I dream to try one day (can't cook them on my own due lacking products)
- beaver's tail! (ancient Polish dish)
- chicha morada / colada morada
- Portuguese feijoada de caracois
- durian
- cuy
- all the possible ceviches
- coca leaves beer
- hashas ezmesi / antep fistik ezmesi
- squirrel meat
- Turkish cornelian cherry compote
- Iranian pomegranate goulash
- German spring beetle soup
- Portuguese caldo verde
- Egyptian molokheya
- medlar wine / preserves / pie
- cider pie (hving the ingredients available, I have to do it on my own!)
- doce de gila
- nabada
- Finnish blood pancakes (I forgot their name now)
- nopalos salad
- Austrian Rapsblüten-suppe!!!
- Faroese puffin meat (I am horrible, I know! oh sweet puffins!)
- Faroese beet beer :)
- ramsons! yes, til now I never ate it fresh!
- south-eastern Asian layered cakes flavoured with pandanus or violet taro
- all the Indian burfis :)
- Ethiopian injeera with their vegetable spreads
- Ethiopian honey
- haggis
- Norwegian brunost / gjetost cheese
- poppyseed halvah - know it exist!
- Akutaq / Alascan ice cream
- turtle soup
- falooda
- all the fruits, veggies, fish, cheese and meat I never tried before, all new flavoured beers or with fancy ingredients,
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Saturday, 2 June 2012
Kurpie traditional food
Culinary adventures in SIERPC skansen. Food from KURPIE region.
1. CZERNINA - a wonderful, tasteful and healthy soup for brave people. Its main ingredient is duck blood. Besides, it contains dry fruits (mainly dried pears and prunes), veggies and soft yummy potato dumplings and chunks of meat. It was a countryside typical soup, often prepared when there was a candidate to marry your daughter and he wasn't good enough (that is when this soup was symbolically served, to dump the guy). Have a look. After trying grilled blood in Spain I became crazy about blood dishes. I'll post abouti t separately.
2. SMAŻONKA, a kind of meat-onion casserole
3. MY DINNER - CZERNINA; PSIWO (homemade juniper beer) and a slice of homemade bread with liver pâté (they also served bread with lard and pickled cucumber)
4. OTHER BREADS
5. OTHER REGIONAL PRODUCTS: HOMEMADE CORDIALS, GRILL CAKES, wonderful dry SAUSAGES and FAFERNUCHY (honey, carrots and rye flour cakes)
1. CZERNINA - a wonderful, tasteful and healthy soup for brave people. Its main ingredient is duck blood. Besides, it contains dry fruits (mainly dried pears and prunes), veggies and soft yummy potato dumplings and chunks of meat. It was a countryside typical soup, often prepared when there was a candidate to marry your daughter and he wasn't good enough (that is when this soup was symbolically served, to dump the guy). Have a look. After trying grilled blood in Spain I became crazy about blood dishes. I'll post abouti t separately.
2. SMAŻONKA, a kind of meat-onion casserole
3. MY DINNER - CZERNINA; PSIWO (homemade juniper beer) and a slice of homemade bread with liver pâté (they also served bread with lard and pickled cucumber)
4. OTHER BREADS
5. OTHER REGIONAL PRODUCTS: HOMEMADE CORDIALS, GRILL CAKES, wonderful dry SAUSAGES and FAFERNUCHY (honey, carrots and rye flour cakes)
Valencian food
I think it is time to finally publish some pictures of my travel to Valencia region, Spain. I won't enter into deails about the reasons of the travel and how was it cause here it is to talk about food. And the food was wonderful. At the beginning I was shy to take snapshots of all the tapas and other delicacies, but starting from sang en ceba I got the courage.
SANG EN CEBA. My other Polish colleagues didn't really want to try, even if we have a long and rich tradition of bloody dishes in Poland. It is totally tasty.
What he had at LOLO restaurant:
1. PERICANA (typical alcoyan dried peppers spread)
2. Small portions to satisfy the first hunger
3. ARROZ CON SEPIA Y ALCACHOFAS - they say that not only sepia but also artichokes give black colour
4. ARROZ CALDOSO
5. BOMBON (expresso with condensed milk)
6. Something digestive - aniseed cordial and cookies
Now a bunch of other tapas dinner.
1. A plate of cheeses and hams, fresh tomato puree and alioli sauce
2. BURGOS-type cheese with anchovy
3. DACSA - a bit spicy maize
4. grilled veggies
5. Octopus with potatoes, sprinkled with paprika, that was totally tasty!
6. I really don't even remember :(
Things I bought in local shops:
1. PLATANOS DE CANARIAS - they say that bananas from Canary islands are the best
2. CARDOS (edible thistles)
3. ALTRAMUCES (lupine beans)
4. ORCHATA DE CHUFAS (tigernut milk)
5. SOBRASADA (ham-meat-pepper-lard dark-orange spread)
6. MORCILLA (blood sausage, local variety with onion instead of rice)
7. some sausages and jamones for my workmates
Last dinner in Alicante
1&2. fishsoup
3. our last PAELLA
4. FLAN
SANG EN CEBA. My other Polish colleagues didn't really want to try, even if we have a long and rich tradition of bloody dishes in Poland. It is totally tasty.
What he had at LOLO restaurant:
1. PERICANA (typical alcoyan dried peppers spread)
2. Small portions to satisfy the first hunger
3. ARROZ CON SEPIA Y ALCACHOFAS - they say that not only sepia but also artichokes give black colour
4. ARROZ CALDOSO
5. BOMBON (expresso with condensed milk)
6. Something digestive - aniseed cordial and cookies
Now a bunch of other tapas dinner.
1. A plate of cheeses and hams, fresh tomato puree and alioli sauce
2. BURGOS-type cheese with anchovy
3. DACSA - a bit spicy maize
4. grilled veggies
5. Octopus with potatoes, sprinkled with paprika, that was totally tasty!
6. I really don't even remember :(
Things I bought in local shops:
1. PLATANOS DE CANARIAS - they say that bananas from Canary islands are the best
2. CARDOS (edible thistles)
3. ALTRAMUCES (lupine beans)
4. ORCHATA DE CHUFAS (tigernut milk)
5. SOBRASADA (ham-meat-pepper-lard dark-orange spread)
6. MORCILLA (blood sausage, local variety with onion instead of rice)
7. some sausages and jamones for my workmates
Last dinner in Alicante
1&2. fishsoup
3. our last PAELLA
4. FLAN
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Portuguese yolk-almond pudding
Portuguese: saudade
Galician: morriña
Bosnian: sevdah
Armenian: կարոտ
Arabic: وجد
Greek: λαχτάρα
Albanian: mall
Hebrew: ערגה
Finnish: kaiho
This time, for the first time, no Polish therm. I am sure there would be one and I have someting on the tip of my tongue but didn't find it yet. But as far as I know languages, there are several words which may mean something similar. Thus, saudade wouldn't be untranslatable. To pine for somebody that you miss deeply, to wish you could be there or have it again, that nostalgic yearning for something that may no longer exist, melancholic, fatalist overtone that the object of longing may never return is known for people in the whole universe, me included. It was so overwhelming, my saudade, that I had to prepare something Portuguese to relief myself. I chose something ancient, gluten-free and even quite healthy: toucinho do céu. The whole doçaria conventual is fascinating: yolks, almonds, sugar, cinnamon, not much more, and the list of the desserts is infinite. This sweet literally means "lard from heaven" and the fact is that in the past lard was added to this recipe. I was following this method. Recommendable. I'd add doce de gila/chila, it should be even tastier with this ingredient, but in Poland you can't. Not that I won't buy doce de gila anywhere, I'd do it on my own but I never found gila so far :( I should try with a differrent type of pumpkin. Next time.
10 egg yolks
250 gr sugar (I used muscovado)
150 ml water
125 gr almonds (I gave more, about 200 gr)
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1 teaspoon cederat (or lemon) zest
icing sugar
1. Boil sugar with water for a while to the point just before caramelizing (should be golden). Cool down a bit.
2. Peel, toast and grind almonds
3. Beat egg yolks, gradually add almond flour, cinnamon, fruit zest and sugar syrup.
4. Spread your mold / pyrex with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Pour the mass.
5. Bake in the oven. Mine took 45 minutes in 180C oven. Every oven is differrent so just observe your toucinho, it can't be raw inside. When ready, sprinkle with icing sugar. Boy, was it delicious. But saudade is not gone :(
ps. tocino de cielo is similar only by its name. This Spanish dessert contains no almonds nor gila. Just yolks and sugar. I'll make it some other longing day, for sure.
Galician: morriña
Bosnian: sevdah
Armenian: կարոտ
Arabic: وجد
Greek: λαχτάρα
Albanian: mall
Hebrew: ערגה
Finnish: kaiho
This time, for the first time, no Polish therm. I am sure there would be one and I have someting on the tip of my tongue but didn't find it yet. But as far as I know languages, there are several words which may mean something similar. Thus, saudade wouldn't be untranslatable. To pine for somebody that you miss deeply, to wish you could be there or have it again, that nostalgic yearning for something that may no longer exist, melancholic, fatalist overtone that the object of longing may never return is known for people in the whole universe, me included. It was so overwhelming, my saudade, that I had to prepare something Portuguese to relief myself. I chose something ancient, gluten-free and even quite healthy: toucinho do céu. The whole doçaria conventual is fascinating: yolks, almonds, sugar, cinnamon, not much more, and the list of the desserts is infinite. This sweet literally means "lard from heaven" and the fact is that in the past lard was added to this recipe. I was following this method. Recommendable. I'd add doce de gila/chila, it should be even tastier with this ingredient, but in Poland you can't. Not that I won't buy doce de gila anywhere, I'd do it on my own but I never found gila so far :( I should try with a differrent type of pumpkin. Next time.
10 egg yolks
250 gr sugar (I used muscovado)
150 ml water
125 gr almonds (I gave more, about 200 gr)
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1 teaspoon cederat (or lemon) zest
icing sugar
1. Boil sugar with water for a while to the point just before caramelizing (should be golden). Cool down a bit.
2. Peel, toast and grind almonds
3. Beat egg yolks, gradually add almond flour, cinnamon, fruit zest and sugar syrup.
4. Spread your mold / pyrex with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Pour the mass.
5. Bake in the oven. Mine took 45 minutes in 180C oven. Every oven is differrent so just observe your toucinho, it can't be raw inside. When ready, sprinkle with icing sugar. Boy, was it delicious. But saudade is not gone :(
ps. tocino de cielo is similar only by its name. This Spanish dessert contains no almonds nor gila. Just yolks and sugar. I'll make it some other longing day, for sure.
Friday, 4 May 2012
Romanian sunflower halva
Polish: słonecznik
Latin: Helianthus Annuus
Kurdish: gulberojk
Mongolian: аран цэцэг
Occitan: virasolelh
Ossetian: Æхсынæн
Upper Sorbian: słónčnica
Lower Sorbian: słyńca
Navajo: Ndíyíliitsoh
Azeri: adi günəbaxan
I wonder what is your sweetest culinary childhood memory. The sweetest memories of that kind should be things you rarely eat or can not eat anymore or can not find or the person who prepared you that dish is not there anymore. My childhood was full of milk puddings and differrent pancakes - you know, all the blini, oladi, yeast or soda, fried, baked or steamed cakes, sweet, sometimes fruity, mouthwatering. I also remember well kogel-mogel and halva. Halva is and was very popular here in Poland. My theory is that it came here thanks to the tight relations with the East Poland had from medieval times, look at the ancient Polish recipes, they are full of herbs and species bought from Persia and Ottomans, look how is Poland called in Farsi and Turkish (and in Hungarian) and you'll know that the relatiosn were close. More than that, Turkish delight was manufactured in Polish houses til XIX century (we were caling it rachatłukum) and halva was popular here as well. When I say halva I think about the Arabic type, made from oleaginous seeds, not the Indian fruity one (which is by the way totally delicious and there is a plenty of creative ways to do it). Halva doesn't have to be from sesame and my childhoods almost forgotten taste is sunflower halva. It is hard to buy it today in Poland, but it is widely available in Bulgaria, Romania, Ucraine, Russia, all the eastern mate countries. I remember my Grandfather was buying me blocks of greeny oily sunflower and pumpkin seed halva and it was a special crunchy nutty delight. I know that it can also be made from poppy seed and I'll continue experimenting. Now, an original Romanian recipe for a homemade sunflower halva, Halva de floarea soarelui. Tastes heavenly and just like the old childhood memory. Ewa, remember, don't you do it too often! Not about your weight, but the taste that brings childhood memories back shouldn't be overdosen!
ingredients:
350 gr sunflower seeds (peeled)
100 ml water
300 gr sugar
optionally, nuts of your choice
1. Slightly toast sunflower seeds (just til they start smelling nice)
2. Process them to a paste in food processor (I used coffee grinder). Put aside, add a bit of sunflower oil if it is not oily - you should receive something similar in its consistency to tahina. Mine was a wee more dry but I found it ok. If you can, beat it a bit to make it smooth. I couldn't beat mine and didn't want to add too much oil to make it more "tahiny" so no worries.
3. Pour water and sugar into the pan, bring to boil and continue till it caramelizes (I hate termometres, but it should be about 125°C and golden colour)
4. Back to the bowl with your sunflower tahina. Gradually beat the syrup mixture into it and whisk all the time. When you reach a homogeneous paste, place it in a tin covered with baking paper. Put in the refrigerator overnight, cut while still cold and try not to devour all at once.
.JPG)
Latin: Helianthus Annuus
Kurdish: gulberojk
Mongolian: аран цэцэг
Occitan: virasolelh
Ossetian: Æхсынæн
Upper Sorbian: słónčnica
Lower Sorbian: słyńca
Navajo: Ndíyíliitsoh
Azeri: adi günəbaxan
I wonder what is your sweetest culinary childhood memory. The sweetest memories of that kind should be things you rarely eat or can not eat anymore or can not find or the person who prepared you that dish is not there anymore. My childhood was full of milk puddings and differrent pancakes - you know, all the blini, oladi, yeast or soda, fried, baked or steamed cakes, sweet, sometimes fruity, mouthwatering. I also remember well kogel-mogel and halva. Halva is and was very popular here in Poland. My theory is that it came here thanks to the tight relations with the East Poland had from medieval times, look at the ancient Polish recipes, they are full of herbs and species bought from Persia and Ottomans, look how is Poland called in Farsi and Turkish (and in Hungarian) and you'll know that the relatiosn were close. More than that, Turkish delight was manufactured in Polish houses til XIX century (we were caling it rachatłukum) and halva was popular here as well. When I say halva I think about the Arabic type, made from oleaginous seeds, not the Indian fruity one (which is by the way totally delicious and there is a plenty of creative ways to do it). Halva doesn't have to be from sesame and my childhoods almost forgotten taste is sunflower halva. It is hard to buy it today in Poland, but it is widely available in Bulgaria, Romania, Ucraine, Russia, all the eastern mate countries. I remember my Grandfather was buying me blocks of greeny oily sunflower and pumpkin seed halva and it was a special crunchy nutty delight. I know that it can also be made from poppy seed and I'll continue experimenting. Now, an original Romanian recipe for a homemade sunflower halva, Halva de floarea soarelui. Tastes heavenly and just like the old childhood memory. Ewa, remember, don't you do it too often! Not about your weight, but the taste that brings childhood memories back shouldn't be overdosen!
ingredients:
350 gr sunflower seeds (peeled)
100 ml water
300 gr sugar
optionally, nuts of your choice
1. Slightly toast sunflower seeds (just til they start smelling nice)
2. Process them to a paste in food processor (I used coffee grinder). Put aside, add a bit of sunflower oil if it is not oily - you should receive something similar in its consistency to tahina. Mine was a wee more dry but I found it ok. If you can, beat it a bit to make it smooth. I couldn't beat mine and didn't want to add too much oil to make it more "tahiny" so no worries.
3. Pour water and sugar into the pan, bring to boil and continue till it caramelizes (I hate termometres, but it should be about 125°C and golden colour)
4. Back to the bowl with your sunflower tahina. Gradually beat the syrup mixture into it and whisk all the time. When you reach a homogeneous paste, place it in a tin covered with baking paper. Put in the refrigerator overnight, cut while still cold and try not to devour all at once.
.JPG)
Gluten-free ideas - to be continued
Polish: bezglutenowy
English: gluten-free
Romanian: fără gluten
Portuguese: sem glúten
Turkish: glutensiz
Estonian: gluteenivaba
Hungarian: gluténmentes
Irish: saor ó ghlútan
Bahasa Indonesia: bebas gluten
Suahili: gluten-bure
I don't suffer from celiac disease, but I am a slightly depressive or maybe just melancolic girl, and several studies suggest that gluten may be a reason of depression. I like my melancholy but I don't like the depression, plus, I solidarise with my little niece, cause my sis decided to not give her gluten-containing food just to make her healthier. But the fact is that when you are hungry, you grab a slice of bread to fill the stomach and the point is to satisfy the hunger with something tasty and also healthy. And flour isn't too nutritive, obviously. What makes me totally laugh is the amount of crazy recipes for gluten-free breads and cakes, which requires fancy flours and weird artificial ingredients to put the final product in shape. I would never make a cake from a mix of brown rice flour, white rice flour, potato starch flour, tapioca starch flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch and xanthan or guar gum, or maybe just once to have a try. Of course starch is one of those to fill your stomach and if you exclude gluten from your diet just to be healthier, use the flour-starch-recipes only for rare special occasions, that is my suggestion. Otherwise, there are plenty of great ideas without the label "gluten-free" which always were gluten-free and delicious and nobody complained, but in this labeled and comercialised world people sometimes stop thinking. I know many traditional recipes for gluten-free sweets and cakes and would liek to prepare here a list just to help you to choose something. Cause I know people with celiac disease have less choice than I have. If it comes to bread, I easily excluded it from my repertoire, but let's talk about breakfasts some other time and concentate on sweets / desserts / baked goodies. Here is my list of ideas, some with recipes to follow, some recipes will be given later or go google them :)
1. CHEESECAKE - doesn't really have to have that cookies bottom. Take your favourite cheesecake recipe and forget about the bottom and don't add semolina to your cheese if a recipe requires (just add custard powder, but the one from potato or corn starch)
Example from my blog - here (forget about those tablespoons of flour, you don't really need them)
PASCHA - Eastern-European cheese delicacy, similar to cheesecake.
2. PAVLOVA / MERINGUES - gluten-free from their own nature. For my birthday I like to bake a meringue layered cake, three layers of big flat meringue and whipped cream (flavoured, usually with cocoa) between.
Recipe will be here soon.
3. POPPYSEED CAKE / tort makowy - a Polish classic, poppyseed layered cake, usually filled with white chocolate cream. Recipe can be found in the net or I'll post it soon.
4. WALNUT CAKE / tort orzechowy - another Polish classic, walnut layered cake, filled with nutty/buttery cream and sometimes with apple filling. To be posted soon.
5. BUCKWHEAT CAKE - made in Poland, Austria, Germany. Find it or I'll post it.
6. ICE CREAM. Thing of a big bowl in which you'd freeze layers of your favourite ice cream, cut it as a cake.
7. FLAN, pudding, custard, panna cotta, all these milky desserts pupular everywhere. Make it healthier and tastier by adding differrent nuts, fruits, chestnuts, cinnamon, lemon zest, anything of your choice. If you invite guests, make a big flan in a pie-like form to pretend it is a cake :)
Example from my blog - here
Spoon desserts: here, here, here, here, here, here and here
8. Asian puddings and jellies (almond, grass and so on) with agar agar, "eastern" sisters of all the milky "western" puddings
9. HALVA / TURRON / BURFI - You can do it on your own at home. Think of a fancy shape and serve instead of a traditional cake.
Example from my blog - here.
10. BEAN BROWNIE - experiment with differrent kinds of beans and chocolates, almonds and differrent nuts, try it with chickpeas or lupin beans - be creative. By the way, this cake is delicious. Don't tell anyone it is gluten-free, they would never know. Recipes are in the net and will be posted here as well.
To be continued. But remember, you have a plenty of recipes to follow, so head up and don't worry!
English: gluten-free
Romanian: fără gluten
Portuguese: sem glúten
Turkish: glutensiz
Estonian: gluteenivaba
Hungarian: gluténmentes
Irish: saor ó ghlútan
Bahasa Indonesia: bebas gluten
Suahili: gluten-bure
I don't suffer from celiac disease, but I am a slightly depressive or maybe just melancolic girl, and several studies suggest that gluten may be a reason of depression. I like my melancholy but I don't like the depression, plus, I solidarise with my little niece, cause my sis decided to not give her gluten-containing food just to make her healthier. But the fact is that when you are hungry, you grab a slice of bread to fill the stomach and the point is to satisfy the hunger with something tasty and also healthy. And flour isn't too nutritive, obviously. What makes me totally laugh is the amount of crazy recipes for gluten-free breads and cakes, which requires fancy flours and weird artificial ingredients to put the final product in shape. I would never make a cake from a mix of brown rice flour, white rice flour, potato starch flour, tapioca starch flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch and xanthan or guar gum, or maybe just once to have a try. Of course starch is one of those to fill your stomach and if you exclude gluten from your diet just to be healthier, use the flour-starch-recipes only for rare special occasions, that is my suggestion. Otherwise, there are plenty of great ideas without the label "gluten-free" which always were gluten-free and delicious and nobody complained, but in this labeled and comercialised world people sometimes stop thinking. I know many traditional recipes for gluten-free sweets and cakes and would liek to prepare here a list just to help you to choose something. Cause I know people with celiac disease have less choice than I have. If it comes to bread, I easily excluded it from my repertoire, but let's talk about breakfasts some other time and concentate on sweets / desserts / baked goodies. Here is my list of ideas, some with recipes to follow, some recipes will be given later or go google them :)
1. CHEESECAKE - doesn't really have to have that cookies bottom. Take your favourite cheesecake recipe and forget about the bottom and don't add semolina to your cheese if a recipe requires (just add custard powder, but the one from potato or corn starch)
Example from my blog - here (forget about those tablespoons of flour, you don't really need them)
PASCHA - Eastern-European cheese delicacy, similar to cheesecake.
2. PAVLOVA / MERINGUES - gluten-free from their own nature. For my birthday I like to bake a meringue layered cake, three layers of big flat meringue and whipped cream (flavoured, usually with cocoa) between.
Recipe will be here soon.
3. POPPYSEED CAKE / tort makowy - a Polish classic, poppyseed layered cake, usually filled with white chocolate cream. Recipe can be found in the net or I'll post it soon.
4. WALNUT CAKE / tort orzechowy - another Polish classic, walnut layered cake, filled with nutty/buttery cream and sometimes with apple filling. To be posted soon.
5. BUCKWHEAT CAKE - made in Poland, Austria, Germany. Find it or I'll post it.
6. ICE CREAM. Thing of a big bowl in which you'd freeze layers of your favourite ice cream, cut it as a cake.
7. FLAN, pudding, custard, panna cotta, all these milky desserts pupular everywhere. Make it healthier and tastier by adding differrent nuts, fruits, chestnuts, cinnamon, lemon zest, anything of your choice. If you invite guests, make a big flan in a pie-like form to pretend it is a cake :)
Example from my blog - here
Spoon desserts: here, here, here, here, here, here and here
8. Asian puddings and jellies (almond, grass and so on) with agar agar, "eastern" sisters of all the milky "western" puddings
9. HALVA / TURRON / BURFI - You can do it on your own at home. Think of a fancy shape and serve instead of a traditional cake.
Example from my blog - here.
10. BEAN BROWNIE - experiment with differrent kinds of beans and chocolates, almonds and differrent nuts, try it with chickpeas or lupin beans - be creative. By the way, this cake is delicious. Don't tell anyone it is gluten-free, they would never know. Recipes are in the net and will be posted here as well.
To be continued. But remember, you have a plenty of recipes to follow, so head up and don't worry!
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Polish spring spread
Polish: twaróg
English: curd
Bulgarian: Извара
Icelandic: ystingur
Georgian: ხაჭო
Tamil: தயிர்
Lithuanian: varškė
Spanish: requesón
Tatar: eremçek
Hungarian: túró
Curd cheese summer spread. Delicious!
English: curd
Bulgarian: Извара
Icelandic: ystingur
Georgian: ხაჭო
Tamil: தயிர்
Lithuanian: varškė
Spanish: requesón
Tatar: eremçek
Hungarian: túró
Curd cheese summer spread. Delicious!
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Romanian lovage sauce recipe
Polish: lubczyk
Kashubian: lëbiszk
Persian: انجدان رومی
Azerbaijani: dərman levistiki
Icelandic: skessujurt
Bulgarian: Девесил
French: livèche
German: Liebstöckel
Hebrew: לווג'
Finnish: liperi
Spring generously gives us vegetables and herbs. I just bought a bunch of of differrent leaf vegetables and fresh herbs at my local market. Lovage. I just ate it fresh for the first time... Dried lovage is added often to the chicken broth in Poland and is a component of many dried herbs mixes, but there is nothing better than a fresh greeny ingredient in our kitchens. It is easy to cultivate, even in the pot on your balcony. And there is something about love in this herb, I am very sure... in Poland people used to put lovage leaves to the first bath of a baby-born girl, which had to bring her love in the future life... for same reason, girls were putting it into their hair or dress during their wedding. Today we only believe that lovage can increase the libido...
The recipe is inspired by Romanian way of preserving this lovely herb, called pasta de leuștean, which is kept in the fridge and added to the soup whenever you like. But try to eat it like pesto sauce with your favourite pasta!
a bunch of lovage (about 200gr)
olive oil
salt (about a teaspoon)
optionally (to make a pasta sauce):
garlic cloves
maybe a bit of pine nuts / almonds / pistachios
maybe a bit of cheese
Wash lovage and separate leaves from stems. Grind them with olive oil and salt and in this stage you can put the result to the jar and pasteurise it the way you usually do and enjoy the celery-like, aromatic fresh taste of lovage after its season. it is great to add a bit of lovage to the soup, stew or pasta sauce. But I thought, this great and simple puree could be eaten like pesto, just with noodles, so you could add, to your taste, ground pistachios, pine nuts, cheese... My palate was satisfied with lovage, garlic, olive oil and salt, and japanese buckwheat noodles. Yummy :)
Kashubian: lëbiszk
Persian: انجدان رومی
Azerbaijani: dərman levistiki
Icelandic: skessujurt
Bulgarian: Девесил
French: livèche
German: Liebstöckel
Hebrew: לווג'
Finnish: liperi
Spring generously gives us vegetables and herbs. I just bought a bunch of of differrent leaf vegetables and fresh herbs at my local market. Lovage. I just ate it fresh for the first time... Dried lovage is added often to the chicken broth in Poland and is a component of many dried herbs mixes, but there is nothing better than a fresh greeny ingredient in our kitchens. It is easy to cultivate, even in the pot on your balcony. And there is something about love in this herb, I am very sure... in Poland people used to put lovage leaves to the first bath of a baby-born girl, which had to bring her love in the future life... for same reason, girls were putting it into their hair or dress during their wedding. Today we only believe that lovage can increase the libido...
The recipe is inspired by Romanian way of preserving this lovely herb, called pasta de leuștean, which is kept in the fridge and added to the soup whenever you like. But try to eat it like pesto sauce with your favourite pasta!
a bunch of lovage (about 200gr)
olive oil
salt (about a teaspoon)
optionally (to make a pasta sauce):
garlic cloves
maybe a bit of pine nuts / almonds / pistachios
maybe a bit of cheese
Wash lovage and separate leaves from stems. Grind them with olive oil and salt and in this stage you can put the result to the jar and pasteurise it the way you usually do and enjoy the celery-like, aromatic fresh taste of lovage after its season. it is great to add a bit of lovage to the soup, stew or pasta sauce. But I thought, this great and simple puree could be eaten like pesto, just with noodles, so you could add, to your taste, ground pistachios, pine nuts, cheese... My palate was satisfied with lovage, garlic, olive oil and salt, and japanese buckwheat noodles. Yummy :)
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Back to blogging!
Dear Food-Lover-Friends! I haven't been posing for a looooong time, I know... I am sorry for not being able to respond and public all your interesting comments, but I promise to do it and to start posting recipes regularily again! Thank you for being there, see you soon! By the way, spring is coming to Poland, I am impatiently waiting for young fresh nettle leaves! What are you waiting for?
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Christmas table, 2010
Pictures from the Christmas Eve 2010. We spent it at home in Warsaw and we were totally unprepared. We planned to go to the family from the countryside but I had an accident and we had to stay at home and prepare the feast as fast as possible. It was a true European supper. Here are the results:
something British: Christmas pudding with brandy sauce
something Polish: fish in vegetables (falsely called "Greek style fish" :P)
Something Italian: panforte
Something Portuguese: azevias de grao
Something Swiss: Birnenbrot
Something Polish: poppyseed and dried plums rolls (makowiec)
Something Polish: differrent kinds of herrings
something British: Christmas pudding with brandy sauce
something Polish: fish in vegetables (falsely called "Greek style fish" :P)
Something Italian: panforte
Something Portuguese: azevias de grao
Something Swiss: Birnenbrot
Something Polish: poppyseed and dried plums rolls (makowiec)
Something Polish: differrent kinds of herrings
Monday, 27 April 2009
Spring cold soups
Polish: Chłodnik
Belarusian: Хaлaднiк
Russian: Холодник
Ukrainian: Холодник
Lithuanian: Šaltibarščiai
Chłodnik means cold summer soup. It is eaten not only in Poland but also in other east-European countries. The most popular variant is made with beets and/or young beet leaves, kefir or soured milk and many differrent young fresh raw vegetables and vegetable greens. There are also non-beet variants, sour: with sorrel, tomato, kohlrabi or cucumber, and several fruit ones: especially with currants, strawberries (or wild strawberries), melon or cherry soup. And countless new creative versions. As a child, when my mum was pregnant with my brother, we had to eat meals at a dairy bar and we were eating chłodnik and crepes with curd cheese filling. My homemade chłodnik tastes much better :) The one made with beet leaves is called botwina. If you don't have baby beet fresh leaves, hopefully you could see, to inspire yourself, my attempts of making chłodnik when I was abroad and far away from beet leaves :)
for 3 portions:
2 bunches young beet leaves (each bunch contains 3-4 tiny beets)
2 medium beets
2 bunches radishes
1 bunch chives
1 bunch dill
1/2 lemon
3 cups kefir
1 cup yoghurt
3 eggs
1. Boil eggs for 10 minutes.
2. Cut beet leaves and stalks very finely. Peel tiny beets (those from leaves) and normal beets. Cut those bigger into fourths. Cook them in few (1 cup) water (some people take vegetable broth) until beets are soft. When ready, add freshly squeezed lemon juice.
3. Chop very finely other vegetables: chives, dill and radishes. Pour kefir and yoghurt into the bowl and add chopped vegetables.
4. Using a vegetable grater, grate cooked beets. Add beets, beet leaves and the water in which they were cooked, to the kefir.
5. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice or apple vinegar and maybe also with garlic. Serve with egg halves (and probably some chopped parsley green)
and here comes another recipe, less popular but also tasty: sorrel chłodnik with whey(chłodnik szczawiowy na serwatce)
250 gr sorrel leaves
3 cups whey (see here how to make whey)
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
dill
1. Bring whey to boil. Whisk cream (of room temperature; not taken directly from the fridge!) with flour until there are no clumps and add to warm whey. Stir and let boil again. Set aside.
2. Chop sorrel finely and stew it with butter and probably very few water for about 10 minutes. Set aside.
3. Add sorrel to cooled whey, salt to taste and sprinkle with dill. Serve with potatoes (serve warm boiled potato chunks on a separate plate or pour cold soup over warm potatoes in a bowl). You can also add boiled egg halves.
Belarusian: Хaлaднiк
Russian: Холодник
Ukrainian: Холодник
Lithuanian: Šaltibarščiai
Chłodnik means cold summer soup. It is eaten not only in Poland but also in other east-European countries. The most popular variant is made with beets and/or young beet leaves, kefir or soured milk and many differrent young fresh raw vegetables and vegetable greens. There are also non-beet variants, sour: with sorrel, tomato, kohlrabi or cucumber, and several fruit ones: especially with currants, strawberries (or wild strawberries), melon or cherry soup. And countless new creative versions. As a child, when my mum was pregnant with my brother, we had to eat meals at a dairy bar and we were eating chłodnik and crepes with curd cheese filling. My homemade chłodnik tastes much better :) The one made with beet leaves is called botwina. If you don't have baby beet fresh leaves, hopefully you could see, to inspire yourself, my attempts of making chłodnik when I was abroad and far away from beet leaves :)
for 3 portions:
2 bunches young beet leaves (each bunch contains 3-4 tiny beets)
2 medium beets
2 bunches radishes
1 bunch chives
1 bunch dill
1/2 lemon
3 cups kefir
1 cup yoghurt
3 eggs
1. Boil eggs for 10 minutes.
2. Cut beet leaves and stalks very finely. Peel tiny beets (those from leaves) and normal beets. Cut those bigger into fourths. Cook them in few (1 cup) water (some people take vegetable broth) until beets are soft. When ready, add freshly squeezed lemon juice.
3. Chop very finely other vegetables: chives, dill and radishes. Pour kefir and yoghurt into the bowl and add chopped vegetables.
4. Using a vegetable grater, grate cooked beets. Add beets, beet leaves and the water in which they were cooked, to the kefir.
5. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice or apple vinegar and maybe also with garlic. Serve with egg halves (and probably some chopped parsley green)
and here comes another recipe, less popular but also tasty: sorrel chłodnik with whey(chłodnik szczawiowy na serwatce)
250 gr sorrel leaves
3 cups whey (see here how to make whey)
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
dill
1. Bring whey to boil. Whisk cream (of room temperature; not taken directly from the fridge!) with flour until there are no clumps and add to warm whey. Stir and let boil again. Set aside.
2. Chop sorrel finely and stew it with butter and probably very few water for about 10 minutes. Set aside.
3. Add sorrel to cooled whey, salt to taste and sprinkle with dill. Serve with potatoes (serve warm boiled potato chunks on a separate plate or pour cold soup over warm potatoes in a bowl). You can also add boiled egg halves.
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