I have fallen in love with Lublin. This city feels like I imagine Poland did before the last World War, when the soul of the country was fractured. It always makes me sad to think how much culturally richer, healthier and more robust Poland would...
Christmas is my favourite holiday of the year, and it's not because I was born just a few days before the big day (and my daughter also) on Winter Solstice. Actually, as far as birthdays go, it's not ideal. It gets hurried through and swept...
The most well known Polish sauerkraut soup is Kapuśniak, but there is another Polish sauerkraut soup that arguably has an even more acquired taste - it's called Kwaśnica. The sour one. I personally prefer it - I like the omittance of pork and that feral...
"Placki" are where it all began as far as the slavic people are concerned. In Russia, they might say blini is where it all began, but that's just splitting hairs. Placki are everything that has that flat, round shape, and blini come under that category too. Archaeological evidence shows...
There is something about the humble apple that always reminds me of Poland. Even when there was nothing in the shops we still had apples, and therefore apple cake (Szarlotka) and apple "racuchy" were common during my childhood. Now that Putin has banned imports on Polish...
Every few months I pull out a Koan card. This card is something I keep in mind for the coming months and it's always the perfect advice for me. A few months ago, when I was finishing writing my book ("Polska" is now available for pre-order), the...
My vegetarianism lasted about 6 weeks. It wasn't the taste of meat that knocked me off the wagon, it was something much bigger and more exciting - my book-to-be. There is a very good chance that I may get it published soon. The point being...
Thailand was magical as ever. Days spent doing my favourite things: swimming outside; reading cookbooks in a hammock; eating fresh, healthy Thai food and bargain hunting in markets...
OK, so they're not really called "fat faworki", just "faworki", but mine turned out a little on the fat side and "fat faworki" has a certain ring to it, you have to admit. Crispy, soft and flaky all at once, they were rather delicious and...
My mum has three brothers and they all love to cook. Last week I was in Poland working on an important project. To celebrate my sending everything off on time, my godfather Wojtek (my mum's youngest brother) came round and taught me this way of...