Deko szynki
The grocery counter, where Poland still sells by the dekagram: the roll with a crown, head cheese and the cottage cheese called serek wiejski.
deko
noun · neuter, indeclinable
- EN
- dekagram, ten grams
- RU
- декаграмм (10 г)
Poproszę dwadzieścia deko szynki w plasterkach.
Two hundred grams of ham, sliced, please.
Ten grams, and the unit the deli counter still thinks in: dwadzieścia deko is 200 g, and the price tag says dag. Ask for dwieście gramów and you will be served and quietly marked as foreign.
pieczywo
noun · neuter
- EN
- bread and rolls (as a category), baked goods
- RU
- хлеб, хлебобулочные изделия
Świeże pieczywo dowożą codziennie rano.
Fresh bread is delivered every morning.
The category in one word — RU хлебобулочные изделия in two long ones. Chleb is the loaf, and its adjectives do the work: razowy is wholemeal, żytni rye, and jasny or ciemny is how you actually ask.
bochenek
noun · masculine
- EN
- a loaf
- RU
- буханка, батон
Pół bochenka, pokrojony poproszę.
Half a loaf, sliced, please.
One whole loaf, whatever its shape — RU splits буханка, the brick, from батон, the long white one. Pół bochenka is a normal order, and the shop slices it for you if you say pokroić.
kajzerka
noun · feminine
- EN
- a Kaiser roll (the crowned roll)
- RU
- кайзерка, булочка с 'короной'
Poproszę pięć kajzerek i chleb.
Five Kaiser rolls and a loaf, please.
The round roll with a five-part star cut on top, named after the Kaiser — Austrian in origin. In some regions it is simply a bułka; order kajzerka and nobody will ask which one.
drożdżówka
noun · feminine
- EN
- sweet yeast bun
- RU
- сдобная булочка, плюшка
Drożdżówka z serem i kawa na wynos.
A cheese bun and a coffee to go.
The sweet bun — with twaróg, plum or crumble — from drożdże, yeast. The -ówka ending names a thing by what it is made of or with: kremówka, the papal cream cake; reklamówka, the carrier bag.
nabiał
noun · masculine
- EN
- dairy (products)
- RU
- молочные продукты, молочка
Nabiał jest w lodówkach na końcu sklepu.
The dairy is in the fridges at the back of the shop.
Milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt and, by tradition, eggs — one word for the aisle sign and the diet sheet. Russian says молочные продукты or, casually, молочка; Polish nabiał is neutral.
serek wiejski
phrase · noun, masculine
- EN
- cottage cheese
- RU
- зернёный творог
Na śniadanie jem serek wiejski ze szczypiorkiem.
For breakfast I have cottage cheese with chives.
Literally 'village cheese', and originally a brand. Not twaróg, which is dry curd cheese — the one Russian calls творог.
maślanka
noun · feminine
- EN
- buttermilk
- RU
- пахта
Do naleśników dodaję maślankę zamiast mleka.
I put buttermilk in pancakes instead of milk.
From masło — what is left when butter is churned, and a drink Poles buy by the litre. RU пахта exists and nobody drinks it. Kefir is the same as кефир; zsiadłe mleko is the third bottle on that shelf.
wędlina
noun · feminine
- EN
- cold cuts, cured meats
- RU
- колбасные изделия, мясная нарезка
Wędliny kupuję tylko na wagę, nigdy pakowane.
I only buy cold cuts from the counter, never packaged.
Everything at the meat counter that is not raw — ham, sausage, pate — in one word Russian lacks. From wędzić, to smoke; wędzony is on half the labels. Stoisko z wędlinami is where you queue.
salceson
noun · masculine
- EN
- head cheese, brawn
- RU
- зельц
Dziadek zawsze kupuje salceson i je go z octem i cebulą.
Grandad always buys brawn and eats it with vinegar and onion.
Pork head meat set in its own jelly and sold by the slice. Salceson czarny contains blood, biały does not; both are an acquired taste for anyone under sixty.
Drill these ten · earlier morning
Drill these ten