Came here to post the same thing. Żurek is phenomenal and Polish cuisine is among the best, and most underrated.
Recipes online say you need to make a fermented starter liquid called zakwas, which is allegedly sold pre-made in Polish grocery stores. But I could not find it for sale online. There are instant żurek mixes on Amazon, though, and a few packets are now on their way.
> Recipes online say you need to make a fermented starter liquid called zakwas, which is allegedly sold pre-made in Polish grocery stores. But I could not find it for sale online.
In what part of the world are you in? Changes are there is a at least on Polish deli around you.
Polish cuisine really is amazing. My favorite cold summer soup is Chłodnik, a bright pink creamy beet soup with farm-fresh hard boiled eggs and young potatoes on the side. Borowikowa is a hot mushroom soup made from wild Porcini mushrooms gathered in the fall mushroom-hunting season with an incredibly rich taste.
The Poles take ingredient quality very seriously and have so many awesome food traditions, plus are getting much better at reproducing other culture's cuisines, I think mainly due to open EU borders giving a lot of restaurateurs working experience outside the country.
Well, this atlas registers it as a Lithuanian dish šaltibarščiai, much to dismay of Polish who believe it's their chłodnik, and Belarusians who are certain it's their chaładnik.
Recipes online say you need to make a fermented starter liquid called zakwas, which is allegedly sold pre-made in Polish grocery stores. But I could not find it for sale online. There are instant żurek mixes on Amazon, though, and a few packets are now on their way.