Kielbasa is the Polish family of meat sausages — most often coarsely ground smoked pork, sometimes blended with beef or veal, seasoned with garlic, marjoram and pepper and bent into its signature horseshoe loop. Garlicky, smoky and meaty, the most familiar form abroad is the plump, fully cooked kiełbasa wiejska ("country sausage") eaten grilled, simmered or sliced cold; in Polish, "kiełbasa" simply means "sausage" and covers dozens of distinct regional types.