Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: A bit of everything, but some things missingComment: This is a great cookbook for people who hate cooking but love history or for those that love cooking and know it by heart. For the cooking, very good for those that acutally do eat lots of fat. If you are trying to cut down on fats in your diet, this book is not for you. At times reciepes them selves were confusing, and not much variation of things that you can add with a dish (one example pierogi). A great deal of dishes from the Easter and Christmass sections that are missing, and that are also traditions.
Customer Rating: Summary: Authentic Polish Cooking!..........Comment: This cookbook is a true tribute to Polish cooking, presenting the culinary history of Poland, Polish cooking-related legends and a variety of tasty recipes. There are literally dozens of recipes celebrating the diversity of cabbage, kasha and mushrooms in Polish cooking. The cookbook also has recipes organized around the holidays, with chapters entitled "Christmas" and "Easter". Each is filled with delectable dishes ranging from appetizers to main courses to desserts. Hubby and I had a party making pierogi..........every variety presented in this cookbook: potato, sauerkraut, cheese, meat, kasha, and even fruit! Also delicious was the Cabbage with Mushrooms and Nut Croquettes. Great for dessert is the Old Polish Royal Mazurek. In short, this cookbook is really helping me get in touch with my Polish roots!
I do have a few criticisms though. For one, I have found errors in some recipes. Secondly, ingredients required for a given dish are not clearly laid out before each recipe, making it inconvenient because one must read through the whole recipe when making a shopping list. Also, sometimes instructions are vague. I've made one recipe that instructed cooks to "bake in a hot oven until done". Thus, beginners might have a tough time with this cookbook.
Overall, I recommend this cookbook to seasoned cooks who are eager to learn about Polish cooking. Newcomers to the kitchen should probably use a different cookbook.
Customer Rating: Summary: A truly unique look at fabulous Polish foodComment: Not many people realize how *fine* is Polish cooking - and how sophisticated are traditional Polish dishes. This book dispels many myths - for example, it is NOT the kielbasa, cabbage rolls and pierogi what is the best and most celebrated food in Poland. This is more than a cookbook - it is a wonderful history book filled with an amazing mix of culinary facts written in very entertaining style. Authors Maria Lemnis and Henry Vitry are very well known Polish food columnists (as celebrated as Julia Child is in the US). They are brilliant writers who understand Polish food better than any other cook book writer.
It is a pure delight. Definitely the best book on Polish food in English language. Written for people who can appreciate a good story, fine writing and good food. It has not as many recipes as other cookbooks mentioned here, perhaps 50 recipes or so. But it is the quality of recipes that counts.
This book should be staple in every household aspiring to cook a Polish dish now and then - it is carefully edited and illustrated and makes also a PERFECT gift!
Customer Rating: Summary: HAVE SOME HISTORY WITH YOUR COOKINGComment: I rather liked this book for two reasons. 1) The way it is organized and 2) the fact that it is not a rehash of how to cook kielbasy and pirogi. (In fact there is only one kielbasy recipe lsited.) - The author(s) describe a period in Polish history, all of which is very informative, and then give you recipes for the foods that were prominent at that time. As a result, you don't get the standard list of Polish recipes, but rather a unique package of traditional food, going way back. A very nice arrangement and very nice recipes. Easy to read (very interesting) and printed very nicely, and it makes you hungry just reading it. Also note: since it goes back in history, it does ALSO contain those special Lithuanian dishes.
