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Post by valpomike on Sept 3, 2009 22:43:19 GMT 1
This was to be left Warsaw, sorry, getting old.
Mike
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Post by locopolaco on Sept 4, 2009 6:50:17 GMT 1
This was to be left Warsaw, sorry, getting old. Mike news flash: taco bell isn't really mexican food. it's extremely americanized. |
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Post by valpomike on Sept 4, 2009 13:36:06 GMT 1
But many people of Warsaw liked it. I know since I am Mexican. Just joking, but spent much time there, Mexico, and with them.
Mike
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Post by valpomike on Sept 4, 2009 22:37:47 GMT 1
By the way, I did get a recipe for Pagach, from family in Warsaw, and they said, everyone eats, makes, and likes it very much.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 23, 2009 18:47:53 GMT 1
Poles abandoning restaurants for a burger
thenews.pl
17.09.2009
The economic crisis is taking Pole out of restaurants and in to fast food joints.
Poles always have ate out less frequently than other EU citizens. While an average Frenchman spends 900 euro a year in restaurants and bistros and an average Czech 350 euro, a Pole leaves only 100 euro in outlets that serve meals.
The finance crisis has curbed eating out spending in Poland still further. Eating at restaurants, which became fashionable five years or so ago, is declining in popularity. Euromonitor International predicts that this year restaurants' profits will go down by 3 per cent.
Instead, Poles choose fast food restaurants. Ikea, which serves cheap Swedish meals, has recently become very crowded as the number of customers has grown by10 per cent.
"I used to eat at Sphinx restaurant, where I paid about 20 zloty (4.85 euro) for a meal, but recently I've been dining at Ikea, where an average meal costs only 9 zloty (2.18 euro)," says one diner, quoted in Metro.
McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and kebab bars have also become more popular among Poles. "In the first half of the year our profits went up by over 105 per cent in comparison with the similar period last year," says Anna Robotycka from AMRest, company which manages over 400 KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King restaurants.
The company plans to open 50 more outlets this year as Poles hunger for a burger appears insatiable.
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 5, 2009 22:01:42 GMT 1
Stuffed potato pancakes to die for at Peter K's
The Buffalo News
October 30, 2009
Arley Koschuk serves a plate of the famous stuffed pancakes at Peter K's on Harlem Road in Cheektowaga.
Peter K's is an old-fashioned bar with an airy, bright dining room that has made its reputation on one simple but wonderful dish, the stuffed potato pancake. A plain potato pancake, with crispy edges and a warm, soft interior, is simply wonderful. The stuffed versions served at Peter K's are sublime. Of course, there are other selections on the menu, including a Polish Reuben, with Polish sausage instead of corned beef, for $5.50, and a Polish platter of Polish sausage, two cheese pierogi, golumbki and kraut for $9.95.
Ruth, Dan, John and I visited before the new menu was unveiled, but saw it soon afterward. It includes daily specials: Mexican Monday, Italian Tuesday (all-you-can- eat spaghetti for $4.95), All-American Wednesday, Polish Thursday, Fish Fry Friday ($8.50, fresh haddock guaranteed) and Saturday, when a pot roast dinner is $9.95 and a pot roast sandwich is $5.95.
These daily specials would have made choosing difficult. As it was, we all stuck with stuffed potato pancakes, and we were all extremely happy.
We started with a single order of chicken wings ($6.95), which were plump and juicy and not greasy. Five chicken fingers ($5.95) were served with a side of fries —the variety that are lightly seasoned on the outside. Both were very good.
The potato pancakes, though, were the stars of the show. Each one is a dinner-plate- sized cake, medium-thick, nicely fried, then filled with hot ingredients and folded over, so it resembles a taco.
Two of the stuffed potato pancake creations we chose had echoes of breakfast—a bacon, egg and cheese stuffed pancake was $5.50, and an eggs Benedict version contained eggs, peppers and onions and topped with creamy Hollandaise and was $4.95. Both, served hot, were delicious.
We also tried the Spinach Parm pancake ($4.95), made with sauteed spinach and mushrooms and softened cheese. A special that made it onto the new menu is the Chicken Alfredo ($6.95), filled with chunks of white-meat chicken, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and melted Swiss, covered with a creamy Alfredo sauce. Delicious.
Peter K's is open from 4 to 10 p. m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday and from 11:30 a. m. to 10 p. m. Thursday and Friday. There is a handicapped- accessible ramp at the side door.
Peter K's
2709 Harlem Road,
Cheektowaga
893-9229
31/2 pennies
(out of four):
"Don't miss this"
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Post by valpomike on Nov 5, 2009 22:33:25 GMT 1
Do they and you eat this, stuffed stuff in Poland? What is it called in Polish, a heart burn?
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 6, 2009 22:45:31 GMT 1
Do they and you eat this, stuffed stuff in Poland? What is it called in Polish, a heart burn? Mike The restaurant does a strange thing to those pancakes- they wrap them like tacos. It is not the Polish way. The potato pancakes, though, were the stars of the show. Each one is a dinner-plate- sized cake, medium-thick, nicely fried, then filled with hot ingredients and folded over, so it resembles a taco. |
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 18, 2009 20:25:45 GMT 1
Pickles, Mustard and Pierogi
By Robb Walsh
Houston Press
Thu., Oct. 29 2009
​I am not sure the Polish food store beside Polonia actually has a name. The sign just says "Kielbasa, Golabki, Pierogi." The store is justly famous for its fabulous jelly-filled paczki doughnuts and outrageous kabonosy and kielbasa. (They fly in 600 pounds of sausage from Chicago each week.) But I am usually in such a hurry to get my doughnuts and sausage out to the parking lot that I ignore the rest of the store. Last week my housemate demanded a full tour, and we ended up at the cash register with a big pile of items that we couldn't live without.
​She is a mushroom freak and spent a long time browsing the pickled mushroom aisle. We got a bottle of premium pickled boletus mushrooms that I now enjoy eating with bacon and eggs for breakfast. Speaking of bacon, there are some awesome slice-it-yourself slabs in the meat case. This store also has the largest selection of pickles I have ever seen. There are fermented (Kosher-style) pickles in jars with little doilies over the lids, dill pickles, garlic pickles, vinegar pickles, petite pickles and lots of Polish "kornichons. " The mustard section is small, but well-stocked with unusual brands.
I stood in awe before the frozen pierogi. There were two entire glass freezer cases full of the stuff. I grew up eating these little Eastern European raviolis, but I had never seen half of these varieties. There was meat, beef-and-pork, mushroom, kraut, kraut-and-mushroom, spinach, and cabbage. There were also strawberry and cherry-filled dessert pierogi. (Who knew?) I settled for a package of the potato-and-cheese- filled variety. (That's the kind that Grandma made.) But I vowed to return and try some of the others. I think I also need to try some of the frozen pierogi sauces.
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 22, 2009 16:27:50 GMT 1
Munch goes to S&D Polish Deli
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Although it was the Scots-Irish who put the yin in our yinz, and the Germans who gave us Iron City and whose descendants here claim ancestral ties more than any other European tribe, it's hardly a reach to suggest that no ethnic groups are more closely associated with Pittsburgh than Eastern Europeans, specifically the Poles.
You'd hardly guess it by looking at the local culinary scene, which is dominated by Italian, Mediterranean and Asian fare (not that Munch is complaining) .
Perhaps it's because Polish food is simpler, a bit heavy and a tad inelegant -- pierogis and haluski do not exactly scream "hot date" the way, say, tapas and sangria do -- or perhaps because so much of this gastronomic tradition is still kept alive in Gram's kitchen and church basements.
After all, why eat it out when you can get it better at home?
As a pure Heinz 57 Pittsburgher, Munch claims no favorites among ethnic dishes, except for one: more. And that's exactly what this Baghead-American got at the S&D Polish Deli in the Strip District. More. More! Dalszy!
The clean little storefront done up in its home nation's traditional red and white is an excellent addition to the United Nations of food that exists on Penn and Smallman. Run by a married couple from Wocawek in central Poland, it has to be the only place in Pennsylvania that you'll hear Polish reggae on the stereo, and it's a one-stop shop for everything from Polish shampoo to Polish ketchup imported from the motherland, as well as some truly excellent traditional Polish fare.
Let's start with the pierogis, as Munch and Roommate of Munch (ROM) did; $4 gets you a plate of four of the finest pierogis you'll eat this side of Krakow. We mowed through two plates, trying the potato & cheddar, kraut & mushroom and farmer's cheese -- a sweet dry-curd Polish white cheese called Twarog. Each one was better than the last, perfectly buttered warm gobs of goodness in a thin soft dough shell.
If there is such a thing as dessert pierogis, S&D offers them as well -- fruit pierogis filled with whole pitted fruit and served plain or with sour cream and sugar. But Munch and ROM were just warming up to gorge on the main courses.
All manner of dishes from Stroganoff ($6.50), to Golabki ($2.50) to Borscht and Kielbasa ($5) beckon your belly.
Munch opted for the Hunter's Stew or Bigos, a traditional Polish dish of cabbage and kraut cooked with pieces of smoked meats and dried mushroom ($4.50). Impeccably seasoned, it was simply delicious.
ROM tried the Leczo, another soupy stew that's said to have Hungarian origin, but is "very popular on Polish table" according to the menu. Green & red peppers, onions and tomatoes are sauteed with slices of Polish kielbasa ($5). ROM reported it to be an excellent cup of comfort on a cold day.
Feeling a bit peckish, Munch also wolfed down a plate of haluski ($3.50) -- cabbage and noddles with a peppery seasoning, while ROM went for round two on the pierogis. Both were outstanding and filled us to the point that eating became an optional pursuit for three days following.
The only thing missing from this feast was beer (or vodka, more appropriately) . Nonetheless, Munch offers a hearty Na Zdrowie! to the S&D Polish Deli.
S&D Polish Deli is at 2204 Penn Ave., Strip District. Call 412-281-2906 or visit sdpolishdeli. com for more information.
Read more: www.post- gazette.com/ pg/09309/ 1010885-440. stm#ixzz0W1xermD m==============================================
Polish St Martin's croissant wins EU brand protection
Polish Market
2009-11-13
Saint Martin's Day was the first day when the Rogal ŒSwietomarcinski (Saint Martin croissants) was marked with an EU brand protection symbol. The privilege was granted to producers who received a quality certificate.
The tradition of Saint Martin's croissant baking has been cultivated for 150 years. The product has always been associated with the Saint's Day during which almost half of its annual production is normally consumed.
The croissant may now be produced in 26 counties of the Wielkopolska region. Its unique taste is a result of the traditional baking method and the type of ingredients used in the process.
The name Rogal Œwiêtomarciñski entered the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications. The name may now be used only by producers who underwent a special quality control and have a valid quality certificate.
The system of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications provides consumers with high-quality products from recognisable origins. __._,_.___
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Post by valpomike on Nov 22, 2009 19:43:36 GMT 1
Could be good, but home made, most of the time, are great.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 27, 2009 21:41:13 GMT 1
Little Polish Diner offers taste of the old country in Parma
By Bob Sandrick
Parma (OH) Sun Post
November 15, 2009
Kyle Lanzer/Sun NewsZofia Hart and Jon Holt have a party room a few doors down from their Little Polish Diner on Ridge Road in Parma.
Zofia Hart, co-owner of Little Polish Diner on Ridge Road in Parma, has some pretty tough customers to please.
Many of them are older folks who can no longer prepare their favorite Polish dishes, so Hart, born and raised in Poland, cooks for them.
Hart remembered one customer who asked if she picked her own mushrooms for the diner's homemade mushroom soup.
"I said, `Sir, if I picked my own mushrooms, the health department would close me down so fast I wouldn't even have time to make the soup,'" Hart said.
The man insisted that the soup isn't homemade unless the mushrooms are handpicked. He said his uncle used to pick his own mushrooms in a Polish forest.
"I asked him where in the magical forest would he like me to go around Cleveland to pick the mushrooms for his soup," Hart said.
"I used to pick my own mushrooms in Europe," Hart said. "My father taught me well. But I wouldn't do it for a restaurant because one little mushroom can kill hundreds of people."
Hart and her business partner, longtime boyfriend Jon Holt, apparently know what they're doing. The diner, at 5772 Ridge, has been open almost four years and its popularity isn't waning.
LPD serves classic Polish dishes like stuffed cabbage, pierogis, beef stroganoff, beef goulash, schnitzel and smoked kielbasa from Chicago.
Everything is made from scratch and Hart doesn't cook with salt. She uses soy oil, which contains no trans fats or cholesterol.
"Doctors eat here on a regular basis just because of the way the food is prepared and how fresh it is," Holt, an Elyria resident, said.
The tiny restaurant has only five tables and a counter. Sometimes customers have to stand in line.
"This is like coming to your best friend's kitchen, having a homemade meal and being able to talk to the people next to you," Holt said.
Second chance
Holt met Hart about 28 years ago in Denny's on Brookpark Road in Parma. They were dining in different booths.
"I didn't even see her," Holt said. "I heard her talking and I looked at my friend across the table from me and said, `Who's that talking? I've got to meet her.'"
Holt recognized Hart's culinary talent from the start. Her parents had taught her to cook before she immigrated to the United States from Poland at 17.
"They don't have recipes," said Hart, who lives in Old Brooklyn. "They don't measure one tablespoon of something. It's just a little of this and a little of that."
Holt and Hart dated for about 3½ years. She wanted to get married but he didn't so they broke up.
Both Holt and Hart married different people. Both had three children.
Then, about 14 years ago, Holt divorced and Hart's husband died suddenly — in the same year. The two started dating again.
"We got a second chance in life," Hart said.
Hart continued to cook but not just for herself and Holt. They routinely invited friends and neighbors to dinner.
The friends and neighbors suggested that Holt and Hart start a restaurant.
Intimate atmosphere
Holt has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. An engineer by trade, he's owned six-eight businesses over the years.
When he decided to open a diner, Hart searched for space in Parma because he had lived here several times and knew of the city's Polish heritage.
Holt found a building that had been a diner, under different names, for about 35 years. The last one was called Monte's Little Diner.
Holt bought the property without telling Hart. She was stunned when he told her his plan.
"I didn't know what to think," Hart said. "This is actually the hardest thing I've ever done. Cooking seems very easy when you do it just for the family."
LPD inherited a rowdy crowd from Monte's. Holt said customers thought they owned the place.
"One guy would walk out the front door, throw his cup of coffee onto Ridge Road, come back and say, `Fill me up,'" Holt said. "They had a tendency to be obnoxious."
The clientele changed as the restaurant advertised more and word of mouth circulated.
Some LPD customers have advised Holt and Hart to move into a bigger space but Holt is reluctant. He doesn't want to lose the restaurant's intimacy.
Meanwhile, the customers keep coming, like the 84-year-old woman who ordered stuffed cabbage — "and it better be good," the woman warned Hart.
The woman tasted a sample and summoned Hart. She said that once a month she had made stuffed cabbage for her adult children.
"She said, `Well guess what? From now I'm not making it anymore. You're making it for me.'"
"She said to this day they don't know that it's not her stuffed cabbage," Hart said.
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Post by locopolaco on Dec 3, 2009 23:01:02 GMT 1
oh wow. this is a case of Alexandra's pierogi from their factory in Chicago.. you've never seen more pierogis in your life..  |
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Post by valpomike on Dec 3, 2009 23:04:07 GMT 1
Only if they were as good as home made.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 4, 2009 22:47:20 GMT 1
oh wow. this is a case of Alexandra's pierogi from their factory in Chicago.. you've never seen more pierogis in your life.. Well... I once bought factory-made pierogis. I even tried them. What is more, I ate them all because I am against wasting food. But I vowed never to buy such stuff again. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by valpomike on Dec 7, 2009 18:20:25 GMT 1
Can one and all, from Poland, please tell us what you will be eating on Christmas Eve, and day. Everyone tell other things, and I think there is a custom, for these meals.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 26, 2010 14:32:33 GMT 1
My Thanksgiving at Tomasek's
Polish News, IL
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
By Christopher A. Elliott
As a tradition celebrated throughout the United States, the feast of Thanksgiving holds a special place in the hearts of every proud American.
My family, who are mostly Europeans of Polish origin, are very grateful for the day of getting together and honoring a centuries old feast. And because of their gratitude, and those of many others, the mood on this day always seems perfect.
For me, Thanksgiving begins later in the day when I'm going to my car for the drive over to my Uncle Ted Tomasek, for an enormous home cooked dinner.
It is at this moment when a renewed longing for a truly classic holiday enters my heart. Before leaving the house, I notice that lined up and down my street are parked unfamiliar cars from out of town, and relatives standing at their family's doorstep dressed in their Sunday's best. As a husband or wife open the door for their kin, waiting with hugs and kisses, you can almost catch the scent of home cooked turkeys filtering in the air.
While driving down the road to my uncle's house, I see the main streets practically barren. Only a few last minute people seem to be out driving to their destinations. My attention becomes completely occupied by the splendid sight of the crisp November air dancing with the leaves, and the sun setting over the sky, retreating with a pastel orange-pink hue.
Finally, when I arrive at my uncle Ted's block, the first sight again is a multitude of cars lined bumper to bumper down the street and driveways.
Getting closer, I even spot a few houses with Christmas lights decorated by the die-hard individuals who like to get an early start on things.
Finally, pulling up to my Uncle Ted's, I smell turkey and hear the priceless sound of familiar laughs.
On this day Ted always has his door opened.
I'm almost certain that he does this to allow the person, when they walk down stairs, not only to be greeted by one, but by all. Before I even reach the basement floor, Ted immediately has his hand extended with a huge smile and warm wishes. As I'm about to wish him the same, Mary, his wife, is walking into the dining area with some appetizers, while at the same time turning her head toward me with a welcoming but busy smile. That gesture is usually all I get from her and that's enough to make me feel welcome.
She has hosted the Thanksgiving dinner for almost two decades; her niceties are reserved for later. Until then, nobody goes near her or partakes in any of the preparations; she prides herself on being able to cook the most delicious meal west of Krakow, Poland.
Looking around all twenty some people, sitting and enjoying a few drinks and good conversation, I know what is expected of me. I greet each lady with three kisses, then off to the men for the anticipated firm handshake; so by the time I'm finished, my lips are numb and my hands are sore. Before even getting a chance to sit down, my cousin Chris, who over the years has been on a manly journey of making babies, calls me over to the bar for a shot of home-made Polish spiritus. While pouring the caramel-colored alcohol usually into four shot glasses, two for us and for two other immediately obliging cousins, we begin toasting to each other sto lat, na zdrowie, and wishing each other happiness. It is then to the task of holding our breath as 97 proof burns down our esophagus.
Then Ted calls everybody to find a seat, while at the same time setting up the mood for a thankful feast. The anticipation is over; the food is finally brought from the kitchen.
The soup is first. Mary has been making this delicious chicken barley soup since I could remember, and I never finish with just one bowl.
As I round off my second bowl, steaming plates of stuffing and turkey and sweet potatoes glazed in brown sugar along with Polish sausage, beef, two kinds of cabbage salad and cranberries, move around the table sliding down onto the everybody's plates and quickly enough disappearing from them. But right before anything is even eaten two prayers are said, one in Polish and then one in English by my mother for my father and me, who can only understand about a third of it. The Polish prayer by my cousin Chris is never without a little humor added, contrary to my mother who is very serious, religious and predictable and her prayer is exactly the same year after year.
As we finish eating the button-busting dinner, small groups start forming. The bar begins to be surrounded mostly by the husbands, and myself who could go for another shot of that delicious home-made Vodka based on 'spiritus'. Another group still surrounding the main dining table where my parents usually end up staying, are mingling with the rest of the parents.
Here at this table is where they begin uncovering the lost archives of thanksgiving pasts; arguing about what they argued about before, and then trying to remember who was right the year before. The third table consists mostly of the younger crowd who talk about sex, the best places to go on weekends, and how their newfound relationships are holding up. But it isn't any of these tables that makes this night a special memory in my mind; it's actually the chair that my Aunt Josephine sits on. Her ideas alone have historically brought my whole family together in a heated discussion about family, politics, and religion, but her stubborn fixated passion over the preceding idea drives the conversation to last into the midnight hours.
However the night never ends on this note. When all is said, and nobody wins, and the bottles have all been emptied of their spirits, everybody begins to sing "God Bless America", and then "Sto lat".
So ends once again another classic Thanksgiving.
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Post by valpomike on Jan 26, 2010 19:00:20 GMT 1
That is great, but is this what most do on this day?
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 31, 2010 13:12:13 GMT 1
Culinary Experience in Poland
If you go to Poland, be ready for an unforgettable adventure tasting their delicious cuisine. Gdansk, Krakow, Warszawa, Wroclaw, Poznan, Lublin: all cities have their own specialities and a great variety of products.
I’m a passionate cook and I like everything that is related to cooking. I also like travelling and before visiting any place or country, I always try to be well informed and prepared. Obviously, for me the most important is to know where and what to eat.
The last interesting country I visited was Poland. Some of my neighbours were there few months ago and I decided to see it as well. I don’t know Polish at all but, well, I had to organize my "eating tour".
I typed catering, restaurant and one more word Polska and I found out a website, it was something as "catering firms", a kind of directory that had many companies in one place. It was very useful because I could see some photos and decide where to go once I was there. It’s amazing that sometimes even without knowing the language you can understand some things (well, no idea about the pronunciation...)
I found a cheap flight to Krakow and two hours later I was there. I liked the people and the country very much. I crossed all Poland, having a stop in Warszawa and finally I reached Gdansk where I took my flight back to UK.
Regarding the food itself, the Polish cuisine is very rich; I tried what they call beegos and their delicious soups (you can find one in each colour...). Anyway, there are countless of other possibilities in terms of food types and formats. There is a wide variety of cultural traditions of different dishes to choose from (salads, potatoes served in many different ways, meat...). The restaurants are very nice and fairly cheap. Well, one pint costs no more than one pound. I think that it was one of the best culinary experiences I’ve had.
The final conclusion: if somebody decides to go to Poland, I strongly recommend spring or summer time. It sounds incredible but winters there are worse than in UK!
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Post by valpomike on Dec 31, 2010 18:16:58 GMT 1
What would some one from the UK know of good food? There are known for the worst food.
This is just what he thinks, and I think he is wrong. What do you think? Yes, he may know weather, but that may be all.
Mike
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Post by valpomike on Dec 31, 2010 18:17:34 GMT 1
Boss,
How was your carp, on Christmas Eve?
Mike
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jules
Just born
Posts: 10
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Post by jules on Jan 9, 2011 21:13:19 GMT 1
Do they and you eat this, stuffed stuff in Poland? What is it called in Polish, a heart burn? Mike The restaurant does a strange thing to those pancakes- they wrap them like tacos. It is not the Polish way. The potato pancakes, though, were the stars of the show. Each one is a dinner-plate- sized cake, medium-thick, nicely fried, then filled with hot ingredients and folded over, so it resembles a taco.Bonobo these potato pancakes sound very nice..what would I ask for if I wanted to order these?? |
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 11, 2011 22:05:09 GMT 1
Bonobo these potato pancakes sound very nice..what would I ask for if I wanted to order these?? Ziemniaczane placki zawijane. Potato pancakes, folded. [zhemnatsh ane pl atski zavee yane) |
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 1, 2011 21:57:06 GMT 1
Snail pierogi to lure the French?
01.04.2011 10:33
In an attempt to open up the French food market to Polish products, dumpling manufacturers based near Warsaw have invented a new line - pierogi stuffed with snails.
The product line will be launched to coincide with Poland’s six-month presidency of the EU, which begins on 1 July.
“Polish food products have done well in the UK and Ireland, but France seems to be resisting,” food sector economist Andrzej Kapusta told thenews.pl.
“Snail pierogi might just be the breakthrough,” he added.
The fact that Poland is already an exporter of snails to France should help in marketing the dumplings, with many French preferring the Polish snail to the Escargots de Bourgogne.
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 6, 2013 23:15:43 GMT 1
An interesting interview with an Italian woman on Polish and Italian food:
I have never eaten good pizza in Poland but your vegetables are unsurpassed,” says Tessa Capponi-Borawska, an Italian with a passion for Polish cuisine.
Do you think that there are Polish dishes which could rival Italian success stories?
I believe that chłodnik could really be a success story. It's an absolute international hit. I take delight in tasty poppy seed cakes with very thin layer of dough and poppy seed, raisins and rose confiture filling. A very interesting phenomenon is sękacz and also farmer cheese, sauerkraut, good dill pickles or low-salt pickles. They are good when they are crispy.
Did you know pickles before you came to Poland?
No. I also love rose confiture.
Confiture made from petals or fruits?
From petals, I like petals in sugar. I love tomato soup with rice, not with noodles. And Polish ryemeal soup or żurek is one of my favourites.
As someone raised in a culture where cuisine is raised to a form of art, what do you think about the way Poles approach cooking?
I have been interested in this issue since 1983 during my first visit to Poland. At that time getting good quality food was a real problem. Yet, I have fond memories of excellent home-made cooking using traditional family, pre-war recipes. "The rules of good nutrition" presented in cookbooks at the time were strange to me. I didn’t understand the idea of overcooking vegetables to make a good soup. We, Italians, first sauté vegetables in olive oil to make them more tasty and add just a small amount of water at the last moment. But I have to admit that the vegetables themselves were delicious. When I bought a carrot, it tasted like a carrot. It was the platonic ideal of a carrot. Buckwheat, which in Italian cuisine is used only in part of Lombardy also surprised me in a positive sense. I was also shocked by the amount of dill Poles use to season their dishes and I was happy to discover farmer cheese. I had known ricotta, but that was something entirely different.
What else did you not know?
I didn’t know parsley root because it isn’t used in Italy. Polish cuisine was unchartered territory for me, with a lot of things I was happy to discover and many I didn’t like. For example, I didn’t like traditionally served meats. All the stewing, baking and roux. Roasted pork loin with prunes was the only thing which always tasted good to me.
How were restaurants like at the time?
Once I was on a student tour with Kuba (Jakub Borawski – Tessa’s husband) who lectured at the Institute of History then. We went to a place close to Chełmno. It was May but the day was a bit overcast. Late afternoon we stopped at a milk bar for supper. Inside the bar everything was gray: gray hard- boiled eggs, gray pork trotters in jelly, which, by the way, I saw for the first time in my life and gray-coloured horseradish. The plate was gray, the oilcloth was gray, everything was gray. I remember bursting into tears. I was hungry after a long day and I ate the hard-boiled eggs with bread, but it was a traumatic experience for me. Therefore, I am impressed with the quality of restaurant food nowadays – a change that I have been observing in Poland for the past years.
Bona SforzaHow would you describe Italian influence on the Polish cuisine over the centuries?
Naturally the first thing that comes to my mind is włoszczyzna (Polish word for soup vegetables which derives from the Polish word włoski - Italian). In Italy, the vegetables that are added to a soup include a carrot, green parsley not root, sometimes cabbage, leek, celery, onion, and bouquet garni - basil, thyme, oregano. Crediting Queen Bona Sforza with introducing vegetables to Poland is a simplification. Beata Meller has proved that Polish people ate them at the time of Casimir III the Great. Bona should be given credit for bringing different artisans, including cooks, to Poland. She wanted to eat things she liked.
Polish people immediately fell for Italian cuisine?
Quite the opposite! Italy was seen as a country where people ate disgusting frogs, snails and raw vegetables like lettuce. It was disgusting! Waclaw Potocki’s series of limericks allude to this and Trembecki’s "Anthology of 17th-century Poetry” contain a description of a young nobleman who goes to Rome and wants to return to his country because "he can no longer eat this grass.” If there was any influence to speak of, it was only negative.
And how about now?
Now Italian cuisine boils down to pasta and pizza. There are three dishes - carpaccio, caprese and tiramisu for dessert. But these are all relatively new dishes. Carpaccio was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani from Harry's Bar, a restaurant in Venice in the 1950s. He combined very thinly sliced pickled meat with a sauce of his making which has remained his secret until now. He called the dish in honour of the painter Vittore Carpaccio, who had a great exhibition at that time. Tiramisu has a little older tradition , but there is no evidence of its continuity. It was invented in the 1970s in a restaurant in Treviso.
So how did those dishes become the quintessence of Italian cuisine?
I think that carpaccio is liked because of the raw meat. Tiramisu is a good dessert in objective terms and mozzarella in caprese is simply a great invention.
In Poland the standard pizza is large, round like a millwheel and cut into triangles. How is pizza made in Italy?
This is American style pizza. When you are served a pizza in Naples, you have to cut it yourself. But in Calabria people make long, rectangular pizzas, which they cut with scissors. In Poland, I haven’t yet eaten a good pizza with perfect proportions between the dough and the things on top.
Polish people boil pasta al dente or overcook it?
When I go to a restaurant in Poland, I eat overcooked pasta, the same goes for risotto.
In Poland people also add too much sauce?
Yes, in Italy we add much less sauce.
So what is the relation between Poles and their food?
In Poland, a table has to groan with food. This custom is still around. You have to have five types of cake, ice cream and fruit salad at teatime. It reminds me of sweet collazioni or breakfasts, which took place after great parties in Italy during the Renaissance. It was a wholly sweet meal with lots of sugar which was the then culinary rave. Nowadays, we serve cookies and tea at teatime in England and Italy, but in Poland…
Tessa Capponi-Borawska - Italian aristocrat who moved to Poland, food writer and author of several books. Teaches history of Italian cuisine at the University of Warsaw.en.poland.gov.pl/Polish,idea,of,carrot,Events,7072x3646.html |
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 1, 2020 13:22:00 GMT 1
spanishsabores.com/2015/03/02/13-reasons-you-should-never-eat-in-poland/Read or rather have a look at the funny article full of photos:
My 2013 trip to Poland was intense and emotional. I never expected to fall so in love with the country. Thinking about it now I get little heart flutters– it was that special. Over a two week period I met family that we had never even known existed, and accepted their kindness and love as if we had grown up together. I was also able to share this very special time with my mother, something neither of us will ever forget.
I always planned to write about our trip in detail, but a year and a half later I’ve barely started. I still have so much to tell, but I guess I’m afraid it won’t come out the right way– afraid it won’t do justice to the amazing people and places we discovered.
Inspired by the latest article about Poland on Buzzfeed, I’ve compiled my own list– 27 reasons you should never eat in Poland. It’s a start to sharing some of the magic with the world!
1. Some people say Polish food is too heavy and filled with potatoes.
Polish mashed potatoes with dill.
Authentic Paella in Barcelona
2. Potatoes sneak in everywhere– like in these terrible pierogi stuffed with potatoes and chives (the horror!)
Delicious potato and chive pierogi
3. Others have it out for the breakfasts– how could you eat all of that in the morning?
A typical Polish breakfast spread
Creamy deviled eggs with caviar for breakfast? Sure!
4. And the fresh squeezed juice in the Polish cafés has too much pulp!
Freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juice
5. Vegetables are covered in buttery breadcrumbs, what an atrocity…
Baked cauliflower
6. And there’s simply too much pork
Polish pork
7. And far too much cabbage
Polish coleslaw
Polish cabbage salad
8. And sometimes the two combine!
polish golabki
Pork + Cabbage = Love
9. And the worst thing of all? Everyone knows how to cook! And they cook everything from scratch!
Homemade soup
10. Cream puffs
Polish cuisine
Homemade Polish cream puffs
11. Cheesecake
Homemade Polish cheesecake
12. Chicken soup
Polish chicken soup
13. Even crepes damn it!
Polish nalesniki
So really, do yourself a favor, stay clear of Poland as a culinary destination (you’ve been warned!).  
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 31, 2021 0:29:31 GMT 1
Another article from Culture.pl about Polish peasant food. It is long and contains photos so let me not paste it all here: culture.pl/en/article/polish-peasant-food-for-beginnersExcerpt about alcohol
Beer as a daily drink had accompanied the Slavs from the early Middle Ages. Starting in the 18th century, the consumption of vodka and of stronger (60%-80%) spirits kept increasing. Spirits were treated as both a medication and a food. The ‘propination laws’ which forced peasants to buy at least a given amount of vodka or spirits annually, fostered the consumption and popularity of booze. Selling alcohol was a very profitable business. In some estates, it generated as much as 40% of revenues. Sometimes, country folk, instead of being paid in cash for their labour, would get an allotment of vodka to be used in the local tavern. In the first half of the 19th century, peasants would literally drink themselves to death. This alarming situation improved only when brotherhoods of sobriety started to be established on a massive scale all over the country and the propination laws forcing peasants to buy booze were banned, first in the Congress Kingdom and later in Galicia. In her book entitled Produkcja Wódki i Sprawa Pijaństwa w Królestwie Polskim 1815-1863 (editor’s translation: The Production of Vodka and Drunkenness in the Kingdom of Poland 1815-1863), Helena Rożenkowa wrote:
(…) Drunkenness in the kingdom reached its zenith, and the excessive production of vodka and the competition between people who benefited from the propination laws were at their highest as well. (…) The price of vodka dropped to 1 Polish grosz per quart (0.24 l). It was not possible to further lower the price of vodka due to the lack of a smaller coin, so cracknels and other snacks were added to booze for free. This was done as a form of advertisement and was meant to help in beating the competition. In some places, peasants would pay only for the right to enter the tavern (as for a theatre ticket), and thus for a lump sum of 1.5 copeks they could drink and sit in the tavern for as long as they wished’ |
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 9, 2022 18:11:42 GMT 1
An interview with an owner of a restaurant in Warsaw which got Michelin star distinction. sukces.rp.pl/kuchnia/art19235721-andrea-camastra-polska-kuchnia-moze-byc-na-poziomie-swiatowym-udowodnie-to
Andrea Camastra: Polish cuisine can be on a global level. I will prove it
Six years ago, he won a Michelin star for his Warsaw restaurant. Now he comes back with a new idea. How will Andrea Camastra surprise Poland this time - and the world?
Publication: 07/01/2022 11:23
Andrzej Chojnowski
He is Italian, but has already penetrated into Poland and has become an important part of it. He has been with us for years. In Warsaw, he created and ran a restaurant for which he won the first Michelin star, and then - a place on the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants list and the list of the 100 best chefs in the world. He became the second chef in Poland - after Wojciech Amaro - to win the prestigious Michelin star - and at the same time the first foreigner in our country to do so.
Andrea Camastra is just opening the next chapter in her Polish history: Nuta - his new restaurant, opens in Warsaw. The team is the same as before, the enthusiasm and ambitions of Andrea are also the same, the city is also the same. Then what has changed?
Note. This is the name of your new restaurant. How will it be different from the previous, Michelin-starred place on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list?
Andrea Camastra: In some respects the differences are huge, in others - not much has changed. Certainly, the level of technical excellence will be the same. If that were to change, it would mean a step back for us.
And the most important differences?
AC: When we opened Senses, I wanted to prove something. It was my first restaurant in Poland, so we had to flash. Although I was not a debutant, Poland was a new place for me. Today I think completely different. We have the right status, the culinary guide inspectors know who we are, and the guests also know us. I grew up as a human being and today I have a more conscious approach to my work. We've made a name for ourselves - both me and my team. We want to show the best.
Why Nuta?
AC: The name, of course, is not accidental, because I have a musical education. However, through the name I also want to refer to the world of gastronomy. The note will be a combination of culinary culture, modernist cuisine and art. This will be my flagship restaurant, sweetheart. The previous one had that status too, but for different reasons. The note is to be a complete place. Everything I am good at will be condensed and presented here.
Some say that Polish cuisine is not sophisticated. This is an excuse of chefs who are not able to show that you can create something at the global level based on well-known Polish dishes.
Andrea Camastra
It is said that for musicians the second album is always the most difficult, because everyone expects the success from their debut to be repeated.
AC: My grandfather used to say: a true champion achieves the championship twice. Although Nuta is not my second time, it cannot be denied that it is my second restaurant in Poland.
Is it harder the second time?
AC: No, I think it's even easier. We have the necessary experience, we are able to make the right decisions. We also don't have to prove anything to the world. Let's stick with the musical comparisons: when you work on your first album, you want to show yourself, so your focus is on technical excellence. You are not yet recognizable, so people can judge you only by your proficiency in what you do. The situation changes when you gain reputation.
The old saying goes, you can't go into the same river twice. You come back to gastronomy and restaurants after a long break. You come back with the same band, but is it still the same river?
AC: We are changing as people, so I'm coming back with a new idea for a restaurant and a kitchen. My state of mind is also different. I think that the biggest change took place in this field - I matured as a human being. For the first time in almost 30 years, I spent a year at home, so I had a lot of time to think. This is a big change, because my life has been very dynamic so far, there was no time to think about various matters.
Now I had the opportunity to look back and consider how I could become better at what I do. I am ready to take on new challenges. I am aware that we will be watched from the beginning, because we have already been in the Michelin guide and on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. I want the inspectors to evaluate our work, I want the guests to appreciate us, but this time I am going to challenge everyone. I want to show what we will do in the future, because everyone could see what we already know.
Why did you choose Polish cuisine?
AC: This question is asked a lot. I always answer: why not? There is no such thing as a kitchen that is better suited to win a Michelin star. Each is appropriate. It all depends on what you do to take it to an unattainable level. It would be too obvious if I opened an Italian restaurant in Poland and won a Michelin star with it . I've always preferred to challenge myself. I created a Polish restaurant that was recognized as one of the best in the world. I have proved it is possible and I am going to do it again.
Some say that Polish cuisine is not sophisticated. This is an excuse of chefs who are not able to show that you can create something at the global level based on well-known Polish dishes. I proved it. I studied Polish cuisine from the 16th century. I know what it was, what it is, and I can predict what it will be. It takes the right skills and creativity to keep the original idea of a dish, but to present it in a completely new way. How many people can reach for bread with lard and create a culinary work of art out of it?
Massimo Bottura, one of the world's most famous chefs, said a few years ago that he didn't cook to make it tasty. This is what his mother used to cook, and he has other reasons. Why are you cooking?
AC: It's a very intimate matter for me. I don't think there should always be a clearly defined reason why you do something. Sometimes it's worth following your instincts. In my case, it's not about creating things that people will rave about. I want to treat a product with respect, present it in a way that people expect from fine dining, and at the same time give people the pleasure of eating.
I am aware that we will be watched from the very beginning. I want Michelin inspectors to evaluate our work.
My obsession is connecting seemingly separate worlds - fine dining on the one hand and comfort food on the other. Fine dining means sophistication. Comfort food is something that makes us love food because it touches the soul. It does not matter whether we are talking about simple pasta or a dish from a restaurant with three Michelin stars. The idea of "comfort food" must be constantly present in the kitchen, in my opinion, as a chef, it is only to give the dish the right sophistication.
This is how I approach cooking - it has to be artistic, and it has to be modern, but not too much. A modern approach is like makeup for a woman - it is supposed to add shine. Molecular cuisine, the "Note by Note" technique is a make-up for the food we serve. The whole thing has to be very balanced in terms of flavors and textures.
Modern techniques are what probably most distinguishes today's fine dining from the 80s or 90s.
AC: I remember those times because I started working in gastronomy in the early 90s.
What do you see the main differences between the two worlds?
AC: It used to be much harder than it is now. It was more difficult to prepare the dishes and it was more difficult to serve them properly. We also had a lot more work than today. I do not wish anyone to follow the path that I have traveled, because it was brutal and full of sacrifices, but at the same time I am glad that I experienced it. Anyone who thinks about working in this industry should work in this way for at least a few months. In this way, you can learn the discipline as well as the techniques necessary in the kitchen. It is the foundation that will allow you to find the answer to the question of whether you really want to work in this profession.
When running a restaurant, you need to show skills not only as a cook, but also as a manager, because you manage people. This also has to be learned.
AC: That's why I'm working with the same band again. We spent seven years in the kitchen together. We understand each other in no time, a look is enough, we don't have to say anything. Together, we went through a very difficult stage during the pandemic, but I have the impression that this experience made our relationship even stronger. I trust these people one hundred percent. They are high-class specialists.
Do you share your ideas and recipes with your team?
AC: I share everything with them.
This is very valuable knowledge. Are you not afraid of such honesty?
AC: What if I'm gone tomorrow? Wouldn't it be disheartening to find that nobody is able to continue with what we do every day? We are only passengers on Earth, we travel through life. We are born, we do what we do best, and then we leave. I share my knowledge with my team because they are people I trust, but of course I also see my ideas popping up in other restaurants.
How do you react to it?
AC: For me, copying confirms the value of what we do. It means that we create something unique, otherwise nobody would be interested in us (laughs). Think what it would be like if I was a Christmas chef and no one copied my ideas ... It could be painful, don't you think? I often say: I'm not good at following trends, but I'm good at setting them.
I am coming back with a new idea for a restaurant and a kitchen. My state of mind is also different. I think that the biggest change took place in this field - I matured as a human being.
Andrea Camastra
The world today is based on trends.
AC: Yes, but 99 percent of people only follow them, and only 1 percent create trends. I always want to be in that one percent. I am a very ambitious person ...
I already had my bearings during our conversation.
AC: If necessary, I am ready to go over the corpses to the goal I have set myself. In the past, I trained boxing, probably this sport influenced my personality. I learned the discipline thanks to martial arts, but also thanks to music education. Life has also taught me discipline. My father died when I was 8 years old. I started working as a 10-year-old, combining it with science. As an 18-year-old I left Italy. All my life I had to take care of myself. In the vast majority of classes I am average, but in a few classes I am really good. One of them is cooking. I also think that I already have a period of passion or obsession with cooking behind me. Now it's even worse with me.
What stage are you at now?
AC: In the dependency stage - I totally depend on cooking. The kitchen has become part of my life, it is my lifestyle. If someone took this world from me, it would be for me.
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Source: rp.pl |
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