Category Archives: Polish Cuisine

The Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg Breakfast Memory

May 22, 2015 by Food Polka

When I was a little kid, growing up in communist Poland we didn’t have Cheerios for breakfast. Corn flakes were hardly ever available. We usually ate open-face sandwiches of some kind. Sometimes we had oatmeal or semolina with hot milk, which I hated. Eggs were on the menu as well. Usually scrambled or soft-boiled. The soft-boiled egg is the most sentimental memory of my childhood breakfast. Perhaps because its eating involved using a special, little egg holder cup. In that […]

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: Breakfast, Butter, Communism, Culinary Writing, Eggs, Food Photography, Food Styling, Marta Fowlie, Marta Smolczewska, Polish Cuisine, Published by Marta Fowlie, Vegetarian, Vegeterian • Tags: art director, creative director, creative food stylist los angeles, easy breakfast, food photographer, food photographer los angeles, food styling los angeles, food stylist, food stylist los angeles, healthy breakfast, kuchnia polska w USA, memorial day, memory of communism in poland, personal chef LA, polish immigrants, Polish immigrants in US, privet chef in LA, published by Marta Fowlie, quick breakfast, soft boiled egg

Polish cabbage rolls bring love and sexual potency to your life

December 13, 2014 by Food Polka

So you are an immigrant. Perhaps Polish, like myself. You landed in a foreign country. You fell in love with the place, culture, and people. You decided to stay and settle down. You got a job. You made yourself a cozy home. But something is still missing. You can’t put your finger on it. Perhaps it’s that special someone missing in your life? That person you have always dreamed about, but you haven’t had time for? The person you can […]

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: Balsamic Vinegar, Black Pepper, Cabbage, Cabbage Rolls, Dill, Dinner, Garlic, Green Onions, Ground Beef, Ground lamb, Holidays, Lunch, Marjoram, Pearl Barley, Polish Cuisine, Salt, Sauce • Tags: art director, art prints, Carnival, christmas dinner, christmas dish, creative director, creative food stylist los angeles, date dinner, food art for sale, food photographer, food photographer los angeles, food polka, food styling los angeles, food stylist, food stylist los angeles, gołąbki, jemwiecjestem.com, Karnawał, marta fowlie, marta smolczewska, match.com, new years date dinner, Polish Carnival, Polish chef, polish cuisine is us, polish date dinner, published by Marta Fowlie, sophisticated polish food

Carnitas a’la Food Polka a.k.a slow roasted pork with lots of marjoram

June 5, 2014 by Food Polka

Being Polish means being in love with pork. It feels like a serious offense or a sin in Poland to refuse to eat pork. Seriously, I have never met a person in Poland, other than my vegetarian friends, who wouldn’t eat that meat. So, after I moved to California I had to find some pork! Although it isn’t America’s meat of choice, it wasn’t hard to find because of the “omnipresent” Mexican cuisine. I was quickly introduced to Carnitas and […]

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: Black Pepper, Carnitas, Dinner, Garlic, Herbs, Lunch, Marjoram, Mexican, Polish Cuisine, Pork, Pork Butt Shoulder, Salt, Spices, Vegetables, Wheat Flour • Tags: art director, caraway, Carnitas, Coriander, creative director, creative food stylist los angeles, cumin, dinner meal, dinner meat, fall apart pork, food photographer, food photographer los angeles, food styling los angeles, food stylist, food stylist los angeles, garlicky meat, marjoram, meat, meat for burritos, meat Mexican, Mexican, Mexican cuisine, Mexican food, Mexican meat stuffing, polish cooking, Polish cuisine, Pork, pork butt shoulder, pork Mexican, published by Marta Fowlie, roasted pork, slow roasted pork, taco meat, taco stuffing, tacos

I know. It’s cheesy but I miss Polish farmer’s cheese

May 18, 2014 by Food Polka

Do you want to know the food products from Poland I miss the most? Polish-style farmer’s cheese. During my childhood, this was my favorite food and it was relatively easy to get, unlike most other food products. During the 80s most food items were rationed per person. However, this cheese was never rationed.I would walk into the often bare market and get the whiff of that unique sour smell the cheese produced, especially strong when there was no A/C. I […]

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: Breads, Breakfast, Cheese, Chives, Communism, Cottage Cheese, Farmer's Cheese, Garlic, Green Onions, Lunch, Polish Cuisine, Radish, Spices, Vegetarian • Tags: acidic cheese, art director, biały ser, cottage cheese, creative director, creative food stylist los angeles, farmer's cheese, food photographer, food photographer los angeles, food styling los angeles, food stylist, food stylist los angeles, marta smolczewska, polish, published by Marta Fowlie, sauer milk, ser biały, spółdzielnia mleczarska w sierpcu, twarożek, white cheese

Polish White Borscht that was Sold Only at Speakeasy

March 2, 2014 by Food Polka

White Borscht (Biały Barszcz) or “sour soup” as I call it, is one of my favorite Polish soups. I even make it for my friends in California and some of them have really taken to it. My version is slightly more complex than the ones I remember from Poland. It should be with all the wide variety of ingredients available to me now. The soup is a Carb-bomb, made with a mix of bread and flour that is called the […]

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: Black Pepper, Breads, Chives, Communism, Cuisine, Dinner, Garlic, Green Onions, Herbs, Lemon, Lunch, Marjoram, Meals, Mushroom, Polish Cuisine, Rye Flour, Salt, Smoked Bacon, Soup, Spices, Vegetables, Wheat Flour, Wheat Flour, Whole-Wheat Bread • Tags: acidic soup, art director, barszcz, barszcz biały, country cooking, creative director, creative food stylist los angeles, food photographer, food photographer los angeles, food styling los angeles, food stylist, food stylist los angeles, kuchnia polska w USA, marta smolczewska, polish, Polish chef, polish cooking, Polish cuisine, polish speakeasy, published by Marta Fowlie, soup, sour soup, sourdough bread soup, sourdough soup, speakeasy, zalewajka, żur, żurek

Polish cabbage rolls, food polka, polish recipe, recipe developer los angeles, polish chef los angeles

The nostalgic mystery of the Polish cabbage rolls.

January 5, 2014 by Food Polka

I’ve been living in California for 13 years now, and I can honestly say I never really encountered homesickness. When you move to a new country you’re so excited at first. You take every opportunity to experience a new culture, environment, and people. For some, that initial excitement might die down and they might start to miss their homeland. This usually results in two things happening: they eventually wait out that feeling and come to accept the new country as […]

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: Cabbage, Cabbage Rolls, Chives, Cooking Classes, Dill, Dinner, Eggs, Green Onions, Ground Beef, Herbs, Lunch, Marjoram, Polish Cuisine, Resourceful Cooking, Rice, Sauce, Spices, Tomatoes, Vegetables • Tags: art director, cabbage rolls, creative director, creative food stylist los angeles, food photographer, food photographer los angeles, food styling los angeles, food stylist, food stylist los angeles, golumpki, gołąbki, greenpoint, lata 70, marta smolczewska, polish, polish 70's, Polish chef, polish cooking, polish immigrants, published by Marta Fowlie

Navel Oranges + 81 Fahrenheit = Pancakes and Christmas in SoCal

December 27, 2013 by Food Polka

So, it’s a day after Christmas. While a lot of the world is suffering in the miserable cold, I am hanging out on my terrace drinking coffee, wearing a tank top and shorts. Sure I have Jack burrowing into my lap. Sometimes I really can’t believe where I live. Back in Warsaw, it’s 38 degrees. Here in Signal Hill it never gets that cold, it never snows. The worse we get is a little rain and a slight chill. And […]

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories: American Cuisine, Breakfast, Butter, California Cuisine, Christmas, Communism, Cottage Cheese, Dessert, Eggs, Farmer's Cheese, Flax, Food Styling, Fruits, Grains, Herbs, Holidays, Lunch, Mint, Oatmeal, Oranges, Pancakes, Pancakes, Polish Cuisine, Queso Fresco, Resourceful Cooking, Tarragon, Vegetarian, Yogurt • Tags: art director, breakfast, Christmas, creative director, creative food stylist los angeles, food photographer, food photographer los angeles, food styling los angeles, food stylist, food stylist los angeles, holiday, marta fowlie, marta smolczewska, navel, oranges, pancakes, Polish chef, polish christmas story, polish cooking, polish immigrants, published by Marta Fowlie, resourceful cooking, socal

How Lack of Confidence in my English Created a Blog Full of Food Stories

December 21, 2013 by Food Polka

What is Food Polka? The word “Polka”, as some of you may or may not know, is the Polish word for a Polish woman. I am Polish, I am a woman, and I love to cook, so I am the Food Polka. How did it all start? Well, in February of 2013 I started a culinary blog in Polish: JemWiecJestem.com. It got a really good response from friends and family. When I would tell my American friends about it, they […]