Bigos (polish Cabbage Meat Stew)

Ingredients

• 2.5 kg cabbage
• 2 kg fermented cabbage
• 500 g pork
• 250 g sausage
• 250 g bacon
• to taste mushrooms
• to taste black pepper
• to taste salt
• to taste bay leaf

Steps

1. Chop the cabbage, add the pepper and salt, a part of the mushrooms and bay leaf, and cook until soft (about 2–3 hours).
2. Chop the bacon and let it melt in a frying pan.
3. Fry the chopped meat and sausage in the bacon grease.
4. If necessary, drain excess water from the stewed cabbage and add the fried meat, bacon, and sausage along with the grease out of the pan.
5. Stew everything as long as possible—the longer, the better (sometimes it is done for 3 hours a day in 3 following days, or even longer).
6. When ready, the dish should be a thick mash that does not leak water on the plate; it should be mildly sour and have a strong flavour of smoked bacon.