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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Warsaw
Two-layer chocolate sponge cake with whipped cream in the middle, covered in chocolate and often topped with a cherry. It originated in Warsaw in the late 1940s, and the name is linked to the W-Z avenue, opened during the city’s reconstruction.
Traditional sweet from Warsaw, Mazóvia
Also known as: ciastko W-Z, W-Z
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Wuzetka — Warsaw, Poland
The wuzetka is a pastry cake cut into squares: two layers of chocolate sponge cake with a thick layer of whipped cream in the middle and a chocolate glaze on top. Many bakeries add a bit of cream and a cherry on top. Some recipes include a thin layer of fruit jam beneath the cream.
The cake appeared in Warsaw in the late 1940s. The most widely accepted explanation for the name is the Trasa W-Z, the East–West avenue (Wschód–Zachód) inaugurated on July 22, 1949, one of the first major projects in the city’s post–World War II reconstruction. According to this version, the bakery that began selling the cake stood next to the avenue. Others say the name comes from a bakery acronym; the exact origin is not documented.
The wuzetka became one of the best-known sweets in Warsaw’s bakeries in the second half of the 20th century and remains in the display cases of the city’s traditional shops. The cake is also listed on Poland’s Traditional Products List, in the Masovia entry.
Warsaw , Mazóvia
The wuzetka appeared in Warsaw in the late 1940s and the name is linked to the W-Z avenue, a project of the city’s reconstruction.
Chocolate sponge cake (flour, eggs, sugar and cocoa), whipped cream and chocolate glaze. Sometimes a cherry or fruit jam.
Cut into squares, eaten with a fork, served with coffee or tea.
All year round, no fixed date.
Your questions
A Warsaw cake with two layers of chocolate sponge, whipped cream in the middle and a chocolate glaze, often topped with a cherry. It is sold in squares in the city’s bakeries.
The most accepted version links the name to the Trasa W-Z, the East–West avenue opened in 1949 during Warsaw’s reconstruction, where the bakery that first sold it was located. Another version says it comes from a bakery acronym; the exact origin is not documented.
Flavors of Poland
Stew of sauerkraut and cabbage with various meats, smoked sausage and dried mushrooms, slowly cooked and reheated over days until the flavors meld. It is one of the dishes most connected to Polish identity and appears in the national poem Pan Tadeusz.
Round yeast dough pastry, fried, without a hole, filled with jam—traditionally rose petal or plum—and dusted with sugar or covered in icing. It’s the sweet of Tłusty Czwartek, the fatty Thursday before Lent, celebrated across the country.
Dumplings made from unleavened dough, boiled in water and sometimes browned in butter, with savory or sweet fillings. The ruskie, filled with potato and fresh cheese, are the most common, and the cabbage with mushrooms variety is served on Christmas Eve.
Vodka made entirely in Poland from rye, wheat, barley, oats, triticale or potatoes grown in the country. The name is a national geographical indication that applies to both neutral vodka and flavored vodkas that follow the rules.
A sour soup made with zakwas, a fermented rye-flour starter, served with white sausage, a boiled egg and horseradish. It is one of the most important dishes of the Polish Easter and is sometimes served inside a loaf of bread.
Smoked pork cooked with dried plums, pears and other fruits, served with a sweet-and-sour fruit sauce and dumplings. The name means Silesian heaven, and the dish is on the Lower Silesia Traditional Products List.
Braided bread ring first boiled in very hot water and then baked, topped with salt, poppy seeds, or sesame. It’s sold from street carts in Kraków and has a European Union protected geographical indication.
A round wheat dough disk topped with raw chopped onion and poppy seed, baked until the edge is golden. It originated in the Jewish bakeries of Lublin’s old town and has a European Union protected geographical indication.
Yeast-based cake covered with a buttery streusel, made plain or filled with white cheese, poppy seed or apple. It is the wedding cake of Opole Silesia and has a European Union protected geographical indication.
Grated raw potato cake with fried bacon, onion, eggs and a little flour, baked in a pan until the crust is golden. It’s one of the most popular dishes of Podlaskie, the northeastern region of Poland, and is on the List of Traditional Products.
Flavored vodka with bison grass that grows in the clearings of the Białowieża and Knyszyn forests in Podlaskie. It has a light green-golden color and the smell of dry hay, and the official name is a protected geographical indication of the European Union.
Croissant in a crescent shape, made from yeast-leavened puff pastry, filled with white poppy seed paste with fruit and nuts, and topped with icing and chopped nuts. It is Poznań’s Saint Martin’s pastry, eaten on November 11, and has protected geographical indication.
Beef roulade stuffed with bacon, pickled cucumber and onion, cooked in sauce and served with kluski śląskie — potato dumplings with a little indentation in the middle — and red cabbage. It’s the Sunday lunch of Upper Silesia.
Long pastry made from leavened dough, fried and usually filled with seasoned ground meat with pepper. It originated in Szczecin in the early 1970s, made on a Soviet machine from 1969, and is on Poland’s List of Traditional Products.
Honey cake with pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and other spices, molded in wooden molds or cut into shapes. It has been made in Toruń without interruption since the Middle Ages and is on Poland’s national list of intangible cultural heritage.
A very sour sauerkraut soup with smoked pork ribs or other smoked pork, served with boiled potato on the side or with bread. It’s the dish of the highlanders of Podhale, the Zakopane region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains.
