Poland - the very first time I heard that name was when I was eleven, after scoring a distinction from a London Associated Board Royal School of Music’s piano exam. Upon receiving the good news, my dad joked to me in a tongue-in-cheek manner that since I had achieved such a thing, I then might one day end up studying piano in that very country - Poland. a Mecca for pianists.

Although it was merely a joking statement, my father had somehow made an accurate prophecy. Exactly ten years later, while I was studying in Oklahoma, USA, I received an offer. An offer from my Polish piano professor to study piano performance under her famous Polish professor in Poland.

Pictured: In the summer of 1988, author Siwen Wong is snapped in this picture at a park with the Palace of Culture and Science of Warsaw in the background. Within three days of arriving in Poland, my American classmate decided to return to Oklahoma, due to the poor Polish living standards of the Communist regime period. I, however, continued to stay in the European country for another year.

In August 1987, I left the States, bound for Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, ready to study piano performance under their national icon, Regina Smenzianka(1). In the 80s, Smenzianka was highly regarded as the best piano professor around. Famous and talented, she was like the Elizabeth Taylor of Poland.

Everyone would look at me impressed when learning the fact that I was a student of hers. However, as my British and American trained piano standards were both well below Communistic perestroika system standards, during the course, under such stringent training, with completely different approaches to piano techniques, and therefore completely different approaches to performance styles and teachings, I had a great awakening. Nevertheless, it was tremendously stressful - while at the same time I also had to cope with the abrupt change of food, language, custom, culture, and low living standards, where I couldn’t even buy toilet paper from regular convenience or departmental stores.

The only advantage I had in Poland during such a era was that I had American currency and that I was a foreigner, but heart-felt pain I held for the Polish - I often witnessed how poor the Polish were, they who were being snubbed by richer foreigners whom possessed “superior complex” mindsets. In addition to this, many foreigners would only hang out with other foreigners. Life was cruel to the Polish. Just because their country was poor, they also lost their national pride, especially when faced with arrogant foreigners. Although Poland’s culture and cultivation was much richer and refined than most foreigners’, the reality was that in a communist era like such, money would define one’s social status, even more than in a democratic country.

Initially, the only comfort that I had during my stressful situation was actually food. I would exchange my American dollars in the black market for just that - the money enabled me to enjoy some of the best gourmet Polish foods in some of the city’s best restaurants with as little as US$5.00 to 10.00 for a good hearty meal.

During this late 80s era, there was not a single Chinese restaurant in Warsaw. Still, I could stand going without eating rice for more than six months, because the bread rolls produced by Polish bakeries were so good. Their bread rolls were not baked with modern ovens, but “merely” with the conventional fire oven. The traditional method used actually produced the most aromatic and best bread rolls one could ever wish for.

I was exposed to a completely new spectrum of Western foods. Without much chance to eat the American, Chinese or Malaysian food that I was so used to, my taste buds oriented gradually to the highest standard Western gourmet food. I was not even aware how much so until I attended chef school almost thirty years later.

However, even though I carried American dollars, a lot of the time I could not get the things I wanted. Sometimes when no black market toilet paper availed, I had to go to the XXXXXXXX asking for some. The kind-hearted XXXXXXXX would bring me to the XXXXXX mansion personally, unlock a storage shelf, ask me to open my school bag, and then proceed to fill it up with toilet paper imported from Vienna. He had to do this secretly because he didn’t want the housekeeper to know that he did me this special favour.

I learned that during this communist era, foreign dignitaries based in Warsaw would shop weekly by importing their supplies from Austria. These supplies included food ingredients for their diplomatic official dinner-functions. XXXXXXXXXX all knew that I had difficulties getting my food supplies and that I used Russian tickets to buy meat, so whenever they had functions, they would invite me along as an VIP guest. They also included my best friend, XXXXXXXXXXXX

My connoisseur’s taste buds were actually “pampered” and cultivated by different XXXXXXXXXXXX of friends or their family members during my stay in Warsaw. There were at least three feasts a week; either an official dinner, a buffet-style dinner, or fine dining in a famous restaurant. My first exposure to different kinds of the finest Western gourmet foods actually took place when I was 22. I was so lucky - I would eat, take it for granted, and never even bothered to ask for the dishes’ name.

Three decades later, I have only now realized that all these different Western gourmet foods have actually gradually formed a strong base to support my culinary study now.

Part One: Background and History

Poland (2) is situated in Eastern Europe, with a total area of 312, 679 square kilometers. There is a population of 38.53 million in Poland, with another 15 to 20 million Polish whom have migrated or refugeed abroad during wars and the communist control regime between the 1939s to 1989.

It is the ninth largest country in Europe. After the Second World War and post war Russian genocides, Poland has changed from a very multi-ethnic nation to one with 97% of all its people composed of a mono West Slavic ethnic group who call themselves Poles, while Silesians, Germans, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Jews, and others make up the rest of its ethnic minorities.

The official language spoken in Poland is Polish. Poland is considered to be the most linguistically homogeneous European country - nearly all its citizens declare Polish to be their mother tongue. It is also a country rich in Jewish heritage and medieval architecture, of which such ancient remains can still be found in the Warsaw city old town square.

Poland also boasts a total of 17 Nobel Prizes and has held more famous historical figures, including Marie Curie, Copernicus, Joseph Conrad, and Chopin, than any other country in the world.

Picture: Author Siwen is snapped with these Medieval building remains in Warsaw’s city old town square.

Perhaps due to Poland’s geographical position, natural terrain of vast plains, and rich agricultural lands, it became an easy and thus the first target for Germany to invade (3), which it did, on September 1^st, 1939 triggering the Second World War.

Poland’s mishaps began on 17 September 1939, when its west was invaded by Nazi Germany(4). 16 days later, its east was invaded by the Soviet Union(5). It is the country that suffered the fourth most casualties (6) during the Second World War; six million Polish died in Nazi concentration camps, where the majority of Jews were wiped out. 90% of its country infrastructure was destroyed. It was a war-torn country that then never got a chance to recover, as almost immediately after the Second World War from 1945 to 1989, Soviet communists began to control Polish politics and economics. Poland became the Polish People’s Republic(7); continuous mishaps rendered the desperate Polish hopeless and aimless, feeling that their futures were the same.

Due to the fact that there was hardly a chance after the Second World War for Poland to recover its lost economy, independently without Russia’s interference, the Polish suffered prolongedly as availability of even their daily commodities became limited. The meat intake was especially limited and controlled; they had to obtain their monthly meat by using Russian tickets - it was a meat stipend coupon. Once one had finished using their monthly meat tickets, they had to pay expensive prices for any additional meat.

Under these dreary circumstances, black market activities were widespread. The US currency could be exchanged for many times more in the black market than in its official national bank. Poor economy led to forcing Polish professionals to migrate to economically stronger countries like England, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, or even as far as the United States and Canada. However, most of the Polish incapable of migrating ended up either working as prostitutes, or living in a carpe diem manner, spending their time smoking and drinking. This was a common phenomenon in the country as its citizens felt hopeless about their futures under the corrupted political regime.

Poland only began to revive after joining NATO (8) on 12 March 1999. Five years after that, on May 2004, it joined EU (9) as a member and also ended the fifteen years’ communist rule. Poland today (10) has become a democratic country.

Environment (Climate, rainfall, land terrain)

Poland’s climate is distinctive due to its many abnormalities; it has six unusual annual seasons that barely conform to regular calendar patterns. There are four distinct seasons; spring (wiosna) lasts from March to May with daily temperature ranges between 5 to 15 degree Celsius; summer (lato) lasts from June to August with temperatures rising above 20 degree Celsius, the hottest days of the year in July with the temperature exceeding 25 degree Celsius; autumn (jesień) lasts from September to November with its temperature varying between 5 to 15 degree Celsius like spring; and winter (zima) lasts from December to February, when temperatures drop below 5 degree Celsius.

There are two intervals known to the Polish as early spring (przedwiosnie) (11). It is a distinctive transitional period between winter and spring; its temperature rises from between 0 to 5 degree Celsius, and the winter frost will have disappeared. Early winter (przedzimie) is another distinctive transitional phase between fall and winter. It begins on November when the temperature begins to fall, obviously.

Picture (12): Poland lays in the temperate zone with influences from both continental and oceanic elements. It has moderately cold winters, but when polar winds from Scandinavia and Russia hit, cold snaps can plunge temperatures down to a maximum low of negative 40.6 degrees Celsius (13). The country has a warm summer temperature. When sub-tropical air currents from the south hit, the temperature can reach a maximum high of 40.2 degrees Celsius(14).

Picture (15): This is a climate chart of Poland’s capital city, Warsaw. Summer was when the highest amount of precipitation was received. Poland receives an annual average rainfall of 600mm, with the rainfall in summer twice that than of in winter.

The highest amount of precipitation in Poland falls mainly over the mountainous zones. The central and lowland areas are the drier ones.

Spring in Poland is just like in New Zealand or anywhere else in the world; it rains a lot, which helps with the growth of vegetation. During the transitional phase between winter and spring, it is usually rainy with the first flowers shyly emerging, an overnight frost, and with the sun behind a cloudy sky. Spring is beautiful with its mixture of sunshine, rain, and light frost. Summer is usually hot with both showers and thunderstorms. The hotter it gets; the more showers occur.

The transitional phase between autumn and November’s winter is another period where frequent rains occur and lower the temperature. Days are getting shorter. During winter, the precipitation consists of either rain or a mixture of snow and rain. Winter is when the temperature drops to below 5 degrees Celsius, heavy frosts and snowstorms occur, rainy weather conditions of extreme ugliness rage, and the melting snow which is described as odwilż or plucha by the Polish eventually arrives. Winter is more severe in northern regions, with temperatures dropping to negative 30 degrees Celsius.

Picture (16): This is a map of Poland with the land altitude above sea level indicated clearly. The northern part of Poland is flatter with beautiful beaches and busy harbors. Poland’s northeastern terrain is predominantly occupied by lakes, making the areas there a popular sailing and canoeing destination. Towards the southern part, the land gradually rises to where mountain ridges with the highest peak in Poland are situated. This is a hiking area during summer and a skiing resort during winter. The terrain is varied from the west to the east.

Over the almost square-shaped Poland, the smooth and “unbroken” plains running from the Northern Baltic Sea have an altitude below 300m above sea level. They gradually rise up to the hillier southern mountain ridges of Carpathians and Sudetes. Within the plains, the terrain varies.

About one-fifth of the plain is reserved mainly for fields, pasture, and meadow for agriculture purposes. Only 27% of land remains as forest. Vistula (Wisla) located in the centre is the longest Polish river, stretching out 1047 metres.

Over to the north - near the Northern Baltic Sea, there are scenic sandy beaches, busy harbors and glacier formed lakes. The northeastern Masurian Lake District (17) is where more than 2000 lakes can be found, forming a favorite sailing, kayaking and canoeing destination. Here is also the conservation of primeval forests.

Picture (18): The map shows the exact position of Masurian Lake District; its exact geographical coordinates are indicated as well. The Masurian Lake District is a sailing resort center located in the northeastern part of Poland.

(19): This is the scenic Masurian Lake District, also known as Masurian Lakeland. More than 2000 lakes can be found here. It has been selected as the 28^th finalist of the New7Wonders of Nature (20) initiative. The resort area is popular for outdoor water sports such as sailing, kayaking or canoeing.

The highest Polish peak, Mount Rysy, is located on the Tatra Mountains of Carpathians. It is 2499m above sea level. Alpine vegetation can be found here; this scenic area has also become a popular hiking destination during summer and skiing destination during winter.

Influence from Neighboring Countries

Poland’s neighbours - in the west is Germany, in the east are Ukraine and Belarus, the north is bordered by the Baltic Sea, in the northeast are Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian province), and in the south, are the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Picture (21): This map illustrates the neighbouring countries and provinces along Poland’s 3582-kilometre-long border.

Due to the majority of Poland’s terrain being flat, historically many bordering countries have always wanted to invade Poland. The European country has even been invaded three times by the Mongols (22) from far away. Positively, however, due to such conquer and therefore influence from their neighbours, Polish culture and cuisine not only has been significantly impacted by strong Slavic and foreign culinary traditions, but German, Austro-Hungarian, Jewish, French, Turkish and Italian influences as well.

Three types of Polish cuisine with foreign influences are:

- Masurian cuisine, which is a mixed cooking style of German, Russian and Polish backgrounds. Due to the Masuria region in Poland having many lakes, the area produces a distinctive seafood soup. The stock is prepared by slowly cooking assorted fishes, crayfish and wild herbs in cast iron pot. Then, the stock is transferred into heated birch logs; this giving a unique flavour to the soup.

- Galician cuisine, which is influenced by Austrian cuisine, especially that of Vienna. Examples of Galician cuisine include the pork brawn called “salceson” accompanied by a cold mustard sauce, an Easter dish of white borscht served with white sausage, cooked bacon broth and mortar cream, and a popular cheesecake dessert known as “Viennese cheesecake”, prepared with egg yolks covered with vanilla cream or chocolate.

- Borderland cuisine, originally from Lviv. An example of this type of cooking is the dish “kulebiak” - a dumpling stuffed with cabbage, cooked rice, fish and eggs. It is accompanied by Ukrainian white borscht prepared with assorted vegetables and sour cream.

Picture (23): An example of Masurian Lake District’s fish dish. Because of the many lakes in the Masurian lake District, the place is known for its distinctive fish dishes, like fish and crayfish soups. Its cuisine is a fusion of German, Russian and Polish influences.

Picture (24): An example of Galician cuisine. This is white borscht served with white sausage, cooked bacon broth and mortar - a popular Easter dish.

Picture (25): An example of Borderland cuisine - a dumpling stuffed with cabbage, cooked rice, fish, and eggs.

Religion

One could find more Roman Catholic churches in Poland than in any other country in the world. Pope John Paul II (26) became the first non-Italian pope in more than four centuries.

Picture (27): Polish John Paul II became the first foreign pope, serving from 1978 to 2005, after four hundred years during which historically, only Italians becoming popes.

Roman Catholics dominate approximately eighty seven percent of the religions in Poland. The rest of the practising population is made up of 1.3% Eastern Orthodox and 0.4% Protestants.

The most popular minority religions practiced in Poland are Judaism and Islam.

Celebrations

The three most important occasions that the Polish celebrate with big feasts are Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and Easter Sunday.

Christmas Eve is a long night of hearty feasting. There are some significant dishes that must always be included in the Christmas celebration feast (28) - traditionally, a twelve-course meal is served.

It all begins with a beetroot soup called borscht, accompanied by tiny dumplings called uszka.

The next dish to expect is a mushroom soup prepared with dried forest mushroom called ceps and served with added square or thin noodles. Alternative soups used are carp soup, white borscht, vegetarian sour rye soup, or sweet almond soup.

The third course is carp, with the fish usually being deep fried.

The fourth course is Jewish style carp. The carp is cut into pieces and then poached in fish stock.

The fifth course is herring in oil, served with root vegetable salad or just potatoes.

Pierogi is the next course, being a dumpling with a mushroom and sauerkraut filling.

Seventh is sauerkraut cooked with white bean, mushroom and raisin.

Cabbage rolls called golabki are served for the eight course. These are cabbage dumplings wrapped around or stuffed with mushrooms, minced meat, and either rice, buckwheat or barley.

Then, the Polish will like to serve the ninth course - kutia, which is a mixture of wheat grains, poppy seeds, honey, dried or candied fruits, and nuts soaked in port or red wine.

Next, we have what is called piernik. It is a Polish ginger sourdough bread.

The eleventh course is dried fruit compote.

Completing the feast, the last course is a delectable poppy seed cake, usually served with either coffee or tea. Of course, the order of these courses are sometimes rearranged slightly, families may skip over or omit one or more of the dishes listed if certain ingredients required are unobtainable, and other dishes may be integrated into the large meal.

Picture (29): The traditional Polish 12-course Christmas Eve feast begins with borscht accompanied by uszka, a kind of mini cep ravioli.

Picture (30): The choice for the second course is usually mushroom soup with rice and porcini (known as the cep in English).

Picture (31): This is the third course of the traditional Polish Christmas feast.

In the winter of 1987, I was invited to celebrate Christmas Eve with my first Polish piano professor’s mother in Katowice (I later returned to Texas with the purpose of studying piano under the father of this same professor). This was my favorite dish and to this day I can still remember how yummy the deep-fried whole carp tasted. I ate at least three whole carps.

Upon entering their home, the mother showed me how she kept more than a dozen carps alive by leaving them swimming in a big bath tub. This is a Polish tradition of buying live carp and keeping them either in a bucket or bathtub until Christmas Eve. During the communist era, most Poles probably wouldn’t be able to afford such a luxurious Christmas Eve dinner like the one my professor’s mother prepared that night. Polish carp sold for the same price as salmon in Polish shops in those days (32).

“Karp zatorski” was registered as a protected designation of origin on 20 May 2011. This special carp is only raised in three municipalities in Poland: Zator, Przeciszów and Spytkowice.

Picture (33): Jewish style carp - the fourth course. The dish is known as “Zupa Rybna”, a kind of fish chowder where the whole fish is chopped into pieces.

Picture (34): The fifth course is called “herring in oil” - it is actually herring fillet pickled with herbs in either brine or oil.

Picture (35): The sixth course is pierogi with sauerkraut and a mushroom filling.

Picture (36): The seventh course is sauerkraut cooked with white bean, mushroom, and raisin. Some ingredients may be omitted during preparation of this food.

Picture (37): The eighth course is golabki, a stuffed cabbage roll with meat, rice (or other grains), dill tips, and then simmered in tomato sauce.

Picture (38): The ninth course - kutia, which is a mixture of wheat grains, poppy seeds, honey, dried or candied fruits, and nuts soaked in port or red wine.

Picture (39): The tenth course is piernik. It is a delicious Polish ginger sourdough bread.

Picture (40): The eleventh course is poached dried fruits, called compote.

Picture (41): The final Course is a poppy seed roll.

Right after the big Christmas Eve feast, Poland begins to celebrate New Year’s Eve and New Year almost immediately. It is an occasion where they receive visiting friends and family members. Assorted sweets, cakes, and cold buffer may be served. Besides wine and vodka, Polish guests usually have a glass of hot lemon tea to drink with their desserts. The Polish won’t use a cup to drink hot lemon, thus, foreigners have to learn how to use one hand to support the bottom of a glass of hot tea and the other hand to hold the rim, without burning their fingers.

The most popular dishes that are eaten during New Year’s Eve and New Year are:

- Pickled herring; the Polish believe that eating herring during the new year will ensure a year of bounty, due to the reflective silvery colour of herrings resembling that of coins. A popular superstition for a prosperous year ahead.

- Farm-made sausage like Kaszanka, served in chunks.

- Warm food like Bigos or red borscht accompanied by a baked pastry with meat and mushroom filling.

- Rustic bread with smalec (lard spread) (42).

- Pickles, smoked chicken drumsticks, smoked salmon, pickled mushroom, bell pepper and baby squash, egg salad, and pig feet in aspic.

- Gingerbread cake, poppy seed cake, and cheesecake.

Picture (43): The Polish believe that eating pickled herring will bring a prosperous year due to its silver colour looking like the colour of silver coins.

Picture (44): This is blood sausage called kaszanka in Poland. It is black in colour. Kaszanka is processed with pig blood, its offal-like liver, and lungs, with optional additions of skin, fat, and buckwheat, barley or rice. It is then seasoned with onion, black pepper and marjoram.

Picture (45): Rustic farmer’s bread served with smalec. Smalec is a kind of pork lard spread mixed with onion, garlic, spices, with optional chopped apples or pork cracklings to give it an additional crunchy texture.

Picture (46): The Polish dill pickle tastes so great that it can be picked up anytime and eaten as a snack if wished. Vinegar is not used during the pickling process, therefore resulting in the absence of an overwhelming sour taste like that of regular gherkin pickles.

Picture (47): Pictured above is Polish egg salad with cooked mixed vegetables, commonly prepared during New Year’s.

Picture (48): This is a Polish style jellied pig feet. The Polish love to cut this into slices and then place them on top of open sandwiches. This is a dish prepared mostly during only special occasions.

Picture (49): The Polish cheesecake Sernik is a traditional Polish cheesecake. It is prepared with sweet pastry and a quark or homemade cheese filling. A common household dessert in the eastern European country.

Picture (50): Bigos is a warm dish served during New Year’s. A rich meat dish, it is also known as “Hunter’s Stew”. This is a combination of game meat (or just regular pork), bacon, Polish sausages, stew with sauerkraut, tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs like bay leaves and juniper, and spices like black pepper.

Every year, Poles anticipate the Easter Sunday feast after 40 days of strict Lent fasting. On Good Friday night, they begin cooking and colouring the hard-boiled Easter eggs, then colour and draw on them with traditional motifs, and finally place them inside a basket together with salt, butter, sausage, ham, bread, babka (51) (Polish rich sweetened bread baked in Bundt pan), and other foods. The baskets are brought to church and blessed by a priest.

On Easter morning, the feast begins with food from the basket. Guests slowly start to pour in now; they will be welcomed brightly and blessed with health and happiness by the host or hostess with a wedge of egg. The guests will then be served canapes like stuffed eggs, sausages, smoked fish, caviar, aspics, creamed vegetables, etc.

During dinner, a big feast is prepared to celebrate this special Easter occasion. Served are popular Easter dishes such as white borscht soup, big loaf of meat (either ham, suckling pig, lamb leg, pork loin, beef, or poultry), white Polish sausage, braised red cabbage, a potato dish - either boiled, mashed, or in the form of potato salad - , horseradish and beetroot relish usually accompanied by white sausage, sweetened egg braided raisin Easter bread, Easter desserts, and finally, cordials made of either blueberry, strawberry, rhubarb, or cranberry,

Pictures (52): (in order from left to right) Stuffed eggs, white borscht soup, ham, braised red cabbage, a potato dish… (continued on next line)

...horseradish & beetroot relish, sweetened egg braided raisin Easter bread, Easter dessert, and cordials.

Holidays

Poland celebrates many holidays and religious observances, but the three most important holidays for them are New Year’s, Christmas, and Easter.

Picture (53):

This is a list of 2016 Polish holidays and observances.

Customs and Culture

There are some very interesting existing Polish traditions; one of them is a Polish Easter tradition called “Smingus-Dyngus”.(54) It involves a group of boys doing their best to drench their chosen targets with buckets of water on Easter Monday. They especially love targeting and drenching girls. Legend says that if a girl gets soaked, she will get married within the year. This tradition originated from the baptism of Polish Price Mieszko in 966AD.

The information reminded me of the time I was warned of this custom while studying in Warsaw. I never expected it, but on my way home once, I was selected as a target by a group of teenage boys. After seeing that I was a foreigner, they hesitated a bit about whether they should pour water on me, but in the end they did it anyway. It was quite an experience, but I didn’t get married within the year!

Picture (55): A very unusual and interesting Polish Easter tradition - “Smingus-Dyngus” - where boys in groups throw buckets of water onto their targeted girl. There is a myth that if a girl gets wet, she will marry within the year.

Another Polish practice that causes foreigners, especially Asians, to experience a cultural shock, is the one where a Polish man will kiss the hand of a girl when meeting her for the first time. When my professor’s mother met me for the first time, she gave me three kisses; one on the right cheek, the second on the left and the third returning to the right cheek once more.

This “three kisses” greeting occurs daily between friends, family members, and colleagues alike. After staying a year in Poland, I returned to Malaysia again, and immediately felt like that Malaysian people were very rude and without much culture. However, this is not true, of course. The Malay people actually do greet each other in a similar fashion, but the extremely traditional Chinese that stay in Malaysia without being influenced by Western customs are very emotionally conservative - just like my parents, whom never kiss me.

Polish people are also very polite. Upon meeting a stranger on, say, a neighborhood street, said stranger would be cheerfully greeted with a “good morning”, or “dzien dobry” in Polish.

When biding goodbye to one’s friends, one says “Czesc!”

Picture (56): In the early morning, you can often hear the greeting “dzien dobry” in Polish neighborhoods from outside.

Picture (57): In Poland, you can hear “csesc” being called out everywhere as well. The word means “hello” or “hi”, the same meaning as the Italian “ciao”.

Picture (58): The common “three kisses” practice is demonstrated even during events such as graduation ceremonies in Poland.

Dishes from the Country

The pattern of how and when Polish meals are served is slightly different from most countries. Breakfast, called “sniadanie” (59) is served in the early morning, and then later in the afternoon, from around 3:00pm to 4:00pm, dinner, called “obiad” (60) is served. In the evening or during nighttime, some light snacks are served as supper, which is called “kolacja” (61). There is also a morning tea, called “drugie sniadanie”, and an afternoon tea called “podwieczorek”.

In the late 80s, as Poland was still a country under the communist regime, most Poles suffered from poverty, but that was actually the era when foreigners could taste the most basic and authentic traditional Polish cuisines without any outside influence. Nowadays, however, many American fast food franchise chains can be found in Poland, as well as even a Michelin starred restaurant serving fusion cuisine.

Many Polish people usually eat soup accompanied by a piece of bread spread with butter. The most common Polish household soup served besides beetroot soup borscht, is a cucumber pickle soup called “zupa ogorkowa” (62). To prepare zupa ogorkowa, dill pickles are shredded, added to chicken stock, flavored with sour cream, and finally seasoned with salt and pepper.

Picture (63): Authentic Polish dill pickle soup is hard to find with a simple Internet search. This is the only picture I could locate. Typically, the soup is served inside a bowl and placed on a plate, but the Polish usually consume the soup with a slice of rustic bread and not a bun like the one shown in this picture.

The two most common everyday Polish salads are white cabbage and apple salad, and red cabbage and apple salad. To prepare the former, the white cabbage is shredded into a fine julienne, and then mixed with finely julienned carrot, mashed garlic, grated apple, grated onion, and sour cream. Finally, the salad is seasoned with sugar, black pepper, and salt.

To prepare red cabbage and apple salad, cabbage is shredded into fine julienne, mixed with mash garlic, grated onion and apple, seasoned with paprika, a pinch of cayenne (optional), sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

These salads are really appetizing when accompanied by meat dishes, especially Polish pork chop.

Picture (64): Polish classic white cabbage salad with additional ingredients: carrot, apple, sour cream, olive oil, onion, garlic, black pepper, sugar, and salt.

Picture (65): Polish classic red cabbage and apple salad with additional ingredients: paprika, lemon juice, olive oil, onion, garlic, a pinch of cayenne, sugar, and salt.

Poles love pork, and now even export pork all over the world. Poland has become the top 15th country internationally in exporting the highest amount of pork. The Polish produce some of the most unique Polish sausages, made up of pork and seasoned with juniper to give them a special fragrance, e.g. “kielbasa mysliwska” which is listed as a “Traditional Speciality Guaranteed” dish (66). A common dish that every Polish person loves to eat is the Polish-style pan fried crumbed pork chops with butter.

Picture (67): The Polish love pork and also raise pigs.

Before the Second World War, Poland had many Jewish communities. Jews are known to not take pork, but the genocide wiped out 90% of Jews in concentration camps. Only 10% of them survived the Holocaust(68).

Picture (69): Pictured is “kielbasa mysliwska”, which was registered as a “Traditional Speciality Guaranteed” dish on 19 April 2011.

Picture (70): Traditional Polish-style pan fried pork chop usually is served with potatoes and salad. The crumb coat is prepared by covering both sides of the pork chop with flour, dipping the meat into the beaten egg, and then double crumbling it with flour once more. Heat up butter in a frying pan, add the pork chops, and cook each side for about 3 to 5 minutes.

The most popular Polish dessert ever prepared is cheesecake. To make cheesecake like the ones baked during the old communist era, the Poles make their own cheese or quark, using buttermilk and full fat milk.

Picture (71): This picture shows the ingredients and equipment required to make quark, which must be prepared before even attempting to make a good Polish cheese cake. This recipe produces about 1.3 kg or 2.9 pounds of dry curd cheese, quark cheese, or “twarog” (Polish for quark). Polish cheesecake calls for 2 pounds worth of quark, which is around 0.91kg.

Picture (72): A recipe for traditional Polish cheesecake. The sweet, delectable dessert calls for a baking temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about 177 degrees Celsius.

Picture (73): A Polish traditional cheesecake with everything prepared from scratch, starting from dry curd cheese. It is one of the most unique cheesecakes I have ever tried.

Part Two: Contemporary & Modern

Once Poland declared itself a democratic country after previously being under communist regime, rich and patriotic Poles overseas whom loved their homeland began to invest in it heavily, helping with Poland’s triumphant advancement and helping it to become one of the fastest growing countries once under Soviet Union control (74).

This major advancement didn’t just occur in aspects such as science, industry, medicine, technology, and economy, but also in hospitality and food industry.

I vividly remember the late 80s, when I stayed in Warsaw, there was not a single Chinese restaurant in the entire city, so whenever my Polish and foreigner friends wanted to eat Chinese food, they would come party at my house to enjoy just that .

But nowadays, foreign franchises and foreign restaurants can be found all over Poland, including Atelier Amaro, the first restaurant in Poland to be awarded a Michelin star (75). The chef of Atelier Amaro, Wojcjech Modest Amaro (76), even had the opportunity to be trained by the world’s best chef - Ferran Adria of El Bulli, Spain.

The Food – Methods

Polish food has a strong traditional European background, and due to it historically being influenced by almost all its neighbouring European countries, the preparation methods of Polish food are more or less the same as those of the other European nations. Different methods of Polish cuisine cookery include deep frying, pan frying, sweating, sautéing, baking, roasting, stewing, braising, grilling, stuffing, boiling, poaching, blanching, steaming, curing, cold smoking, hot smoking, curing, and pickling.

Due to rich foreign influences, heritage, and the Polish being a race that enjoy good food and wine, almost every feasible cooking method has been applied to their wide spectrum of cuisine - either pure Polish national cuisines or fusion cuisines.

An good example of a dish that uses the pan fry method of cooking is the Polish pork chop; the deep fry method is applied on Christmas carp; roasting on their Easter hams; braising on their red cabbage; stewing on Bigos; poaching on fish aspic; curing, pickling, cold smoking, and hot smoking can be applied on both herring and salmon; stuffing cabbage rolls and then steaming them; boiling methods used on boiled potatoes,; blanching, sauté or steaming for vegetables; poaching dried fruit compote for Christmas eve feasts; and baking for cheesecake, poppy seed cake and other desserts.

Poor countryside Poles during the communist era would use coal as their burning fuse, but as the average Polish living standard today has improved, gas stoves are usually used for cooking instead. This helps to save time during simple daily cooking tasks such like boiling and sautéing. Gas is also less of a health hazard than coal as a burning fuse.

Equipment

Just like any other Western country, most modern Polish households in cities use gas stoves and ovens to cook their food. After Poland became a democratic country, the general income of the average Pole increased, and these days there is a microwave oven for reheating food to be found in most homes, whereas during the communist era, microwave ovens could be only found in segregated residential areas where communist leaders lived. I happened to visit such a residential area once; in the villa, the kitchen was well equipped to a standard parallel to that of first world countries.

Many Polish people have enjoyed to listening Chopin music since a young age. They also only eat the typical European traditional bread. During the communist era, the American kind of sandwich bread (the Polish make only open style sandwiches with baguettes or sourdough bread slices) or the Asian style soft bun was not be found anywhere in Poland - for them these kind of soft breads are not called nor considered “bread”! Thus, the general Polish population still prefer using traditional wood ovens to produce some of the best traditional breads in the world. Due to them being produced according to traditional methods, these different varieties of breads made could be stored for as long as three days to a week.

Picture (77): The American sandwich is usually not considered as actual “bread” by most Poles; and this kind of sandwich bread like the one pictured above does not last very long compared to traditional Polish bread.

In Poland, grills, smokers, combi-ovens, and salamander can only be found in international hotels. There are some Poles living in villas or country homes that may have the luxury of owning a smoker or a grill.

Picture (78): A smoker and wood oven found in a Polish country home.

Storage

Due to modernization, Polish folk living in city condominiums and apartments store their perishable foods in the fridge or freezer, whereas in the countryside, Poles are using different wet and dry pickling methods to preserve fish, game, berries, different kinds of mushrooms, fruits ,and vegetables. Most wet pickling methods either use brining or oil; usually grass bottles are used to store pickles. Smoking is another popular storage method that allows food, especially cheese and sausages, to last for a long time.

Many of the Polish usually keep their unfinished bread in a bread storage box. In the countryside, harvested potatoes and other root vegetables like parsnips and carrots are best kept in cool temperatures from between 0 to 4 degree Celsius, where they can last for 6 to 8 months. If the temperature they are stored in is above 4 degree Celsius, they last only 3 to 4 months.

Picture (79): Bread storage box to keep leftover bread.

Smoked cheese can be stored for much longer than regular cheese in all types of weather. The most popular smoked cheese in Poland is “oscypek”. It is a handmade cheese with added rennet, and produced from around May to September with sheep’s milk. On 14 February 2008, oscypek received the “Protected Designation of Origin” mark of quality.

Another popular Polish cheese is “redykolka”, a small cheese made from the milk of Polish mountain sheep. Its weight should not exceed 300g. The smallest weights for this cheese range from 30 to 60g. On 1 December 2009, it was entered into the “Protected Designation of Origin” register.

Smoked or dried sausages also can be stored much longer than regular sausages under all weather conditions. The most popular smoked sausages in Poland are:

- “kielbasa lisiecka” - this sausage has a unique taste, due to it being smoked from deciduous trees like alder, beech or fruit trees.

- “kielbasa jalowcowa”, which is made from pork smoked in cold smoke.

- “kielbasa mysliwska”, made from pork. Smoking methods are also used to preserve this kind of sausage.

Recipes

The following are two examples of a traditional approach and a modern approach in serving the two different dishes.

Traditional Polish Pork Feet Aspic

This dish is strongly influenced by German sources; it is a much more popular dish over in the towns near the German border.

Picture (80): Traditional Polish pork feet aspic.

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 2 hours

Chill: 6 hours

Yields: 6 portions

Ingredients:

Stock:

- 680g pig feet, cut into large chunks

- 450g pork loin (also to be used for the aspic)

- 1 bay leaf

- 6 black peppercorns

- 3 allspice berries

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 30g parsnips

- 30g celery

Aspic:

- 50g green peas

- 1 tbsp gelatin, softened with water

- 50g carrots, brunoise, blanch over salted water and lemon

- Vinegar, TT

- 1.2tsp marjoram

- Lemon TT

- 1 tbsp. salt TT

- 1 tbsp. gelatin, softened in cold water

Directions:

1. To prepare stock, in a large pot, place pig feet and cover with water.

2. Add bay leaf, garlic, allspice, peppercorns, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and then cook for one hour.

3. Add the loin. After another 30 minutes, add vegetables. Skimming continuously required.

4. Remove pork leg and loin from the stock. Dice pork.

5. Sieve rest of stock. Return diced pork to stock. Add green peas and blanched carrot marjoram.

6. Bring to a boil, skim if necessary. Season with salt, pepper, vinegar and lemon. Turn off fire. Add softened gelatin and stir until dissolved.

7. Allow to cool slightly, and pour into a mold after cooling down. Cover, label and chill in fridge for at least for 6 hours or overnight.

Serving directions:

1. Cut aspic into pieces.

2. Place on top of a piece of rustic farmer’s bread.

3. Accompany dish with typical Polish style hot lemon tea. Serve and enjoy!

Modernization of Traditional Cuisine - A Modern Twist

Modern twists on traditional Polish dishes are often created with care and time by innovative professional chefs, whose training, exposure to the methods of world-class celebrity chefs, creative talent, and thorough understanding of the history of cuisine has allowed them to break the rules of tradition and adapt new ideas and apply their creativity to these dishes.

Techniques

The “modern-twist” cuisine has metamorphosed through these following ways:

1. The serving portion is usually minimized due to many people of today’s modern era becoming much more health conscious.

2. The plating style has changed - plating has become an art, and deconstruction of dish components may be used for effect.

3. The plating is much more colorful, with colorful flowers, petals and/or sauces added.

4. Motifs, visuals, and even “audio excitements” are sometimes used in the plated presentation. For example, fumes created with liquid nitrogen give the dish a mystical and otherworldly feel.

5. The flavor and fragrance of a certain country’s traditional dish may be combined with or added to with another country’s spices and herbs to create fusion cuisine.

Picture (81): Traditional Polish red beetroot soup is called borscht. The soup is thin and clear. Normally, the borscht is served separately from the pierogi (pastry stuffed with mushroom and sauerkraut), unlike in the picture shown. The diner would then have the option to either place the pierogi into the borscht or eat it separately from another plate.

Picture (82): If I, as a chef, was ever asked to give the traditional Polish borscht and pierogi a modern twist, and transform it into an entree with this approach, I would reduce the borscht into a nape consistency and arrange the pierogi like shown in the picture above. I would then garnish the dish with either whipped cream quenelle or a dill flower.

Changes to Dishes

A modern twist on the traditional Polish pork feet aspic:

This traditional pork aspic dish could be turned into an entrée with smaller serving size portions by placing the cold pork aspic on a spoon using a similar concept to the one shown in the picture below, used by the Polish restaurant, Atelier Amaro.

Picture (83): Deconstruction is suggested in this modern twist on pork aspic; “pull pork” is topped with savory concentrated pork stock gelatin.

Traditional Polish Herbal Duck (kaczka herbata)

This dish is strongly influenced by German sources.

Picture (84): kaczka herbata means “herbal duck”; it is one of the nicest duck dishes I have ever tried.

Ingredients:

- 1 duck

- 2 bags of green tea

- 1/2 cup raisins

- 1/2 cup prunes

- 1/2 cup bread crumbs

- 2 eggs

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 1 teaspoon marjoram

- 1 teaspoon mint

- Olive oil to baste

Directions:

1. Cut prunes julienne-style.

2. Infuse tea with 200ml hot water for about 5-8 minutes. Add prunes and raisins. Leave to infuse.

3. Mix butter with marjoram and mint, and rub the duck’s tummy with the mixture.

4. To make the duck stuffing, mash breadcrumbs with the beaten yolks, then combine with infused green tea, prunes and raisins. Mix well.

5. Put the stuffing into duck tummy, rub the duck with oil, and season with salt and pepper.

6. Bake in oven for about 1 hour and 20 min at 180 degree Celsius. Turn periodically and baste.

Serving method:

Serve duck with stuffing, potatoes and seasonal salad.

Modern Twist on Polish Herbal Duck (kaczka herbata)

Picture (85): This a poultry dish served in Atelier Amaro in Poland. In this picture, the duck is accompanied by stuffed cabbage rolls. Traditionally, Polish cabbage rolls are served as whole rolls, but this modern approach has had the cabbage rolls cut into halves or thirds.

Cooking Method

Modern cooking methods in Poland have now changed, mostly for those who are health conscious. Traditionally, the Polish use lots of butter to cook, but for the health-conscious group, wanting to eat less fat means changing butter to olive oil instead for cooking, and using a sous vide machine to cook meat dishes.

Ingredients

Poland gradually opened its doors to the West from 1990 till now; since then, both Polish and foreign restaurateurs have invested in different and foreign types of cuisine in Poland. These foreign restaurants have actually helped to expose the taste buds of Polish chefs who haven’t before had the chance, to different types of food.

Since the opening up of the country, imported foreign commodities, including foreign spices, have become readily available. These now easily obtainable foreign ingredients allow creative Polish chefs to adapt traditional Polish dishes, approach them with the intent of making something fusion-style, or to create something completely new by combining both local and foreign resources.

Modern twists of ingredients on traditional cuisines can usually be applied by adding additional Asian spices and herbs, although main components like meat and vegetables are not often changed.

Part Three: Future Influence

Trends

By looking at the menus of the best current Polish restaurants, obviously, the trend is to be inclined to cosmopolitan (London, New York, Parisian!) and modernized approaches to cuisine. Putting a modern twist on traditional foods is a popular practise.

As Poland has a rich heritage of traditional and with foreign influenced cuisine, its standard of bread production parallels those of some found in France. Poland is near to many European countries, so during the communist era, many Poles escaped poverty by going to the West. They began working as simple kitchen hands in restaurants there and eventually became experienced chefs, whom returned to Poland one after another when Poland’s economy improved greatly.

The general Polish are artistic, sensitive and cultivated; this special quality in their blood helps to produce top notch chefs, as well as musicians and artists. Also, Polish chefs have more opportunities to learn from other great European chefs, as they only have to travel short distances to visit them. It is not surprising to hear that another Polish restaurant, “Senses” (86), operated by Italians, won a Michelin star after Atelier Amaro did. There are now fifty-two Polish restaurants in just the cities Warsaw and Krakow mentioned in the Michelin guide.

Picture (87): An entrée served in Senses, a new one star Michelin restaurant in Poland. It is clearly a “modern twisted” dish.

Picture (88): A main served in Senses.

Picture (89): Two examples of desserts served in Senses

After the Second World War, Poland did not just become a Mecca for pianists, but also possesses tremendous potential to become the future gastronomical holy grail of the gastronomic world. Just look at this phenomenon of the country hosting more than four dozen Michelin listed restaurants!

The Effects of Technology & Society

During the communist era, Poland became one of the most conflicted communist countries on Earth, as communism is an atheism based philosophy and as more than 90% of Poles are Roman Catholic. It was an era when University of Warsaw students frequently organized protest demonstrations; when that happened, I always had to use another, longer route to reach the foreign language department or to return to the Warsaw Academy of Music. Most of these protesting students were suffering badly, staying in the very dirty dormitory, lacking food, having to deal with the broken heating system during cold winters, and being forced to use the very unhygienic restroom and bathroom. Even the world class Warsaw Academy of Music had toilets that were dreadfully smelly and that I never dared to use.

From my observations then, I thought that Poland could have been liberated from communism faster than Communist China, because the majority of Polish are Roman Catholic and are very cooperative. This helped result in their liberation from communism when Solidarity (90) won in 1990 - now Poland is just like many other countries - democratic!

Today’s media has played an important role in exposing Polish chefs to great foreign chefs’ gastronomic expressions and their latest approaches to food. In turn, chefs from other parts of the world can also learn from the great Polish chefs, their gastronomical approaches and expressions, and from the menus of Michelin awarded restaurants in Poland.

Picture (91): As long as one has a laptop, phone, or something with internet access, the menu from even a Michelin starred restaurant can be downloaded or screenshotted for reference anytime. This is the menu of Senses restaurant pictured above.

Poland is a country where both domestic and visiting musicians, businessmen, scholars, and artists from overseas reign. When Poles return to Poland from far away, eating the wonderful food of their nation once more is always their first priority.

Even during the communist era, I would accompany my piano professor, eating at different restaurants. She would warn me about how some hotel’s restaurant would be bugged by the MI, so we wouldn’t talk anything dangerous related to communism.

When Poland was a poor country under communist reign, Americans and folks from almost every other part of the world loved to crack “stupid Poles” jokes; I remember when I went to study in Poland, my Malaysian cousin asked me, “Why you go to study in a poor communist country like that?” What she didn’t know was that Poland was and still is a Mecca for pianists.

Poland was one of the poorest countries after the Second World War, but less than three decades after its liberation from communism, it has become the country with the largest economy in Central Europe (92). Imagine that! Due to its intelligent people, it never became the second Greece or Spain.

Conclusion

This year, 2017 marks exactly thirty years since my study sojourn in Poland. When I wrote this thesis, I felt quite nostalgic - I’ve always missed Poland, due to my learning more about Western culture and piano in one academic year there than in many years I stayed in the United States and New Zealand.

It is a country rich with Western heritage and culture. It is not just me saying this firmly; when I met a Japanese lady married to an American diplomat (93), she related to me about how Poland was so different from the other countries she had visited before. We lost contact after the American government actually forbid their diplomats to mix with other foreigners. They had to report to the embassy even after I merely visit their home. That was how paranoid it was during the communist era - it happened to almost all embassies based in Warsaw.

Warsaw is a melting pot of many foreign dignitaries. I was luckier than the other foreign students in that XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Because of this opportunity, I attended more parties and dinners than any other foreign student.

It was a highlight of my life; during parties, I would meet many famous XXXXXXXXXXXXX from many different countries I made the acquaintance of. I also met some of the most humble Polish students, professors and housewives in the entire country. For example - one of my neighbors; her husband was actually a professor in the University of Warsaw. He had earned his Food Science PhD from the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in America, but they were so humble and down to earth. His wife would teach me about where to buy food, and also taught me some basic Polish language for buying groceries, etc. I also remember a medical school student who would bring a guitar to my apartment, singing “Lady in Red” to me. It was an era when no smart foreigner girl would fall in love with a poor Polish boy, but in my case, study and not dating was always my priority.

Poland has given me many good memories, especially of its exquisite food that at times almost made me forget that I was Chinese or Asian. After I left Warsaw, I began to miss the food almost immediately. Luckily, I returned to Texas and studied again with a Polish professor, this time my original professor’s father. I still ate Polish food occasionally, but I began to miss it even more greatly when I returned to Malaysia to open my music school. Initially I could buy Polish sausages and gherkin from an imported gourmet food store, but it soon closed down. I ended up paying someone to plant gherkins just so I could make my own Polish gherkins. That was the time I began to learn how to make Polish style bread, prepare red beetroot soup, and even cook borscht from time to time. However, it took me more than 20 years to bake reasonably good bread rolls that tasted and had the texture of the ones I used to eat before in Poland.

It was in those days, especially when I got frustrated pursuing piano with new approaches and different expectations, when I would ask myself - “Why I was in a strange land, with a strange language, and with the purpose to learn my piano from scratch?” But these days, especially after I started attending chef school, I have realized that the sojourn had actually enriched my life, has enriched my knowledge, and has enriched my taste buds, developing and forming a strong base for my culinary studies today.

Reference

POPPING PEPPERCORNS IN A WOK BY CHEF SARAWAK

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Tuesday 8 August 2017

INTERNATIONAL CUISINE (Polish National Cuisine)

International Cuisine

Polish National Cuisine

INTERNATIONAL CUISINE

Introduction