There are noticeable differences in Polish society and American society. Ask an American how they are, and the answer will be “fine.” We have a cultural norm of cheerfulness. Smiles for everyone, whether you mean it or not.
Ask a Pole how they are, and they will really tell you, and it won’t be good. I found an explanation for this on the internet recently. Apparently, in Poland, it would be considered bragging to claim that everything in your life is fine. It is polite to complain about a lack of sleep, poor health, or a heavy workload.
There is also the feeling that it would be dishonest to smile at someone for whom you don’t have kind feelings, including strangers. If you’ve ever flown on Lot Polish Airlines and on Southwest Airlines in the U.S., the difference is well illustrated by the respective flight attendants. The Lot flight attendants on the turboprops I take between Munich or Frankfurt and Poznan are very competent and very serious in German, Polish and English. Southwest flight attendants, well, they’re sometimes over the top:
Now on to culinary differences. That’s what got me started on this line of thought. My husband and I ordered scrambled eggs at breakfast this morning. We know that Poles like their jajecznica cooked less than most Americans like their eggs, so we got out the translator app on the phone to tell the waitress, “well done, cooked more.” The poor guy in the kitchen just couldn’t do it. I think the thought of serving dry eggs was just unconscionable.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Stardust
I never flown LOT longer then 2hrs. somehow I always choose other lines;)
However if comes to jajecznica, I prefere polish style:)) Except mine is cooked, but I don't whip the hell out of eggs as Americans do, and I don't add any water or milk. My scrambled eggs are EGGS and you can see what's on plate comes from eggs not a cardboard:))
Suprise, suprise my husband and
Lois B
Stardust – I could be a fan of Polish style eggs, if they're cooked ALL the way through. It's the thought of the raw egg (rather than the raw beef) that keeps me from ordering steak tartare.
Lois B
The odd thing is, if raw eggs are in cookie or cake batter, I have no qualms about eating them. I guess they just have to be disguised with a lot of sugar and butter.
Stardust
As you know, I don't know much about polish eggs and how careful one have to be. But here we make once in a while steak tartare and so far I had no problems.
I know what you mean with jajecznica:))) and I agree watery eggs are not good. Is just funny that my father in law when we visited him always made scrambled eggs for breakfast and of course he beat the living soul out of them:))
Ege
Here in Norway some of us are like americans: smile and everything is "fiiiiine" when somebody ask.. Then others of us are like: ehm uh.. do you really want to know…??
So, it depends upon who and where I think 🙂
Eggs, well, I can eat raw eggs when they are mixed with salt/pepper and with hot boiled pasta.. Taste fine 😉 hehe
Kasia
Hello Lois!
I too have noticed how serious the flight attendants are:) Munich-Poz, Fra-Poz are the only lot flights that we take (no other choice since lot operates majority of these flights).
I did not know why the Polish people tell the truth when asked how they are:) On the other hand – i think that here, most of the time people don't really care how you are when they ask about
Lois B
Ege – your hot pasta may be the way to go for me too.
Kasia – so true, I think Americans use the phrase "how are you?" much to casually; it really seems to just mean hello.
I had never heard of kogel-mogel; interesting recipe! I know there's a concern about uncooked eggs and salmonella, but that's not what bothers me – it's just the texture. Do I
Stardust
Mmmm talking about kogel-mogel. Years ago still in Poland I used to make coffee, let it sit for a couple min. and layer a kogel-mogel on ta top. OMG!!! That was delicious!!!!
I think I'm going to make one today:)))))
Vicki
How interesting!
Hanaâ
When I moved to the US, I learned pretty quickly that when people ask "how are you?", most of the time, they don't really care. As you said, it's a form of "hello". So when my sister came to visit, we went shopping (of course!) and she was asked "how are you?" several times, I taught her, it's just a form of "hello". In most cases, they don'