This is a traditional Polish dish described in literature for a long time. It is based on sauerkraut and fresh white cabbage and different kinds of meat properly selected and prepared and stewed together for a long time in broth. And lots of additives. Which makes that virtually every housewife has her own recipe for bigos. The principle is to chop the ingredients into small pieces, which has been reflected in colloquial language in relation to various situations, e.g. in a sword fight "bigosowanie" meant chopping into small pieces. The taste of bigos is difficult to describe, as stated by Adam Mickiewicz in Pan Tadeusz: "it is difficult to put into words the wonderful taste of bigos, its color and scent".