Polish tradition is alive and well at Portland’s Threshold Brewing & Blending: Zapiekanka!

Montavilla neighborhood favorite Threshold Brewing & Blending is slowly and methodically rolling out new features to make their casual taproom more enticing, the latest new item is Zapiekanka!

Zapiekanka Polish Pizza and beers at Threshold Brewing & Blending

Pronounced Zap-eeyeh-KAHN-ka and lovingly known as “Polish Pizza” these logs of cheesy savory bread can be coated with a variety of toppings and make for a perfect drinking street food. They also serve as an homage or throwback to brewer/co-owner Jarek Szymanski’s Polish heritage that he and his wife and co-owner Sara Szymanski have always wanted to integrate into the brewery. After first trying out a red beet barszcz soup and a traditional Paszteciki (meat-filled pastry) on the menu in early 2020, the Szymanski’s have always joked about starting a Polish street food truck. Until recently though, they did not even have a kitchen or the option to make more than snacks at the brewery but after trying out Zapiekanka as a special, they are now devoting a special part of the business to offering this unique snack.

“What can be challenging about Polish food - and maybe the reason it hasn't flourished in Portland - is that it can be hard to translate to an American audience. Both linguistically and as a menu,” says Sara Szymanski. “Serving Barszcz and Paszteciki at Threshold was fun but it was impossible for anyone to pronounce and no one had any idea what they were getting. I don't think we were even charging for it, we just wanted to introduce some Polish food to our customers.”

Threshold Brewing finally started to figure out how to make Polish culture integrate into a very modern brewery known for Hazy’s, Sours and big and bold beers when they decided to try their hand at a Polish classic drink called Grzaniec. Last winter as bars and restaurants were not allowed to open indoors breweries like Threshold needed to bolster their chilly outdoor seating, Grzaniec being a hot mulled beer was a good fit and got folks attention. The heated light Grisette base with honey, winter spices and citrus has now been retired for the summer but the brewery plans to bring it back when things get chillier.

Zapiekanka with brisket at Threshold Brewing & Blending

Of all the Polish food options to try out, why did Threshold choose Zapiekanka though?

“It's fairly pronounceable, which is a big plus, but that's not the reason we decided to launch our first real menu with it. Zapiekanka is something every Polish person knows. It's totally casual, you can get it from a kiosk on the street or you can make it at home. It's simple in execution but it exemplifies and celebrates true Polish food culture,” says Szymanski.

Zapiekanka is also easy to be prepped beforehand, the Szymanski’s are able to source the ingredients and prepare the specialty one of a kind elements at home and have them set-up and easy to assemble for a beertender at the taproom while not cutting any corners on the quality or authenticity of the snack.

Zapiekanka is at it’s heart a very simple food item; bread, mushroom, cheese, tomato but like anything can be process driven and just like an American pizza the key to quality is the attention paid to each and every ingredient. Instead of just purchasing the easy to come by breads, cheeses and sauces available at any grocery store locally, the Szymanski’s found the authentic versions of each or decided to make their own.

“The bread used for Zapiekanka is necessarily soft and dense. The crusty, airy artisan loaves you can find in Portland are actually the opposite of what Zapiekanka requires. Biting into a Zapiekanka, you want some inner chewiness, a nice crisp from the toasting and a perfect springboard for its rich mushroom base layer,” says Szymanski.

Luckily for us the outer southeast European market CityMaxx carries the eastern European Morski cheese thats both creamy and sharp, and an eastern European keilbasa that is lightly smoked and spiced with marjoram and juniper for a unique flavor profile. Beyond the pre-made locally available imports, the Szymanski’s had to come up with their own recipes starting with a stewed mushroom reduction for the base savory sauce.

For the brisket option the Szymanski’s decided to make their own. Jarek had already been smoking his own brisket for years before Threshold, but after a visit to the world famous Franklin BBQ in Austin, TX he became very invested in upgrading his equipment and methods. His brisket is Texas-style, with deceptively simple preparation of a salt and pepper dry rum and smoked low over hard cherry wood pellets.

Surprising the most difficult part of the Zapienkaka was the ketchup. American ketchup, even those made at small artisan sauce makers, just does not come close to replicating what Polish ketchup tastes like. After being unable to find an imported option that would suffice, Jarek set out to recreate his own based on a family recipe.

“This piece of the dish is maybe the most important and the way to tell a good Zapiekanka from an inferior one,” says Szymanski.

Jarek stews diced tomato, carrot, parsnip, leek, tart green apples and a proprietary blend of spices until the mixture is soft enough to puree. The ketchup isn’t as sweet as those commonly available, and has more savory and complexity than anything you will find around town. It’s then drizzled in a zigzag pattern over the top of the toasted cheese and toppings before the Zapiekanka is served up. It provides a decorative touch, as well as a bright zing to cut the rich fatty and buttery bread, cheese and meats.

The Zapienka is brought to your table piping hot in a folded cardboard tray just like they do it in Poland. It’s an emminently shareable snack that will more than hold off your hunger pains. It also pairs up nicely with the latest traditional Threshold beer a lightly smoked wheat ale called a Polish Grodziskie (Gro-JEES-kee-ye) which is made even more unique as it’s hopped with an obscure Polish noble hop called Lubelski.

For now Threshold Brewing is building their menu around Zapiekanka because of how well it translates to American culture while also showing off Polish grub. The taproom also offers meat and cheese boards and you can call in more substantial food orders from the neighboring gastropub Redwood.

In the future the Szymanski’s are interested in trying other fun Polish foods, in particular a Polish style of stew called Bigos. This hunter’s stew is made up of beef, sausage, tomato, sauerkraut, dried plums and, if you are staying very authentic you also add foraged and dried forest mushrooms. With any luck we will see Bigos (pronounced BEE-gos) at the same the the weather cools and the Grzaniec comes back on the menu.

“Mushroom foraging is an incredibly popular activity in Poland and a staple of many dishes. A bowl of hot and savory bigos with a big slab of buttered bread on a cool day is as good as it gets,” says Szymanski.

Threshold Brewing & Blending
403 SE 79th Ave, Portland, OR 97215

4 - 8 p.m. Tuesday - Thursday
4 - 9 p.m. Friday
3 - 9 p.m. Saturday
12 - 6 p.m. Sunday
Closed Monday