Fresh from Poland: New Vegetarian Cooking from the Old Country, by Michal Korkosz.
I’m a lifelong vegetarian, and intrigued by Polish cooking, so I’m excited to preview this new cookbook! It just came out last week. I don’t know much about Polish cooking, and I have (incorrectly, of course) assumed it had mostly to do with pirogi type foods and sausages. Let’s take a look inside.
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This is the first international cookbook I’ve seen in a long time that doesn’t immediately launch into a Pantry introduction informing us of all the things we’ll need to stock to make these recipes. I wonder, then, if the ingredients needed for this book are things we all, the cookbook’s audience, are suspected of already having in our fridges and pantries.
After a brief Introduction, the cookbook begins with Breakfast recipes – a rye crumble with honeyed fruit, several healthy sounding spreads, and an oatmeal. The cheese curd dumplings are what I sort of expected from this cookbook, and I’m intrigued by the “Crepes with White Cheese and Rose” and by “Brown butter scrambled eggs.” Apple fritters are a recipe featured in so many of the cookbooks on my shelves; I’ll be curious to see what gives them a Polish spin. I’d wondered if this region of the world shares some influences with Russian and Ukrainian food and sure enough, there’s a recipe for “Buckwheat Blini with Sour Cream and Pickled Red Onion.” “Creamy Millet Pudding” doesn’t sound very delicious to me personally; instead I’ll try making “Polish Farmer Cheese.”
The next chapter is Breads and Baked Goods. I’m surprised to see a recipe here for Challah (but I shouldn’t be). I’m eager to peek at the recipe for Sourdough Rye Bread, and I want to check out the Baked Yeasted Pierogi. I’ll definitely make the Onion Poppy Seed Buns, those sound delicious.
Next up is a chapter on Soups – I’m grateful, as I make soup twice a week. We begin with a recipe for vegetable broth to use in the other soups. I’ll probably skip the Creamy Sauerkraut Soup, but I’m willing to attempt the Tomato Apple Soup with “Poured” Noodles. As expected, there’s a chilled beet soup recipe here. My boyfriend will be happy if I make “New Potatoes and Buttermilk Soup,” and for myself I want to be brave enough to try “Dill Pickle Soup with Buttered Potatoes.”
Next is the Main Dishes chapter – I’m cooking at home a whole lot right now (due to the coronavirus pandemic) so I’m going to dig right in and try several of these recipes: Lentil, Pumpkin & Zucchini Stew; Breton Beans with Tomato; Potato Fritters with Rosemary and Horseradish Sauce; and the Barley Risotto with Asparagus, Cider and Goat Cheese. I’ll skip the Sauerkraut Fritters unless my boyfriend really begs for them.
Taking a peek at the Side Dishes chapter, I’m guessing I’ll skip the Mashed Potatoes with Cold-Pressed Rapeseed Oil (I don’t have any such thing in the house, and can’t go to the grocery store right now really). I probably have extra time on my hands right now that I’d devote to making Potato Salad With Fermented Radishes and Pear, though. I’m definitely down for “Creamy Hot Beets.” As I’ve promised myself to cook cabbage more often, I’ll turn right away to the recipe for “Braised Cabbage with Hazelnuts.”
As expected, there’s an entire chapter devoted to Pierogi and Dumplings. It begins, of course, with a basic pierogi dough. I’m ready to dive in and make Blueberry Pierogi with Honeyed Sour Cream for breakfast tomorrow. All of the savory dumplings and pierogis sound so tempting right now, too.
For dessert, I’ll make one of the cheesecakes; I’m not sure I’m up for Rose-Petal Preserves, and my roses won’t bloom for a few more months anyway. Yeasted buttermilk cake sounds like something I could tackle now. I happen to have cherry liqueur in the house, so I’ll think about making the Cherry Liqueur Baba. The cakes (Heaven cake, Honey Cake with Prunes and Sour Cream) probably aren’t too difficult and will make my boyfriend a nice treat with his coffee.
The final chapter offers recipes for Preserves, Jams & Pickles. I’ve made plum jam before (I have three plum trees in my backyard) so might skip that, and instead spend my time making dill pickles.
I give two thumbs up (and five stars) to this ethnic vegetarian cookbook. The ingredients aren’t far-fetched, the recipes are healthy most of the time (don’t look at how much sour cream I’ll be dumping on my creations!) and other than my personal distaste for horseradish and sauerkraut, everything seems approchable and tasty. This book presents a fabulous opportunity for vegetarians and people eating less meat to learn to cook Polish food.
-Carrie