My paternal grandfather was Polish and some of these recipes take me back to my childhood. I think most people conjure up heavy meaty dishes full of starch when they think about Polish traditional food, but this collection is full of delicate and beautifully presented plant based recipes absolutely bursting with fresh flavor.
The recipes are grouped thematically: breakfast, soups, breads and baked goods, mains, sides, pierogies and dumplings (I *love* these), desserts, and preserves jams and pickles. Each of the recipes includes a description (including the name in Polish), yields and prep/cooking time, ingredients (both American standard and metric measurements included - yay!) listed bullet style in a sidebar, and step by step directions. Special tips, alternatives, and usage info are included, highlighted with a sidebar. Nutritional information and dietary restrictions (allergens, nuts, etc) are not included.
Many (most) of the recipes are pictured and the photography is clear and appealing. The selected recipes as far as I can tell are authentic and all we've tried were delicious. The lacto-fermented brined dill pickles (Ogórki kiszone) are wonderful and honestly worth the price of admission on their own. My family are huge pickle eaters and the next round, I'm going to triple or quadruple the recipe (original recipe yield is 3 litres).
Five enthusiastic stars. Beautifully presented, well written, and as far as I can see, error free.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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