~ A weekly column by Lucinda Frye ~

In our quest for diverse, indigenous cuisine brought by the many ethnic people from all over the world that live on St. Maarten, we have covered ethnic groups from the Caribbean, namely the Arawaks/Caribs, and ethnic groups from surrounding Caribbean islands, Europe, the Middle East, Scandinavia, the UK, South America, Africa, India and Southern Hemisphere countries of New Zealand, Australia and China. This week we will head to Poland.

Poland – located between Germany and Russia.

Polish cuisine evolved over the centuries as have most of the cuisines in Europe. The national cuisine shares similarities with French and Italian / Central and Eastern Europe. Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. The diet is rich in meat, noodles, winter vegetables and some spices. Traditional dishes are often demanding in preparation and take many days to prepare; festive occasions are prepared for a number of days in advance like Christmas and Easter.

Breakfast might include boiled or scrambled eggs, buttered rolls, bagels and hot cereal, ham and other meat and cheese could also appear on the breakfast table. Tea with milk, coffee and cocoa are common beverages. Sometimes a light meal, known as a “second breakfast” is eaten between 11:00am and 1:00pm. This might include soup, fried eggs, a sandwich or cold meats.

The main meal is eaten mid-afternoon – (it takes time to prepare the meals). This meal often has three courses starting with a soup, then an appetizer perhaps of herring prepared in cream or oil, or vinegar. The main course is usually of meat with sides of vegetables (turnips and peas were and are still popular) and/or potatoes. Salads are fairly modern on the menu and generally eaten during the warmer months. The final course, a dessert, could be a pastry of some description.

The last meal of the day is the lightest and is served between 8:00 and 9:00pm. This often includes a main dish that is either hot or cold, pickled vegetables and a dessert. Hot cocoa or hot tea with lemon is also served.

Customs in the middle-ages were much more restrictive than in our times. Christianity began to be taken seriously in Poland around 996. This had a significant influence on the Polish diet. Fast restrictions were put into in effect on Fridays and the eves before the religious holidays. Catholicism rituals of fasting and feasting were enforced. These fasts are responsible for spreading the eating of fish and vegetarian dishes instead of dairy and meats on certain days; in fact, meat, eggs and dairy products were forbidden. Fasts were extorted both through the clergy as well as the secular authority.

During the middle-ages, flatware does not appear to have been used at all. During feasts in the wealthy manor houses, they usually used clay and wooden dishes. However, tin, silver or gold tableware was kept for very special occasions. With time, such exclusive tableware appeared among the lower social circles as not excessively wealthy people silver mugs and spoons, tin plates, or decorative bowlfuls in their possession. Embroidered tablecloths were also used from time to time even in the homes of peasants.

Medieval chronicles describe Polish cuisine as being very pungent with large amounts of meat and groats appearing in recipes. The seasoning that made the dishes so pungent were not used (apparently) in other European countries to the same extent, these seasonings were pepper, nutmeg and juniper. Polish cuisine in the middle-ages was based on dishes made of millet, rye, wheat, meat from wild game and farm animals and fruits, herbs and local spices with an abundant use of salt.

Beer appears to have been the basic drink, beer and mead, were popular middle-age drinks and, in time, wines were imported mainly from Silesia and Hungary. Not too different to today’s enjoyment of drinks.

Geographical and political factors have had a strong influence on Polish cuisine. The country is located in a climatic zone with cool and barren winters. Dishes were prepared that could easily be preserved and stored for months at a time. Food was preserved with readily available fossil salt and usually with drying, pickling or slight fermentation just as things are done today. Large areas of forests have also influenced the Polish diet. Wild strawberries, blueberries, currants, raspberries, wild black raspberries and wild, edible mushrooms are as popular today as they ever were.

Freshwater fish and saltwater fish are seen in many recipes; herring, codfish, dory, pollack, sprat and sole play a special role on the Polish table. Agriculturally, Poland has rich land, allowing many cereal grains to grow; these include barley, buckwheat and wheat.

Often, there is a light meal, known as a “second breakfast” that is eaten between the hours of 11:00 am and 1:00 pm. This might include soup, fried eggs, a sandwich or cold meats. Dinner is the main daily meal and is served late in the afternoon. This includes one dish made of meat, a boiled vegetable or salad, soup, potatoes, dumplings, or a dish of grains.

The last meal of the day is the lightest and is served between 8:00 and 9:00pm. It is usually made up of a main dish that is hot or cold; vegetables that have been pickled and a dessert, hot cocoa and hot tea with lemon.

Here is a short list of some of the most popular and traditional dishes enjoyed in Poland:

Szarlotka - Cake made with apples and occasionally served with whipped cream.

Knedle - Dumplings made of potatoes and stuffed with plums or other fruit.

Nalesniki - Omelettes that are stuffed with cottage cheese, fruit or jam.

Pierogi - Little dumplings larger than ravioli, and filled with mushrooms, cheese, potatoes, sauerkraut or fruit.

Golabki - Cabbage packages that are filled with meat and rice.

Klopsiki - A kind of meatloaf with tomato sauce.

Kurczak de volaille - Chicken steaks that have been covered with butter and filled with mushrooms before being covered with bread crumbs; much like Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Olonka w piwie - Pork knuckle sometimes served in a beer sauce with horseradish.

Barszcz czerwony - Soup of beetroot that includes sour cream and vegetables and is often served with dumplings.

Chlodnik litewski - Cold beetroot and yogurt soup served along with a hard-boiled egg.

Drinks popular in Poland:

Polish mead - Made with honey that has been combined with water and fermented. Ginger, pepper, vanilla, cinnamon and juniper are often used to flavour this drink.

Polish Nalewka - Alcoholic beverage that has about 40 or 50% alcohol, naturally flavoured with fruits or herbs, sugar, honey and syrup in addition to spices and fruits.

Zubrowka - This is the traditional vodka of Poland.

Zoladkowo- Gorzka - This vodka is made with dried fruits and herbs.

Recipes:

Cold beet soup – Not to most of our taste I am sure, but much loved in Poland.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped baby beet greens.

1½ to 2 qt. buttermilk (soured cream was used and still is in the rural areas)

½ cup pouring sour cream – beat with a fork

½ to ¾ cup ham – shredded

2 cups boiling water

1 peeled cucumber – finely chopped

1 bunch radishes – finely chopped

1 bunch green onions – finely chopped

3 tsp. freshly chopped dill

Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Method:

Place 1 cup chopped baby beet greens and ½ to ¾ cup diced boiled ham in a pot with 2 cups boiling water. Simmer for 15 minutes. Cool.

Add 1½ to 2 quarts buttermilk, ½ cup fork blended, pourable sour cream, cucumber, radishes, green onions and dill. Add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.

If you prefer this soup to be tart, you can sour to taste with a little dill pickle juice or lemon.

Refrigerate overnight for flavours to intermingle or at least 5 hours.

Stir in some raw grated beetroot and serve cold over sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Pierogi - very popular in Poland. You can make one or all the fillings.

Ingredients:

Dough:

2 cups all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

2/3 cup of HOT water

Cheese-potato filling:

1½ cups cooked potatoes

½ cup cheese (cottage cheese or cheddar)

½ cup minced onion

Salt and pepper to taste

Mushroom mixture:

1 cup dried porcini mushrooms

1 cup boiling water or enough to cover mushrooms

1 tbl olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 leek, white and light green parts

¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 tsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

Pinch salt and pepper

Method:

Filling - potatoes:

Mash potatoes without milk and butter and mix well with cheese, onion and season. Set aside.

Filling mushrooms:

Pour the boiling water over the mushrooms to reconstitute for about 30 minutes.

Strain and reserve liquid.

Trim, rinse and finely chop the leeks.

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan.

Add the leeks and garlic, sauté until soft.

Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the leeks along with the thyme, salt and pepper; sauté for 2 minutes more.

Remove from heat and add the parsley.

Cool mixture, set aside.

Dough:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with a knife; then knead lightly in the bowl.

Rest dough for one-half hours covered with a kitchen towel. Then knead the dough a few times on a floured surface and roll out to 1/8-inch thickness.

Cut out with a +/- 3-inch drinking glass.

Place a tbl full of filling in the middle of each dough circle. With floured hands, fold the dough over the filling, and, starting at one end of the resulting crescent, pinch the dough together to enclose the filling. As you pinch the dough closed, continuously work the filling into the pierogi with floured fingers.

Drop the pierogi into rapidly boiling water for about 3-4 minutes, removing them once they float.

Make sure the pierogi dough is tightly sealed, or these little dumplings will come apart when boiled.