When my Taiwanese husband and I first started dating, we knew we’d have some cultural adjustments to make. Taiwan and Poland are practically on opposite sides of the planet, after all. But nothing prepared us for the absolute psychological warfare that was introducing him to traditional Polish cuisine.
Taiwanese food is world-renowned: delicate steamed dumplings, savory beef noodle soups, and perfectly balanced street food. So when he sat down at my table, he expected familiar culinary rules to apply.
Spoiler alert: Poland doesn't play by the rules. Here are the foods that left my Taiwanese partner completely, utterly bewildered when we first met.
1. When Fruit Becomes the Main Course (The Sweet vs. Savory Crisis)
In Taiwan, fruit is a sacred post-meal palate cleanser, or a refreshing treat on a hot day. It is strictly never cooked into starch or served as dinner.
The first time I made pierogi z owocami (dumplings stuffed with sweet strawberries and blueberries) and topped them with sour cream and sugar, he looked like he wanted to call the police. To him, dumplings are supposed to be filled with savory pork, chives, and cabbage. Watching me boil dough filled with hot, bursting fruit and calling it "dinner" felt like a glitch in the matrix.
And it didn't stop at pierogi. When I introduced him to zupa owocowa (a sweet, chilled fruit soup served over noodles) and strawberry-blueberry pasta, he genuinely thought I was playing a prank on him."Why are we eating hot, wet smoothies with spaghetti for lunch?" he asked, completely defeated.
2. Kanapki Are Life (And No, They Don’t Have a Top Bread)
If you ask a Taiwanese person what they want for lunch, they will likely think of a hot box of rice (biandang) or a steaming bowl of noodles. Bread is usually a sweet pastry from a bakery, eaten as a snack.
In Poland, we have kanapki - open-faced sandwiches. And when I say kanapki are everything, I mean they are breakfast, lunch, supper, and a lifestyle.
He couldn't understand two things about this. First, why was the sandwich "naked" on top? He kept looking around for the second slice of bread. Second, he couldn't grasp how a cold slice of rye bread slathered in butter, a slice of ham, some radishes, and a sprinkle of chives counted as a fully satisfying meal. In his mind, a meal requires fire, steam, and a rice cooker. It took him a year to realize that a kanapka is actually the perfect canvas for flavor.
3. The "Illegal" Poppy Seed Cake (Makowiec)
This one almost caused an international customs incident. For Christmas, I was excited to bake a traditional makowiec—a rich, dense, sweet roll completely packed with ground poppy seeds.
When he saw the bag of poppy seeds on the counter, he actually gasped. "Are you allowed to have those?! Those are completely prohibited in Taiwan!"
He wasn't exaggerating.
Due to strict anti-drug laws, poppy seeds are classified as a controlled substance in Taiwan, meaning you can't just stroll into a supermarket in Taiwan and buy a bag of them to bake a cake. Watching me generously slather a thick paste of "banned seeds" onto dough and serve it to my family felt, to him, like a high-stakes crime drama. (He ate it anyway, and admitted it wasn't bad).
4. We Pickle Everything
Taiwan has its share of pickled foods (like Taiwanese pickled cabbage served with stinky tofu), but the flavor profile is usually a delicate balance of sweet, sour, and garlicky.
Poland, however, runs on pure, unadulterated lactic acid ferment. We pickle everything. Cucumbers (ogórki kiszone), cabbage (kapusta kiszona), wild forest mushrooms, plums, pears, paprika and beets. The first time he opened our fridge and was hit with the pungent, sour aroma of a jar of naturally fermented sour pickles, he looked deeply concerned. In Poland, we drink the pickle juice when we’re hungover, to him, the intense sourness felt like an extreme survival challenge.
5. Our Soups Aren't Watery—They're Liquid Stews
In Taiwan, soup is usually a clear, light, elegant broth meant to hydrate you alongside your main dish. You drink the liquid, and maybe look for a few floating pieces of radish or fishball.
Polish soups are the exact opposite. They are thick, condensed, and packed so full of ingredients that your spoon can practically stand upright in the bowl. Between the heavy use of sour cream (śmietana) to whiten the broth, and the sheer volume of potatoes, grains, and meats thrown into things like Żurek or Krupnik, he kept asking:"Is this a soup, or is it a stew that ran out of time?"
6. Potato Dumpling Inception (Kopytka and Pyzy)
Taiwanese comfort carbs usually revolve around rice or wheat noodles. Enter Poland, where the potato reigns supreme and is transformed into texturally unique dumplings like kopytka or pyzy. While Taiwan has its own beloved chewy textures (called "Q-texture," like in boba or taro balls), finding that dense, heavy chewiness in a main-course potato dumpling takes some getting used to.
Years later, our kitchen is a beautiful, chaotic fusion of both worlds. He now eats rice with a side of Polish stew and raw vegetable salad. I’ve learned how to make a proper dumpling that doesn't involve blueberries.
But every now and then, when I pull out a bag of frozen potato dumplings for dinner, I still catch him looking at them with a tiny hint of lingering suspicion.
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