A few days ago, I received a package filled with chocolates from Poland!
How did this happen? Well, I have a lovely Polish friend named Sylwia who sent them with a Christmas card. She is one of the many ladies of the world that I’ve gotten to know through being a hardcore Flight of the Conchords fan. Yep, some of us exchange Christmas cards every year. It’s heartwarming in a nerdy way, isn’t it? :P
Anyway, I get really excited about foreign food, especially candy! One of my favorite stores is World Market and I can spend ages in the food section. Going to supermarkets was also something I got really excited about in New Zealand (heck, I love grocery shopping in general!). So I thought it would be fun to share these candies here because I can’t read Polish and therefore had no idea what I’d be biting into. :)
The first chocolate I tried was called Pierrot. (I chose it first because of the name – he’s the sad clown! Yet this wrapper is like Harlequin‘s clothes?) When I opened it, it smelled like peanut butter, but it didn’t look like PB. The filling was chopped peanuts (hmm, circus peanuts?) mixed in smooth milk chocolate. Tasty!
I then tried Bajeczny. Let me say that I am glad this is a blog and not a vlog because I would have no clue as to how to pronounce these. This one just smelled like chocolate as far as I could tell. When I bit into it, it was very similar to the Pierrot, but with bits of either puffed rice or wafers instead of peanuts.
The last of that day: Liryk. (Is that a composer’s pen?) I thought this one smelled kind of like coffee, but when I cut into it, it looked like I was wrong. It turned out to be smooth white chocolate with tiny bits of something for crunch. I’m pretty sure they were flecks of almonds, but could be wrong.
Balamutka was yesterday’s first sampling. When I opened it, it definitely smelled like coconut. I’m not a coconut fan, but doing my food blogger duty, I ate one half. Yes, coconut. The filling was very much like the Liryk texture-wise, except had little pieces of shredded coconut. It wasn’t bad, but I gave the other half to Rachel, a coconut lover who happened to be in the other room. :)
The other that I tried yesterday was Nygusek, and it was so interesting! I couldn’t figure out if it smelled like Coke (love) or licorice (hate). When I cut into it, it had a dark jelly center which didn’t help clear things up. Biting into it though, it was definitely a Coke flavor, and I loved it! I never would have thought I’d like a chocolate/Coke combo even though chocolate Cokes exist in some places.
Today I finished them off, starting with Paryski (Paris?). This one smelled fruity, but in a nondescript way. Cutting into it was like the last because it also had a jelly center, this time dark pink. The flavor of it was (I think) cherry, but possibly raspberry. Either way, this was a definite favorite! It reminded me of a mild version of Cadbury’s Turkish Delight. Then I found out that the brand (E. Wedel) is Poland’s Cadbury company. So there you go.
The last of the rectangular chocolates was Manilla. It smelled like vanilla as predicted from the name. It was more caramel-colored than the Liryk and had a rich vanilla flavor. The texture was also different from the Liryk, and seemed very familiar. I guess it reminded me of a super dense (i.e. not runny) Cadbury creme egg?
Last but definitely not least is the Sliwka. In fact, this was actually the first one I tried, but Sylwia sent five! As you can see, this one is already quite different from the others since it’s not rectangular. You can probably also guess from the wrapper what’s inside: a plum! Okay, technically a prune since it’s dried.
The filling that surrounds the plum is similar to that of the Manilla texture and taste-wise, and the plum itself is moist because it’s in a syrup. Overall, I feel like this one has a slight coffee flavor, and it’s super delicious. Another favorite! It makes me think I’d actually like one of those chocolate prune cakes.
(Imagine four more plum wrappers.)
Anyway, I had fun trying all of these, especially since I knew I had somewhere to share my findings. (This made me feel like Victoria, though she’s way better at it than I am!)
Thank you for all of these tasty chocolates, Sylwia! :)
Also, while we’re on the topic of Christmas packages, look at what Lauren from veg:ology sent me a few weeks ago!
That’s some super tasty homemade gingerbread granola (with the recipe), and yes: those are personalized kitchen towels. Dang! She’s awesome and you should check out her blog. Thanks again, Lauren!
This post is brought to you by nice people. They’re nice.
That is super cool.. oh the puffed rice sounds dreamy.. I have not had the opportunity to try any candy/chocolate from Poland yet, bit I like the idea of a community sending Christmas cards to each other…
Very nice reviews and pictures. I have a difficult time getting focus on the centers of the chocolates sometimes, and yours turned out perfectly.
My bet is that with the Liryk had a coffee smell from the dark chocolate couverture (at least it looks dark). Very common taste/aroma undertone for dark chocolate.
All that candy looks wonderful! I would love if a package arrived for me full of chocolate! ;)
I think E. Wedel would fall in love with you, if they saw this post. ;)
I’m so happy you liked the candies so much to photograph them and create this dreamy post. These candies used to be much better, but since Cadbury have laid their hands on this Polish company, the quality got worse. It’s still one of, if not the best we have though. I used to work next to their factory in Warsaw and you could smell when the production of chocolate started. :drool:
You’ve guessed about the meaning of Pierrot. Bajeczny (read “ba:yetchni”) is an adjective of a noun “a fairy tale”. Pierrot and Bajeczny are my favourites. :D
Liryk is a poet who writes lyrical poetry or it’s a lyrical poem.
Bałamutka (read “ba:wa:’mootka”) is a flirtatious or coquettish woman.
Nygus is an old word for an urchin or a lazy bum.
Paryski means Parisian. Paris is “Paryż”.
Śliwka is of a different brand, Jutrzenka (read “yout’shenka”). I know this special shop where I can always get some fresh plums in chocolate and I wanted you to try them in this juicy syrup.
Again, happy to give you some pleasure for your palate. ;)
Bailey – I love puffed rice and chocolate together! And yep, it’s totally fun to send and receive cards from all over. :)
Victoria – Do you have a macro setting on your camera? I just have a little point and shoot, but it has this which lets me get the close shots. And I’m sure you’re right about the coffee smell. See? You’re such a chocolate connoisseur! I’m like, “mmm, yep. Tastes like chocolate!” :)
Liz – Care packages are awesome, but even better when they’re filled with chocolate!
Sylwia – Ahhh, I love this comment! Thanks for decoding everything (and the pronunciation guides)! As a Cadbury fan, it all tasted yummy to me. I didn’t see E. Wedel on the plums, so I wasn’t sure about the brand. Hope to one day try the fresh plums at that shop! :)
I’m pretty sure I’ve never given this much thought to candy before. I feel like I’d like the prune one. (Although I would obv eat all the others, because c’mon, they’re candy.)
I definitely hadn’t before this. And I was going to give you one of the prune ones, but forgot to bring it with me and ate it. oops.
HAHAHA!
i’m so in love with this post. love your honest review on the candy.
it’s so nice to receive a Christmas card and delicious candy, makes you dreaming of the next Christmas and future surprises in the mail :)
have a wonderful weekend Jessica
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Thank you so much for this detailed review! I recently bought a variety bag of these candies from a Polish store. My daughter just started with the Nygusek because of the primary colors, it looked kid friendly. We were wrong! Thanks to your review, she’s open minded to trying the others.