a question about włoszczyzna

is kapusta włoska the savoy cabbage? if not, what is it then?
is there some other cabbage one could substitute for this? any old cabbage?

thanks

Yes, savoy cabbage according to my better half.

włoszczyzna - a bundle of Pietruszka (parsnip root and sometimes the leafy stuff), marchewka, celery root, leek (the whole thing) all pre washed ready to go into the chicken soup. Probably not available as a "bundle" in the winter.

not bundled like that here in the states any time of the year as not many cook soups or from scratch for that matter. we don't have celery root here either so i'll just have to use the celery stocks. i am not all too sure where i could find savoy cabbage around here but sure would like to have it.. Parsnip I have seen here and there as of late.. we'll see if they have it when i go shopping this time.

the equivalent of wloszczyzna here is just some carrots, celery and regular onions. americans aren't really soup eaters.

thanks Shawn_H and the other half. :)

I haven't seen it bundled here in Canada either. The better half was going from her PL experiences.

Soups from scratch are wonderful. We (she and or I) make them all the time! Much healthier than from a can. The lovely Mrs. Shawn_H makes a parsnip dish at special dinners (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, when I whine enough....). Boiled, mashed, loads of 35% cream, lemon zest and sometimes crushed walnuts on top.

out of the parsnips? really.. sounds interesting.. is that a polish meal? i have never seen parsnip used in any other way except in soups where it gets discarded prior to serving.. hmm


thanks again.. that is what i was after.. i am trying to make a real polish rosół (clear). we'll see how it goes as i'll be out of doors.

parsnip = pasternak

pietruszka is parsley's root

but nowadays it's parsnip that is available in shops, not many people realise that
parsley root is not as sweet as parsley's root, not many will notice the difference, even in Poland.
Do not substitute onions for leeks if you don't have to.

Savoy cabbage - don't use dark, outer laeves, can be substituted by any other white cabbage except for chinese cabbage, 1/4 it's enough for a huge pot :)

Hope this helps :)

cool, thanks olasz. if i can't find the savoy, i'll just use some of the regular cabbage. and i can get leeks around here.. so we're good.

Funny, the better half made a pot before I sent her off to work!


She did though. Our supply of leeks ran out :-(

now i can see why you say she's the better half.. nice catch. ;) :D

i'll post up a pic or two after the weekend.

Some people use onions to make rosół, my grandma used to, but first she used to cut it in a half and blacken it over a flame. That supposed to "give a colour" to rosół.

My British head chef told me in UK it's onion prefered over leeks, he said leeks give broth ugly green colour, unles one use only white parts, closer to the roots :)

Yeah, she was one of the last models before they started going Psycho the second they leave poland.

yeah, i do that sometimes when i don't want onion pieces in there.. the flame caramelizes the onion very nicely..


great tip.. thanks

I remember asking my gran a few years back why they call it włoszczyzna (Włoszech= Italy, thus my confusion)...


they're actually getting quite readily available here (California), though I think it's still safe to say the greatest congregations of EU people are still on the east coast


We still do it that way, minus the 'cut in half' part. Just peel the outer layer and cut the roots off, scorch it to a nice black on the outside and toss it in. Sometimes I tie string around it to keep it from falling apart once cooked, but that's optional. It DOES give rosół extra flavor ^_^ yummy.

^^^ i'm going to do a flamed onion and some leeks. best of both worlds. :D


what did she say? it is supposedly related to italy as it came from there. which part i dunno.. maybe the savoy cabbage.. or maybe celery.. it likes warmer climate.. the big leaf parsley is of the italian variety.. etc..

add some garlic... it's a good idea if you want to or you do sleep alone...
;)

i know włoszczyzna as:

yes, garlic, i have that.. i also have a wooden spike.. so watch out girl. ;)


seems there may be variants: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82oszczyzna

that's a rutabaga or turnip in the pic on the far right. hmm

from what i remember it wasn't quite the origin story I had hoped for, just defined it as a pre-bunched soup veggie thing.


according to gran there are, though the staple few always remain the same ^_^

all the vegs in włoszczyzna were introduced to Poland by a chefs that came to Poland with queen Bona. Bona -in 1518 became the second wife of Sigismund I of Poland. "was a patron of Renaissance culture, which thanks to her, began to further flourish in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. She is also considered to have influenced the Polish and Lithuanian cuisines, having introduced many new dishes to the Commonwealth."

Celeriac (seler) is available at Polish Market in Troy, MI (a Detroit) suburb, and I'm sure in other Polish supermarkets, delis and groceries elsewhere in the USA -- surely in Chicagoland and NYC area.