Tub-o-Lard at Jolly Inn

Last month in the Reader, Mike Sula introduced us to Dr Jan Kwasniewski, the "Polish Atkins". His Optimal Diet is shockingly high in fat particularly from animal sources.

A few months ago on the buffet table at Jolly Inn I came across smalec, which I could only think of as a tub-o-lard. This is perhaps Dr Kwasniewski's most perfect food. I can almost see some of you nodding enthusiastically in agreement.

The Tub


Lard on Rye


Jolly Inn isn't the only place offering smalec. It's available at Szalas and I suspect many restaurants would happily serve it even though it's not on the menu. As for Jolly Inn, it's a good example of a Chicago-Polish buffet, better than many and, at $6.55 for dinner, quite a deal.

Jolly Inn
6501 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago
773-736-7606

Szmalec is a type of Polish lard created from rendered pork fat. Homemade szmalec is typically imbued with pork cracklings, chopped and fried onion, marjoram, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. It is a classic peasant dish typically used as a substitute for the ‘rich man’s butter’ and is spread on bread. Approx. equal to one month’s supply of cholesterol on a single slice of bread.

... from this website.

It's on the counter at Andy's on Division as well. Szmalec makes sense if you're a strapping young Pole who puts in 15 hours a day laying bricks or roofing. Not so much if you're typing at your desk...

Shmaltz=+/-Szmalec, I presume.

JeffB wrote:Shmaltz=+/-Szmalec, I presume.

The difference being, of course, that one is chicken fat and the other is pork.

Of course... I'm assuming that they are etymologically the same or nearly so. Seems that they would be pronounced nearly identically.

JeffB wrote:Of course... I'm assuming that they are etymologically the same or nearly so. Seems that they would be pronounced nearly identically.

The Yiddish word "schmaltz" is believed to be derived from the German verb for "melt". So, I would guess that you're right, Jeff, they're probably etymologically related.

What is even better is rendered goose grease with apple pieces and onion fried into it, spread on a good sour dough rye bread.
judyd

Szmalec is pronounced "SHMAH lets," so you're correct in assuming it sounds like schmaltz.

I wish I liked Jolly Inn's food . . . I work about a block away. I guess it'll do in a pinch, but I don't really like it. And I get the impression that it isn't very highly regarded by the rest of the Polish community nearby . . .

When I was in Krakow a couple of years ago, the standard bread basket was served with a coffee mug of szmalec. Two of the four at my table liked it, but could only make a dent in the szmalec in the mug. The native Poles next to us, however, impressively scarfed down the entire coffee mug of szamalec. It reminded me of rancid bacon fat.

Acorn Williams wrote:Szmalec is pronounced "SHMAH lets," so you're correct in assuming it sounds like schmaltz.

I wish I liked Jolly Inn's food . . . I work about a block away. I guess it'll do in a pinch, but I don't really like it. And I get the impression that it isn't very highly regarded by the rest of the Polish community nearby . . .

I don't know how you judge that, but I will say that EVERY time I go there the place is filled with Poles!

you're right, the majority of the patrons are poles (though i have yet to see that restaurant "filled"), but i think that's more of a convenience thing and the fact that it's right in the middle of a very, very polish neighborhood . . . like i said, i work nearby, and i rarely hear english conversation around here, it's like another world. no one i know personally really loves the food there (which i know is not the entire polish population of chicago, but a pretty decent cross section of it, not excluding my very extensive family), but rather tolerates it and goes there because it is cheap and convenient, but it's not really high on the list of favorite polish restaurants. it's decent, but i don't ever go out of my way to eat there. shoot, i don't even have to go out of my way to eat there, and i choose not to (it's literally less than 2 blocks away from where i work). it's not even in my top 10 polish restaurants in chicago, and i don't really go out for polish food often thanks to my mom and grandma. and i get the feeling that a lot of people that really know polish food probably agree with that. and i think they just opened a white tablecloth restaurant right next door that my dad tried and absolutely hated . . . he ordered steak tartare there, one of his favorites, and, well . . . you can probably imagine why bad steak tartare would prevent someone from giving a restaurant a second try.

in that neighborhood, i really like new england inn, a czech restaurant that has ridiculously-sized portions for the cost of really good food! and some of the dishes are pretty similar to polish dishes, so if i'm craving that kind of food, i go there.

Acorn Williams wrote:...my top 10 polish restaurants in chicago...

Acorn: What are they?

Inquiring minds.

Acorn Williams wrote:i really like new england inn, a czech restaurant

There is a Czech restaurant called New England Inn? How odd . . .

Oh no! You caught me . . . though I have been to quite a few Polish restaurants in the area, I don't typically go out for Polish food as my mom and grandma are more than happy to make me my favorites, as Polish mothers an grandmothers love to cook for anyone, especially their children. That said, this list is not based on extensive knowledge of any of these restaurants, I've probably been to any single one of them, at most, four times. I just know that I personally liked them better than Jolly Inn (in no particular order):

Barbakan (actually this one is probably my favorite, since one of my favorite Polish things to eat is placek po wegiersku - Hungarian-style goulash with potato pancakes
Angelica's (my dad's ex-wife used to work here, and who knows, she still might - we don't really talk to her anymore, so he knows people there well enough to order things specially, so perhaps it is a different experience for us when we go there)
Andrzej Grill
Szalas
Zascianek
Podhalanka
Halina's
Smak Tak

And for restaurants that are on-par with the type of restaurant Jolly Inn is (that being the Old Country Buffet of Polish Cuisine), I actually like Bobak's and Czerwone Jabluszko better. Bobak's, at the very least, has a really good selection of food, including duck and oxtails every single time I've been there, and many more dessert and fresh produce options than Jolly Inn. And at least 3 different kinds of dumplings, not even including pierogi. And I love dumplings. And Czerwone Jabluszko, though I wouldn't necessarily ever recommend it to anyone, does crappy buffet food better than Jolly Inn, if you can believe that . . . so basically Jolly Inn is a worse version of Czerwone Jabluszko, in my opinion.

So, there's a list . . . maybe not my top 10 Polish restaurants in Chicago (and I'm not an authority on this by any means), but at least 10 restaurants that I think are better than Jolly Inn.

And New England Inn is so called because it is on New England Street (Avenue?) and Irving Park.[/quote]

That's a swell list of Polish places, actually. Not familiar with Barbakan, but based on your other picks, I will be soon.

JeffB wrote:That's a swell list of Polish places, actually. Not familiar with Barbakan, but based on your other picks, I will be soon.

Yes, very nice list, thanks Acron.

I just realized I didn't finish my thoughts on Barbakan . . . I like it because that dish happens to be one of my favorite Polish (or I guess Hungarian? Haha . . . ) dishes, and they do it very well there. They also have good steak tartare, and Barbakan is the restaurant whose cooking most closely resembles my mom's and grandma's.

In any case, I hope you like it!

I am finding two addresses for Barbakan

3145 N. Central
Chicago, IL 60634
773-202-8181

and

3308 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-202-8181

Which one is recommended? (if both still exist...)

it's the one on central . . . i believe milwaukee may be the old address . . .

Rene G wrote:Last month in the Reader, Mike Sula introduced us to Dr Jan Kwasniewski, the "Polish Atkins". His Optimal Diet is shockingly high in fat particularly from animal sources.

The Tribune had an article on this subject by Monica Eng a couple years ago. You could probably find (and pay for) it by searching the Trib archives, but someone has conveniently posted its contents on their blog here.

I vividly remember being horrified by it and clipped it out and mailed it to my aunt, who is a dietician.

I popped into Barbakan today, a place that has had only a few mentions here over the years, and had a very mixed experience. I had a potato pancake with a pork stew inside it, accompanied by three little salads— cucumbers with vinegar (very close to the standard Thai salad), mouth-puckeringly tart sauerkraut, and very slightly garlicky red cabbage. The food was quite good, especially fresh off the grill, but perhaps I've been spoiled by the homey service at Smak Tak and Bread N Bowl, because I was met with pretty much Soviet indifference: the kitchen's staticky radio blared into the main room, other customers got bread and soup but mine, if any, never came, a fire alarm was left chirping once a minute in a desperate plea for a new battery, and I finally sat with a dirty plate for a good ten minutes before the check was dropped off without a word. Some of that was due to the restaurant getting somewhat busy, but I've seen plenty of waitresses show more hospitality under busier circumstances. Too bad, because the food does seem in the first rank along with Podhalanka and Smak Tak, but if you want to try it, be prepared for no one to care if you live or die at your table.

Is Grota, beloved of Vital Info back in Chowhound days, still in operation, by the way? It looked pretty deserted (but maybe it always did).

This is going to be a reply after almost 2 years but it is funny you mentioned the alarm going on constantly. We were at Barbakan the night before the Chicago Marathon in October (2011) and that alarm drove my husband crazy!

We had almost the same experience except the waitress was friendly during the rare stops she made at our table.
It was a bad idea to carb load there before the race as I had a heartburn all through the race and after. I guess I shouldn't have eaten that beyond tart sauerkraut.

Funny that this thread got a bump today, as just yesterday I was noticing that Caputo's is selling Jolly Inn frozen pierogi. I did not try, but they looked good enough to.