Why Polish cuisine?

Polish cuisine is a boundless ocean of opportunities to experience unique moments. In this ocean, where I have been swimming for many years and discovering new islands of flavors, aromas and customs.

Cuisine is an undeniable and trustworthy dogm that clearly describes the differences between the traditions of different regions of Poland. It describes not only people but also nature, customs and daily behavior. Life of past generations revolved around the kitchen and we increasingly see the need to return to that, especially with the current crazy pace of life.

What is so unique about it?

Its most important feature is that we can’t yet characterize it accurately and clearly. We are constantly discovering something new and surprising: a dish, a product, a method of preservation or preparation. At every stage of my culinary travels, a virgin and natural surprise awaits me, this is Polish cuisine. How pleasantly related to the seasons. A cuisine so different, looking through the prism of regions and products specific to them. But consistent in flavor and combinations, consistent in the pronunciation of soups and sauces, consistent in feasting and even in the preparation of preserves of all kinds. Still unknown.

A cuisine that inspires…

I am trying to go back, first of all, to the flavors of my childhood, but this is not enough anymore. I am trying to look for the character of the cuisine in the old XV-, XVI-, XVII- and XVIII-century recipes. The dishes I recreate are only the beginning of a journey towards what was most essential in the kitchen. It turns out that through the dishes we get to the art of preservation, the natural processing of products that take on their unique character, such as pickles, brines, dries and smoked meats.

Karol Okrasa

Sourdough mushroom soup with sauerkraut and venison pullets

Ingredients

• 1 cup of peas (dry)
• 7-8 caps of dried porcini or bay boletus mushrooms
• 300 g of sweet white cabbage
• 200 ml of sauerkraut juice
• 400 g ground roe shoulder
• 200 g ground pork shoulder
• 150 g minced pork belly
• 1 egg
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 1 onion
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1 hot pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground flaxseed
• salt, coarse ground pepper, oil

Preparation

1. Pour water over peas, soak overnight, then cook in the same water until tender.
2. Pour water over dried mushrooms and simmer. Set the mushrooms aside and leave the essential mushroom stock in the dish.
3. Add white cabbage leaves cut into large pieces to the mushroom stock. When the cabbage is cooked, add the juice from the sauerkraut and the cooked peas.
4. Put ground roe shoulder, ground pork shoulder and bacon into the bowl. Add an egg, chopped parsley, diced onion, and ground flaxseed. Season with ground coriander seeds, chopped fresh ginger, chopped hot pepper, salt and pepper. Mix it all well.
5. With your hands moistened with oil, form small pullets the size of a large walnut from the mixture. Put them on a greased with oil board.
6. Put the formed meatballs into the soup and cook the meatballs in it for 10-15 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Strudel with pike-perch and sauerkraut, young rye sauce

Ingredients   (10 servings)

• 600 g zander fillet
• 600 g puff pastry
• 500 g of sauerkraut thoroughly drained and chopped
• 3 roasted peppers
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 spring onions
• 1 teaspoon of marjoram
• ½ teaspoon of cumin
• 200 ml olive oil
• 1 lemon
• 100 g of young rye shoots
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1 egg
• 100 ml of milk
• salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Cut the pike-perch into pieces about 3 cm wide and 15 cm long. Marinate each piece in salt and pepper, marjoram and chopped cumin with grated lemon peel. Wrap the peppers in aluminium foil and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, then peel the skin and remove the seed nests. Boil the sauerkraut, then fry it with garlic and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Finally, add chopped parsley.
2. Cut the puff pastry into rectangles. Scramble an egg and mix it with milk. Layer cabbage, zaner and peppers On one piece of pastry and cover it with another larger piece cut crosswise. Spread each strudel with beaten egg and milk and put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to let the dough set.
3. Bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.
4. Chop rye, add canola oil and season with lemon juice, add a little honey and salt.

Fried cheese donuts with jam

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 250 g of unbleached cottage cheese crumbled
• 250-280 g wheat flour (depending on the moisture content of the cheese)
• 5 teaspoons of baking powder
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 500 ml of oil for frying
• 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon

Preparation

1. Beat eggs with sugar until fluffy.
2. Add crumbled cottage cheese and vanilla sugar.
3. Mix thoroughly.
4. Add flour with baking powder gradually.
5. Knead the dough.
6. Transfer to a pastry board and dust with flour.
7. Form balls the size of a walnut.
8. Fry until golden brown in heated oil about 2 minutes.
9. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon after frying.