In the last two years in Warsaw, Poland a kind of food revolution is taking place. When Poland joined EU in 2004, lots of young creative people went abroad to look for a better life or to expand their options to grow. I've noticed lots of these people started to come back after the last economical crisis. Polish economy wasn't tight up so much to the banking system like the rest of the western Europe and business hasn't suffered as much. These people came back with great ideas, and many of them were connected with food. Suddenly people wanted better food quality - lots of small producers appeared. What followed was amazing brand new world - farmers markets, little cafes, restaurans, food trucks ...
There were also new happenings in food writings - blogs, internet magazines. One of the most interesting new borns, was SMAK MAGAZINE_. I had the chance to collaborate with, in their first issue and kept doings so ever since.
There were also new happenings in food writings - blogs, internet magazines. One of the most interesting new borns, was SMAK MAGAZINE_. I had the chance to collaborate with, in their first issue and kept doings so ever since.
FIRST
This was my first collaboration with polish food culture magazine - SMAK. We had lots of fun cooking at the rooftop of a beautiful modernist tenement house in Saska Kepa district of Warsaw. It was late september. The day was breathing out last warm summer breeze and the sun was slowly setting over our heads - truly magical moments. Menu comprised of : * Steamed root vegetables with parsley olive oil * Seared duck breas over rasin&porto mash + pistachos sauce * Pumpkin soup * Bacon consome with broad beans and fennel shavings * Spelt beetroot risotto and roasted venison saddle + port jus * Matcha panna cotta * Home made ginger&chocolate ice creams with spiced poached pear |
4 WAYS - JUST APPLES
Yet another collaboration with polish food culture magazine SMAK. Last autumn brought an opportunity to host weekend workshop with apples as main ingredient in the polish manor house by the Belarus border. It was middle of autumn and apples were at their best, ready to be harvested before cold winter arrives from the east. Great way to spend a weekend and create apple based menu: * Rye bread canapés with caramelized apple, crispy bacon and seared black pudding * Lamb's lettuce, roasted beets, tart apples and walnut vinaigrette salad * Roasted apples&pumpkin soup with sage olive oil * Tarte tatin |
PLANT TALES
Magazine SMAK asked me to do this little serie as an example that vegan diet doesn't have to be bland or lacking element of fantasy, so here is what I came up with, this last autumn: * Barley tabbouleh with juniper marinated olives and salted almonds * Polish large raviolis - PIEROGI , filled with star anise carrots and sage * Potato&Chucrute cakes and carmelized smoked prunes * Red lentils&Coconut milk soup infused with peanut butter, hot chili + grilled broccoli * Rich chocolate and roasted beets cake |
GARAGE DINNER
An amazing collaboration of a Mexican Pop-up restaurant project created along with my mexican wife Sheily and SMAK magazine from Poland. We were asked to prepare an opening dinner for selected group of artists participating in this alternative music OFF FESTIVAL. It's a very unique music event taking place every year in polish Silesia. Artur Rojek who organizes it brings the most interesting musicians I've had a chance to listen to recently. He always puts so much energy into creating this event in colse relation to Silesia - a former coal mining area of Polish south, having rough time adjusting to the capitalist economy. We were trying to created dishes that appeared as local silesian cuisine, but were constructed using mexican flavors and techniques. At first I didn't think that these two different food cultures could create such a good combination, but results were simply delicious. |