From a Polish Country House Kitchen

We admit: We are unlikely cookbook writers. I’m a columnist and a historian, born in Washington, but now living in London; my friend Danielle is also a journalist, based in Washington. We’ve also picked an unlikely topic.

While writing From a Polish Country House Kitchen, we were often teased: “How many recipes can you get out of boiled potatoes?” Unfortunately for many of us, including even the millions of North Americans with Polish ancestry, the very term “Polish cooking” conjures up a vision of heavy, greasy dishes, the food of exile and poverty.

But as I’ve known for a long time – ever since my husband and I restored an old house in the Polish countryside, twenty years ago – Polish cuisine is long overdue for a reputational revival. Traditional cooking has always been based on fresh vegetables and meat which is organic because it has been raised in someone’s garden – and it has always included aromatic soups, flavorsome game, and crisp chopped salads.

In recent years, creative chefs have also begun to experiment with new versions of traditional dishes, from herring tartare to pierogi as exotic as the dim sum of Hong Kong. Our cookbook is meant to impart the flavors of the traditional cooking and the taste of the more exotic innovations – with, of course, an American twist that we bring ourselves. We hope you come to enjoy these dishes as much as we do.

Anne Applebaum