The Polish meal of the era revolved around obiad, the large midday meal, which almost always began with a zupa (a foundational soup, often sour or fermented), followed by drugie danie (the 'second course,' meat or pasta). Breakfast (śniadanie) and supper (kolacja) remained light: black bread, cheese, curdled milk. In Bronisława's home, this Tatra mountain foundation mingled with the bourgeois refinement of Warsaw and a few habits picked up in Paris.

The soul of this cuisine is living acidity: zakwas, a liquid sourdough of rye flour left to ferment for several days, gives its sour edge to both żurek and barszcz. To this answers the smokiness of Tatra sheep cheeses (oscypek), the second signature of the Zakopane table.