Posted by Jeff Jurmain in polish, products, shops on July 27, 2007 at 2:05 pm

Granowska’s
175 Roncesvalles Avenue
416-533-7755

Last year I had dinner at a friend's place in a Polish pocket of Toronto. She served the most tremendous pierogi I had ever had. The kind I had difficulty sharing. It had to be homemade. Nope, she said. They were from a shop "just over there," pointing at Roncesvalles Avenue.

I decided to find this shop, with a neighbourhood tip that it was called Granowska's. About halfway down the Roncesvalles strip, there it was. At tables inside and out, people speaking Polish were amassed drinking coffee and eating pastries. It’s no wonder why.

Under a long glass display sat an enormous number of sweet things, clearly the thrust of their business. Poised to raise one's blood sugar levels were babka (of many flavours), éclairs, cakes, cheesecakes, meringue pies, strudels, croissants, cinnamon bread, Danishes, and cookies. (These all likely have their own Polish moniker.)

I was told the most popular, and traditional, item was a paczki (pronounced "pawtch-key") that is glazed with almond and orange zest. It’s a fluffy pastry with plum filling.

Beside the pastry display was a freezer packed with ice cream, available by the scoop. The homemade flavours included pistachio, walnut, almond, lemon, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and pineapple. Next to that - Polish cheeses and meats. On my first visit, none of this was interesting me because I searched for one thing only.

Near the back of Granowska's sits a tall freezer. I had found them! Employees told me the four pierogi flavours are made fresh once or twice a week. The ones filled with cottage cheese are the most traditional style, a favourite in Poland. In the freezer there are three others: cheddar cheese, “meat,” and sauerkraut.

Being a vegetarian, I bought three of four. They can be ordered to eat in-house but I wanted to take them home. After a short boil and a pan fry to brown them a little, they were somehow soft and firm at once, and each flavour's taste was distinctive. These were not average frozen pierogi - which I will never, ever purchase again.

I’ve compiled descriptions for each, eating them with a pen in my hand.

1. Cheddar cheese: Combined with potato, this is a stand-up version of many people's preferred pierogi. It is creamy and smooth.

2. Cottage cheese: Tastes authentic, fresh, and soft. There is a lingering sweetness afterward. This one thrives in its subtlety.

3. Sauerkraut: A unique flavour that bursts out of the dough with a pickled tang. A far stray from the typical pierogi, this one has an added crunch amid the smoothness. It might be the best one at Granowska's, an idea supported by the shop’s employees.

I’m not joking here: these are incredible little pierogi. I’m lucky my icebox freezes over each month or I would stack it full of the things (which isn't the wisest health move). I'm no expert in Polish cuisine, and I haven't done thorough research in Toronto, but that freezer in Granowska's in the heart of Roncesvalles village might just house the city's tastiest pierogi.

That is quite a feat for a shop known for being a bakery, one that has even provided ceremonial bread and pastries to Pope John Paul II when he visited Toronto.

No word on whether he bought pierogi.