Polish Pantry

Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych)

December 28, 2018 by polishhousewife 1 Comment

During our last trip to Poland, I spent a couple of nights in Warsaw. The main purpose of my stop in Poland’s capital was to take a cooking class. I added on the optional vodka tasting. During the four hours we spent cooking, our instructor served samples of various tinctures. It was the first time I’d tried a Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych).

I knew it wouldn’t be long before I tried making my own because I have a fascination with the Polish art of tincture making. So far I’ve made, cherry, raspberry, plum, honey/spice, mandarin orange, lemon, pineapple, orange/spice, and now hazelnut.

The hazelnut tincture reminded me of Frangelico, but like most things Polish, less sweet, less syrupy. The Warsaw class was also my first sample of a quince liqueur, so I’m keeping my eye open for quince now.

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Hazelnuts have been around forever. There is evidence of them being cultivated 8,000 years ago. They’re right up there with almonds when it comes to my favorite flavors.

I’m not alone in this. Worldwide production comes to 743,500 tons, with Ferrero SpA using 1/4 of that amount, think Nutella and Ferrero Roche. A much smaller percentage goes into this hazelnut liqueur, but that may be changing soon. 😉

I read recipes on various Polish blogs before deciding to try this, one of three versions on Moje Nalewki. I’ll include notes in the recipe about the many variations you might like to try.

If you need more encouragement, my research also turned up this: “tincture of hazelnut tastes great and supports brain work.” It’s on the Internet, so it must be true, and who doesn’t need a little help with brain work?

It takes 6 – 8 weeks for the hazelnut flavor to seep out of the chopped hazelnuts and into the vodka, so if you put this mixture together right after Christmas, you’ll have a delicious Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych) in time for Valentine’s Day.

Na zdrowie,

Lois

Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych)

Author: polishhousewife
Prep Time: 6 weeks
Total Time: 6 weeks
Yield: approx. .75 liter
Category: Beverage
Method: steeping
Cuisine: Polish

Description

A Polish hazelnut liqueur, similar to Frangelico but not as sweet

Ingredients

25 hazelnuts, shelled, and chopped
.75 liter bottle of vodka
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want your liqueur)
1 vanilla bean, split, scrape seeds from pod
2 whole allspice berries

Instructions

Add chopped hazelsnuts to a large container (that can be sealed) with the vodka, sugar, vanilla bean pod and seeds (I had 1/2 a vanilla bean pod that had already been scraped in a jar of sugar, I used this pod and vanilla sugar in this recipe, it may be why my tincture is lighter than some others) and allspice
Seal and shake or swirl the container everyday until the sugar dissolves
After 6 – 8 weeks, strain out the chopped hazelnuts and vanilla pod, the mixture may be a little cloudy, let it sit for 4 – 5 days, very fine bits will settle to the bottom leaving you with a beautifully clear liqueur, carefully decant to a new container or siphen out with a turkey baster

Notes

Additional options you may want to include one or two of these:

zest of a lemon
4 cloves
2 cardomom pods
cinnamon stick
zest of an orange

Keywords: Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych)

Polish Pickled Herring (Śledzie marynowane)

December 20, 2018 by polishhousewife 1 Comment

Polish Pickled Herring (Śledzie marynowane – pronunciation) is often one of the meatless meals eaten for Christmas Eve or Wigilia. It’s also the sort of dish that our friends were likely to order during a late night out on the town. Like smalec, it goes well with beer or vodka. Our friends liked pickled herring served simply, in oil with onions.

There are so many more options! Pickled herring often makes its way into sour cream where it will be combined with diced onion, apple, and hard-boiled eggs. It’s also spread with mustard and wrapped around small pickles where it’s known as rollmops.

We were once served the most unusual herring. It came as an amuse bouche, on top of a thin layer of gingerbread cake and plum mousse. I must confess that when I saw it as an appetizer, I wasn’t tempted to order it, but the small bite I sampled was delicious, so it pays to keep an open mind.

Health Benefits of Herring

According to Dr. Weil, the only difference between sardines and herring is their size. When they’re very small, they’re called sardines which means small fish. As they grow, they become known as herring. Smoked herring? Now they’re kippers. They’re a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, important for brain health. Because they’re small and near the bottom of the food chain, herring don’t accumulate the contaminants so common in larger fish such as salmon or tuna, and their population is growing, a more than sustainable food source.

The bony little fish, originally a favorite with the Scandinavians and the Dutch, became popular all over Europe during the Middle Ages and is still a popular traditional food in many countries including Poland. Some will say that pickled herring will prevent or cure a hangover. Depending on what it’s pickled in, it may offer some benefits.

Salt dried herring or fresh

Based on my reading, the most common way to buy herring is fillets dried in salt, something I have not come across, so when I saw a package of frozen fresh herring in an Asian market, I grabbed it. If you buy your herring salted, it will need to be soaked in water, which you might change a few times, to remove the excess salt before you start pickling.

I started to proceed straight to this recipe, inspired by one of my favorite Polish food blogs, Olga Smile, but I realized the recipe called for no salt. That made me think that she must be using salt herring. Fortunately, I found this recipe which uses fresh herring. They warned me that I must brine the herring before pickling, otherwise I’d end up with mush. Brining, here I come! To brine the fresh or frozen fillets, submerge the fish in 5 cups of water with 1/4 cup of kosher salt.

I found a sharp boning knife, pretended that I knew what I was doing, and sliced the fillets off the little fish and then peeled the skin off the fillets; they still have a bit of color from the skin. For a first effort, I’m pleased with the way they turned out, definitely not mush!

Whether you’re making Polish Pickled Herring (Śledzie marynowane) for Christmas Eve or for drinks and nibbles, I hope you enjoy!

Smacznego!

Lois