Hazelnuts aren’t exactly a staple in daily diets, likely due to their cost. In Germany, hazelnuts are nearly twice as expensive as cashews. Yet, they were once a typical product in traditional folk kitchens. Labor used to be cheap and available, especially for light tasks like gathering berries, mushrooms, herbs, and nuts — tasks even children could … Read more
June 7th marks World Food Safety Day, established by the United Nations in 2018. It is one of the most important “holidays” of the year but often goes unnoticed amidst the tribal media focused on political disputes and celebrity scandals (or vice versa). Food safety is one of the key issues throughout the farm-to-table chain. … Read more
The topic of intellectual property isn’t very catchy unless there’s a scandal about plagiarism or the use of someone else’s recipes. From time to time, there are cases of wholesale utilization of other people’s recipes, whether on a blog or in an e-book. And usually, it turns out that the aggrieved parties have no clue … Read more
In the kitchen, we are all dwarves standing on the shoulders of giants. And we are constantly learning from other chefs and guests. That’s why a chef should frequently eat dishes prepared by other chefs, study learned treatises with recipes, and observe how others cook, even on television. In fact, that’s one of the most … Read more
I already mentioned in the recipe for a meatless miso soup that it is a similar culinary tradition to Polish sourdough żurek. The base for Polish sourdough is wheat or other grains, while miso uses soybeans with the addition of grains, usually rice. However, in both cases, we use the same process: one of the … Read more
What connects Poland and Korea? Fermented foods. Fermented cabbage, to be exact. Fermented cabbage that saved the lives of our peasant ancestors. Fasting soups made with fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and sour rye soup were a staple of the Polish peasant diet. Miso and kimchi are Asian fermented foods similar to sauerkraut and sour rye … Read more
Tomato and bean stew is a very traditional Polish dish, some would say it’s a bar or canteen style combination. Of course, we’re talking about “Breton-style” bean stew, whose origin is not entirely clear. The dish was known in Polish cuisine in the 19th century, which would actually indicate France as the country of origin … Read more
Eintopf is a dish known in many cultures, wherever an open fireplace (or bonfire) was used to hang a single pot. It was also a popular dish among the people, not the elite. In Germany, where it was widespread, “Eintopfy” only made it into cookbooks during World War I. At that time, it also became … Read more
