The zapiekanka was born in 1970s Poland, when baguettes arrived in Polish bakeries and frugal cooks discovered that half a loaf, some mushrooms and a little cheese made a very good hot lunch. It became the fast food of the late communist years and never left. Today it is sold from hatches in town squares, stadium concourses, beach resorts and festival fields, most famously from the round market hall on Plac Nowy in Kraków's Kazimierz district, where the hatches stay open late into the night and the queues are part of the scenery.

The classic is pleasingly simple: mushrooms, cheese, ketchup and chives on a long, toasted half baguette, eaten from a paper sleeve while it is still dangerously hot. It is perfect race food because the oven does the cooking and everyone can choose their own toppings.

The mushroom topping

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 lb (450 g) white button mushrooms
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Building and baking

Ingredients

• 2 baguettes
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
• 2 cups (200 g) gouda style cheese
• to serve ketchup
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives

More from Poland