Two weeks in POLAND . . . and POLISH MARINATED DUCK

It’s 12:45 a.m., but I am still jet-lagged from arriving home at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18. 

Lufthansa took us first from Krakow, Poland, to Munich (1 hour and 15 minutes in the air) and then, after a 4-hour layover, to Vancouver (a 10-hour flight).

Our wonderful trip to Poland had begun on Wednesday, September 5, when we flew to Wroclaw.  Here is our itinerary:

DAY        WEEKDAY & DATE            CITY                                       HOTEL                  

1.            Wed.     Sept 5   FLY FROM VANCOUVER

2.            Thurs.   Sept 6                    Wroclaw                              BNB                      

3.            Fri.         Sept. 7                  Wroclaw                              BNB                   

4.            Sat.        Sept. 8                  Kudowa Zdroj                    Willa Sanssouci                                                                                                                                  

5.            Sun.       Sept. 9                  Wroclaw                              Dwor Polski 

    

                                                                                                                                 

6.            Mon.     Sept 10                 Katovice                               Hotel Diament  

                                                                                                                                 

7.            Tues.     Sept 11                 Krakow                                 Hotel Amadeus  

                                                                                                                                 

8.            Wed.     Sept 12                 Krakow                                 Hotel Amadeus   

9.            Thurs.    Sept 13                Zakopane                            Grand Hotel Stamary

                                                                                      

10.          Fri.          Sept 14                Zakopane                            Grand Hotel  Stamary    

11.          Sat.         Sept 15                Krakow                                 BNB                                      

12.          Sun.        Sept 16                Krakow                                 BNB                                      

13.          Mon.     Sept 17                Krakow                                 BNB                                      

14.          Tues.     Sept 18:  FLY HOME       

We did do a lot of planning and preparation first.

Learning Polish

I really liked the pace and repetition of the Pimsleur tapes.

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Duck appeared several ways on restaurant menus; we could have duck salad, duck pierogi, or even half a roasted duck.

POLISH MARINATED DUCK  (Kaczka Marynowana)

from WOMAN’S DAY ENCYCLOPEDIA of COOKERY

1 duck (about 5 lbs)

1 cup sour cream

MARINADE FOR DUCK:

5 cups water

1 large onion, sliced

15 allspice berries (or juniper)

15 peppercorns

10 tbsp cider vinegar

8 bay leaves

• Put onions, water, allspice berries, and peppercorns in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cover.  Cook  for 5 minutes to soften onion.
• Add vinegar and bay leaves.
• Put duck in a glass bowl or pot.  Pour hot marinade over the duck.
• Let cool, then put in fridge for one or two days.

Remove duck from marinade.  Reserve one cup of liquid.  Discard the rest.

Rub duck with salt and let stand in fridge for one or two hours.

• Preheat oven to 325.
• Put duck, breast up, on a rack in an uncovered roasting pan.
• Cook one hour.
• Sprinkle duck with ground allspice, ground ginger, and nutmeg.
• Roast another hour or until skin is crisp and bird is tender.  (I cooked it for two hours -- the breast was still juicy and not overcooked.  In fact, if you like duck well done, you may need to keep it in the oven another 15 to 30 minutes.)
• 
  
  
• Remove duck and let rest while preparing gravy.
• Add about ½ cup water to the pan to scrape it up.  
• Remove as much of the fat as possible.
• Stir one tbsp flour into the sour cream.  Stir in some hot liquid.
• Whisk all of sour cream mixture into gravy.
• Taste for seasoning.  Add more ginger and nutmeg if desired.

In addition to the sour cream gravy and a bowl of kacza, I served the duck with sweet-and-sour red cabbage, as recommended by Jean Karsavina.

*****

I'd also recommend: 

IDA, set in Poland, 1962. 

I was surprised at how many Polish words I had actually learned from the tapes I listened to . . . after the subtitles cued me!