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".
Bigos has been known in Poland for hundreds of years. It is a dish eaten hot, or rather warm, most preferably in winter. It can be a one-dish dinner, which takes a long time to prepare. But it can be frozen and reheated many times, which only improves its taste. It is hard to imagine a Polish house, where bigos is not eaten. Wincenty Pol describes bigos in Proverbs of Mr. Wełdysz as one of the elements of Polish customs;
Burka - it's a garment!
Foxes - it's a covering!
Dukat - it's my receipt!
Miodek - it's a drink!
Bigos - is a dish!
Kulig is a party!
I associate one of the New Year's Eve parties from my youth with bigos and sleigh rides. After a New Year's Eve toast a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the nearby forests followed, the frost was severe and after the two-hour sleigh ride (and before the dances which lasted until morning) a lady supervising the youth party (coming from an old Polish family with traditions) treated all the participants to delicious bigos. Ears were shaking! Probably there are no such games now... but such bigos can be.
(Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator)