I was brought up in the traditions of high Polish cuisine. My mother and my grandmother were excellent cooks. Alina Zeranska, 1968 

{HISTORY}

To say that Alina  Zeranska (1919-2005) is a multi-cultural connoisseur is a bit of an understatement. She grew up in Warsaw, Poland with a Swedish dad and a Polish mom.  Learning how to cook from her mom and grandmother, Alina knew her way around the kitchen from a young age. As a child, she also had a Russian nanny and a French tutor which helped her learn three languages before heading to the Sorbonne in Paris where she studied journalism and art history. With degree in hand, she moved to Germany where she met her Polish husband, Ludwick and together they immigrated to the United States by way of Canada, where they lived for eight years. Upon arriving in the US, Alina went back to school at Penn State University. Based in Pennsylvania, her education led to a long journalism career that involved work as a radio correspondent, a columnist  and  a cookbook author, all centering around Polish heritage, women's issues, and cultural news.

Like many young brides, despite helping in the kitchen as a child, when it came to cooking for her husband, Alina felt her culinary repertoire needed some help. In her words. she "pestered' Polish friends and family members to give her their favorite traditional recipes so that she could delight her husband with authentic home-cooked meals. Her writing career aside, it was still very important for both her and her husband to celebrate all the Polish holidays and carry on cultural traditions while living in America. 

All that recipe collecting and practicing in her Pennsylvania kitchen eventually led to producing this cookbook, The Art of Polish Cooking, which was the first Polish cookbook of authentic recipes adapted for modern American kitchens. Combining information on cultural customs and holidays along with 500 recipes, Alina covered all the culinary favorites and festivities celebrated in Poland with notes on serving suggestions, dinner party menus, and food presentation.

Interesting recipes include Dill Dumplings, Chicken with Vegetables, Pork and Sauerkraut, Stuffed Kohlrabi, Cold Horseradish Sauce, Apple Compote, Savoy Cabbage Polonaise, Pot Roast Marinated, Pike Jewish Style, Cabbage Rolls, Flybanes, Oat Milk Soup, Raspberry Pie, Cold Summer Barsch, Toasted Mushroom Canapes, Hunter's Stew, Red Beets with Horseradish, Sand Baba, Fish in Greek Sauce, Orange Vodka, Polish Sausage with Cabbage, Green Bean Soup, Pierogi with Cherries, Blueberries or Apples, Honey Punch Omelet with Strawberry Preserves, Cheesecake from Krakow, Iced Coffee with Cognac and Poppy Seed Yeast Cake.

Instilling a love of Polish food and cooking, Alina and Ludwick's son and daughter-in-law, Pete and Laura followed in Alina's footsteps of sharing Polish cooking and traditions in America.  In addition to sharing her recipes, they've also published two cookbooks, Polish Classic Recipes in 2011, and Polish Classic Desserts in 2013. They both still credit Alina too, for all they've learned from her in keeping Polish foods and traditions alive in the kitchen. 

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

• 1968 First Edition published by Doubleday & Company
• 366 pages including a detailed index published in Polish and English
• Includes original dust jacket
• Each recipe includes the traditional Polish title as well as the English title
• Contains 500 recipes
• Illustrated by Janina Domanska

{CONDITION}

In beautiful vintage condition, this cookbook is clean nd bright throughout with no cooking spots, stains, or notations. The dust jacket is completely intact with just one small rip at the top right corner on the dust jacket fold line. The spine is tight and all pages are intact. Please see photos.

{SIZE}

Measures 8.5" inches (length) 6" inches (width) x 1.25" inches (thickness) and weighs 1.2 lbs.