Polish Cookery

My parents (who emigrated from Poland) consider this the most authentic Polish cookbook they have come across. Many of the recipes in here are very similar to ones that my family uses. If you're from the north of Poland, near the Baltic coast, you'll probably feel the same. Many other Polish cookbooks use versions of recipes that are more authentic to other parts of Poland, which doesn't always taste right to us. But when my mother visits and doesn't have her recipe for something, she will often use this book instead. The recipes have also been "Americanized" somewhat to make finding ingredients easier (compared to the "truly" authentic recipes in other books), or leverage equipment found in most American kitchens. However, there are still some esoteric directions or ingredients which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. BTW, another reviewer had trouble finding "instant flour". This is easily dissolving flour such as Wondra.

I bought this book ten years ago when I needed to make a dessert for a Russian club event (figuring nobody would notice if I substituted one Slavic culture for another). I have never been disappointed. Every recipe I've tried from it has been relatively easy to make and incredibly, incredibly delicious. Be warned, there's nothing quick in this book - if you're a slow cook like me, plan on a couple of hours for a main course - but the results are very worth it. We particularly enjoy the Vienna pork rolls (not sure how a recipe named after an Austrian city is Polish, but who am I to question?) and "carrots in sauce."

I am not from Poland, my husband is. He enjoys the recipes from this cookbook. The directions are very easy to follow. There are many photographs depicting how to create the dishes. I highly recommend this book- even if the ingredients are hard to find or a bit confusing (As the above reviewer noted).

This cookbook brings many memories of the great Polish cooking that I have been introduced to through friends. The pictures of the Polish food are great too. All the dishes included in the cookbook are indexed in both Polish and English for easy reference. Unfortunately the cookbook doesn't make use of Polish alphabet characters to aid in the pronunciation of the dishes for foreigners, but that's minor.