1. POLISH SUMMER CUISINE MAZOVIAN AREA

2. Polish cuisine was always connected with the four seasons of the year because the Polish used to eat mainly what they produced when there wasn’t an exchange of goods with other countries. When winters were really harsh people had to eat more high- calorie dishes compared with food eaten in spring or summer. They went stag or boar hunting and then used the meat. Housewives prepared vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, beetroots. Those vegetables can be easily kept in cold cellars until the first breath of spring. But often when the spring was in the air stores of food were used up and a lot of poor people suffered from hunger. Summer was the only hope for the new harvest. At this time of the year people could eat field crops and forest fruit. Moreover, they were busy with work on the field and didn’t have enough time for cooking. That’s why our summer meals are very simple and easy to prepare.

3. SUMMER COTTAGE CHEESE Ingredients: ½ kilogram of fresh curd cheese ¼ litre of fresh thick cream a bunch of radishes a bunch of chives table salt Method: Grind down the cheese with a fork, chop up the chives and cut the radishes into round slices. Then add the cream, salt and mix all the ingredients. Serve with wholemeal bread or breadroll.

4. SPRING SCRAMBLED EGGS Ingredients: eggs ( number of eggs depends of the number of diners ) a bunch of chives or spring onion a slice of butter salt Method: Wash and pour out the eggs into a soup plate or a bowl, add salt and mix with a fork. Melt butter in a pan, pour the eggs, add chopped chives and fry. Stir it all the time. Serve with brown bread or breadroll.

5. SPINACH WITH EGGS Ingredients: 1 kilogram of fresh spinach 4 eggs 100 g of butter 1 tablespoon of flour salt ground pepper Method: Wash carefullyand cook spinach in salted water. Then drain it in a colander and let it cool. Meanwhile, boil eggs until they are hard and let them cool. When they are cold, shell and chop them. When the spinach is cold chop it as well. Prepare roux in a pan: melt butter, add flour and fry stirring until it is golden. Add spinach, salt, pepper and mix it all. Fry the mixture for a few minute stirring all the time. When it is ready, lay it out on plates and sprinkle with chopped eggs. Serve with breadroll.

6. BEET GREEN SOUP Ingredients: 2 bunches of young beet greens 250 g of fresh cream 1 bunch of dill 1 bunch of chives salt sugar citric acid grains of black pepper grains of allspice 3 bay leaves 1 tablespoon of flour 4hard-boiled eggs Method: Wash carefully young beet greens together with small beetroots, if they are big enough peel them. Cut the young beet greens and beetroots, add water, black pepper, allspice, bay leaves and boil for a few minutes on a very small fire. Then add salt, sugar and citric acid to taste and continue boiling. Pour the cream into a big mug, add flour and stir it, then add a half of a ladle of soup, mix it alltogether and pour it all into a pot with the soup. Mix it all and let to boil. When the soup is cool, pour it into soup plates, add chopped dill and chives. Decorate with halves of egg.

7. CAULIFLOWER IN BÉCHAMEL SAUCE INGREDIENTS: 1 big cauliflower salt ground pepper ground nutmeg 100 g of butter 1 tablespoon of flour a big mug of grated hard cheese green parsley 1 glass of milk 3 tablespoons of fresh cream Method: Wash the cauliflower, divide into small parts and cook in salted water with 2 or 3 bay leaves. Then drain it. Wipe the inside of a casserole with butter, put the cooked cauliflower into it. Prepare sauce: melt butter in a pan, add flour, stir and fry until it is golden. Then add milk very slowly, stirring all the time. Add cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Mix and pour it onto the cauliflower. Sprinkle with grated cheese and chopped green parsley. Put into hot oven and bake for 15 minutes.

8. ”YOUNG” POTATOES WITH SOUR MILK Method: Sour milk You have to prepare it 2 or 3 days before planned meal. Boil 1 litre of fresh milk and let it cool. Pour the milk into a clay pot. Add 1 tablespoon of youghurt and mix it. Let it stay for 2 or 3 days. ( It depends on the weather. If it’s hot 2 days is enough. )When the milk is sour and ”hard” Put it into a refrigerator. ”Young” potatoes Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water. When they are cooked, drain them, put them on the plates, add butter, sprinkle with chopped dill. Serve with cold sour milk. INGREDIENTS: 1 KG OF SMALL YOUNG POTATOES 1 BUNCH OF DILL 1 LITRE OF SOUR MILK SALT A LITTLE BIT OF BUTTER

9. DUMPLINGS FILLED WITH STRAWBERRIES Ingredients: 1 kilogram of flour ( the amount for a big family ) ½ kilogram of strawberries fresh thick cream sugar Method: Pour flour out onto a pastry board. Scald it with small amount of boiling water and mix it with a long knife. Be careful and don’t burn your fingers! Then add cold water, mix it and knead the pastry. When it’s ready, roll it out and cut circles with a glass or a mug. Fill the circles with strawberries and stick together with your fingers. Put the dumplings into boiling water, wait until they surface and cook for a short time. Take them out with a slotted spoon, put on plates and decorate with cream and sugar.

10. STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE Ingredients: ½ kilogram of strawberries ¼ of fresh youghurt or cream sugar to taste Method: Wash strawberries and tear off the stems. Blend all the ingredients in a blender. Serve chilled in high glasses.

11. STRAWBERRY CAKE Ingredients: 200 g of butter 150 g of sugar vanilla sugar 4 eggs 200 g of wheat flour 40 g of potato flour 1 teaspoon of baking powder ½ kilogram of strawberries 50 g icing sugar Method: Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one creaming all the time. Sieve both kinds of flour mixed with the baking powder into the mixture and stir gently. Put the dough into a wiped with butter baking tin and sprinkle with strawberries. Bake for about 45 minutes at a temperature of 170 centigrades. Sprinkle hot cake with icing sugar mixed with vanilla sugar.

12. BARLEY SOUPBarley soup can be served all year long but in summer its taste is special thanks to young vegetables Ingredients: a bunch of young soup vegetables: carrots, parsnips, leek and root celery a few potatoes 150 g of barley a small piece of pork or chicken meat a bunch of dill salt grains of black peppers Method: Boil meat for about 30 minutes. Add chopped soup vegetables, potatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for another half an hour. Add barley, cook for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped dill or green parsley.

13. ”YOUNG REPORTERS”COMENIUS PROJECTZESPÓŁ SZKÓŁ NR 83W WARSZAWIEUL. POWSTAŃCÓW WIELKOPOLSKICH 402 – 398 WARSZAWA