I really connect with Polish food. It’s rustic, seasonal and
affordable, as well as being influenced by just about anyone who’s passed
through at some point; notably French, Jewish and Russian cuisines. I know this
is silly but it feels really earthy and spiritual somehow when I cook something
Polish for dinner; I feel transported to a scarred land of wheat fields,
cabbages, harvests and preserving. I want to go to Poland at some point to get
the “peasant making delicious stew on farmstead” image out of my head; I’m sure
that it doesn’t actually resemble a Bertold Brecht play. This aside, what’s
most important to me is the food, and it’s really delicious. One café,
Barbakan, situated on Walmgate in York was one of my favourite lunchtime spots
when I was a student. Small, bustling and cosy, Barbakan really opened my eyes
to the wonders of Polish food. Baskets of sourdough bread would be served
alongside piping hot dishes of goblaki -stuffed cabbage leaves- potato and
cheese stuffed pierogi -dumplings- or peppery, juniper-spiked bigos. According
to my worn cookbook, The Polish Kitchen,
by Mary Pininska, bigos is the national dish of Poland and was traditionally
made with any food harvested from the land; game, juniper berries, mushrooms,
all bolstered of course, by sauerkraut. See this as a base recipe to expand upon and make additions to; there is only one prerequisite, which is
that you absolutely must make bigos at least one day in advance to let the
flavours mature.
Now, as much as I love sushi, I have to admit that
when I found out there were plans to open a Yo!Sushi in York I was not a happy
bunny. It wasn’t because I’d suddenly gone off the stuff, but the planning
notice was stuck up on a building on Church Street; and that building just
happens to be next door to where I live. We fretted about the possible stench
of rancid fish wafting up to us from the courtyard bins that we share with the
back of the building, we suffered all summer with incessant drilling and
overheard conversations from builders, but now the time is finally here and the
noise has gone. The fish smell isn’t there either (though the bins are stacking
up...).
