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January 12, 2006
Polish Cooking At Mazurland
A number of years ago, I placed an article about Wigilia, or Polish Christmas Eve, that had appeared in my local newspaper (The Centre Daily Times) onto my personal web site. Since then, the page has gotten thousands of visits, and I receive email every year asking for more recipes and advice on Polish cooking. I'm certainly not an expert on Polish traditions or cooking, being of the third generation (fourth on my father's side). I usually have to refer the email correspondent to a good cookbook. However, my maternal grandmother Mary Odziemiec knew a good deal about Polish cooking (among many other things). I have a small collection of her recipes (courtesy of Ma Mazur), some of which appeared in the (now defunct) Buffalo Courier-Express in the mid-1970s. Some of the old articles are only partly preserved. I've put together a Mazurland Polish Cooking page that links to the Centre Daily Times story on Wigilia, to the Courier-Express "Grandma O" recipes, and to a couple of very good Polish cookbooks. If I can find the missing parts of the "Grandma O" articles (or more articles), I'll post them. Feel free to send me some recipes to add to the page!
January 12, 2006 by Marty | Permalink
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Comments
Marty, since Grandma and Grandpa Odziemiec were born in Poland, wouldn't we be second generation? (Third on Dad's side).
BTW, you can search Odziemiec on the Ellis Island website. You can see both Grandma (Koleck) Odziemiec's and Grandpa Odziemiec's name and a photo of the ship on which they came to America.
Posted by: Amy | Jan 12, 2006 9:36:54 PM
Marty,
Thanks for putting those up for posterity.
I haven't had czarnina in ages, probably since I lived on Proctor. My local stores don't seem to stock duck's blood.
I wonder how it would be after all these years... That, and a tongue roast and some good rye bread slathered with bacon fat & onions. Puts hair on your chest AND your back!
Posted by: Chris | Jan 13, 2006 9:02:54 AM
I'm heading to Buffalo next weekend and will try to forage for more recipes, maybe find the missing pieces of the ones I have.
Amy, that's a good point. I think the way it is used is generally that the first generation refers to those who immigrate and the second to those who are born here. This site confirms that usage, but also says it is used both ways and is ambiguous, so you should qualify it. I googled the usage and found a lot of confusion, with probably a slight edge to my usage. In any case, sticking with my usage, I think we're really fourth generation on *both* sides because on the Odziemiec side, the real immigrants were the Odziemiec and Kolek *parents*. Our grandparents were toddlers and were not the ones braving the iceberg strewn Atlantic to make a stake in the new world. They were running around below decks acting like snot-nosed Americans already.
Posted by: Marty | Jan 13, 2006 9:19:56 AM
Chris: I didn't like czarnina when I was a kid. With our adult tastes, I'm sure it would be fine. It's just your basic sweet and sour soup with pork or duck. Except for the duck's blood, it's pretty much the same as what you'd get at Peking Garden. Kluski instead of wontons. No soy.
Posted by: Marty | Jan 13, 2006 4:12:48 PM
I loved czarnina. I must say that it is far more than just a basic sweet and sour soup. The real recipe coup will be if we can ever recover from that recipe vaults Grandpa Mazur's recipe for Zilch. I think I tried it once.
Posted by: Paul | Jan 13, 2006 8:45:09 PM
I bet north Moravian cooking must be similar to Mazur ones, thats where are my ancestors are coming from, even more there is Polish branch in my family, so lets check genealogy and find out if we are related! :)
Posted by: Boris | Jan 15, 2006 4:44:33 AM
Boris: We Mazurland Brothers (and Sisters) are 100% Polish going back 2-3 generations. Beyond that, it could go for many generations more. Our grandparents names are Mazur, Piglowski, Odziemiec and Kolek. I don't know if we have any Novaks in our lineage, though that is a very common Polish name, as well as in other Slavic countries. I think there are Novaks that married into branches of the family. I'll try to find out more about this...
Posted by: Marty | Jan 15, 2006 8:50:32 PM
Hello and thank you for posting the Placek recipie online. I live and work as a chef in Buffalo, and this is a real treasure. Thank you for your generosity, and neat blog!
Posted by: Geoffrey Gatza | Apr 25, 2006 12:17:44 PM
I have a question could you please send me a recipe on how to perserve green tomatoes
Posted by: mary | Nov 4, 2007 11:22:31 AM
I tried emailing you on this, but it bounced back (maybe your email address is incorrect in your link). Answer: I don't know. There's not much call for green tomatoes in Polish cooking. But if you Google "preserving green tomatoes", you'll find all you need to know.
Posted by: Marty | Nov 5, 2007 2:13:50 PM
