Dozynki or How I Learned To Love The Polish

Festivals in my mind are a great way not only to experience the different cultures but also to get a wide sampling of food from said culture.  In that spirit, I attended the Polish Harvest Festival (Dozynki) and had a great time taking in the dancing and food, along with a beer or two.  The festival is held annually at Our Lady of Czestochowa on Blalock north of I-10 in Houston.

We were greeted by some welcoming people made from hay bales, although the ground was muddy and the weather was not exactly pleasant the festival atmosphere was still very present. 

The beer of choice for the day was Pilsner Urquell, it was cool and crisp, and perfect on a warm muggy day, if only they served it in glasses that were not designed for an 8 year old.

I certainly felt out of place in my shorts and a shirt, but it was very cool to see all of the various Polish dress and the dancing that was put on by the children.  I personally would like to have a dance off between the Polish kids and the Greek Festival kids, people with power let's see what we can do to make this happen soon.

Now on to the food, which is of course why I came here in the first place.  My love for perogies made this festival an instant attraction to me, and these certainly did not disappoint.

I went with the sampler plate to get the best variety I could, it contained bigos, Polish sausage, three types of perogies, and a cabbage roll.  Bigo, is also known as hunter stew, it is the brown pile on the plate, and contains cabbage and a variety of meats that provide unique textures and flavors with each bites.  The cabbage roll was rather bland compared to the other dishes, and the meat seemed under cooked at first look, but the sauce was rich and overall was good for a cabbage roll. The real stars of the dish were the perogies, one was meat, one was potatoes and cheese, and another was sauerkraut, all of them delicious.

All in all the Polish Harvest Festival was a blast, it was great trying some new foods that I otherwise would have never had the opportunity to try on my own.  Definitely reminded me that I need to make another trip to Polonia and get a big plate of perogies the next time I find myself near Blalock.