Polish Museum of America

March 28th, 2004 · 9 Comments

Mom at the Polish Museum of America, Wicker Park, Chicago

My parents came down from Wisconsin today and we had brunch buffet at Hilary’s Urban Eatery (HUE). Afterwards we browsed around Brown Elephant, a second-hand store that was the first resale store in the country designed to specifically raise funds for HIV/AIDS care. Since I live in a Polish neighborhood, we then wandered over to the Polish Museum of America where we learned that Chicago and it’s suburbs (collectively known as Chicagoland) have the largest population of Polish people outside of Warsaw, Poland. The museum’s Great Hall closed for renovations so I think we missed a lot, but the admission is free so I’m not complaining.

Tags: Food & Drink·Museums·Shopping

9 responses so far ↓

1 janelle // Mar 29, 2004 at 1:38 pm

i returned yesterday from a week in warsaw, krakow and wroclaw - and i know you’re a foodie, so if you ever get a chance to try homemade lard at a polish restaurant (i know, I KNOW… lard? on bread?), try some. it’s not as bad as you’d think, but probably more unhealthy than you could imagine.
2 rachelle // Mar 29, 2004 at 2:46 pm

ew!
3 mom // Mar 30, 2004 at 6:22 am

OMG ! My mom used to eat that ! and sometimes put a slice of onion on it ! YUK ! My mom and dad both talked about eating it as kids during the depression when times were tough. sad
4 janelle // Mar 30, 2004 at 10:15 am

for the record, what i ate (probably never again, though) was not just any old lard, i don’t think. it wasn’t what you use for pie crust… it had bacon and maybe onions and all sorts of savory bits mixed into it. yes, it’s still lard.
5 Linus // Mar 30, 2004 at 12:49 pm

Ever try goose fat on bread? It’s about the yummiest thing EVER. I lived in Germany for a couple of years and the GF and I spent our winter holidays with her folks; her mother would pass a day or two pre-Christmas in the kitchen putting together wonders, and one of the by-products of rendering the Christmas goose was a bowl or two of schmaltz.

Now chicken schmaltz is just, well, schmaltz. But from a goose? It’s brilliant. The kind of thing that makes your eyes get all big when you first taste it.
6 sassylittlepunkin // Mar 30, 2004 at 3:05 pm

insert polish joke here.

(hey i’m part polish, i’m allowed!)
7 Hot Abercrombie Chick // Mar 31, 2004 at 2:49 am

I just wanted to say that you have some great photos on here:) My favorites of those I’ve seen so are the religious-statues photo and the green candle.
8 dad // Mar 31, 2004 at 5:11 am

In the south when I lived there
WE use bacon fat on biscuits
and bread.
At least your Grand folks did I would not even try it
Dad
9 Simon // Apr 19, 2007 at 12:55 pm

PLEASE! lard w/ bacon and onion! its actually good! and believe it or not.. its healthier than many marg. or butters out there… no added chemicals and so on.. might as well call it organic :). and it was a cheap way to get energy in tough times (ww2)… but there is more than just lard… lets not forget cabbage rolls, pierogi, bigos, flaki, i mean i could go on forever !! i assure you, the food in Poland is very healthy, tasty, mind you, its high in fat, but never the less healthy, its normal, if you eat alot of it, you will become big, but if you eat in moderation.. you’ll be fine, the food itself is fat for a reason, it lets you work more, and eat less! and 200 years ago, and eastern Europe was in constant warfare, well its good not to be hungry when fighting… and no, its not true, Polish food is not just cabbage and potatoes though it is one of the main dishes… its just so good though!