NAJEDZENI FEST (AUTUMN EDITION) - WHIRL OF TASTES

Do you also feel that recently there has been a food festival in Kraków on almost every weekend? I'm glad of it because I love the whirl of festival colours, tastes and smells. They make me feel like a child at a (culinary) funfair.

An exceptionally strong whirl caught me today in Hotel Forum, the venue of Najedzeni Fest Festival - Autumn Edition. Lots of dishes from around the world, lots of tasty wines and lots of interesting people who wanted to share their passion with us.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to take part in any workshops or conferences but walking around the four big banquet rooms, talking to the vendors and tasting their products was exciting enough. Below you can find a few of the most interesting moments from the festival.

Two charming Italians, signor Cesare Candido from Akademia Kuchni Włoskiej and signora Chiara Grella from Fattorie Del Duca gave me some interesting-tasting polenta (Italian dish made of cornmeal boiled into a porridge) with truffle butter and mushrooms. In the photo you can see signor Cesare with a big pot of polenta.

I also tasted a few wines and my favourites were slightly fruity Australian Chardonnay recommended by a very nice sommelier from Dom Wina...

... and red Georgian wine Khvanchkara served by Supra, which apparently was Stalin's favourite wine. But I'm not sure if Stalin's approval is a good or bad thing. ;)

I was also tempted to try a mysterious green drink from Storeko. It turned out to be barley grass juice, which didn't taste particularly good but it's reportedly very healthy.

And finally, I bought a loaf of home made bread from GabaBa Eco Chleb, whose stall was beautifully decorated with autumn flowers and fruits.

There were so many stands and products that it would be impossible to mention all of them. But you can find more information in the photo gallery on my facebook page or on the Festival's offical website.

And what did you like most? :)

Photo gallery: here

Festival's website www.najedzenifest.blogspot.com

PS. On your right you can find a new tool - contact form. So if you have any thoughts on my blog or restaurants in Kraków, feel free to drop me an email. :)
 

Polish version 

GENJI SUSHI - CROUCHING TEMPURA, HIDDEN UMAMI

 

Some time ago I wrote a short guide to sushi and gave a recipe for a budget, home made sushi (available here). Now the time has come for a review of one of my favourite sushi bars - Genji Sushi in Kraków.

 

Genji Sushi is a two-level restaurant: there's a light, quite spacious room on the ground floor and several smaller rooms in a dark, slightly musty cellar. Both levels are full of Japanese bric-à-brac and decorations, which create an oriental feel. The restaurant's name derives from a Japanese book from the 11^th century considered the oldest novel in the world. 'Genji Monogatari' or 'The Tale of Genji' is a story about life and love affairs of Prince Genji written by a Japanese noblewoman, Murasaki Shikibu. I think the restaurant's name is an interesting choice - on the one hand, it's quite simple and eye-catching, on the other - it alludes to one of the greatest pieces of literature in Japanese history.

Eating sushi isn't a very cheap pastime but it isn't as extravagant as one may think, especially if you have a Kraków's discount card, Karta na Plus. Usually one sushi set in Genji (from PLN 35 up) will allow to satiate an appetite of a not-too-hungry person. If you're starving however, you should choose a set with lots of fish and tempura (deep-fried batter. Very tasty but also very fattening! :)). You can also order a starter, for example miso soup with soybean paste (PLN 5). Its taste is quite distinctive but if you like tofu, you should like it as well (but, honestly, I don't...). Fortunately, wantang soup with dumplings (PLN 13) turned out to be much tastier and more nourishing.

My favourite dishes are uramaki (or 'inside-out roll') with crunchy tempura shrimps and nigiri ('hand-pressed sushi') with butterfish. Butterfish, as its name suggests, is as tasty and soft as butter (but watch out because butterfish can sometimes cause indigestion). In all the sushi sets, thanks to the perfect balance of light food (such as rice, fresh cucumber, nori seaweed) and more nutritious ones (fish, seafood, tempura), you can taste a strong flavour of umami - one of the five basic tastes, described as meaty, fatty or simply delicious.

We went to Genji a few times and on each occasion the food was equally fresh and tasty. The waitresses are very friendly but I have a mixed feeling about the waiting time. Once we had to wait for our food for over an hour (!), because apparently the restaurant was inundated with guests. But next time we visited Genji, we told the waitress about the delay in the past and she made an extra effort to cover over the bad impression - our food was served in no more than 10 minutes. Genji Sushi is a perfect place for a romantic date in one of the dusky cellar rooms, a dinner with friends or simply a quick lunch with delicious sushi and umami.

Address: ul. Dietla 55, Kraków (Kazimierz)

Strona www: genji.pl

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KRAKOWSKIM TARGIEM – THE MOST COLOURFUL FESTIVAL OF THE SEASON

 

Do you like traditional markets? I love them. In Poland, they usually sell fresh fruit and vegetables, local produce, such as oscypek (sheep cheese), and much more. The food there is much better than in supermarkets and the vendors are very friendly and chatty.

That's why I couldn't miss the Festival of Cracow's traditional markets called 'Krakowskim Targiem,' which took place yesterday (12th Oct) in Plac Nowy in Cracow. The name is a play on words: 'krakowskim targiem' is a Polish idiom meaning 'a compromise' but literally it means a Cracow's ('krakowskim') traditional market ('targiem').

Even though this summer and autumn have abounded in food festivals in Cracow, I think 'Krakowskim Targiem' was the most colourful and varied one.

The stalls were full of beautifully arranged autumnal fruits of the earth, especially round-bellied pumpkins and juicy grapes. There was also a plethora of forest mushrooms. I especially like saffron milk caps (called 'rydze' in Polish) fried in butter, which are a simple but delicious dish.

The most eye-catching stand was probably the one with exquisitely carved fruits and veggies. I really love the cute courgette roses.

Apart from food, there were also a few stalls with hand made jewellery, antiques and other birck-a-brac. Maybe someone bought this cute little nesting box?

The air was filled with the smells of smoke and delicious hot dishes, such as pierogi (Polish dumplings) and Moroccan specialities. Unfortunately, there were so many people who also wanted to taste the free food that I didn't manage to push myself forward. Maybe I'm too shy? :/

But I did manage to buy a jar of heather honey, a wooden spoon, some traditional cottage cheese, a punnet of sweet raspberries, and coffee spices with cardamom. As always, I spent more money than I'd intended but at least I've got some tasty souvenirs from the fair.

And for those who didn't manage to visit the festival, I recommend the traditional markets in Cracow, which are open all year round, especially Stary Kleparz, Plac na Stawach and Plac Nowy. Shopping at the market can be great fun. :)

Website: here

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FOODSTOCK IN KRAKÓW - AROUND THE WORLD IN ONE AFTERNOON

 

We've just come back from an alternative food festival, Foodstock: Berlin Edition, which took place today in an old communist Forum Hotel in Kraków. Upon entering the Forum Przestrzenie restaurant, we encountered a tangle of people, kids and dogs, surrounded by the music played by a DJ. Smells of delicious food were wafting through the room.

First, we queued for coupons, which are the official Foodstock currency. One coupon costs PLN 5 and usually allows to buy one portion of food but there were also some goods (e.g. burgers) which costed 2 or even 3 coupons.

Then, we had a look around the food stalls, which were extremely varied: from sushi, to Indian samosas, to various cakes and fruit shakes. The most besieged stalls were Hamsa hummus & happiness serving savoury dishes from the Middle East and Youmiko, where you could buy a temaki (hand roll sushi). After 15 minutes of standing in a line for a falafel served in a pita (which was very good, by the way), I was too weary to take place in another long queue for the sushi. It's a pity because the temaki looked really nice.

Also an orange van of Burgertata aroused a keen interested. We had to wait for over 30 minutes for our burger but it was worth the wait - the beef was juicy, the bun crunchy and the veggies fresh. The only vendor who made explicit reference to Berlin, the festival's main theme, was Gotowanie z pasją blog. They prepared a tart with Kartoffelsalat (German potato salad) filling and muffins with... currywurst flavour (currywurst is a German national dish consisting of a sausage and spicy ketchup). My congratulations on the cook's creativity! :)

For the dessert, we bought in BonJour CaVa some lovely fruit tart and a piece of cake with meringue and black currant jam. I usually don't like either meringue (it's too sweet for me) or black currants (they're too sour) but the blend of these two tastes was really fantastic. We came home loaded with home made bread with prunes and a jar of lard from the Eco - Chleb stall. Yummy. :)

Foodstock is a great way to get to know various flavours from around the world in just one afternoon. The only downside were the enormous queues to some of the stands but it probably just shows how popular the event is. The festival gave me a lot of positive energy, not only from all the delicious calories I've eaten. ;)

Website: here 

Facebook: here

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VICTORIOUS DRAGONFRUIT :)

 

I've just found out that my photo of pitayas won an award in a photo contest organised by www.wolnakuchnia.pl. Many thanks to Wolna Kuchnia for a creative way to liven up the culinary blogosphere and to all of you who helped me to win with your likes and comments. :)

And now the main question is: what is this pitaya?

Pitaya, also known as a dragonfruit, looks indeed like an egg of some mythical creature. But in fact it's a fruit of a cactus which blooms only at night, that's why it's sometimes called "moonflower" or "Queen of the Night". With its bright pink skin and 'freckled' flesh, pitaya caught our attention when we were strolling around La Boqueria, a famous traditional food market in Barcelona. Tempted by its bizarre looks, we expected an equally unusual taste but, sadly, we were disappointed. The fruit was mildly sweet, 'mildly' being the operative word. Fortunately, mixed with other exotic fruits in a fruit salad, pitaya became quite tasty.

In La Boqueria we also noticed some massive pig legs with hooves. They turned out to be jamón, dry-cured Spanish ham, whose neither taste, nor distinctive smell found our appreciation.

With some concern, we also looked at the seafood that was so fresh it was still moving... Some crayfish had even their claws tied to prevent them from pinching careless customers. As to other 'delicacies,' such as skinned rabbits, we didn't feel like immortalizing them in photos. Well, I think I'll better stick with pitaya and other fruit for now...

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SUSHI FOR BEGINNERS - HOW TO MAKE IT?

 

'What, raw fish? Yuck!' - this is a common reaction when I tell people that I love sushi. But in fact raw fish (called 'sashimi' in Japanese) is just one of many sushi ingredients, which can vary from seafood, to avocado, to plain cucumber. So what exactly is this sushi thing and how can you eat it? :)

For many years, I thought that sushi preparation is reserved for distinguished sushi chefs who spent years learning their craft in Japan. But my view changed when my friend, Emi, and I took part in a sushi workshop organised by Edo Sushi Bar in Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków (most photos in this post are from this workshop). We learned there how to prepare the two most popular types of sushi: 

• makizushi - a sliced roll made of seaweed, rice, and filling
• nigirizushi - a mound of rice with a fish topping. 

Since then home made sushi has become one of my favourite ideas for a lunch or dinner with friends. My version of this dish may never get a Michelin star, but it's much cheaper than going out to a sushi bar, and it's lots of fun. :)

In most supermarkets you can find the basic sushi ingredients and accessories, especially:

• nori - edible seaweed; contrary to appearances, it is quite tasty and it contains high portions of vitamins and minerals
• rice - sushi rice is usually quite expensive, so we often replace it with basmati rice
• rice vinegar - essential for the rice dressing
• wasabi - green Japanese horseradish, it's very hot so it can help you fight a cold ;)
• gari - sweet, pickled ginger, eaten between the bites to cleanse the palate
• soy sauce - to dip your sushi (optional)
• bamboo mat - to roll maki-zushi
• chopsticks - if you don't know how to use chopsticks, I've got good news for you - Japanese etiquette allows to eat sushi with the fingers :)

 

As to the fillings, I usually buy them in vegetable and fish stalls at my local market, where I can find fresh ingredients. My favourite fillings are:

• smoked salmon
• surimi (crab sticks)
• avocado
• fresh cucumber
• kampyō gourd - pickled gourd with slightly sweet taste
• takuan - pickled daikon radish (bright yellow)
• sesame seeds - as a decoration

When I've bought everything, I sit with my friends at a large table and we start cutting the ingredients, arranging the fillings, rolling the seaweed and - the best part - tasting the food. Sushi should be served with green tea or Japanese plum wine, but in our low-budget home made version we usually settle for plum beer from the supermarket.

Home made sushi is a great culinary adventure but if you prefer a professionally prepared Japanese meal, soon you'll be able to read a review of one of my favourite sushi bars in Kraków. Stay tuned! :)

Video how to make your own sushi (by a Japanese chef):

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/video/2011/nov/07/how-to-make-sushi-video

Sushi recipes: http://makemysushi.com/

How to eat sushi: http://en.ilovecoffee.jp/posts/view/89

CHARLOTTE IN WARSAW – IS IT REALLY HIPSTERS' DEN?

 

Reportedly, the most hipster place in Warsaw is Saviour Square ('Plac Zbawiciela' in Polish), and the most hipster place in Saviour Square is Charlotte. When I was in Warsaw, I decided to investigate it myself, especially because I really liked the Charlotte café and bakery in Kraków (you can read about it here).

Saviour Square seems to be one of the most charming corners in the Polish capital. The round square with solid buildings in Socialist realism style is dominated by a neo–baroque Church of the Most Holy Saviour and a half–burnt rainbow awaiting reconstruction. Charlotte is housed in one of the buildings with a colonnade, under which you can find a pleasant beer garden with a view of the whole Square. The café’s interior is rather stark and industrial but it's enlivened with a huge common table decorated with fresh flowers.

My friend, Jasmine, and I sat at one of the few free tables under the colonnade and we were immediately approached by a cute waiter. With his side swept blonde fringe and impeccably white shirt he didn't look like a hipster at all. We discreetly glanced around but unfortunately we couldn't notice anyone bashing out at their typewriter, wearing their granddad’s clothes or even wearing glasses without lenses. We were a bit disappointed. ;)

Nothing in the menu seemed particularly hipster, either. We had a problem to choose just one dish from all the French delicacies but finally Jasmine ordered quiche with ham and asparagus (PLN 9), while I settled on a French toast called pain perdu (literally 'lost bread' in French), which was golden, crunchy and lavishly covered with honey (PLN 12). Yum. :)

Sipping aromatic coffee, we almost gave up hope of meeting a real hipster but at last I saw him! He was wearing a hat (granddad’s?), thick–framed, black glasses, checked shirt, rolled up corduroy trousers and the final proof – elegant, leather shoes without socks. So Charlotte does sometimes become hipsters' den. Mystery solved. ;)

Address: Plac Zbawiciela (Savior Square), Warsaw

Website: www.bistrocharlotte.com , www.facebook.com/bistrocharlotte

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BREAKFAST IN KOLANKO NO. 6

I've already written about Kolanko No 6 here, at the beginning of my blog. It remains one of my favourite places in Kazimierz district and I visit it quite frequently. Recently, with my friend Gosia  I've gone there for breakfast and I was really pleasantly surprised by it.

First, I was astonished by the price - mere PLN 18 for all-you-can-eat buffet with drinks (coffee, tea and water) included. Then I was amazed by the variety of food: from fried sausages and bacon, to platters of cheese and cold cuts, to French tarts, to fresh vegetable salads, to muesli with yoghurt and cream and fruit cakes... And finally I was surprised by the quality of food - everything was nice and fresh (the chef constantly brought more and more dishes), because apparently all the food, including crunchy bread rolls and home made pâté, is prepared on the spot.

Everything disappeared from the tables so quickly that in the photos you can see only miserable (though still yummy) leftovers. I especially liked French tarts, cream and raspberry cake, and guacamole with sun-dried tomatoes. We finished off with home made lemonade with raspberries and orangeade with pieces of fresh oranges (PLN 7 each). It was a perfect ending to a long and lazy breakfast. :) 

Address: ul. Józefa 17, Kraków (Kazimierz district)

Website: www.kolanko.net

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