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A huge part of Polish culture is its native cuisine. Like the majority of Slavic food it is rich in meat and vegetables, both pickled and fresh, and provides the calories needed in the country's typically cold conditions.

"If you go back some years the food was always peasant food," explained Ipswich based Nutritional Practioner Barbara Wicks.

Barbara grew up in Poland and her great-grandfather was a self-taught herbalist in the country, both her up bringing and his influence have aided her enthusiasm for nutrition and food.

Mushrooms

"Poland was, and to some extent still is, a heavily forest-covered country so lots of the foods were the kind of things you could find in the forest like wild game, boar, venison, mushrooms and berries.

"When people started growing cereals in Poland they tended to be the kinds that faired well in colder countries.

"Things like rye became popular and cereals would feature quite heavily in soups as kasha."

Kasha is a kind of porridge, generally referring to buckwheat groats, and it is used as a base for a number of dishes such as soups and as a side dish. It has a history in Polish, Russian and Jewish cultures, with a number of folklore tales being based around it.

The dish can be made from any grain and can include other foods听such as potatoes and beans. Kasha can be made either savoury or sweet with sugar, honey, or jam.

Meat

Historically Poles love meat, with pork and boar featuring heavily in a number of recipes. This tradition still remains with dishes such as听 kielbasa (Polish sausage) and bigos remaining firm favourites.

Bigos is a combination of cabbage cooked with dried fruits, usually plums, wild mushrooms and meats, generally sausage.

Bigos

The dish is a traditional hunters' stew and is usually served with bread or potatoes. Recipes vary hugely between different families and the dish, which is often served on the second day of Christmas, can take days to prepare.

Pickled foods and vegetables

"Originally only the aristocracy would be able to eat meat on a regular basis so for others the diet would be based mainly on grains and vegetables," said Barbara.

"In the winter it would be lots of pickled vegetables because in Poland we have got quite a cold climate so up until around the last 20 years our diets would be dictated by what's in season.

"We have quite a strong tradition of using pickled foods, the most popular one is probably sauerkraut and you can use that as it is or as an ingredient in different winter foods."

Sauerkraut, or sour cabbage, is one of the main ingredients used in bigos and features in a number of Polish salads.

Poland's culture has always integrated elements from its neighbours, with a number of recipes highlighting ideas from around the world.

The contemporary Polish menu is still changing, being influenced by various tastes, but one significant influence dates back a number of years.

"Poland, being right in the middle of Europe with changing borders and people coming and going, has lots of different cultural influences.

"We've got Russian Influences, German, Jewish, Austrian and Italian influences from Poland's Italian Queen Bona Sforza."

Pierogi

Queen Bona married King Sigismund in 1518 and because of her love of fruit and vegetables she introduced a number of new things to the Polish menu.

Many dishes still seen in Poland today such as pierogi are attributed to the Italian influence. These are stuffed dumplings but are more similar to Italian ravioli, usually containing meat, cabbage or cheese.

Zupa

In Polish cuisine soups are hugely popular, mainly due to the cold climate and long winters. The oldest polish soups are often based on kasha, but use a variety of ingredients including beetroot, sour cream and egg.

As well as providing warmth, soups helped families to remain healthy and formed part of the important three course family meal.

"The tradition of eating soups is something I have carried on myself.

"From a nutritional point of view soups are really good, there's lots of research that's been done to show the benefit of soups to our health.

"Traditionally everyone including the office workers would start their work at 7 o'clock and finish at around 3 and so the main meal would be in the afternoon served at around 4 or maybe 4:30.

Piwo

"A Polish meal would be three courses and you would have a soup which would sometimes be meat based and the main course would be again meat based.

"Sometimes salads would be served and there would be a dessert and that would be either dairy based, perhaps a cake or sometimes fruit."

Food remains a hugely important part of Polish culture and a glass of w贸dka or piwo (beer) are usually offered as accompaniments.

Barbara has produced a recipe for pierogi, along with a traditional filling. Click below for more details: