Poland

Kubica's Montreal Win and a Pot of Bigos

Poland has never hosted a Grand Prix, but Robert Kubica gave it a famous victory in Canada, and its kitchen is generous with soups, dumplings and slow stews.

No World Championship race has been held in Poland, and the country's Formula 1 story is essentially the story of one driver. Robert Kubica made his debut in 2006 and won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, still the only victory by a Polish driver in our records.

His career covered 99 starts with BMW Sauber, Renault, Williams and Alfa Romeo Racing. He raced every season from 2006 to 2010, then, after eight seasons away, returned to the grid in 2019 and made his final starts in 2021. No Polish team appears in our records.

Polish cooking grew over ten centuries of farming, trade routes, religious observance and contact with neighbors. It is rich in pork, chicken and game, vegetables, grains, mushrooms and herbs, and it does not stint on butter, cream or eggs. Soup matters a great deal. A traditional dinner opens with a broth such as rosół or a tomato soup, moves on to meat with potatoes or kasza and a crisp salad of shredded vegetables, and ends with fruit compote, poppy seed cake or cheesecake.

Festive meals take days of preparation, and look it. Christmas Eve, Wigilia, is meat free and centers on beetroot soup and fish, while Easter breakfast brings sour rye soup, sausages and ham. Many of the best loved dishes are humble and slow: dumplings, stews of cabbage and meat, stuffed cabbage leaves. For a race weekend, a pot of bigos can simmer quietly through qualifying.

A taste of Poland

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