ('sklep miesny' what means 'meat shop'). Cold cut constitute one of the basic everyday appetizers. It is consumed with bread, as sandwiches, when one wants to eat something fast, easy and ordinary.
Polish: like above
Kaszanka is a Polish black pudding made of groats, blood and giblets: liver, lungs, pork crusts, fat. Basic spices are: onion, pepper and marjoram. Buckwheat groats or barley is used to make kaszanka. Polish black pudding is eaten both cold and hot (after stir-frying on the frying pan).
Top photo from Wikipedia. Bottom - grilled kaszanka/kiszka by kingary.
Polish: ogórki kiszone
Ogorki kiszone - Polish dill pickle - it is one of the great things in Polish cuisine (in my humble opinion). The name 'ogorki kiszone' is usually translated into English as 'dill pickles', but you can also call them 'sour cucumbers', since a strong, sour taste is characteristic of them. It is sad, but You can't buy real, high quality Polish dill pickles in groceries, neither in US or UK, nor in Poland. The majority of shop cucumbers is simply not tasty and in order to experience the real taste, one should go to Poland and try those dill pickles, which are home-made. And such home-made dill pickles are made of soil-grown cucumbers which are put into jars. Baldachins of the dill, roots of the horseradish and some cloves of garlic are then added. Other spices sometimes used are: bay leaves, grains of mustard and pepper, as well as leaves of the cherry, currant, grapes or the oak. We pour water over the integrity, salt and put back on a few weeks.
Poles use dill pickles as an appetizers with many dishes. Polish dill pickles constitute a basic ingredient of cucumber soup and may be used as the addition to potatoes, sandwiches or as an element of salads. Sometimes they are used as the appetizer to vodka and the herring served in oil and onion.
Above: Polish dill pickle - sour cucumbers. Below: normal cucumber pickles, known in Poland as 'Swedish salad' ('salatka szwedzka').
High quality, home-made ogorek kiszony can fizz after opening:
Polish: śledzie
In Poland, just like in all countries of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea basins, herring is specially worshiped. This little sea fish is being prepared as a cold appetizer. From delicious herrings in vinegary marinades, by herring in oil and onion, to sweet herrings - the amount of varieties and tastes is really large; all they have their names and enjoy the great popularity on Polish tables.
Polish: like above
Many Poles loves cooked cauliflower ('kalafior'), string bean ('fasolka szparagowa') and broad bean ('bob'). During Summer time all of those is quite common in Polish homes. Broccoli is not so typical for Polish cuisine but constantly gains popularity. Usually Poles eat string bean or cauliflower alone - poured only with the roux made of breadcrumbs. However, sometimes it is used as the addition to meat dishes.
Polish: twarog, oscypek, bryndza
Curd cheese ('twarog' in original) enjoys great popularity in Poland and is called 'white cheese' most oftentimes. Poles eat curd cheese with spices, as well as sweet. It is made of the cow's milk. Bryndza - the sheep's milk cheese is similar, but softer.
Oscypek are tough smoked cheeses made of the sheep's milk, characteristic of Polish mountains (particularly Tatra Mountains and Podhale Region). It is produced in the original form of small, spindle-like blocks with typical regional decorating pattern. Oscypek is one of tourist attractions of Polish mountains. You can eat it as cold or hot (grilled and served with the cranberry). Fresh oscypek is peculiarly tasty. One can buy it early in the morning, right after the production, in shepherd's huts, which you would come across in mountain valleys.
Polish curd cheese (top) and oscypek (below). Last one comes from Wikipedia.
Polish: twarożek
Twarozek is made of white cheese (curd cheese) mixed with chives, radish, cream and spices ('spicy twarozek') or with sugar, fruits and/or jam ('sweet twarozek'). In Poland this is popular for breakfast, for making sandwiches.
Photo on the left shows one of my favorite 'spring breakfasts' - twarozek with chives, dill, pepper and a pinch of ginger. I eat it with thin, dry, smoked, Polish sausage called 'kabanos' (it has pepperoni look but in my humble opinion tastes much better). On the right you can see sweet twarozek simply made by mixing curd cheese with a bit of milk and sugar. Served as sandwiches covered with jam. All of that is of course extremely simple to make.
Simple sweet curd cheese sandwiches
Polish: powidła
Powidla is a kind of thick jam or preserves, similar a little bit to prune butter, made of long stewed purple plums. Traditionally powidla were made by frying plums in pots for few days until brown. Powidla are known in the German, Hungarian and Slovak cuisines, as well as the others.
Left image (from Wikipedia) depicts home-made powidla (powidl) with its characteristic color, which is rather brown, than purple. Right: powidla that have been bought in polish store. It is being made by Łowicz company. Of course taste doesn't imitate home-made powidla perfectly, but I think it's enough high-quality to recommend.
Polish: pigwa, syrop różany
Quince or rosehip syrup are great with black tea, which is extremely popular in Poland. In fact black tea is very important in Polish cuisine (like in England), together with coffee, kompot, fruit juices and alcoholic beverages. Never drinked with milk, but quite often with lemon juice, raspberry juice or other additions like quince or rosehip syrup.
Pigwa (quince) and syrop rozany (rosehip syrup).
List of Polish ingredients
Polish: like above
Kapusta kiszona (sauerkraut) is a very important ingredient in Polish cuisine, as well as other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Sauerkraut is made of shredded cabbage, which after salting is subjected to the fermentation, resulting in a peculiar sour taste. It is possible to eat the sauerkraut 'in raw'. For example it can be served as salad with some meat dishes. However, in Poland (in general) it is most often used as the ingredient of dishes - like bigos, croquettes or mushroom-cabbage pierogies.
Polish: like above
In Poland a strong tradition of the mushroom hunting exists and edible mushrooms of many kinds constitute one of very important ingredients of traditional Polish cuisine. Wild Mushrooms are usually used to make mushroom sauces, soups and stuffing (for pierogi etc.), but also for preparing wonderful preserves known as 'marinated mushrooms', as well as for drying (dried mushrooms are used later in the Winter time) 
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Polish: like above
Polish mushroom sauces are brown and dense. They are characterized by a very intense, mushroom taste. Sauces are made from mushrooms of many kinds. As a result you have sauces about different tastes and applications. A chanterelle mushroom sauce is an example of particularly a noble one, while a white mushroom sauce is an ordinary, cheap and far more common. Mushroom sauces are eaten with pastas, bread, or being applied as an ennobling addition to meat and fish dishes.
In the fall period, when the time of mushroom hunting comes, both mushroom sauces as soups are being made from fresh, wild mushrooms. In remaining seasons dried mushrooms are being used. Many families dry mushrooms on their own account. Dried mushrooms are also available in large Polish groceries and supermarkets, but their price is very high (about 50$ per lb).
Old Polish dried mushroom sauce recipe
Old Polish fresh mushroom sauce recipe
Mushroom sauce made from freshly picked mushrooms (mainly boletus).
Served as an addition to piece of grilled pork.
Polish: like above
Kasza (kasha, groats) - edible seeds of cereal crops - constituted the complete base of the Polish cuisine for a few hundred years. With time groats were supplanted by potatoes, however they are eaten to this day in Poland, mainly on account of their healthy character and the wealth of nutritients. In Polish cuisine a buckwheat groats, a millet groats, a barley groats, and semolina are well-known.
Polish: włoszczyzna
Wloszczyzna is a traditional combination of vegetables which you can buy in every grocery, 'vegetable shop', at the market and on every stall. Wloszczyzna is used in the Polish cuisine, as the vegetable base to many soup. This universal blend is traditionally composed of: carrots, parsley, celery, cabbage and leek. A very similar thing appears in the French cuisine and is called 'mirepoix'.
Polish: like above
Buraczki is a delicious addition to meat dishes which is made from grated, boiled and stewed red beets (all the way to softening). Usually buraczki is sour-sweet. It fits perfectly beef meals, but can be served with other meat too (like on a picture below).
Polish: ćwikła
Cwikla is a very tasty Polish salad, served with meat dishes. It has an original taste. Basic ingredients are grated red beets and a horseradish. Sugar, salt and lemon juice (or vinegar) are used as seasoning. Sometimes also a caraway, apples, the red dry wine, cloves or parsley leaves are used in recipes for cwikla.
Polish: like above
The dill and parsley leaves are a standard ingredient in the Polish cuisine, used in salads and for sprinkling boiled potatoes. In Polish it is often called 'zielenina', what means 'greens'.
Polish: like above
Mizeria is a simple salad made of the sliced fresh cucumber and cream. A dill, chives or parsley leaves are sometimes added. Mizeria salad is prepared with typical spices like salt and pepper, but sometimes is also served as sweet (mixed with the sugar). Mizeria is typically served to the fried or roasted chicken or turkey.
Polish: sałatka jarzynowa
Traditional Polish vegetable salad, made of vegetables typical of the Polish cuisine: carrot, parsley, potato, celery, sour cucumbers, onion and pea. Additional ingredients are: hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. The salad needs to mature - it is best to serve it day after the preparation. Goes very well with sandwiches of all kinds.
Polish: sałatka z groszku i kukurydzy
Ingredients of this salad are quite simple: pea and corn (from can), diced hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Tastes delicious with Polish charcuterie (cold cut), Polish sausage (kielbasa) and meat.
Polish: sałatka z pomidorów i cebuli
Slices of the tomato sprinkled with onion circles or dices is a simple salad oftentimes served with scrambled eggs.
Polish: surówka z marchewki
Salad made of grated carrot and apple with the addition of sugar and lemon juice. From time to time also cream is used.
Old Polish cuisine was full of valuable home-made butter. Nowadays shop margarines enjoy greater popularity in case of spreading bread, but a position of butter, for frying or as an ingredient of some dishes, is not endangered. Traditional Polish cuisine also uses a lard and pork scratching, as well as vegetable oils. In past linen and poppy oils vere common. Today both of them are replaced by rapeseed oil and sunflower one. Since the linseed oil quickly goes rancid it is/was only used for preparing cold sauces. When recipe require high temperature, like during frying and baking butter or rapeseed oil is used.
Pork scratching is used as spicy addition to dishes. A lard, once very popular, is eaten willingly with bread. Although such a plain snack is very spicy, bread with lard is not so popular at Polish homes today because of health issues. There is a Polish expression 'bread with lard'. It means living in poverty. When Pole says 'you will be eating bread with a lard' it means 'you will be so poor and unable to stand for any neat or lavish food'.
Rama is one of the most popular margarines in Poland.
Polish butter is usually sold in golden foil.
