Zrazy & Jabtecznik
Have you ever had Polish food? Maybe for many, Polish food is not as famous as Spanish, Mexican, Jap and other so-called ‘mainstream’ popular cuisines. Well, at least I had..for once (first time)! After a tiring session of badminton in Marjons and a brief hangout in Vish’s place for lunch with the dudes, Hoong reminded me that we need to pop-in Chris’s place at 6pm later in the evening. Oh yes, it was a treat that Chris & Joanna had promised ever since they settled down in Plymouth.
The jolly ol’ couple
Chris & Joanna is a Polish couple introduced by Hoong and during their early days here in Plymouth, I have assisted them in getting a place to stay. I am glad that my assistance was fruitful to these newcomers as they could now have settled down happily at Mount Street which is surprisingly coincidental cos’ it used to be Andrew, Michelle, Simon & Mastura’s place few years back.
This is the first time I have come to visit Chris & Joan after nearly 2 months they were here (my bad!). They had the top floor flat; it was cosy and tidy small flat which was well maintained. Joan must have been a very good house keeper dispite her occupied time working in Wrigley’s really exhaust her at times. Have heard about her excellent cooking capabilities and I long to see and taste how exactly Polish dish looked like as I find it unfair as they have pretty much exposure on chinese cuisine already!
So here I am with my cam bugging Joanna and asking her questions of the gravy that she is stirring, the cake that was still in the oven and some meat with skewers. Looks mount-watering! I took some pics as evidence that I did had some and all of it (yes, i’m a glutton!). Chris helped her to sort the table out and there we were slurping on our starters which was made from broccoli and some mild veges. Very tasty! Not sure whats the name though as I forgot to ask..been carried away by the deliciousness i guess.
As I thought Polish dishes was that instant, I was pretty much gobsmacked when that dish was actually just a starter. Joanna bring in her ‘second wave’ of main courses which consists of Zrazy – grilled beef slices stuffed with some pickled cucumber pinned with a skewer, some Polish salad+mayonnaise and yes, roast potatoes (im a sucker for potatoes). I scourged the food and eventually had lotsa potatoes and Zrazy cos i just can’t have enough fo them. Joanna keep assuring me she will do more Zrazy when i come over next time. Awesome!
Chris’s waitressing skills pays off. XD
The last dish was a dessert surprisingly was baked and prepared by Chris, damn! It was Polish applecake called Jabtecznik. Let me explain the texture (see mroe in pic) – it had crusty top with an array of fillings full of apple slab, fairly sweet and tasty. The crusts on top makes it irresistable! And yes, this greedy bastard in me end up gobbling 3 of those Jabtecznik! I can see from their faces they were both satisfied as that is their first attempt to promote Polish cuisine to us was a success. Hoong did blabber in cantonese about the awkward taste of the soup. I said ‘shut up and eat..I like it so darn much so your opinions does not matter to me’ i sarcastically said.
The starter
The maincourse – Zrazy
The maincourse with all its glory
Jabtecznik – the applecake dessert. Spell the name if you can!
The session end when Joanna gave me some of her goodies from Wrigley’s – some mints and some chocs. I was dead-full and lay seated at a corner leaning at the wall hoping my tum-tum could reside so I can gobble more chocs. We left at 8’ish and agreed to see each other tomorrow for a bowling session at noon. Overall it was a good nite out and I would certainly dig for Zrazy next time.