{{short description|Culinary Dish}} {{redirect|Kapusta}} thumb|Kapusta with mushrooms [[File:Pl-kapusta.ogg|thumb|Pronunciation of the word "kapusta" in Polish]]
'''Zasmażana kapusta''',<ref name="Strybel"/> known to many Polish people simply as '''kapusta''' [kah-POOS-tah] (which is the Polish word for "cabbage"),<ref name=kapusta>Robert Strybel [https://books.google.com/books?id=eXuO_-KMm2sC&dq=kapusta&pg=PA205 Polish Holiday Cookery and Customs] page 205, 152</ref> is a Polish dish of braised<ref name="Applebaum">{{cite book | last1=Applebaum | first1=A. | last2=Crittenden | first2=D. | last3=Bialy | first3=B. | last4=Bialy | first4=D. | title=From a Polish Country House Kitchen: 90 Recipes for the Ultimate Comfort Food | publisher=Chronicle Books | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-4521-1055-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HD5XLarwItEC&pg=PA118 | accessdate=Feb 7, 2015 | page=118}}</ref> or stewed sauerkraut<ref name="Strybel">{{cite book | last=Strybel | first=R. | title=Polish Holiday Cookery | publisher=Hippocrene Books | series=New Cookbooks Series | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-7818-0994-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXuO_-KMm2sC&pg=PA205 | accessdate=February 7, 2015 | page=205}}</ref> or cabbage, with bacon, mushroom and onion or garlic. It is seasoned with salt, pepper and sometimes bay leaf, caraway seeds, sugar, paprika and apples. The traditional dish is usually served along with boiled potatoes as an accompaniment for pork chops, pork cutlets, other pork dishes,<ref name="Strybel"/><ref name=kapusta/> veal, or game meats.<ref name="Applebaum"/> In some homes, kapusta is served very thin, almost like a soup. In others, its ingredients are thickened with flour or cooked until it becomes nearly as thick as mashed potatoes. It has been described as less sour in flavor compared to German sauerkraut.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Golarz | first1=R. J. | last2=Golarz | first2=M. J. | title=Sweet Land of Liberty | publisher=AuthorHouse | year=2011 | isbn=978-1-4567-4659-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iJScgoAHKb8C&pg=PA124 | accessdate=February 7, 2015 | page=124}}</ref>
Cabbage, the primary ingredient, is often pickled, like sauerkraut, which is amplified with a mix of mushrooms and onions and meat—fatty pork—either rib meat, bacon, or occasionally smoked kielbasa.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1826,144160-237203,00.html | title = Kapusta | publisher = cooks.com }}</ref> Almost always the dish contains a kind of roux.
==In popular culture== A chapter of Herta Müller's novel ''The Hunger Angel'' (''Atemschaukel'') deals with the protagonist's relationship to kapusta, which comes to represent both his life as a prisoner and his hopes for freedom.<ref>Müller, Herta; ''Atemschaukel''; Carl Hanser Verlag; 2009; pp. 157–163.</ref>
==See also== {{portal|Poland|Food}} * Cabbage stew * Kapuska * Bigos * List of cabbage dishes * List of fermented foods
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Polish cuisine Category:Cabbage dishes Category:Plant-based fermented foods