Polska: New Polish Cooking

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Make the vinaigrette by combining the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and salt and white pepper. Whisk in the mayonnaise and, when the mixture is smooth, add the dill and the garlic salt, then stir to combine. Add a little oil to a frying pan and fry the onion until soft, remove from the pan and fry the mushrooms until golden. Combine the two and add the thyme and garlic too. Season. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Each season comes alive with a cornucopia of recipes for natural remedies, nourishing foods, beauty products, and much more. The author’s meticulous attention to detail ensures that every aspect of these recipes is carefully explained, making them accessible to both beginners and seasoned practitioners. There are few books that warrant an unreserved recommendation—Slavic Kitchen Alchemy is undoubtedly one of them. From cover to cover, it radiates excellence and beauty. Its illustrations transport you to a world where magic meets practicality, where ancient wisdom intertwines with modern delights.

Strain the broths through a sieve and into one pan (you would add the soured beet juice at this point), season well with salt, pepper and marjoram and simmer for another 15min or so. While this is all stewing, we make the dough by combining all the dough ingredients and kneeding it until smooth and soft – about 20min.

Cook the rest of the vegetables for 1 hour along with a bay leaf, peppercorns and the allspice berries in about a litre and a half of water.

To make the syrniki mixture, add the twaróg, eggs and salt to a large bowl and mash together with a fork. Add half of the flour and all the sugar and vanilla extract and continue mashing until the ingredients are well combined (if you’re using twaróg, the mixture will retain some texture). Cover and leave to chill in the fridge. Zuza Zak has written an incredibly special book here, and she has taken the pierogi passed being thought of as “just dumplings.” Pierogi is full of accessible and delicious recipes which highlight both traditional and modern doughs and fillings. I’ve already started to make them with my daughter – we’re both excited to give more of the recipes a try.

Pour the still-warm boiled filtered or bottled water into a jug, then mix in the salt to make a brine. Leave to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Wash and dry your garlic scapes thoroughly, then lay them horizontally in the jar so they curl around the sides (this means they should stay in place and you won’t need a weight to keep them submerged). Place the garlic clove in the jar, nestling it among the scapes so they hold it down. Pour in enough brine to fill the jar, then loosely cover with the lid and leave at room temperature for 3 days. Pour the rapeseed oil into a large frying pan set over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 2-3 mins until soft and translucent, then add the beetroot stalks and fry for another minute or so, stirring regularly. My favorite parts of the book were the crafts and the stories. The inclusion of the Slavic gods and goddesses was also intriguing to me because I haven’t read much about them elsewhere. The two crafts I would very much like to experiment with myself are the egg dyes and the natural fabric dyes. The pictures make them seem irresistible. Wash the cabbage, then blanch it in hot water to soften for a minute or two. Separate the leaves. Use only the bigger, softer leaves. Drain the cabbage leaves on kitchen paper.I call myself a Storyteller-Cook, my aim is to inspire the world to cook and eat more food from Eastern Europe. I am interested in the culture and history of food, therefore I use storytelling as a medium for delving into another cuisine and through it, into another culture. In addition to the recipes, there are also directions for creating various herbal soaks, skin tonics, cleaners, clothes dyes, decorations, and many more useful and crafty items, focused on wellbeing and natural products. Pierogi perfection. I became a fan of Zuza Zak from her Baltic cookbook. With “Pierogi”, she instructs, informs, and elevates the most internationally familiar of Polish foods. Polish is not the first cuisine that comes to mind when you utter the word “vegetarian”, and yet there are many recipes that are either vegetarian or lend themselves particularly well to being meat-free. Poland, being a Catholic country, has many “fasting” days. In days past, the fasting was observed more strictly, now by not eating meat on certain days we give the old ways a nod. Our most important Christmas meal, on Christmas Eve, is in actual fact a fast, and the 12-13 meticulously prepared dishes contain only vegetables and fish. We are therefore used to using ingredients creatively to prepare flavoursome vegetarian meals. I plan to expand this list over time to add all my favourite vegetarian recipes, but for now, here are my top 3 Polish (or indeed East European) vegetarian recipes.

Food is a way that we structure our lives – we all eat certain meals at certain times. With fervent recipe testing in the mix, it can get a bit confusing though, so I want to be more structured in my cooking, especially since I’m pregnant. . In my first trimester, I ate too much sugar and carbs and my health has been suffered as a result. I realised that I am now craving salads. While Nusia eats most things, including plenty of fruit and veg, somehow having everything mixed up in a salad doesn’t appeal to her, but that shouldn’t mean that I don’t eat them! I can make salad every day for lunch when she’s at pre-school. This will also leave room in my tummy for recipes that I need to test. Breakfast, on the other, needs to be warm at this time of year, so porridges and kasza will set us up nicely. That brings me to semolina porridge or kasha manna. semolina: Semolina porridge with gooseberries and raspberries There are lots of different shapes to experiment with – half-moon, round, envelope or rectangles are common, or uska (little ears), and the way they are sealed can differ, from crimping with a fork to folding over the edges, pleating or pinching.

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Quince and orange blossom: Stew the quince with honey, a large pinch of cinnamon and a bit of water.Add good honey and orange blossom water to the kasza manna whilst it’s cooking for a Middle Eastern flavour. Pour the vinaigrette over the millet, then combine with the chopped up tomatoes and roasted vegetables. Dried fruit soup Being of Polish descent myself, a lot of Ms. Zak’s stories and experiences rang true to what I had gone through with my parents and grandparents; I still have older relatives in Poland who provide me “nalewki” or make me do an “inhelacja” whenever I am feeling under the weather over there. This book is a great resource that collects a lot of the wisdom that is slowly being lost (and now rediscovered) to modern ways.