Gość: igb
IP: RDGINFAPROX* / 195.152.54.*
06.11.02, 05:31
ten artykul jest zprzed roku ale jestem ciekawy czy cos sie zmienilo na
lepsze w tej sprawie uwazam je za sto razy lepsza i zdrowsza alternatywe do
macdonalda czy kfc
[BBC]Polish milk bars struggling on
Dumplings and cabbage: An alternative to hamburgers
By Nicholas Walton in Warsaw
For years in Poland a meal out meant wandering down to the local milk bar - a
state-run canteen serving good solid food - and as long as you didn't want
meat or alcohol, at bargain prices.
Many thought the milk bar's days were numbered with the end of communism, but
after more than a decade later, those that remain are carving out their own
place in the country's competitive catering marketplace.
Lots of our customers are poor people... But then there are lots of others
who simply like Polish cooking.
Milk bar manager
In the communist years of food shortages and endless queues the milk bars
provided an affordable place for most people to eat out.
They served basic traditional Polish meals - such as pierogi dumplings and
cabbage - and because of state subsidies they were able to keep costs down.
But Poland today is a very different place. The shops are packed with fresh
food such as mangos and kiwifruit. There are restaurants of every type - in
Warsaw it's possible to eat everything from sushi to Indian curry to Spanish
seafood.
Fast food expansion
And then there are the chains of western fast food branches opening up all
over the country.
Nowadays, just over 10 milk bars survive in Warsaw - a fraction of the number
that served the capital during communism. But at most times of the day they
are full, with queues waiting to place their orders.
The menu has grown over the last decade
The menus are posted to the wall near a cash desk. After ordering and paying,
customers wait at another counter where the dishes are handed out, straight
from the kitchen.
The range of food on offer has expanded over the last decade. There are now
many meat options, such as pork cutlets and chicken, although alcohol still
is not on the menu.
Cheap meals
The remaining milk bars are privately owned, but most of the basic
foodstuffs, such as cooking oil and vegetables, are still subsidised by the
state.
A pork cutlet, mashed potatoes, cabbage salad and tea cost me eight zlotys,
which is less than $2.
The government also issues tokens as part of the state social security
system, which recipients can exchange for meals at milk bars.
"All kinds of people come to milk bars", explains the manager of Bar Mleczny
Prasowy in Warsaw, Nina Gruszczynska.
The ladies who work here deserve the gold medal for what they do
Customer
She has been working in Milk Bars for 30 years, and says that they are now
attracting a broad cross-section of Polish society.
"Lots of our customers are poor people, or ill people who have a small
income. But then there are lots of others who simply like Polish cooking. The
dishes are typically Polish, and milk bars are a continuation of good Polish
cuisine."
Big portions
The customers agree with her that the food is tastier and cheaper than at the
McDonalds restaurant a couple of hundred metres away.
"It's cheap, so it's excellent for people like me," explains a student. "It's
also much more healthy than eating fast food."
Two men tucking into bowls of soup on the next table are also enthusiastic.
"You can eat your fill for a lot less than in restaurants. It's like home
cooking. But the disadvantage is that sometimes you meet strange people in
milk bars," says one.
"This has been the best milk bar in Warsaw for the last 30 years," adds his
companion.
"It's the cheapest, you get the biggest portions. And it's the cleanest. And
the service is the best - as quick as lightning! The ladies who work here
deserve the gold medal for what they do."
The remaining Polish milk bars are certainly popular, but their popularity
depends in part on the subsidies that keep the prices very low.
If that support is ever withdrawn, it is questionable whether they would
survive.
