Pittsburgh Bloomfield Restaurants - Bloomfield Bridge Tavern Polid Food

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The Bloomfield Bridge Tavern has quite a few noodle dishes.  The dish haluski is named for the halusky noodle which is a staple of Eastern European cuisine.   Normally these thick wheat noodles serve as the base for a stew, but with haluski, they are simply combined with cabbage.  Many times the noodles are homemade.

Polish dishes consist mostly of meat and starch, but sometimes they think to add cheese to the mix.  The Kluski dish is again named after the noodle.  Kluski is a wide, potato based noodle, or dumpling that is boiled similarly to the halusky.  Kluski noodles are combined with just about anything, and they are also famous for being the most commonly used noodle in chicken noodle soup.  However, at the Bloomfield Bridge tavern, it is served with cottage cheese

Haluski and Kluski noodles are also used in many different kugel recipes. Eastern European cuisine and Jewish cuisine are often extremely similar to each other, due to the fact that so many Jews lived in Eastern Europe, so their cultures are extremely influenced by each other. The Jewish potato pancakes are known by the Yiddish word latke, and there is also a version thought to be even older than the traditional potato latke.  The older, Assyrian latke probably consisted of grated cheese held together by a little egg.  However, the arrival of the potato from the Americas forever changed Eastern European cuisine.

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Some potato pancake recipes that are handed down from generation to generation are over a hundred years old, so they have a rich history of their own.  Latkes are traditionally eaten during Hanukah, as they are fried in oil, which nicely commemorates the oil that lasted eight days.  While Jews and Americans normally make them a sweet dish, and serve them with applesauce (as does the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern) they can also be a savory dish, topped with sour cream, or various sauces: mushroom, tomato or simply goulash.

Mushroom is a particular favorite of Polish dishes as it adds an earthy flavor that is fitting for comfort foods.  Cream also features prominently in many Polish broths such as the Cznania.  Most broths are served with some kind of starch, whether it is latke, or one of the many varieties of noodles.  Eastern European noodles are wide and sturdy for a reason.