Food / Smalec - how to make it? [53]


No that is the nutritional label made for the smalec I make at home. At nutritiondata.com you can type in your ingredients and get a nutritional label. My recipies are based on what my grandmother made and are from the Kresy parts of pre WW2 Poland. We use 1 part fatty bacon, 1 part onions and 1 part fruit (usually apples but I have used peaches, pears, persimmons, etc). It make a very yummy snack on a some bread or a great addition to scrambled eggs. I have recipes here:

Food / Home made fruit vodka from Poland [10]

Nalewki is a very old Polish tradition. It used to be that every household made their own and they would compete on who's was better. I make several batches every year here in SoCal - some traditional and some with the kinds of fruit you don't get in Poland. Here is a good description and history of the tradition and here is a list of my recipes.

Food / Smalec - how to make it? [53]

I make smalec all the time. When in Poland this year I noticed that in fancier restaurants you get a little bowel of it with bread, kinda' like tepanade or butter. Well made smalec is very tasty and with my recipe it's better for you than butter or margarine. I did the nutritional charts to prove it. I use a lot of onions and apples - on a piece of home made rye - to die for.

Food / Schmaltz.. is it still used in Poland [21]

Szmalec is now very popular and many restaurants, upscale ones, serve it, while you are looking at the menu, with some crusty bread. Like a tapenade or butter. It's become much more sophisticated now and it's no longer just rendered pork back with some bacon bits. There is a very contemporary recipe at ilikethis.com and it's not that unhealthy at least compared to butter.

Food / Poland Spirytus recipes [39]

I make lots of Nalewkas here in SoCAl. I mostly use Baczewski vodka from Trader Joe's because of the quality/price factor. I like my Nalewkas on the sipping side but you just have to swap and than adjust for desired alcohol content. I have found that for producing full flavored Nalewkas vodka is better - if need be I can adjust the alcohol level later with Spirytus or Everclear (same thing). I posted a bunch of recipes at ilikethis.com.