Polska: New Polish Cooking

Product Information

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

The first recipe I tried was for the Sauerkraut and Mushroom Christmas Eve Pierogi. This recipe used the more traditional way of making dough: to rub the oil into the flour before adding any water. The filling consisted of mushrooms, onion, and sauerkraut with flavour boosts coming from bay leaf, allspice berries, and white wine. While making the filling I committed the cardinal sin of home cooking – I didn’t read through the recipe before hand. The ingredient list asks for twenty medium-sized mushrooms (I assumed they were fresh) but when I went to prepare the filling the first step is to cover them with boiling water to allow them to “open up.” This is where I realized I should be using dried mushrooms. Since I didn’t have dried mushrooms, I went ahead and used the fresh ones, skipping the hot water soak. I really loved this combination for the filling – sweet and tangy with a bit of umami. Once boiled I tossed them in butter and fried onions. Put all the ingredients in a large pan and cover with 2.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 1½ hours. 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. I learnt the art of cooking from an early age, from my beloved Babcias (grandmas) – Ziuta and Halinka. All of my early childhood memories are intertwined with food, so now I am now passing on the culinary love to my two daughters.

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. I appreciate that Zak offers a couple different methods to shape and fill pierogies, and since these varied slightly from how I learned to make varenyky, I was keen to learn other ways. Her first method (and now my preferred way) is to roll the dough out then place heaping teaspoons spaced out along the dough. She then folds the dough over and creases where the filling ends and to press out the air bubbles (this step is crucial as trapped air will cause the pierogi to burst while it cooks in boiling water). Using a cutter or the rim of a waterglass, she cuts out half-moon shapes. Once the shapes are cut out, she crimps the edges to seal them. Zak also provides different pinching and sealing techniques for every level of pierogi maker. Beginners can start with using the tines of a fork to seal the edge and, since I have prior experience, I used the fold over technique. There are photos of each of the steps throughout the beginning sections of the book which are helpful to home cooks. Many years ago, my now-wife and I spent three weeks driving through Poland exploring her personal family history and explore cities and towns across the land. The highlight of the trip was the wide variety of pierogis that we enjoyed. As Americans, we had only been exposed to boiled pirogies with any combo of cheese, sauerkraut, and onions via her grandma or the Mrs T’s brand from the grocery store freezer. It was a delicious surprise to enjoy the flavors and variations that came from boiled, baked, fried, and steamed offerings all over Poland. I still dream of the venison and cherry baked pierogis we got at a gas station cafe in the middle of nowhere.

The book is filled with things to create in your kitchen, such as natural remedies, foods for wellness, and even beauty products. However, it also includes seasonal crafts, rituals, and folktales and mythology. While the author’s focus is on folk-healing rather than magic, she does include rituals that might be seen as a type of magic. She’s also very clear that folk medicines are meant to complement and not replace modern medicine. Ending the meal with a dried-fruit soup is always a good idea after a day-long feast – it’s incredibly good for your digestive system. Children love its sweetness too and my nine-month old daughter, Delfi, can’t get enough of it. The book’s subtitle is “Nourishing Herbal Remedies, Magical Recipes & Folk Wisdom,” and that is exactly what is contained therein. Zak’s introduction calls to something in all of us, at one time or another, that yearns for a connection. Using the wisdom passed down to her by her grandmothers, the author shows us how to reconnect with earth and its rhythms. The author invites you to treat this as a notebook given to you by your grandmother, ready for your personalized annotations, reflections and clippings. 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. Cover the millet in 2cm of cold water, add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Add the butter and leave to steam, then cool. Set the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.Rhubarb and rose: Always an amazing combo – add rosewater to the semolina while it’s cooking, and put honey sweetened stewed rhubarb on top once it has set. Take the bay leaf out of the sauerkraut and mushroom pan and blend the filling to a rough paste, then add it to the onion and fry for just 5minutes altogether whilst stirring.

Place the aubergines over the flame on your hob and cook in this way, turning with tongs, until they are charred and soft inside. Repeat with garlic, using your tongs to hold the cloves. Blitz in a food processor with lemon juice until smooth. Then transfer to a bowl and whisk in the oil. Season. Add the parely and chill in the fridge. While this is all stewing, we make the dough by combining all the dough ingredients and kneeding it until smooth and soft – about 20min. First, sterilise your jar and lid. Either put them through a hot dishwasher cycle or hand-wash in hot, soapy water. Half-fill the jar with boiling water, put the lid loosely on top and leave for 5 mins, then pour out the water and allow to air-dry.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 If using dried mushrooms, wash them under cold water and soak them for 2 hours or, preferably, overnight. Cover the dough in a wet cloth and allow to stand at room temperature for a further 20min. This step is not absolutely necessary but it does increase elasticity, and since we are waiting for the mushroom and sauerkraut mixture to cook, we may as well do it. Cut the stalks and leaves off the beetroots, keeping them separate. Roughly chop the stalks and tear any larger leaves. Cook the beetroots in a saucepan of boiling salted water for around 30 mins. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle, then peel and dice the beetroots. Set aside.