Day Four – Wednesday
Wednesday was our third and last cooking class with Podhale region women. We headed to Gronkow village and again after brief introductions got right into cooking.
Cooking with women from Gronkow village in Lesser Poland region.
Making kluski scynane - potato noodles.
Nell showing cooked potato noodles.
Cooking and having a great time.
It was a beautiful, sunny day so again we decided to have our lunch in the outside garden. We set up a small table and covered it with white, hand-made table cloth. It looked festive and inviting!
Setting up our table for lunch in the garden.
We had delicious soup made with fresh Boston lettuce, potatoes, potato noodles, beans with mushrooms, drank herb tea and home-made nalewki – fruit cordials.
Enjoying delicious lunch with women from Gronkow village in Lesser Poland.
Enjoying great regional cuisine and conversation in Gronkow village, Lesser Poland.
Kolacz – the sweet cheese filled coffee cake we made earlier was ready for us as we were finishing our lunch. It looked beautiful and tasted sooooo good! Fabulous!
Beautiful, freshly baked kolacz - a yeast-raised, sweet cheese filled cake.
Kolacz - sweet cheese filled coffee cake.
Having a delicious lunch in Gronkow village garden with out hosts.
After dessert, tea, coffee and listening to Gronkow women singing for us we said our Goodbyes! It was a lovely time in Gronkow and the food and hospitality of Gronkow women will always remain in our memory.
Our guests wanted to spend more time at the beautiful and relaxing Villa Marilor
www.hotelmarilor.com so after cooking class we returned to the hotel. Villa Marilor is a 5-star hotel which was once a small palace and is a historical and an architectural monument.
Villa Marior Palace/*****Hotel in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
Villa Marilor Palace/Hotel in Zakopane, Lesser Poland at night.
Blue room at Villa Marilor Palace/Hotel in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
A bathroom at Villa Marilor Palace/Hotel in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
Swimming pool at Villa Marilor Palace/Hotel in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
Sauna at Villa Marilor Palace/Hotel Spa in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
For dinner we headed to Karczma Czarci Jar in Zakopane
www.czarcijar.pl . Karczma Czarci Jar offers delicious regional cuisine and great atmosphere in a quiet neighborhood of Zakopane.
Karczma Czarci Jar - a regional restaurant in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
Preparing food at Karczma Czarci Jar in Zakopane, Lesser Poland region.
Musicians in regional costumes at Karczma Czarci Jar in Zakopane, Lesser Poland.
On Thursday morning we left Zakopane and slowly made our way back to Krakow and Wieliczka to begin the urban portion of cooking vacation in Lesser Poland. Stay tuned and Smacznego!
Day One – Sunday
After picking up our guests from their hotels in Krakow on a gorgeous sunny morning and before heading out south to Zakopane we visited the Jewish district of Krakow called Kazimierz. Later we decided to stop by the Pierogi Festival (Stuffed Dumplings Festival) going on in Maly Rynek in Krakow for a delicious lunch. Pierogi Festival is a real pierogi heaven! The festival takes place every August and is one of the most popular culinary festivals in the Lesser Poland region. We tried: pierogi Ruskie – with potatoes and cheese, with cabbage and mushrooms, with salmon, with spinach… fried, breaded and boiled. And of course we drank Polish beer Zywiec. It’s a great tasting beer especially with pierogi on a hot summer day.
Pierogi Festival in Krakow, Poland
Salmon pierogi at the Pierogi Festival in Krakow, Poland.
Besides pierogi, a famous traditional and regional sheep cheese oscypek was also available at the festival. Oscypki are often served grilled with cranberry sauce. Later in the week during our cooking vacation in Poland we discovered how oscypki are made by highlanders in their mountain huts called bacowki.
Oscypki cheese at the Pierogi Festival in Krakow, Poland.
Oscypki - regional hand-made sheep cheese.
A sign at the Pierogi Festival in Krakow, Poland.
After enjoying the wonderful food, beer and live concerts at the Pierogi Festival in Krakow we joined our driver, Antoni, whom we later simply called Toni, in his mini bus to begin our short drive to Podhale region and Zakopane. Zakopane is a beautiful mountain town south of Poland famous for the highlander culture and cuisine.
Our guests stayed at Villa Marilor in Zakopane, a spectacular ***** Hotel which was once a small palace and now includes a luxurious spa with swimming pool. After settling into Villa Marilor we all gathered in the evening for a festive Welcome Dinner at Villa Marilor restaurant, met the head chef Stanislaw Adamczyk and dined on local specialties.
Welcome dinner at Villa Marilor in Zakopane, Poland.
Stanislaw Adamczyk, Executive Chef for Villa Marilor in Zakopane, Poland.
Oscypki with bacon.
Szarlotka - apple cake - with vanilla ice cream.
We discussed day two of our culinary vacation in Poland during dinner. We headed to village of Rogoznik on Monday to cook with highlander women in their home but more on that in next post. Stay tuned and Smacznego!
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