# Eastern European food?



## nicklord1 (Jul 16, 2007)

Eastern European  Food is prob the least understood food in my opinion . I wanted to create a thread where we could exchange recipes and  discuss  the different types of food  in eastern  europe.

This is a recipe  provided to me by mudbug in my polish  thread to start things of.


_Hiya, Nick, and bienvenue to DiscussCooking.

Here's one you might like. Unfortunately when I copied it from our wonderful site here, I forgot to add the name of the original poster so I can't give the proper credit to someone who actually made me like sauerkraut (in this dish only!)_

*Czech Chicken and Sauerkraut*

8 Chicken thighs
1 Tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. margarine (or butter)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lb sauerkraut (try to find Polish or German kraut in a jar.)
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. caraway seeds
dash of pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
several parboiled/steamed potato chunks, drained
2 cooking apples, cored and cut into thin wedges

Sprinkle chicken with salt and brown on both sides in margarine/butter in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until tender. Sprinkle some caraway seeds over the chicken as it browns. Mix together the kraut, water, caraway, pepper, brown sugar and potatoes. Add to chicken and onion and mix well. Cover skillet and cook 10-12 minutes or until chicken is tender.
    				__________________
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## mitmondol (Jul 16, 2007)

Nick, I kina started something similar with the paprika thread.Will post recipes there (HU ones) and other things here maybe?


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## CharlieD (Jul 16, 2007)

and also there is my ukranian thread


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## mitmondol (Jul 16, 2007)

What is it called Charlie? Can't find it, would love to see it!


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## kitchenelf (Jul 16, 2007)

Click HERE for the link.  You will soon find out that CharlieD is a wonderful addition to our community!


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## CharlieD (Jul 16, 2007)

Oh, you beat me to it, and thank you for the kind words.


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## kitchenelf (Jul 16, 2007)

CharlieD said:
			
		

> Oh, you beat me to it, and thank you for the kind words.



It took a little work as the title is a bit "off" from what I was looking for - and I was looking for a thread started by YOU, not me!


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## BreezyCooking (Jul 16, 2007)

As a 100% Czech all-round (both sides of the family going back all the way to the "old country") I grew up with a lot of authentic Czech cooking, & make a lot of it myself. In fact, my late great-aunt left me her ancient Bohemian cookbook, which I really relish.

My grandmother used to make a similar recipe to the "Czech Chicken and Sauerkraut" recipe above, but minus the brown sugar & the apples.

Caraway seed, sauerkraut, & poultry figured largely in our Czech dishes, but they were rarely sweet (except for all the wonderful pastries!!!). Also, all the recipes called for whole cut-up chicken pieces, as back then particular chicken parts weren't available in stores unless you went to a specialty butcher. Sadly, the days of the specialty butcher shop have been reduced to almost nothing except in particular very lucky neighborhoods.  (Although I obviously think it's great that we can now get specific poultry parts in the local supermarket - lol!!!)

I don't have the recipe in front of me, but by far one of my favorite Czech chicken dishes was chicken in a sour cream/dill sauce with Czech Bread Dumplings, plain buttered carrots, & "maybe" a salad on the side. Typical "Sunday Dinner" Czech fare in our household. I believe, phonetically, the dish was called "Varnitchka". Again - that's just phonetic on my part. If anyone is interested in it further, I can check with both mom & my cookbook tomorrow - lol!!!


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## nicklord1 (Jul 17, 2007)

Please  do  the  varnitchka  sounds good  so does the unsweet  chicken dish. Feel free to send  recipes on this thread .


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## mitmondol (Jul 17, 2007)

kitchenelf thanks for the link! It's great!
Charlie how about more of the recipes?
Breezy you could start a chech thread maybe..?! Please!


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## college_cook (Jul 18, 2007)

Any Croatians out there?  My Croatian grandparents passed away before I learned that I'm 1/2 Croat, and became interested in learning about where I came from.  I don't recall very well what my grandmother used to cook, but I know it was definitely peasant-style food, except for her pastries.  Man they were out of this world!  She loved to make apple streudel and also these cookie-cakes that I think were made of layers of very thin sponge and chilled, like a petit fours almost.

One thing I remember well is that she started off every meal with a noodle soup.  Very thin and tender noodles in what I think was a chicken-based broth.  I remember the broth being clear though, so it must have been some sort of consomme?  I don't know if this was a traditional dish, but I sure loved it.


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## mitmondol (Jul 18, 2007)

I'm no Croat but concidering the fact that Croatia and other parts of EU were at some point the Austrian-Hungarian empire (geeeeez, how does that sound today?!), maybe some of the recipes I know would fit the bill.
Let me look.


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## mitmondol (Jul 18, 2007)

college_cook said:
			
		

> One thing I remember well is that she started off every meal with a noodle soup.  Very thin and tender noodles in what I think was a chicken-based broth.  I remember the broth being clear though, so it must have been some sort of consomme?  I don't know if this was a traditional dish, but I sure loved it.[/quote
> 
> It is a common thing in a lot of EU countries.
> You start the meal with a "meat soup".
> ...


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## CharlieD (Jul 18, 2007)

mitmondol said:
			
		

> ...Charlie how about more of the recipes?
> ... Please!


 
Tell me what you woul like or are interested in and i'll post the recipe, if I have one.


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## nicklord1 (Jul 18, 2007)

Just generally interesting  main courses that you would think  deserve to be known about outside the  specialised  parametres of  polish chefs.


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## CharlieD (Jul 18, 2007)

i don't know anything about polish chefs, to be quite honest, i did not even understend what you just said, sorry, english is still my second lenguage.


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## nicklord1 (Jul 18, 2007)

good maincourses  where are you from originally


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## Claire (Jul 18, 2007)

My husband is paternally Slovene, maternally Slovak.  When the iron curtain fell and we were allowed to travel freely, we were among the first to visit Slovenia (at the time, the only former Yugoslavian country that was NOT war torn).  It was a wonderful couple of weeks spent in Ljublana, Metlika, Dolena Toplensk, Lake Bled, Koper, and Lipica (for those more in the know than I, please excuse spellings.  I could go look it up, but am feeling lazy).  We used mostly public transportation and met many wonderful people.  The food was to die for.  We ate many versions of schnitzel, many forms of goulash, more salads than I can mention, the best fried chicken ever, trout, shellfish.  Hubby says, don't forget that great sausage.  And now I'm remembering, pizza.  (I'm using Amercan words for these dishes).  The wonderful thing about Slovenia is that it borders on so many countries, and the cuisine reflects that.  At that time Slovenia did not really "get" the idea of tourists, and 90% of their tourism was German.  

Being Americans was a real novelty. Very few people we ran into spoke English (except for college and high school kids), and I don't think we met anyone who had ever met an American.  

The food was extremely inexpensive and very high-quality.  

My favorite wine was cvicek (svee-check) (a very dry, pink wine, served cold) and I came home with the limit.  

I'll never understand how picky eaters, vegetarians, and people with strict dietary needs manage to travel, because we lunched at a lot of places where you just eat what they serve, period.  It was always delicious, but often a version of roast pork.

I came home and experimented with versions of many meals we had on that trip.  It was delicious.


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## CharlieD (Jul 19, 2007)

nicklord1 said:
			
		

> good maincourses where are you from originally


 
I am originally from Kiev. What kind of main course are you interested in? There are so many. And most of them I probably do not have writen recipe, but  I am willing to try to put one on paper, if you tell me at least type of meat you want. There is a stew recipe in my thread it is very much a good main coarse, and could be evn the whole diner too, just look it up.


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## shantihhh (Jul 29, 2007)

*Eastern European*

Are you considering the Balkans in this thread or do they have their own thread?


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## nicklord1 (Jul 29, 2007)

defo for me  eastern europe  are  countries east of  germany , austria , and italy.


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## Claire (Jul 30, 2007)

YEs, I would consider the Balkans.  Mostly, if you are old enough to remember where the iron curtain was, anything east of that.  My husband's father's family came from the old Yugoslavia -- his parents were Slovene.  His mother's family was from the old Czecoslovakia - they were Slovaks.  Funny, though, I'd consider someone from Hungary to be eastern European, but not someone from Austria.  The "modern" (I'm over 50) mind-set.  And yes, I do know that Slovenia was once a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire!

Anyway, I think of these foods as being charactorized by certain herbs & spices, a lot of stews and soups, sour cream.  Hubby's mom used to make the most delicate noodles.  As soon as the "iron curtain" fell, he and I made a trip to Slovenia, and we ate sumptuously.  Many schnitzels.  Sometimes our hotel rooms came with lunch, and it would usually be roast pork that was delicious.


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## BreezyCooking (Jul 30, 2007)

Ahh yes - those wonderful noodles!!!  While both sides of my family are/were Czech, we're Bohemian rather than Slovak.  I clearly & fondly remember watching my grandmother make her homemade egg noodles for soup.  Rolling them out tissue thin & cutting them by hand, then leaving them to dry on clean linen tea towels.  Her soups were always to die for.


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## buckytom (Jul 30, 2007)

lol claire. i doubt that people, especially young people from eastern europe, prefer to call themselves "from behind the iron curtain".

also, just fyi, croatia declared independence on the same day, also being involved in most of the battles for independence.

very important info in my neighborhood.

btw, "to die for" ain't a good euphamism for food with war torn countries.


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## justplainbill (Jul 30, 2007)

mitmondol said:
			
		

> You would also serve the bone marrow!
> Boy, what a delicasy!!
> Just get it out of h bones on some hot toated bread, sprinkle a little salt on it and enjoy!
> Geeeeez!!! Brings back memories!!


 
Some pretty yummy dumplings can also be made with the marrow.


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## shantihhh (Jul 31, 2007)

*Eastern Europe*

The former Yugoslavia was NOT behind the Iron Curtain, it was Socialist and NOT Communist.  Tito played the political balance quite well buring from the West and selling to the East i.e. Russia.

I have always sort of considered The Balkans Eastern Europe but Greece is part of the Balkans and is never considered Eastern Europe.

Anyway, you all consider the former Yugoslavia Eastern Europe great-not sure I'd lump Greece into that mix.  Bulgaria, Macedonia, Moldovia, all yes Eastern Europe. 

Why did I aski?  I have learned much of this area on our travels there, as well as from my son-in-law and family (Kahrovic) who have been here 6 years from Croatia via Kosovo.  Our son-in-law was born on the border of Serbia and Montenegro, grew up in Croatia on his grandparents farm from the age of 2.  His mother's family owned these lands for 300 years.  His mom was a tiop chef for 17 years in Croatia before the civil war.

Anyone for Sarma, Cevapcici, ajvar, and so on?


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## buckytom (Jul 31, 2007)

lol, i told ya so!  

thanks shanti. agreed, greece (and turkey) aren't considered eastern europe.

what is sarma, cevapcici, and ajvar?


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## *amy* (Jul 31, 2007)

Eastern Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now I'm confused. My ancesters were from Hungary and Poland - Eastern Europe (I thought).

I don't have *specific recipes, but some foods my grandmother (Hungary)prepared were:

Stuffed cabbage
flanken (sp?)
Rugalah (sp?)
knishes
Borscht
knadelach (sp?)

So many dishes, I can't remember them all. Each family probably had their own recipes for the same dish, or the same dish was called by a different name, i.e. pierogies were called something else (in my household), but still dough with a filling of various ingredients.

*As I recall, I don't think I ever saw my grandma read from a recipe card or book, or write them down.  Sadly, those "recipes" are probably lost forever.


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## mitmondol (Jul 31, 2007)

The former Yugoslavia was NOT behind the Iron Curtain, it was Socialist and NOT Communist.  Tito played the political balance quite well buring from the West and selling to the East i.e. Russia.

Oh dear...
Let me clearify something here.
Ma, as you know, I was born and lived a big part of my adult life in Hu.
The official position there was this:

the only country "building communism" was the USSR
all the other countries (behind the IC) were "building socialism"
This is what was taught in schools, was heard and read in the media all the time.
So officialy a communist country didn't even exist!


I have always sort of considered The Balkans Eastern Europe but Greece is part of the Balkans and is never considered Eastern Europe.

Eastern Europe means (in this case) a country's political NOT geographical position.So Greece and Turkey are not part of it, even though they ARE Estern European countries.
Heck, a lot more than Hu or East Germany!



Anyone for Sarma, Cevapcici, ajvar, and so on?

Oh yes MA, all of the above! Keep them coming!


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## Dave Hutchins (Jul 31, 2007)

I was raised in a town that had sponsored many ww2 refugies from EU and Germany I could walk down the street at dinner time and smell the most wonderful smells, what a nice childhood I had some time i got to taste


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## buckytom (Aug 1, 2007)

i just read an article in my local newspaper about how eastern european take-out places are booming in my area. there a many immigrants from there where both parents now work "american" hours here, but they still crave the foods of their ancestry, which are notorious for long prep and cooking times. so the meals are prepared in several traditions, from polish to slovakian, to hungarian and so on.
we're also planning our next family event in a restaurant called "the royal warsaw".
i hope i don't fall on my dupa!


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## shantihhh (Aug 2, 2007)

sorry  if I sounded heavy on the Eastern Europe thing and Balkans, have been there, have a son-in-law and famly from there-much history. They fled Croatia came to the US via 6 years in Kosovo after a very comfortable life in Croatia. Family had been there for 300 years-but religion split the former Yugo to shatters. He is 1/2 and half. So he grew up in Croatia, mother was Serb late father, Muslim so he became a refugee-man without a country and is so dang proud to be an American citizen now, and cooks awesome food.


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## Chopstix (Aug 4, 2007)

I'm looking for a Serbian pickled cabbage salad recipe called Kupus.  It's just pickled thinly sliced cabbage with goat cheese and black olives, tossed in some vinaigrette.  I hope someone knows about this... Thanks!


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## mitmondol (Aug 5, 2007)

As faras I know Kupus is only pickled cabbage.
What you do with it afterwards...? I think is up to you.


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## shantihhh (Aug 5, 2007)

I'll ask Milka about Kupus, she was a chef at a huge hotel in Croatia. If I don't answer for a few it means daughter is having the baby-their secondf, a little sister for Marko.


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## Chopstix (Aug 5, 2007)

shantihhh said:
			
		

> I'll ask Milka about Kupus, she was a chef at a huge hotel in Croatia. If I don't answer for a few it means daughter is having the baby-their secondf, a little sister for Marko.


 
Thanks Shantih.  I hope to hear from you about what Milka says...


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## dudank (Aug 31, 2007)

Hello, people, I am new here, but as I'd like to promote Balkan cuisine (wonderful, but still undiscovered in the rest of the world) - I will try to help. 

"Kupus" means "cabbage" and it can be both pickled and fresh. The combination with cheese and olives is not so common for Balkan countries, so I guess it was the invention of some clever chef. (Sounds tasty anyway.) But as pickled cabbage ("Kiseli kupus", to be precise) is never combined with anything except dried red hot paprika and oil, I guess it had to be fresh cabbage. The cheese was probably a simple white cheese (you can always try with feta as a good substitute). 

P.S. I forgot the main part - for a good kupus salad, you have to cut it to really thin slices; add oil first, then salt, and vinegar in the end (the red vinegar, made of wine, is the best choice). But if you want the secret of the pickled cabbage... well, first you must have a separate cellar room for that - if you don't want your house smell like... pickled cabbage.


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