In my family, it is an annual tradition to make Polish sausage around Easter. My great grampy (Thomas Piszczek) had started the tradition when he returned from serving in World War II. The event became a day where the entire family crammed into a kitchen and worked from noon until dinner.
When my great grampy passed in 2013, his cooking lived on through his children (my grandmother and my great aunt.) They would make the same Polish dishes he made for them, such as pierogis or kolaches. These meals found their way onto Christmas and Thanksgiving tables, or anytime we craved a taste of our heritage.
As a kid with a love for eating, I always found my way into the kitchen. Watching my grandmother toil over supper became my first inspiration to begin cooking.
The first meal I ever made? Chicken noodle soup.
However, my horizons soon expanded under the influence of cooking shows and YouTube tutorials. I would spend my nights watching Gordon Ramsay talk about ethnic flavors, new recipes, or demonstrate how to master simple tasks, like chopping an onion.
I began asking for new knives or utensils for my birthday to help me attempt more challenging dishes like risotto or paella. Each time I cooked something new, I always called my grandmother, raving about a new recipe.
Many of my friends are shocked when I tell them that I enjoy cooking. They don’t understand that cooking is how I express my Polish heritage. They don’t feel the connection to my relatives, or experience the recipes that have been passed down like a family heirloom. But most importantly, they don’t see the photo of my great grandparents on the cover of our family cookbook, smiling at me each time I start cooking.
With that being said, last night I made an excellent dinner for my family. While it was not one of the polish classics I mentioned above, it is the culmination of my love for cooking. I made a pan seared halibut with a caper lemon sauce, accompanied by oven roasted asparagus and rice pilaf. Halibut is a flaky whi
te fish, so it really goes well with almost everything. I chose to pair it with a lemon caper sauce because lemon is the perfect accompaniment to any choice
of fish, and capers provide a salty pop. While the rice and asparagus required minimal preparation or attention to their cooking, the halibut was the star
of the show. After generously seasoning the fish filets with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a pinch of paprika (the photo was before seasoning, as the fish was coming to room temperature for a better sear), I cranked up the heat and put each filet in. I made sure to not move the filets so that they could develop a nice golden brown sear.
After flipping them, I added in sprigs of thyme and rosemary, followed by a few tablespoons of butter so that I could baste the fish. Basting cooks the inside of the fish while keeping it moist. Just listen to the sound! (The video got linked externally, I could not figure out how to insert it here even after uploading the media. Just click immediately to the right! IMG_1647) Once my fish reached a temperature of 130*, it was ready to plate. Unfortunately, I do not have more photos than the ones I included, nor do I have a recipe since I just “experiment” based on prior knowledge or flavor profiles.
My family loved the meal and I can’t wait to make it again! Comment below something that you recently made for your family– during these times, nothing is better than a home cooked meal surrounded by loved ones! It is a great way to show your appreciation and spend time with those that matter the most.
I really like how you traced back your love for cooking to family heritage. I’ve never tried some of those Polish dishes, but I would like to! Cooking is also a big thing for me and my dad, who loves experimenting with flavors from all over the world. He taught me the basic cooking techniques like a bechamel and how to curl my fingers when chopping, but a lot of my own cooking skills have come from trying new things myself. I recently started making vegetable (or chicken) stir fry for my family, with a teriyaki sauce made by me as well. It’s pretty simple but also fun to mess with a little and look for the best combinations of ratios and new vegetables. I think that family is a pretty common theme when it comes to cooking and learning, but it’s a very important part of what cooking is all about – creating something for the people we love.
Jake, I love this! Your preparation of halibut sounds delicious and I’m sure your family loved it. I totally agree that cooking can be a fun way to reconnect with you heritage and let different flavors, traditions, and ingredients shine through. In Chinese cuisine for example, a lot of dishes are based off the traditional flavor combination of garlic, ginger, green onion that can be built and layered into more complex flavors. Cooking is something that bonds me to my parents as well. We make a huge batch of dumplings each week that we can freeze and heat up for different meals and they are a great dish to collaborate on. You can have one person mixing and rolling the dough, one person shaping the circular skin, one person filling, and one person crimping the edges shut. It’s one of my favorite things to make and I’ll definitely miss that tradition next year in college. Anyways, when’s our cookoff?
Hi Jake! This was a really interesting read. I love how you went through your steps of making the dinner for your family and talked about how you got into cooking. While I don’t particularly enjoy cooking, I really like to bake. Similar to you, I gained most of my experience after being inspired by a family member (my grandma) and then going to YouTube for more. I love how you started out from your Polish heritage but also continued to branch out into other cuisines as well.