Day Three – Tuesday
On Tuesday morning we met at Maria’s house in Lopuszna village and got right into cooking! Maria, as I previously wrote, is 82 years old but has the energy and enthusiasm for life of a 25 year old! She and other women were excited about cooking with us and sharing their favorite recipes. So were we! Their hospitality, humor, story telling and singing made the whole culinary experience even more enjoyable! We will never forget the wonderful time we spent in Lopuszna!
With Maria in her home in Lopuszna village, Poland.
Ken rolling out the dough for pierogi with blueberries.
Cooking with Maria in her country home.
No matter what region of Poland you visit, pierogi will always take the center stage, although there are hundreds of other region specific recipes cooked in family kitchens. Because of the late summer season and availability of fruits such as blueberries, resberries and plums pierogi are made with those fruits and often eaten as dessert lightly sprinkled with sugar or sour cream with a touch of vanilla extract. We made pierogi with blueberries and those turned out just right! Delicious!
Pierogi are ready to be boiled.
Poles eat lots of vegetable salads mixed with various cheeses or plain. Those vegetables are often grated and mixed with herbs such as parsley, dill and chives. Here, Ken is grating eggs for a regional egg, vegetable and cheese side salad.
Ken busy grating eggs for an egg and cheese salad.
Everyone makes moskole, a variation of potato pancakes in Podhale- a subregion of Lesser Poland where highlander cuisine and culture dominate. Moskole are simply made with potatoes - locally called grule - flour, an egg, salt and pepper.
Nell cutting out moskole, regional potato pancakes as Maria looks on.
Ken making sure moskole are cooked just right.
After all that cooking we decided to have our lunch outside in Maria’s garden since the weather has been gorgeous. We ate moskole, with warm beans and cabbage side dish, drank home made nalewki and talked with the women about their life in Lopuszana. We also took lots of photos with them in their traditional costumes which are truly beautiful!
Time to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Barbara wearing regional scarf with Jozefa, Maria and Danusia.
Ken posing with Maria.
Delicious, home made desserts are often served after each meal in Poland with tea or coffee. Danusia often bakes for weddings and she brought the drunkard tort to share with us for dessert. Again, fabulous!
Delicious drunkard tort made by Danusia.
After our cooking with Lopuszna village women we headed out to Debno Podhalanskie to tour the St. Michael the Archangel Church, which dates back to 15th century and is listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The interior is a masterpiece of decoration with the so-called stencilled paintings reminiscent of fabrics which were painted in tempera and are truly world unique.
St. Michael the Archangel's Church in Debno Podhalanskie, Lesser Poland.
On our way back to Zakopane we also made a stop by bacowka, a highlander mountain hut, to learn how hand-made oscypek – a traditional smoked sheep cheese- is made. The process is very interesting and time consuming. While in Podhale we also tasted the traditional sheep milk cheese called bryndza. The locals also drink zentyca – which is simply fermented sheep milk.
In bacowka, highlander hut learning about oscypek cheese production process.
Soaking oscypki cheese.
Oscypki cheese before smoking process.
Oscypki before the smoking process.
Freshly smoked oscypki cheese.
Oscypek cheese - the finished product.
Posing in front of bacowka.
We continued our drive to Zakopane through Chocholow village, a Podhale village with the best preserved complex of wooden architecture and on the official Wooden Architecture Route of Lesser Poland region.
A house in Chocholow village on the Wooden Architecture Route in Lesser Poland region.
Houses in Chocholow village on Wooden Architecture Route in Lesser Poland region.
Artist at work in Chocholow village in Lesser Poland.
After finally arriving to Zakopane in the evening, we strolled through the open market there and took a tram to the top of Gubalowka hill from which we enjoyed spectacular views of Zakopane and surrounding mountain ranges. We decided to have dinner on Gubalowka hill at Dominium restaurant which offers pizza and traditional regional dishes, many from the grill, which is what we had. It was a perfect place to unwind, drink cold Zywiec beer and talk about our favorite places and restaurants we visited during our world travels.
Outdoor market in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
Selling honey at outdoor market in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
Grilled lamb with vegetables.
On Wednesday we headed to Gronkow village for our last cooking experience in Podhale. Stay tuned and Smacznego!
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