Genealogy / Last name Sapeta [44]

There are at several possible sources of the Sapieta surname including: 1) indigenous - from the Polish verb sapać (to gasp, be out of breath), in which case sapieta, sapacz, sapała, sapak, sapaka, sapuś, sapol and probably a few more would be colloquial for gasper (someone who breathes heavily, wheezes, gasps for air, etc.); 2) Indigenous toponymic nickname from such Polish localities as Sapy, Sapice or Sapałówka (Gasperville, Wheezeton); and 3) The Iberian (Portuguese) connection already mentioned in this forum. Occasionally Polish names coincide with those of different nationalities but mean something totally different, eg Posada (in Polish -- a prestigious, good-paying position, in Spanish -- an inn).

It cannot be ruled out that different Sapietas got their name from different sources. There are additional sources of this surname as well.

Food / pasztet recipe? [12]

Pasztet can be made with most any meat, including rabbit. Polish cuisine was a make-do type of cookery due to historic reasons (invasions, deportations, famine) and also bore the imprint of the individualistic Poles' love of improvisation. Hence dishes vary not only from region to region and village to village but from home to home, even within a single family. Polish recipes are more like orientational guidelines rather than hard and fast formulae.

A favourite pâté included game such as hare, boar or venison. However, since game is very strong-tasting, usually fatty pork or veal was add to round out and mellow the flavour. The turkey pasztet is not very typical but it may be easier nowadays to prepare than one containing hare, boar or deer meat.

Food / pasztet recipe? [12]

Poles are traditionally not as fond of beef as are Anglo-Saxons. I suppose you could add a little to a pâté, maybe even up to 1/2, as long as fatty pork made up the balance. An all-beef one woudl be heavy tasting and lack the smooth lightness and appetisingcolour of the traditional Polish pasztet which should have a nearly spreadable consistency.

Comparing it with meatloaf (as soem people do on teh absis of sight alone) is unjustifed because meatloaf is made with coarsely minced raw meat, whilst pasztet is made from thrice-minced precooked meat.

Food / pasztet recipe? [12]

TURKEY PTÉ (pasztet z indyka): Into bowl crumble 3 stale kaiser rolls (or equivalent amount of other white buns or bread) add 2 c milk and set aside to soak. Grind the meat from 2 cooked turkey drumsticks and thighs and an equal amount of cooked white meat together with the soaked rolls and 2 raw turkey livers at least twice. Three times is even better, because a good pasztet should have a smooth, creamy texture. When ground mixture stops coming out, add a stale slice of white bread to grinder to force out any remaining filling. Beat 2 eggs until creamy and work into meat mixture by hand. Continue kneading, squish mixture between fingers until it is uniformly blended. Mixture should be on the soft and mushy side. If it is on the stiff side, work in a little skim milk until absorbed. If it is too soggy, work in some bread crumbs. Season to taste with salt, pepper, 1/4 t grated nutmeg and a pinch of marjoram. Transfer mixture to vegetable-sprayed non-stick rectangular pan in which pâté should be no higher than 2 inches. Smooth top of mixture, cover with strips of uncooked bacon and bake in preheated 350° oven about 60 min. When cooled to room temp, cover with aluminium foil and refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice 1/4-inch thick and serve cold with horseradish sauce or tartar sauce.

NOTE: Feel free to substitute cooked pork and/or veal for some or all of the cooked turkey. Chicken livers may be used if turkey ones are unavailable. A jigger of cognac may be added to mixture before baking. This is a favourite starter at elegant Polish dinner-parties.

Food / Cooking Polish kiszka [99]

Something like English black pudding, German Blutwurst or French boudin (a distant relative of Scots haggis), but in Poland preferably made with buckwheat groats. It's called kaszanka in Poland and kiszka in America..

Food / POLISH RECIPES! [287]

Have you seen the word tochinel in print or was it conveyed merely by word of mouth? Since it does not ring a bell (unless it was meant to mean tłuczone /mashed/ as someone suggested), check if this was not a Jewish dish. Some poeple say 'my great-grandmother used to make this dish in Poland', but that does not necessarily mean she was an ethnic Pole.

USA, Canada / Where can i find Spirytus Rektyfikowany in the USA? [77]

In the USA its availability varies from state to state. Eg, in Illinois it is sold at your average off-licence, but in Michigan across the lake it is illegal.

Language / I want to learn Polish. Where to start? [180]

If you can afford the time (6-8 horus a day) and expense, there is nothing like the Berlitz total-immersion method. You'll be rattling Polish off in 2 months' time.

Life / Hepatitis C in Poland...please help. [59]

Have you checked with the Szpital Chorób Zakaźnych near the Wola PDT (dept store)?

Food / Kopytka, pyzy, kluski [60]

Merged:Silesian dumplings

When you've had your fill of burgers, pizza, quiche, curry and kebabs, try these:
WHITE (SILESIAN) DUMPLINGS (białe kluski [śląskie]): Peel 10 medium potatoes and cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain well, run through ricer and set aside to cool slightly. When still very warm stir in 3 handfuls of potato starch, 1 scant handful of enriched white (regular) flour and 1 t salt, Work ingredients into a uniform dough. Form walnut-size balls, flatten slightly and make indentation on one side with thumb. (That's for the pork nuggets, drippings or gravy to fit!) If dough does not stick together well (which may happen if the potatoes have cooled too much), then work an egg white into dough before forming dumplings. Cook in large pot of boiling salted water without crowding. After they float up, reduce heat and cook another 3 min. Remove to colander with draining spoon and drain well. Serve with fried gold-brown pork fatback or bacon nuggets, pan drippings or gravy. Those not raised on these somewhat rubbery dumplings may find they take some getting used to.

SILESIAN DUMPLINGS ANOTHER WAY (kluski śląski inaczej):Cook 2-1/4 lbs potatoes in jackets, peel under cold running water and run through ricer. When they have cooled as bit, stir in 2 raw egg yolks, 1/2 c potato starch, 1 T white flour and 1 t salt. Proceed as in preceding recipe.

BLACK (SILESIAN) DUMPLINGS (czarne kluski [śląskie]): Peel 3.3 lbs potatoes and cook one half in boiling salted water until tender. Meanwhile, grate the remaining raw potatoes into linen sack, twisting to extract moisture and collecting drippings. When drippings settle, pour off dirty water and add the white sediment (starch) to the grated potatoes. Drain cooked potatoes well, run through ricer and combine with grated potatoes. Add 1 t salt and work mixture well into a uniform dough. Form walnut-size balls, flatten slightly and make indentation on one side with thumb. Cook and serve like white dumplings. At Sunday dinner in Silesia it is not uncommon to serve separate platters of both white and black dumpling to accompany the steak roll-ups (roladki), roast goose, pork or whatever.

Food / Borscht - Zurek / Bialy barszcz recipe [153]

For recipes on how to make both white barzscze (aka żurek) and red barszcz, including the tart beet, oat or rye sour needed to produce the real thing, check out 'Polish Heritage Cookery', all in English, published by Hippocrene of NYC.

Genealogy / Polish Surnames Anglicized? [48]

The barred £ was apparently mmisread by some non-Polish INS official as a K. Early on, I saw the Polish pope's name in some Anglo-publication given as Karol Wojtyka. Same confusion no doubt.

Genealogy / Last name Sapeta [44]

There are nearly 800 Sapetas in Poland, and the largest single cluster is found in in the mountainous areas of southern Poland's Bielsko-Biała region, "Polish hillbilly country". Its origin may strike some as humorous.

Genealogy / Information on family name, Krzycki [23]

There are 270 people named Krzycki in Poland.
BTW you can tell your friend that Polish surnames ending in -ski and -cki have a noble ring to them and are the equiavelent of German names starting with von and French ones with de. In an English context, assuming your friend's Christian name is Thomas, Tomasz Krzycki would be roughly translatable as Thomas of Ryeshire.