Polish American Food: Some Polish Food Details

Bigos is a type of hunter’s stew. Its history goes back to deep-winter expeditions when hunters set out with their gear, which included a kettle, cabbage, and onions. These were the basics needed for an evolving stew. As the hunt progressed, the bigos developed, shaped by the catch. As animals were gutted and cleaned, parts were added to the stew, which fed hunters around a warming fire. After dinner, the pot was set outside the tents in the snow. In the twenty-first century, bigos is a cabbage-based stew enriched with assorted bits of meat.