Flavor of Poland

Aleksandra

In today's episode of Flavor of Poland we'll explore the Lesser Poland region through its beautiful capital, Krakw. Visiting Krakw is always a very special experience for me. This is a city with a long history and it's an important part of Poland's past. We'll have a stroll through Krakw's old streets to learn about its history and its culture. Along the way, we'll have a chance to experience its taste too. The delicious smells you encounter as you stroll through Krakw's historic streets are the aromas of Poland's legendary past. This cuisine is a melting pot of all sorts of cultures and people, their stories old and new, all woven together into the culinary cannon of the Lesser Poland region. We'll finish our exploration of Krakw today by recreating two of its medieval recipes for ourselves. We'll make a Krakw style roasted duck with a buckwheat and mushroom stuffing and for desert we'll try our hand at a Galician Cream of Wheat Bundt Cake. Both dishes were once a favorite of Poland's royalty. We've got quite a journey and a treat before us. Krakw is one of my favorite places in Poland and I'm excited to explore it with you today.

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Funding for this program is provided by... Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union. Our credit union is more than a bank.

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Baron Chocolatier.

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LOT Polish Airlines offer nonstop flights from the United States to Europe via Poland or Hungary. Luggage, hot meals, and drinks are all included. The inflight entertainment system gives you access to a wide variety of movies and content.

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Be our guest. LOT Polish Airlines, a Star Alliance member.

Ernestrust

kitchens, wardrobes, interiors.

Aleksandra

Welcome to Flavor of Poland. My name is Aleksandra August and I'm so excited to take you on a delicious journey through my native country. I'm a Polish American actress, but I also love to eat and I love to cook. Growing up in the states I was always asked questions about Poland's culture, its history and most of all of course about its food. So I finally decided to take all of from back home back here to my first home and introduce you to its true flavor. Have you ever wondered which of Poland's cities might be worthy of being named the most beautiful, charming, and unique? Such a choice certainly wouldn't be easy. Poland is without a doubt a picturesque country with a rich and intriguing history, a vibrant culture, countless monuments, invaluable on a global scale, breathtaking landscapes, and so much more. If however, we had to choose one place, one city to be deemed the most incredible among them all we might discover that the City of Krakw is often voted the winner. There are many factors to support this argument and I say we have a view of all of them for ourselves. Let's explore this grand capitol of the Lesser Poland region and see why so many people from around the world have deemed this city Poland's finest.

polish music

Aleksandra

Krakw pronounced Krack-off in Polish was the capital of Poland prior to Warsaw. In fact, it served as the nation's capital three times throughout history. Most recently for an unbroken period of 499 years and altogether for a total of 700 years. Its legendary history dates as far back as 970 A.D., which makes it one of the oldest cities in the world. The Krakw main square is one of the largest and most beautiful squares in Europe. With the grand Cloth Hall running through center and Saint Mary's Basilica towering over sidewalks lined with historic tenement houses, it's certainly impressive. Established in the 13th century it has since that time been the beating heart of Krakw. From the moment you step in you can certainly feel it vibrate with the bustle of both modern day life and the echoes of history. Standing on the cobblestone payment of the Krakw square it would be easy to miss one of its most fascinating aspects. Just a few feet beneath the square lies an important archeological site, 4,000 square meters in size and equipped with the latest multimedia extravagance, archeologists have excavated the area beneath the Krakw main square as far as 16 feet deep uncovering 11,000 exhibits associated with salt trade, lead, copper, as well as the historic life of medieval Krakw. Saint Mary's Basilica, where the church of Our Lady assumed into heaven is one of the most iconic elements of Krakw's main market square. The first Roman Catholic Church built at this site traces back to the 13th century and the massive gothic edifice that towers over us today was built on those foundations one century later. It is adorned with two massive towers, the taller of which served as a watchtower many centuries ago. By the early 1300's Krakw was a city bustling with trade. Merchants flooded in from near and far to trade their wares right here in the main market square. To allow business to continue, rain or shine, winter or summer, plans were made to put up a covering over the early shelves in the plaza. That is what brings us the Krakw Cloth Hall. Called Sukiennice in Polish. Merchants flooded in from all over the world bringing exotic imports such as spices, silk, leather, and wax. Today, Krakw's Cloth Hall bustles with traffic of countless tourists who step inside to explore this aspect of Krakw's history.

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Aleksandra

Now we're off to the royal castle and if it's a castle we're going to,

there's only one way to get there

by horse and carriage, of course. The royal castle at Wawa Hill was, for many centuries, the center of the Polish Nation. Today, a visit to the old royal residence is a fascinating journey into the heart of Polish history. Welcome to Wawel Castle, the royal complex of Krakw. This fortified architectural complex erected long ago atop a hill along the Vistula River here in Krakw, is one of Poland's most important landmarks. It is the old seat of Poland's rules and their necropolis, a symbol of Poland Statehood, its culture and its tradition. The most significant buildings on the Wawel grounds are of course the royal castle and the Wawel cathedral. Wawel's history is nearly as old as the country of Poland itself. The first Roman Catholic Church and the early palace of Casimir I of Poland were erected on these grounds in the 11th century and that is when Wawel first became the capital seat of Poland.

polish music

there's only one way to get there

A visit to Krakw wouldn't be complete without a stroll through the district of Kazimierz, the city's world famous historic Jewish quarter. Well preserved synagogues such as the old synagogue, temple synagogue, and the local museums, draw tourists into the old Jewish world of Krakw.

polish music

there's only one way to get there

Visiting Krakw is always a special experience for me. So let's explore how Krakw tastes. Krakw's culinary traditions are referred to as a Galician cuisine. It is a combination of traditions stemming from Ukrainian and the Jewish communities and the strong Austrian and Hungarian influences that created this very characteristic mixture of flavors. I love Polish food.

laughter

Aleksandra

Krakw was once one of the busiest trade centers of Europe. Routes from the far north, east, west, and south crossed through its center influencing the culinary landscape of the region. It would be impossible to take a culinary journey through Krakw without the mention of its world famous iconic baked good, obwarzanek, round golden colored, traditionally sprinkled with poppy or sesame seeds and salt. They are forever painted into the landscape of Krakw. Small vendor carts and stands filled with this bread see constant business thanks to the undying popularity of this product among locals and tourists. Throughout the city as many as 150,000 obwarzanki can sell out in one day. I find that they taste best when they're still warm. That's when their aroma is the most intense, they're outer layer is perfectly crunchy, and inside they're nice and soft. Although we may primarily associate Krakw with its obwarzanek, there is another baked good which originated in this very city. You might be quite surprised to learn that the world famous Jewish bagel, a staple of American breakfast, traces its origins back to Krakw. The first written mention of the bagel is from Krakw in 1610. I think you can't look at the bagel without looking at the obwarzanek. It's a dough that's boiled then baked. The difference being the obwarzanek is earlier. I think the first mention is the 13th century and they often added milk to it. So, for bagels, because you want to be able to eat it with meat and dairy, they would make it without any milk so it would be good for kosher reasons. In the medieval era all baking was controlled by guilds. The obwarzanek was very strictly controlled and was Christian. Probably someone figured out they could do something awful lot like the obwarzanek, call it a bagel and then they were able to sell it. Obwarzanek stayed in Krakw, but the bagel then spread throughout Poland. I also hear that you are the owner of several bagel shops. I have one of your menus here, but tell me a little bit about the kinds of bagels that we can find at your shop. We do a night rising of our bagels to get that very kind of dense texture in the morning. We boil them by hand and then we bake them in the oven. So we do it in a very traditional fashion. I know you brought me some samples. They're very elaborate. There's more than just cream cheese in here. I think the world has to eat less meat if we're going to pass on some things to our next generation, so everything I try to do vegan vegetarian. They're big. It's actually a little messy. The bagel, first baked here in Krakw symbolic Jewish neighborhood Kazimierz, has since taken over the world. In the early 20th century, Jewish emigrants from Poland brought the bagel to Manhattan and the rest was history. Including our heritage, it's still here. We can feel it. We can taste it. We can go to the Jewish restaurant serving Ashkenazi cuisine. So the cuisine here is a blend of both Jewish and Polish?

Magdalena

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. There are dishes which are very typical for Jewish cuisine like Gesi pipek. That's the liver of a goose, is that right? In some parts of Poland it's a stuffed neck and in other parts a goose stomach. Of course we have Jewish styled carp served traditionally at many family homes for Christmas Eve. Now the food is becoming more and more trendy and we want to transform old traditions into something you would like everywhere.

polish music

Aleksandra

After such a long and eventful walk around the city, I have to say I feel like it might be time for a good dinner. Krakw has recently become a culinary capital of Europe abounding in modern restaurants that showcase innovative culinary styles while preserving the region's deep history and traditions. There is one in particular that cannot be missed. Let's head over there and have a bite. I think I found it. Szara Ges, Grey Goose in English, is one of the most up and coming restaurants in Krakw today. It's nestled in one of the most beautiful tenement houses right here in the heart of the Krakw main square. I'm sure that with this charming setting the dining experience inside must be a feast for the senses. Cheers to our fine feast here. Thank you for coming here. Mmm. This wine is fabulous. It's Polish? Yes, actually it's from Sandomierz. This is my first try of Polish wine. I've heard a little bit about it. I know that it's kind of a thing that's starting to expand again. Yes, exactly. I hear there's somewhere around 400 wineries. Yes, over 400. -Wow. -Yeah. Tell me about this appetizer.

Piotr

We have a pike perch aspect served with caviar, a crawfish and it's also served in saffron olive oil and saffron mayonnaise. In its traditional form it's served with pork feet. So where did the fish come from? From the kings that were living in the Wawel Castle. So they used to eat the aspect only with the fish. Are we having a cappuccino before our next dish? Actually it looks like cappuccino, but actually that's a soup. You're kidding me. No, I'm not. So that's a porcini mushroom soup with a mascot flower. This looks so pretty. I hate to break it apart, but I need to see what it tastes like, so. Very creamy. Yes, it is. Mmm. So we're moving to the main course now and that's also wine from Sandomierz.

making a Polish toast

Piotr

What do we have before us now? This looks very regal. Wild duck stuffed with buckwheat inside. It used to be served in the Wawel Castle as well. The garnish is beautiful too. I see there's kale here and rosemary and an apple. You may think that just like a decoration, but I want you to slice it in half. Inside we have a purple cabbage. It just melts in your mouth. So this is a really wonderful combination of the Flavors of Poland here on our plates.

laughter

Piotr

Krakw has been such an incredible culinary journey. I feel like I could eat this city whole. Today we'll be making the Krakw style roasted duck with a buckwheat and mushroom stuffing. It's an iconic dish of Krakw offered on many restaurant menus throughout the city. You might also be very interested to know that the duck aside from being delicious also has a lot of nutritional benefits. It's pretty high in protein and iron as well as vitamins A, B, and D. It's a very high quality meat. Obviously one that was fit for royalty. For our Krakw dish today we'll obviously need a duck. I'm using one that's approximately four pounds in weight. For the stuffing we'll need to use one cup or organic buckwheat grouts. These are unroasted. We'll also need a handful of champignon mushrooms, two onions. I'm using one red and one white just to give it a little bit of color. Then finally we'll need four slices of bacon, which will give it a little bit of a savory note.

Step number one

clean the duck thoroughly. Remove any inners and then pat it down to dry. Then we can move on to making our marinade. We'll need three tablespoons of grape seed oil. Then one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of pepper. and then one teaspoon of marjoram leaves. So we'll whisk that together until it turns into a pretty thick consistency. Marjoram leaves are actually used a lot in Polish dishes. It's an herb that came over to Poland from Mediterranean Europe. It was probably one of the goods traded a long time ago in the Krakw main square. Now that our marinade is done we're going to take a heatproof casserole dish with a lid and we're going to place our duck upside down right in the dish and we'll start applying the marinade. Thoroughly covering the duck with the marinade both outside and inside. Now we'll place our duck in the fridge for two hours so that the flavors of the marinade can get nicely absorbed into the meat. Now that our duck is in the fridge for a couple of hours we'll use this time to make the stuffing. First we have to cook our buckwheat. We are going to use two parts water to one part buckwheat. I'm going to need a little bit of salt for taste. We'll set our stovetop to a medium heat level. Good, and then we'll just give this a stir to get it going. This process will take about 15 minutes. The buckwheat will be done once it's absorbed all of its water. Put the lid back on. We'll keep an eye on this as it's cooking, but for now we'll throw the rest of the ingredients of our stuffing into the frying pan. I have my pan set to a little bit above a medium heat and then we'll start with the bacon. You know our recipe is good when it has bacon right? We'll only let this fry for just a little bit, just to when the bacon achieves a delicate rosy tone and then we can go ahead and add the onions and the wait. Then as the story goes with frying onions on a pan, we want to make sure that they get just a nice golden tone. We'll let that sit for just a second. Remember I said we do need to keep an eye on our buckwheat, so let's see how it's doing. Looks like it's absorbing the water pretty well. I'll just give it a stir. That should be done soon. That looks ready enough to add the mushrooms to the party. Be sure to mix the mushrooms in thoroughly. They're going to release a little bit of liquid. Once the water of the mushrooms has evaporated, our ingredients on the pan here, should be just about done. Now all of these ingredients when blended together really provide a lot of good savory flavor, but you can also add a little bit too. A pinch of salt and we're going to add just a pinch of pepper as well. About a quarter teaspoon should do it. Our buckwheat looks just about done. We'll give it one more good stir and we'll set both of these dishes aside to allow them to cool done. Once they've done that we'll combine them in a bowl. Now just as a last little detail, this is an option, you don't have to do this, but I will because I like the taste. For a little bit of freshness, we're going to add some parsley leaf. So we'll just chop the parsley leaves and then throw them into the bowl and they'll add a nice contrast to everything else. I've just taken my marinated duck out of the fridge, so now it's time to add our delicious stuffing to the duck. This is going to involve a little bit of surgery, but fear not, I'll show you how to do it. It's not that difficult. I'll start from the far end of the duck here. You want to pinch the skin of the meat about half an inch deep, poke our needle through a few times. What I'm using here is a trussing needle entwined, which are available at most big grocery stores. This makes this process much more effective and easy. Great. That looks pretty good. You just make one loop through and then cut our thread. We can go ahead and start adding our stuffing inside the duck. So we'll just go spoonful by spoonful. Make sure you're really filling the duck. One last spoonful. Now we'll have to secure the duck from the other end. Start from about half an inch or so in to make sure that the skin doesn't rip during the roasting process. Lift through the needle here to close it from one end. We'll place our bird belly down back into our dish and now our duck is ready to place in the oven. Again, your oven should be set to 375 degrees fahrenheit at this point. We'll roast the duck for an hour and a half under that temperature. We'll then lower the temperature after an hour and a half to 320 degrees Fahrenheit and let the duck roast for another half hour without the lid. We'll base the duck frequently during that last half hour as well. The desert that I thought we'd make today is pretty quick and simple. It's a Galician recipe which dates back to the 1500's, the times of one of Poland's greatest queens, Queen Anna Jagiellonka and it is said that this Galician Bundt Cake was her favorite desert. We need one cup of 2% milk, one cup of semolina, three eggs. We'll use four tablespoons of sugar. We'll need fresh ginger. We're going to cut this into four rather thick pieces later on and then I'm also going to scrape out a little bit of vanilla bean from this stem of vanilla I have. We'll also need a pinch of salt. We'll need one teaspoon of cinnamon, a quarter cup of dried fruit. I'm going to use raisins for my Bundt Cake. Then finally we can't forget we also need a tablespoon of honey. Now we'll begin the cake batter by beating the egg whites. So we'll need to separate the egg whites from the egg yolk first. This is a sensitive process. You'll want to make sure you're not getting any of the egg yolk because if you do that might prevent the egg whites from achieving the right thickness later on in the process. Now in the middle of this process you might also want to add just a pinch of salt to help the egg whites achieve the right thickness. Now you'll know that your egg whites are ready when they've achieved a very thick foamy consistency, but my grandmother, Babcia, as we call her in Polish also said you can flip the bowl over and if the egg whites don't fall out that means they're ready. So I think I'm going to be brave enough and give it a try.

small scream

laughter

Step number one

Looks good. I think we're ready. Now the next step of the process is to add your sugar. So I'm going to take those four tablespoons of sugar and just mix them in one at a time all the while mixing my egg whites and then once that's done, I'm going to move over to my egg yolks and add those in one by one just like I did with the sugar. Also continuing to mix the whole time. Let's start by mixing in the semolina. You can see that the batter is starting to get a lot thicker now. Then just add those raisins into the batter as the last step. To bake our cake, we'll need a medium sized nonstick Bundt cake pan. Smear butter all over the inside of the pan. Make sure that you're thoroughly getting into all the creases. You can use bread crumbs for this, but I'm just going to go ahead and use my leftover semolina. It works just as great. So just pour that all over the inside of the pan and then we're going to pour the batter into our form. Now we'll place our cake in the oven set to 320 degrees fahrenheit and it'll bake for approximately 30 minutes. You'll want to check on it after about 20 to 25 minutes or so. You'll know when it's ready when it's achieved a golden brown color on the outside. You can also check by putting a toothpick into the cake. If it comes out clean that means it's ready. The next step is to prepare the milky glaze that will moisten our Bundt cake. I've already poured my cup of 2% milk into my saucepan here and it's beginning to heat. So now I'm going to go ahead and add the rest of the ingredients. I have scraped out the vanilla. Then again, we're using a teaspoon of cinnamon. I've set that aside in my little dish here. Then we'll add our four pieces of ginger. Then we cannot forget about our honey. We can add a little bit of extra. It's okay to be hefty with our tablespoon here. Alright, so we'll just continue stirring this and we'll let it heat through. We don't want to bring it to a boil because we don't want to lose any of the sweetness or the spices in here. You can really smell the medieval aromas in this place. Our cake is almost done, so we're going to prepare a topping for our Bundt cake. I decided that we're going to make it chocolate today. We're going to crumble it all into the bowl then we'll just use a spatula to stir to help it melt. Alright, beautiful. I think our chocolate topping is done. Mmm. And now the best part. We get to decorate the cake, add that glaze that we made a moment ago. We'll take our chocolate over here. So, we'll just go ahead and scoop a little bit up at a time and then make zigzag movements over the cake. That looks like it should be enough. Alright, but enough about chocolate. Let's see how our duck is doing. These aromas are filling my kitchen, so I think it's about done. That looks gorgeous, nice golden brown. I think we've created quite a royal feast here. Should we give our duck a try? It smells beautiful. Melts right in your mouth. Amazing. No wonder the kings and queens of Poland loved this. It is custom in Poland to say smacznego whenever we sit down to have a meal. It means enjoy. So smacznego. I hope that you enjoy your duck as much as I enjoy mine. I'll catch you in the next episode of Flavor of Poland. Nazdrowie!

Announcer 1

Funding for this program is provided by... Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union. Our credit union is more than a bank.

Announcer 2

Baron Chocolatier.

Announcer 3

LOT Polish Airlines offer nonstop flights from the United States to Europe via Poland or Hungary. Luggage, hot meals, and drinks are all included. The inflight entertainment system gives you access to a wide variety of movies and content.

Announcer 4

Be our guest. LOT Polish Airlines, a Star Alliance member.

Ernestrust

kitchens, wardrobes, interiors.