The Polish Kitchen or Oldest Cuisine in the World

The Polish Kitchen

Author: Mary Pininska

Polish food is domestic, comfort food ideal for occasions when nothing other than hearty soup or rich-flavored stew will do and when generous hospitality is the order of the day.

The harsh Polish winters mean that many key ingredients are those that are preserved or stored--dried mushrooms, pickled herrings, sauerkraut, hot paprika paste, fruits in syrup, cucumbers in brine and root vegetables--so it is the perfect cooking to create from store cupboard essentials.

Drawing on the culinary archives and expertise of her family and friends, Mary Pininska's The Polish Kitchen is a treasury of Polish cooking ancient and modern. It is enlivened with personal annecdotes and spiced with a wealth of customs and folk traditions.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements     viii
Introduction to Polish Food     1
Soups     8
Hors d'Oeuvres     27
Fish and Shellfish     41
Poultry     52
Meat and Offal     60
Game     78
Vegetable and Side Dishes     88
Salads     108
Sauces     113
Pancakes and Puddings     125
Cakes and Pastries     139
James and Preserves     155
Easter     158
Christmas     178
Drinks     198
Polish Delicatessens     206
Polish Restaurants     207
Index     208

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Oldest Cuisine in the World: Cooking in Mesopotamia

Author: Jean Bottero

In this intriguing blend of the commonplace and the ancient, Jean Bottéro presents the first extensive look at the delectable secrets of Mesopotamia. Bottéro's broad perspective takes us inside the religious rites, everyday rituals, attitudes and taboos, and even the detailed preparation techniques involving food and drink in Mesopotamian high culture during the second and third millenniums BCE, as the Mesopotamians recorded them.
Offering everything from translated recipes for pigeon and gazelle stews, the contents of medicinal teas and broths, and the origins of ingredients native to the region, this book reveals the cuisine of one of history's most fascinating societies. As Bottéro concludes, although the ingredients may have differed, food was prepared in a manner astoundingly similar to how we do it today. Such links to the modern world, along with incredible recreations of a rich, ancient culture through its cuisine, make Bottéro's guide an entertaining and mesmerizing read.