My real love in Poland

Is this my real love? I think I can't tell my wife, but I think I am in love.

I am often asked by people "Of all the places you have lived what are the reasons you live in Poland?", there are of course many answers to this. However, one of the greatest things about Poland is the seasonal fruit and vegetables.

Being from Australia we do have season, but being so physically big we have the chance to produce almost everything the year round. The difference is that here you can get all these things year round, but with huge air miles attached to them and therefore no flavour. Hence, why I get so excited about certain times of the year because of the foods that the season brings.

Now is THE most magical time when all of my favourites co-exist! Raspberries, Strawberries, Cherries, Gooseberries, Dillberries, and the list goes on. Here is a mini tribute to what I am stuffing into my fat mouth nowadays. These were all bought from out local open air market the prices were roughly as follows:
Cherries:            8PLN/kg
Strawberries:      7PLN/kg
Dillberries:          20PLN/kg      
Gooseberries:     16PLN/kg
Raspberries:        16PLN/kg            
N.B. current exchange rates are 1AUD =PLN3.39, 1GBP=5.25, 1USD=3.37, 1NZD=2.66, 1EUR=4.24

The jagoda is often translated by Poles incorrectly as blueberry (which is actually Borówka) but is actually the Dillberry

Raspberry, delicate, sweet and fresh are unbeatable (with the exception of my favourite Blackberries)

Strawberries, always great, especially in jam.

We decided recently that cherries are to Poles what grapes are to Australians you get the bursting with freshness and flavour so that they actually make a popping sound in your mouth when fresh.

Agrest is the often maligned gooseberry

They go from green to purple and are really high in pectin, great for jams.

So slice 'em up

And whack 'em together with some greek joghurt and you are eating healthily and happily.

I was jamming, stoutly with the apple of my eye

So, by now you all probably know that I love to spend time making edible things. I would love to think of myself like some kind of cottager, one that can bake, preserve, brew and maybe one day, even distill. Oh, that would be something! Probably something to kill me, but certainly something else altogether different! However, this post is about some things that I have already done. Some were done well, very well in fact and others, hmmmm, just ok, i.e. our home made cider.

So to make things start happily, I will tell you about my Stout. It was good old Coopers Stout, you can buy it here in the hardware shop OBI or online as well, which I was extremely surprised about. I am actually drinking one as I type this up. As opposed to the Cider (which will be the next post), the Stout was a resounding success!! So much so that I am almost already out of it! So there will be another batch that needs to get done soon.
The Coopers family do great community work around the world. Making my belly swollen and ready for a tough Polish winter ahead.
It looks like vegemite mixed with coffee! Yum!
Into the trusty demijohn.
Add the yeast, seal the airlock and happy days!

So the other things we have made have been working on/with:
Blueberry Jam:

Also Raspberry Jam:
When you boil your fruit, remove the foam at the top so that you don't end up with an ugly jam, and to be honest, it makes a superb icecream topping.

We also made Apple Jam and Plum and Cinnamon, but we didn't photograph them at all.
So at the end of a happy day of jamming, we have lots of things to keep us and our toast warm over winter. Without having to jump on a plane.