Kielbasa (in English usually pronounced or ; in Polish spelled kiełbasa and pronounced is the generic Polish word for sausage. In New Jersey and most areas of Greater New York City, the Czech pronunciation, or possibly a derivative of the Polish word is used, and is usually pronounced "Ke-bah-see" or "Keu-bah-sah."

Sausage is a staple of Polish cuisine, and comes in dozens of varieties, smoked or fresh, but almost always based on pork (although in some areas, it is possible to get it in beef, horse, lamb, turkey, or even bison). Every region has its own speciality. Popular types include kabanosy (thin, air-dried sausage flavoured with caraway seed), krakowska (a thick, straight sausage hot smoked with pepper and garlic—name comes from Krakow), and wiejska (a large U-shaped pork and veal sausage with marjoram and garlic—name meaning "a country one", pronounced in Polish ). In the U.S., "kielbasa" or "Polish sausage" almost always means some form of wiejska (although often not U-shaped and seldom containing veal), which may be fully or partly smoked or unsmoked. A similar form of sausage is found in the surrounding Slavic nations as well, notably the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

A Cookbook:Wiejska can be found at the Cookbook.

Trivia

• "Kielbasa" is also the name of a song by Tenacious D. It has sexual connotations.
• "Kielbasa Posse" is a song by rapper Righteous B, who is Polish.
• In Poland, there is a rapper called Kiełbasa.
• In the computer game Space Quest 6, "Kelibasa" is the name of a lion-derived anthropomorphic star ship commander.
• A Polish sausage can be seen racing around the field following the sixth inning of all Milwaukee Brewers home games. It competes against the other Klement's Racing Sausages, which include also a hot dog, bratwurst, and Italian sausage.
• A local long-time TV celebrity in Cleveland, Chuck Schodowski, assumed the moniker "Kielbasa Kid" for several skits he has produced with partner Lil' John for "The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show."
• Kielbasa also appears in at least one Polish joke.

See also

• Kovbasa the Ukrainian equilivent, sometimes also called Kielbasa in English

Polish cuisine | Sausages

Kielbasa | Kiełbasa