Polish Cookery Book – Journey From A Polish Kitchen

Regional Cookery Book

I am always amazed at what gems you can find in Charity shops.

This book on Finnish Cookery is my latest find.
The ‘Finnish Cookbook’ by Beatrice A. Ojakangas.
First published in 1964 and this edition in 1989.
It is aimed at the American market so the recipes are in cups etc.
I will go with cups and tablespoons for liquids but for ingredients such as flour, sugar and butter I will convert these to grams when I try them.
I have learnt a lot about Finland from this book.
Because of its closeness to Russia it is not surprising that some of these recipes are similar to ones found in Russia.
It then follows that some of the recipes are also similar to ones found in Eastern Poland and to ones which I have posted.
Lingonberries, Rye, Cabbage & Herrings are just some of the similar ingredients.
The ‘Cabbage Pasty’, which is served as a’ ‘Soup Accompaniment’ is one example, which is very similar.
Look out for recipes from this book as the New Year (2024) goes on.

Do you know any Finnish Recipes?

I was so thrilled to find this new book in the Empik bookstore in Gdańsk.
My father always thought of Wilno (Vilnius in English) as his nearest city.
He was born not that far away and where he was born and Wilno were part of Poland then.
Wilno was always thought of as a very Polish city.
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I am planning to sit down and read this book very thoroughly.
Although my father did not cook, I am sure some of these recipes will be similar to those ones I have tasted, used by his sisters here in England and his cousins in Poland.

I have returned recently from a short trip to Wrocław.
A lovely city and I stayed in the old town, which was super.
I ate in several restaurants and picked up some ideas for recipes.
I also bought 3 Polish recipe books which are very interesting and you will be seeing ideas coming through from these in the next few months.

One of the many lovely doors in Wrocław.
Souvenir Krasnoludki (gnomes) – reading and eating ices – 2 of my favourite pleasures!

Krasnoludki are all around the town – from the 1980s as anti Soviet protests.

Kuchnia Polska was my first Polish cookery book.
The title means Polish Kitchen – or Polish Cookery.
It was my first Polish cookery book and my only one till many years later.
I think of this as my “Cookery Bible” and turn to this first when doing any research for a recipe.
I have rarely had any “failures” from this book.
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First published in 1956.
Published by Państwowe Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, Warszawa.
My edition is the 15th published 1971.
There are 775 pages plus photographs.
The text is in Polish.
10 authors are listed – the first is Prof. dr Stanisław Berger.
The graphics are by Czesław Wielhorski (1911-1980).
Czesław Wielhorski was a “visual artist” – a graphic artist
Czesław Wielhorski is well known for his posters for the 1939 winter Olympics in Zakopane.
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As well as recipes there is advice including kitchen layout, food groups and menus
There are many instructions from an age when pre-prepared food ingredients were not available eg – how to grind almonds.
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I have always loved the drawings in this book.
The drawing are in black and white each with one colour.
Cross Hatching and dots in black add texture to the illustrations
Below are a selection of these wonderful illustrations