The Food of the Royals your journey to magic tastes

We would like to dedicate this noble story to the most honourable knight of Polish traditional values: Sir Gabriel Janowski

Centuries ago, a majestic white eagle looked after the Polish lands covered with grain harvested by local farmers. Polish royal court turned its image into the national emblem and put a crown on its head.

Today, creating a new brand of Polish food of the highest quality, we have reached deep into this tradition and in it found inspiration for our logo. It features the crown, a metaphor for all the best of the Polish land, and an apple - the symbol of dynamic growth and the excellent flavour of the fruits from our orchards and forests.

Thanks to PQF - Polish Quality Food - all these fruit treasures can find their way to your tables. We will make every effort so that the Polish local products can cross the border and reach the plates of demanding cuisine enthusiasts. Production and distribution of healthy food is one of the most important tasks we set before us for the coming years.

We would like to introduce our rich tradition. That is why we invited our chef friends from the Food Think Tank to prepare recipes for dishes referring to the culinary heritage of Polish manors but still compatible with global modern culinary trends.

We want to bring you closer to original flavours coming from the cleanest corner of Europe, but also surprise you with ideas for new, simple and healthy meals, which we have been composed on the basis of natural ingredients from Poland.

We give it to you to surprise you with the richness of flavours!

Anita Siemińska

Chief Coordinator of the Polish Quality Food

Matthew Jarosiewicz

The President of the Chapterof the Noble Polish Tastes

Ladies and gentlemen

Polish Quality Food is a luxury brand of high quality food produced in Poland - a region of exceptional natural beauty, on the area of the Green Lungs of Europe. PQF combines a passion for healthy eating, sustainable production and a passion for new technologies. We operate as a consortium and a cluster of producers and processors in the food sector co-creating the “Food 2.0” platform. Our mission is to promote Polish products abroad, providing customers with the highest quality natural products and extraordinary taste sensations. The satisfaction of our customers, who want to make wise food choices, is of vital importance to us. Our goal is to systematically expand the offer with new foods according to the needs of our trading partners in Asia. What distinguishes us are processed fruit products produced in small local factories from the highest quality apples, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, currants and other regional fruits. Out off all the products, we have chosen a basket of those that capture the diversity of flavours and the character of Polish food. Our partners will soon be offered an online platform for contracting Polish products, which will allow for ordering the highest quality Polish food well in advance ensuring the security of the transaction between the parties.

Every formal Polish dinner starts with a soup. The picture on the side presents a pigeon broth with root vegetables prepared on a sourdough starter. On the next pages you will find recipes for more dishes of the Polish royal cuisine in their new modern versions.

The Food Think Tank Foundation is an extraordinary collective of Polish artisans co-operating with each other to change the face of Polish cuisine.To achieve it, they work on developing individual skills by reaching to their very roots and designing tools of the future. Together they started a new trend in gastronomy called the root cuisine. Most of all, they reach back to the traditional cooking techniques that have shaped the Polish cuisine. They combine fair treatment methods with fair Polish products that have always grown on Polish territories. On top of it they add modern scientific thought from the areas of chemistry and biology. Head chefs, ceramics, scientists, designers, musicians, photographers, film makers, baristas, farmers and engineers learn from each other as equals and inspire one another in searching for The Taste. All recipes that can be found in this book were created by the Food Think Tank specialists. We found out that we share many views - from the awareness about how much of a value the Polish culinary tradition is, to the opinion on how excellent and natural Polish food is. Polish Quality Food and Food Think Tank stand for the fair, responsible production, building awareness of the origin of the products among consumers, strengthening the Polish brand and reaching out with it to more distant cultures. Good taste knows no boundaries!

Marinade for the meat

125 g of sugar250 g of pine shoots (the first half of May)

Cover the meat with sugar and pine shoots and leave to marinate for 16 days.

Dried sauerkraut - the finishing

200 g of sauerkraut

Leave the cabbage in an electric dehydrator at 60 ° C for about 6 hours until the water evaporates and the cabbage gets crispy

Roasted mushroom - the finishing

100 g of mushroom7 ml of apple cider vinegara pinch of salt

Season the mushrooms with vinegar and salt by mixing the ingredients in a bowl, put it aside for an hour and then grill over the fire.

wild boar’s neck stewed in a cast iron pot in the ground

author: Tomasz Hartman

Cooking in the ground - the technique

a 10 l cast iron pot with a lidcherry wooda 50 cm wide and 50 cm deep hole in the ground

Start a fire in the hole and wait until the flame burns out and you get the ember, put the pot on the ember without a lid, and let it burn like that for about 15 minutes

Stewing the wild game

2 kg of marinated wild boar’s neck (diced into 3x3 cm chunks)100 g of carrot100 g of celery root100 g of leek (the white part)100 g of onionyoung green walnuts (crushed in a mortar)3 cloves of garlic3 bay leaves5 allspice grains5 juniper fruits3 l of water30 g of goose fat

Put the fat into the heated pot and when it dissolves, add the meat and do not stir until it burns on one side, then stir and after about 2 minutes, add the baked vegetables and fry it, pour water, add spices, cover with a lid and cook for 2 hours, making sure the ember does not burn out)

Finishing

Put the meat and roasted mushroom on a plate, pour over with the broth and sprinkle with the dried sauerkraut on the top.

root vegetables - leek, carrot, potatoshallotfresh greasy milk - churned into butter herbs - thyme, mint, rosemary, lovage sorrel - one leaf per portionclay mixed with lake sand Wash the vegetables under running water. Clean them with a brush, do not peel, cut into 5-centimetre long pieces. Boil the sand for an hour to kill the bacteria.

Mash the clay and mix it with the sand. Form “bowls” and mantle the vegetables in them. Leave it to dry for 4 hours. By that time, the clay will absorb most of the water from the vegetables. Roast the vegetables over an open fire (just like we do with potatoes) with the maximum temperature for about one hour. The clay will protect the vegetables against overcooking, it will also dry out and turn into “porcelain”.

Meanwhile, prepare the herbal butter - chop the spices and mix them with butter then put it in the refrigerator. Serve the baked vegetables right away with a slice of the herbal butter on the top, which will complement the loss of water in vegetables, giving them a full, herbal flavour. You may use a leaf of sorrel as a garnish to stimulate the taste buds and deepen the flavour.

Root vegetables baked in clay with home made butter

author: Tomasz Trąbski

1 kg of cherry tomatoes1 head of garlic1 horseradish root2l of water2 tablespoons of saltrapeseed oilspices - coriander, bay leaves, black pepper (whole grains), allspice, dill

Cut a “cross” on one end of every tomatoe. Put them into boiling water for 15 seconds, then temper. Peel the tomatoes prepared this way gently, try not to damage the flesh. Cut the garlic across, pour gently with oil, season with salt and black pepper and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180°C. Then cool it. In the meantime, boil the water with salt and cool down to 80-85°C. Peel the horseradish and cut into 3-5-centimetre long pieces. Put the tomatoes in a jar layered with the horseradish, roasted garlic and spices then pour with the brine. Close the jar tightly with a metal lid and put in a place with a room temperature. Pickle for at least 5 days.

After opening the jar, store in a refrigerator.

Pickled tomatoes

author: Michał Werda

Mealworm tacos

100 g of mealworm (after drying you will be left with 20 g of flour)30 g corn flour15-20 g of hot water (approx. 60°C) a pinch of salt

Throw the larvae into boiling water for 10 seconds, then temper them. Dry it in the oven for 2-3 hours at a temperature of 85-90°C. Then grind until it turns into flour. Add the corn flour, salt and gradually warm water to obtain a soft, smooth dough. Roll it flat while sprinkling with flour. Finally, grill the dough or fry it in oil heated to 150-160°C.

Bean cheese

1 kg of white beans (dry)200 g of soya beans (dry)a pinch of salt120 ml of white vinegarwater

Soak the soy and beans overnight. Grind together with water. You should add 1 liter of water for every 300 ml of soaked beans and soybeans. Separate soy milk from the pulp using a clean cloth. After adding salt, heat it to a temperature of 80°C. Add the vinegar to acidify the milk and start the precipitation process in order to obtain the whey. Filter once again until you get a firm cheese pulp.

250 ml of milk 100 g of sugar 250 g of 30% fat cream4 egg yolks 25 g of fresh yeast 3 g of xanthan 180 ml of dark beer with a strong yeast flavour

Heat the milk with cream. Separately, whip the eggs with sugar and yeast. Temper the egg mixture by slowly pouring the hot milk, constantly stirring.

Pour everything into the pot and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until it reaches 83°C. Boil the beer, reduce up to half, add xanthan to make it thicker and pour the milk-egg mixture, stir thoroughly and cool it down.

Put the cooled mixture to a pacojet or an ice cream machine.

author: Krzysztof Klimaszewski

Yeast ice cream

Wintered russet apples

10 russet apples wintered in the hay for 4 monthsAqueous solution:2 l of water500 g of brown sugar20 g of citric acid1 vanilla pod

Combine together all the solution components, boil and cool them down. Peel the apples, put them in the solution, leave for 3 hours, stir occasionally. Dry the apples, put them in the vacuum bags and remove the air. You can also put some additives in the bag such as peppermint, nettle, cinnamon. Freeze for the minimum of 12 hours at - 18-21°C, then defrost.

Black garlic caramel

1 cup of sugar200 ml of water6 table spoons of butter 1 cup of 30% cream approx. 20 cloves of black garlic3 g of edible charcoal (optional)

Melt the sugar in water and reduce it with garlic until the liquid turns brown.Bring to 170°C, pour in the cream and add the chilled butter. Stir until it all dissolves and then blend until it’s smooth. To get a deeper colour, you can optionally add some edible carbon and blend it once again.

Drying the meat 1kg of wild boar’s loin300 g of salt300 g of sugar a blend of spices: bay leaf and juniper Rub the meat with salt. Put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. After that, rinse it and dry it thoroughly, rub it with 300 g of sugar and again put it in the refrigerator. After 24 hours rinse it and dry once again. Rub the meat once again, this time, with the spices and leave it in the refrigerator for another 24 hours. After that, wrap it in a cloth and hang in a dry, well-ventilated and dark place. For the best results, we suggest you to wait for about seven weeks, you can also wait longer if you like your meat extra dry.

Roasting seasoned wild boar’s meatrich sour cream Cut the meat into portions and leave it overnight in the cream to get the intense flavour and smell out of the meat. Afterwards, put the meat directly on the ember and cook for two minutes.

Seasoned wild boar’s meat with a honeycomb

author: Adrian Klonowski

Finishing wafers 60 g of butter 100 g of sugar 35 g of egg white 60 g of finely ground wheat flour 40 ml of water Melt the butter with sugar in a saucepan, then cool it down. Meanwhile Whip the egg whites and sieve the flour. Add the egg whites, flour and water to the butter and gently stir all the ingredients to a smooth mixture. Pour it into a baking sheet, make the layer as thin as possible. Bake at 200°C for 5-8 minutes. Cut the honeycomb into 1x1 cm-long squares. Put them on the pieces of meat. Serve with wafer on a side.

500 ml of clean lake water 5 g of dried freshwater fish flakes 1 small duck mussel apple cider vinegar for seasoning salt for seasoning 120 g of sturgeon Reduce the lake water to 100 ml. While reducing, put a sieve with the sturgeon fillet seasoned with salt over the saucepan. Once reduced to 100 ml, brew the dried fish flakes in the water and add the mussels. Bring to the boiling point, pull out the mussels, strain the broth and season with apple cider vinegar and salt. Pour the broth into bowls and add the pieces of fish and mussels.

broth with sturgeon and duck mussels

author: Michał Czekajło

Preserves are a part of the Polish culinary heritage and an important part of our tradition. Our mothers and grandmothers embrace the summer months of abundance preserving the apple, raspberry, strawberry, plum, currant, chokeberry and other seasonal fruit harvests to let us use them for the whole winter with bread, crepés, cakes and beverages. “Summer locked in jars” means jams, fruit stews, confitures, juices, honeys and dried fruits full of vitamins and nutritional values. The recipes they are based on have not changed for ages.

All the companies, whose products we have chosen, combine the passion for our tradition, a great care for the chosen high quality materials and a modern design. In the production process, they are driven by honesty and care for the client’s health. Therefore, all the products we offer are natural and of an intense flavour and aroma.

We recommend our fruit preserves as an addition to all types of dishes. The more dry in taste make a perfect match for patés, blue cheese and roasted red meat. You could also try them with fried fish and poultry. The sweeter ones, on the other hand, can be used for desserts, for example, as an ice cream or pudding topping, for decorating cakes and other delicacies like waffles, pancakes and omelettes.

They taste deliciously as an addition to all types of breads and pastries, for example crispy baguettes, butter croissants or hot toasts. They also make a good addition to beverages, especially tea and soft drinks, but also alcoholic ones. They are perfect for breakfast as a tasty topping for natural yoghurt or milk. The chocolate ones are the best for sandwiches, but you can eat them straight from a jar as well!

Our gift sets, thanks to an excellent composition of delicious, traditional fruit preserves and honeys, may become a great idea for a present for your family and friends. Each set is unique. We are able to meet individual needs of individual clients as well as institutions. Our products will let you discover the magic of taste!

The Stelmachs family company produces natural fruit preserves of the highest quality for connoisseurs and seekers of good taste. All products are created according to their own, unique, tried and tested recipes which has been in the family for generations. The company hold s the title of the laureate of the Quality of the Year contest, the biggest proquality contest in Poland, which they have won two years in a row.

Rajman is a high-end brand of gourmet culinary delicacies made exclusively from Polish apples. They are handcrafted in small batches. The supreme quality of the fruits and long cooking on wood-fired stoves give Rajman its distinguished deep and intense flavour. Rajman inspires original culinary compositions and enhances traditional meals. Rajman uses organic apples as the sole ingredient. Nothing else.

In his production, Marian Schodnik focuses on the idea of healthy and ecological lifestyle, in line with the notion that “we are what we eat”. The preserved foods that are produced here take only the fruits with the Ecocert - European organic food certificate (green leaf logo). The fruit content of every jar with the “Fruit Home” logo is 100% natural and is characterized by purely fruity content of the highest quality.

Polish Quality Food’s Partners

Stefan Skwierawski specializes in the processing of fruits that grow in the largest woodlands in Poland - Tuchola Forest which was designated Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. In the offer, one can find jars filled with fruity treasures – chokeberry and blackcurrant. The company has received multiple gold medals and commendations at various healthy food fairs.

Lidia i Wojciech Kłosowscy manufacture hand-crafted preserves and chutneys which are 100% natural, made of high quality ingredients produced without additives or preservatives. They only use the finest resources from Polish orchards, gardens and vegetable growers. Thanks to them, many forgotten fruits and vegetables have been rediscovered to be offered in a variety of flavours already known in the world, but recreated with Polish flare and chic.

Ernest Michalski’s company specializes in vitamin products made from Polish fruit with high vitamin C content. The main goal of the company was to start a production of fruit preserves with the highest possible nutritional value but devoid of any preservatives or any other chemical additives. All juices, nectars and syrups are produced exclusively with freshly pressed fruits. The fruit and petal used come only from ecological plantations.

Szymon and Tadeusz Markiewicz run an ecological farm in Sępolno Wielkie. Their beekeeping tradition is 40 years old. This tradition, started by the Apiculture Master is now sustained by his son There are many different kinds of honey produced on their farm. Various ecological plants constitute the base for the honey production (e.g. buckwheat, phacelia, mustard and tare). The final product is not only food but also possesses medical properties.

BEE YARD in Sępolno

Wielkie

Recipes

Tomasz HartmanMichał CzekajłoTomasz TrąbskiMichał WerdaAdrian Klonowski Luiza Trisno Krzysztof KlimaszewskiKarol Karpiak

tableware

Karina Marusińska Aleksandra OsowskaKatarzyna MazurekPatrycja ŚliwińskaEwelina Birut Bartosz Pelc

Editing Agnieszka Szydziak

Translation Paulina Maciejewska

Photography Jędrzej Stelmaszek

Graphic design and typesetting Ewelina Turkot

food think tank

Lupus Sp. z o.o.Ul. Strońska 8/2h50-540 Wrocław

BIZCONTomasz JakubowskiUl. Kosmonautów 222/754-042 Wrocław

TTM Trading Services LTD9B High Town Road LU 20 BW Luton

Business partners