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Prażonki Porębskie — Poręba’s signature potato dish

On a September weekend the town of Poręba smells of slow-roasted potatoes — this is where, in the northern part of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, a dish with the status of a regional treasure was born. Prażonki are potatoes roasted for hours together with sausage, bacon and onion, cooked traditionally over a campfire in a cast-iron kettle.

Where prażonki come from

The recipe comes from Poręba and its surroundings — today’s gminas of Zawiercie and Myszków — and from there it spread across the whole Upland. It is a cuisine of patience: potatoes, lard, onion, salt and pepper, plus sausage and bacon, are roasted slowly until they turn golden and dense with a lightly crusted texture. The long cooking time is why prażonki rarely appear in restaurants. It is a dish of outdoor cooking in company, woven into spring and autumn outings into the countryside.

Festival and official recognition

The first Prażonki Festival was held in 2003, and in 2006 the dish entered the List of Traditional Products kept by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Since then, every September Poręba hosts the World Prażonki Festival: the dish is then prepared in a giant cast-iron kettle over an open fire, big enough to feed up to 500 people.

In practice

Poręba lies between Zawiercie and Myszków, close to the Trail of the Eagles’ Nests — Ogrodzieniec Castle in Podzamcze is about 16 km away and the Błędów Desert about 22 km, so a festival trip combines easily with sightseeing. Check local announcements for the exact September date, as it moves around the calendar. Outside the festival, prażonki turn up at regional events and in the inns of the Upland — ask for the seasonal dish.