The Italian influence on the Polish cuisine - Faworki

The Italian influence on the Polish cuisine dates back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when there were significant trade links with the Polish merchants of Genoa, Florence and Venice.
In the fourteenth century the court bills mentioned that royal cooks used fruit such as figs, raisins, almonds and lemons. In the fourteenth century Italian cuisine reached only the aristocratic mansions.


Bronisław Abramowicz "Wierzynek banquet"

The opinion that the Italian Queen Bona brought vegetables to Poland is untrue, since lettuce, beets, cabbage, turnips, carrots, peas and cauliflowers had been eaten as early as at the court of King Jagiello. The undeniable thing is that Queen Bona employed only Italians as cooks. They were also hired for the preparation of receptions for magnates. At the court of Queen Bona very large quantities of fruit were used. They included oranges, lemons, pomegranates, olives, figs, chestnuts, raisins, almonds and Italian vegetables, rice and various kinds of roots: black pepper, fennel, saffron, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, sugar, marzipan and olive oil.


Jan Matejko "Poisoning of Queen Bona"

Most Polish names of vegetables are derived from the Italian language (cauliflower, artichokes, leeks, onion, asparagus, beans, zucchini, lettuce). In the nineteenth century tomatoes, scorzonera, endive, spinach and chicory joined the list.
The Polish confectionery was created by Italians. The domain of Italian confectioners was ice cream, doughnuts, sugary drinks such as lemonade and orange soda and a chocolate cake with fruit and jelly, fruit syrups and fried chestnuts.
Doughnuts, which probably originate from the Roman Empire, currently are the symbol of Polish carnival.
On the last Thursday of the carnival in Poland Fat Thursday is celebrated . This day nobody counts calories and everybody eats doughnuts or other fried sweets. This tradition was born in Krakow in the sixteenth century where Queen Bona organized carnival balls. That's why Fat Thursday on my table is dominated by doughnuts and Faworki.


Pieter Bruegel "The Fight Between Carnival and Lent"

Last year I published a recipe for doughnuts. Today I publish a recipe for Faworki. This recipe came from my Grandmother's kitchen notebook. She didn’t like Italian cuisine and doughnuts. She didn’t understand my fascination with Italian cuisine but she made the best Faworki in the whole country. The taste of these sweets reminds me of her and our discussions about cuisine. She died a few weeks ago and she left me the notebook full of old recipes. Thanks Grandma.


FAWORKI
500g flour
5 egg yolks
100 ml fresh crème
2 tbsp rum
½ tsp salt
fat for deep frying
icing sugar

Flour, yolks, fresh crème, rum and salt mix together. Mix with your hands well, slowly and obviously with pleasure. Knead until the dough reaches a flexible consistency. When dough doesn’t stick to your hands it is ready.
Divide dough into four parts, and roll each one out very thin. Cut on strips 5 cm long and 2 cm wide. Make an incision 2 cm long in the middle part of each strip. Each strap take in his hand and horn of strap to scroll through an incision in the middle until you get a cookie similar to the one in the picture.

heat up a fat in wide pot. When it is hot put few Faworki and fry for gold colour one side and turn on and fry second side. Ready Faworki put on plate and sprinkle they with icing sugar and fry next part of cookies.
Serve cold down.
Enjoy!!!



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From doughnuts to herrings - Polish Shrovetide

Polish Jeudi Gras - Tłusty Czwartek

The fat Thursday with no doughnut(s) is awful as doughnut with anything else but roship jam is awful. Polish doughnuts are the best in the world! They have  nothing in common with plastic doughnuts sold in the western countries. The perfect doughnut is light and fluffy, the dough itself is not fat nor very sweet. The rim of the doughnut should be as fair as possible which indicates the freshness of the fat used for frying. Roship jam is essential of course but also frying on the real pork lard. That gives a special smell. And don't be afraid - adding vodka or vinegar to the leavened dough will prevent doughnut from soaking up the fat! My favourite finishing touch is icing and candied orange peel but icing sugar is more simple and also delicious way. Today's news were full of senseless comments on fat-free and sugar-free light dougnuts. There is nothing better than the real doughnut. It was proved that the yummy food don't make us fat! Try Gosia's best ever doughnut recipe or come to Poland!

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Polish Shrovetide: from doughnuts to herrings

The influence of French cuisine on Polish cuisine -"Mizeria"

The influence of French cuisine on Polish cuisine goes back to the seventeenth century.
Mary Louise, the wife of a Polish king, brought her huge royal entourage to Poland. There were French chefs among them. They started to serve light French meals and wines, which was shocking for the Polish people. At that time Polish cuisine was heavier and it added to dish more spice than now. Fashion for French cuisine took on slowly. Later, more diplomats and priests travelled to France as the king's messengers and they also explored the cuisine of this country.

Bartłomiej Milwitz - Entry of Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga of Poland into Gdańsk

The royal habits started to have an impact on the residences of the magnates. The magnates began to employ French chefs. They drew attention to the delicacy of dishes, menu variety and the decoration of dishes which were served by chefs. Necessary additions to the elaborate dishes included capers, anchovies and truffles. French wines competed with Hungarian and Italian ones.
In the seventeenth century, the French cuisine was only for very rich people and only on special events.

The French travellers resulted inthe great abundance of food, but very often lack of basic table utensils. Guests invited to adopt these manners were often forced to bring with them their own spoons, knives, forks and napkins. To remedy this situation, the magnates began to import equipment from France.

Jean-Pierre Norblin - Concert in the Park

In the eighteenth century the French art of cooking gained a growing number of followers.
Traditional Polish food was replaced by French meals. Roasts were administered with a suit of vegetables or meatballs. Vegetables were to be served as a separate dish. At the end of the dinner a salad, fruits and cheese were served. Desserts such as sweet pudding, omelets, soufflés, party, mousses, cakes and ice were novelty in Poland.
A new way of presentating and serving food on the tables was first introduced by means of the arrival of French mores in Poland.

Alfons Karpinski - painters and artists meeting at the cabaret Jama Michalika, Cracow

Polish cuisine was enriched with new techniques and methods of cooking and food preparation, such as:
-stuffing
-blanching (blanchir)
-browning (au gratin)
-marinating (mariner)
-larded (piquer)
-bread-crumbing (paner)
-cooking in water "au bain marie"

In the nineteenth century the art of French cooking became available to the wider community in restaurants. Restaurateurs imported luxury food such as oysters, lobsters, sole, turbot and tuna. French culinary art began to occupy a unique position in first-class restaurant menus, acting in competition with traditional Polish cuisine.

Now French cuisine has become a permanent part of Polish cuisine and has become an integral part of the Polish culture. Currently some Poles think that some meals are typically Polish while they come from the French cuisine. The most popular salad “mizeria” is a classic example. It is a cucumber salad which is served to pork chops or chicken for Sunday dinners.



Mizeria

0,5 kg cucumbers
1 medium onion
bunch of dill
100 ml fresh crème ( or natural yogurt)
1 tbsp of lemon juice
Salt, black pepper.

Cut in thin slices a cucumber and put into bowl. Cut in thin half- sliced onion, chopped dill and add to cucumber. Mix together fresh crème, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mixture add to vegetable and mix well. This salad is more healthy with natural yogurt instead fresh crème.

Enjoy!!!

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Lithuanian red beetroot blinis

Why any ethnic cuisine is great? Because it is not a McDamn. Now I am going to surprise you with a culinary journey to the east of Poland. For the next two months I’ll be presenting some Lithuanian staff apart from my regular coconut-banana recipes. My guide is Biruta Markuza, a Polish food writer specialising in East European recipes. I liked her book on Lithuanian cuisine straight away. It is both simple and diverse. The ingrediends are easily accessible. And the recipes says something familiar that you know you will like that food. Lithuanian cooking has influenced Polish cuisine with many recipes, some of which are particularly known as Lithuanian in our cookery books. There is a hunter’s stew of a Lithuanian provenience and a cold soup of red beetroot, just to name the best known.

Red Beetroot Blinis!

 2 portions (for main course) or 4 for starter

3 medium size red beetroots

2 apples

0,5 kg cottage cheese (quark)

few Tbsps milk

1 egg

1 cup flour

sugar

salt

oil for frying

sour cream/plain yoghurt to serve

1.      Wash well the beetroot, put to the cold water and cook. Peel and grate with small holes grater. Mix cheese and milk for a smooth paste (ok, it doesn’t have to be that smooth). Peel the apples and grate with large holes grater.

2.      Combine beetroot, cheese, apples, egg and flour, season with salt and sugar.

3.      Heat the oil in the frying pan. To make small blinis, place one tablespoon of batter in the pan, flatten and fry until dark a bit.

4.      Serve hot, absolutely with sour cream!

These blinis have an extraordiary colour and a surprising sweet taste. It reminds me the breadfruit French fries or the onion rings, which are also sweet and chewy. Serving them without sour cream will spoil their potential.

100

It is the 100th post. We officially launched our first post on 8 Nov 2008. It took us 2 years and nearly 3 months to get here.   

Ilona and Gosia, we are the authors of the 'Bread & Wine" blog. This blog is a continuation of our cookery school friendship and experience. While at school and later, we were meeting in our homes and trying new recipes and cooking techniques frequently. Tree years ago Gosia moved abroad and a few months later we decided to open this blog. Our blog is a place where we share our ideas, recipes and culinary adventures and where our relationship is developing. We also want to spread our vision of cooking and Polish cuisine and culture in the whole world. Why does this blog have the name 'Bread &Wine'? It is simple. Ilona loves bread. Gosia likes wine. Our characters are reflected in these symbols. In this post we are going to write about our expression and plans on next posts. We are also going to select our favourite post. Finally, we will write about how we will celebrate the hundredth post.  

Gosia summary I love cooking and every day I try new recipes. In the past I wrote down the best recipes in the notebook. When I discovered “blogs” in the Internet, I decided to collect my kitchen experiences in this way. When I moved abroad and started working as a chef, I wanted to make something else than my everyday tasks. I also needed to practice language skills. I told Ilona about my ideas and we decided to make a blog together. Now our blog is a place where I write down every important experience with cuisine. I met some interesting people through the blog. My passion is more systematic than in the past and my husband is happy because I sometimes cook traditional Polish food. This year I plan to write more about wine and cheese. I want to bring Polish cuisine and culture to the Bread &Wine fans. I will continue the series about the influence of the other cuisines on the Polish cuisine. This topic fascinates me. Currently I live in Ireland. So I also want to show a few interesting places and recipes from this country.  

Gosia's favourite posts of her own: 

“My subjective guide to restaurants in Cracow - part 3 - My zone around the Bagatela Theatre.” – This post is full of memories from Cracow 

“Influence of the Polish cuisine - part 1 - Japanese herring - śledź po japońsku “– Because I love herrings.
My experience with Canarian food” - This is a post about my journey and it was a time full of new experiences.

   

Gosia's favourite Ila's posts
“Polish Slow Food” – beautiful photos and ideas 

“Dandelion bread” - for sophistication  

Homage to Poilâne – It is the first post on our blog, and my bible of bread. 

I will celebrate the hundredth post with my friends. I made dinner with meals from different cuisines. It was very happy time. In the next posts I’ll provide you with recipes of some meals from this menu: 

Menu Starter: Sushi bar, Herring salad, French duck liver pate 

Main course : Chicken baking in French style with potatos puree , mizeria (cucumber slad), polish carot salad, salad with horseradish.  

Desert: Parisian macarons, chocolate muffins, my mum yeast buns, 

 

Ilona summary In the beginning it is surprisingly hard to estimate what are the results of my free lance writing and publishing here. However when I look through all the posts I did make I see that my friend was so encouraging in all this journey. I am especially grateful for opening my mind to the possibility of photographing food which became my true fascination till today. With more and more recipes tested every year I have discovered that the perspective of cooking all the recipes from one particular cookbook is not so scary as I thought. Consistently I am devoted to breads, pastries, cookies and soups. It is so difficult to chose my favourite posts! I cannot do it another way as distinguishing between photo collection posts or strictly informative Gosia's texts and others treating exactly on preparing food and searching for a taste.    

Ila's favourite post of her own - because of the photos bringing wonderful memories:

1. 2009 review - because of the beautiful photos collected together
2. Polish Slow Food - because of the photos and the wonderful people met there
3. A Gourmet in London - because of the both aforementioned...plus dream of vacation...

Ila's favourite posts of her own - for the food purposes:

1. Hawaiian chocolate cake - one of these things the children love their mothers for, discovered in 2011
2. Coriander bread and Dandelion bread - for the method of preparation, taste and the stories behind the recipes
3. Aubergines in wine - my first experience in cooking with wine and a very successful one straight away

Ila's favourite Gosia's posts - for the high informative quality:

1. My experience with Canarian food - mojo sauces and all the yummy rest
2. Soave -wine - humble beginnings of the blog
3. Winter leeks - history from the ancient Romans to the 20th century NY

Ila's favourite Gosia's posts - for the food purposes:

1. From doughnuts to herrings - Polish shrovetide - for the best doughnuts recipe ever
2. Pumpkin cookies - I wouldn't think of that
3. World famous dessert of Italy - for sophistication

I decide to celebrate the 100th post with a bread that was in my mind from the very beginning: the wine bread. It has a nice pink colour while still raw and an incredible smell while baking! And then it is quite dense and nourishing. Ila's 100th wine bread recipe 600 g wheat flour 80 g rye brans 200 g tepid water 15 g fresh yeasts 2 tspns sugar 2 tspns salt 1/4 tspn coarsely ground pepper 230 ml dry red wine oil for the baking metal sheet 1. Dilute sugar and yeasts in water, add some wheat flour just to get the consistency of a yoghurt. Leave to bubble. 2. Mix two flours with salt. Add the leaven, wine and pepper. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes. Leave in an oiled bowl under the wet cloth to double the size. 3. Take the dough out on a floured surface and form a loaf. Leave for proofing. 4. When the dough double the size, glaze with water, puncture with a toothpick and bake in preheated oven at 175 degrees for 45 hours. 

Finally, we ended up with a mango & papaya seeds vinegrette pasta. But this is the theme for a separate story... My plans? Starting in New Zealand and Australia, we'll sail further into the South Pacific! I guess there is the time now to congratulate ourselves this wonderful time devoted to cooking, eating and blogging. Let's wish each other more celebrating with good eating and less drinking and more good friends around! 

Smacznego! Enjoy! E ai kakou!

Paris cafe

I read in painters' biographies about Paris cafés. I dreamed about Montmartre cafés full of artists, eccentrics and discussions about art and philosophy. When I was on Montmartre, I found some cafés from the nineteenth century. Only the name or décor was the same as in books. Customers and discussions are different from the ones in the past. Artists are also other than in the nineteenth century. They don't do uncompromising art but cheap art for tourists. I was very disappointed.




After this experience I was afraid to visit the La Dome café which is a very famous place. It was a big surprise to see full of memorabilia décor. The waiter was a very polite man. We felt like queens in this place. We spent two hours on discussions about art. There were artists around us. Old women were writing poems and drinking morning coffee. A young lady was sketching a portrait of her friend. A man who was near us was talking probably with an art dealer by phone. When we were leaving, a group of young people with easels came to the café. So, I dreamed about that typical Paris morning.



One day we visited the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was too early to fully admire the stained glass windows. We decided to wait and to go for coffee. We found the Esmeralda café. It was a sunny day and this café was very bright. We ordered coffee and enjoyed the sun. The aatmosphere was nice but the coffee was a little sour. We talked about Esmeralda’s story. We recalled scenes from “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” written by Victor Hugo. We planned to find places form these scenes in the Cathedral. We found some of them.



The last café which I visited in Paris was the “Three mills café”. You probably know this café form movies about the charming Amelia. Her portrait is in every place of the café: on the menus, on the walls. I thought that this café is probably a very touristy place. I was surprised because we met many Parisians inside. They were drinking morning coffee. There were only a few typical tourists. They were sitting in the corner and taking pictures under the big portrait of Amelia.
This Café has a wide selection of coffee. We ordered these types which we had never tried: coffee crème with amaretto, cappuccino with ginger, and cappuccino with cherry. They tasted nice.
I could sit like that for a long time because the atmosphere was wonderful but I had to go back to Dublin.



This post is my last story about my trip to Paris. I believe that I will come back to Paris soon.
Edi and Marek - thanks for this amazing time which we spent together.



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French cheese

You remember Meg Ryan in the „French Kiss” movie. She felt happy in France after eating cheese for breakfast. It all ended up with a stomach upset. There was a hilarious scene with French cheese and lactose intolerance.


I had a similar experience to the one in the movie but I am not allergic to lactose. My journey between the airport and the hotel was terrible. In the first instance I hated the French. When I arrived at the hotel, I was angry and hungry. My friends waited for me with a plate of French cheese and fresh baguettes.



After this very late breakfast, I felt happy and open to new experiences.
I have loved cheese since my childhood. My grandma made cheese. I was the first person in my family who tried smelly cheese form France. In my family I had a nickname – mouse.



We found many shops with French cheese on Lepic street, the same place where there is the “Three mills café". It was an amazing view for me. Big counters full of many kinds of cheese. I wanted to try every one, but it was impossible. In France you can find more than 1000 types of cheese. Every day we tried other types of cheese and we were so happy that our hotel didn’t serve breakfast. I brought to Dublin about one kilo of different types of cheese and a customs officer at the airport looked at me as if I were a mad woman.


Maybe I should start new a series about cheese? Do you want to know my opinions about cheese?



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