Michael Baruch cookbook

[Jaga]

Did any of you have a chance to look at this book?
++++
Nowy Polish Cookbook shakes up tradition by reducing fat and 'sour' in dishes
He is a Polish "David" in a "Goliath" cookbook publishing world.

Chef and author Michael J. Baruch - inspired by childhood summers with his Polish mother's relatives on a Wisconsin farm - was determined to see Polish cuisine achieve the same profile in bookstore cookbook aisles that French and Italian have enjoyed for years.

So when major publishers pooh-poohed Baruch's proposal to write a cookbook giving traditional Polish fare a modern, upscale spin, the sixth-generation Pole took matters into his own hands.

"After I got turned down by a dozen book publishers who said they weren't interested in 'Polack' cuisine," Baruch said, "I got mad and said, 'Fine, I'll self-publish.' "

He hired an award-winning food photographer who produced gorgeous photos of pierogi and other Polish favorites and last year produced "The New Polish Cuisine" cookbook (LBCM Publishing, 2002, $32). He then made a pitch directly to major bookstores to carry his book. Large chains such as Borders and Barnes & Noble nibbled, and "The New Polish Cuisine" is trickling into those stores; some sell the book only by special order.

There are 15 million people of Polish descent in the United States - some half-million in Wisconsin alone, Baruch said.

from:
www.jsonline.com/entree/cooking/jan03/110537.asp

[nancy]

Aha! This is the mickey b that just joined the forum!

Piwo, maybe he has that recipe for you were looking for - potato with meat inside ... sorry I have forgotten the Polish words

[piwo]

[rdywenur]

Kudos for Mickey and what a treat for us to have found him on our site. I'll be looking to buy your cookbook to add to my Polish collection. I tried to access the new polishcuisine website but it does not happen. Is it down?

[gardenmoma]

RDY-

I also tried the cookbook website before Christmas, and it wasn't there

[nancy]

Maybe mikey will fill us in on his website, but in the meantime, you can find the book here:

www.polartcenter.com/cgi-bin/shop.pl/SID=1136004689.24435/page=showitem.htm/pic=1/item=9100036

writeup from Polart site:
The New Polish Cuisine' is a superb collection of never-before published original recipes that the chef has reinvented for the American palate. This book is a true visual masterpiece that accentuates the body and soul of Polish American cooking. This first volume in a series will undoubtedly touch the heartstrings of cooks for generations to come.

Quality hardbound with colorful matte finished dust jacket. Beautifully designed and photographed with over 200 original recipes on 100# gloss paper. Full page, high-resolution digital photography throughout 272 pages....$32.00


Not to play favorites, there are also other Polish cookbooks at that site:
www.polartcenter.com/cgi-bin/shop.pl/SID=1136004689.24435/page=cookbook.htm

[mikey b]

the cookbook is available through barnes and noble and borders books! for some strange reason its a collectors item on amazon who i have never sold too! i used to have a website, but we were so deluged with odd requests for things like headcheese recipes and false donation claims( i donate alot of money to polish charities around the country) that we contracted with bigger bookstores. if all fails, have your local library contact me at [e-mail] to buy a few books, AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BUY A REALLY, REALLY,REALLY NICE POLISH COOKBOOK FOR YOURSELF THAT I WILL PERSONALLY SIGN WRAP AND SEND TO YOU VIA MEDIA MAIL SEND A CHECK TO MICHAEL BARUCH, FOR 30 DOLLARS. ADDRESS IS 5036 ASHLEY FALLS CT, SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 92130 barnes and noble for sure has it online as i type! yes and please support all othe polish books on the market!

[rdywenur]

Mikey....the check is in the mail. I was going to ask if there was any possibility of the forum maybe getting a signed book from you. You read my mind. Happy New Year.

PS enclose some warm weather with that would you. ;D


Chris

[nancy]

Mikey,

What is your all time favorite recipe from the book? To prepare or to consume, either one!

[mikey b]

hey nancy, you should be toasting the new year with the old man instead of typing me!! such boring lifes we lead! i checked your bio, we have alot in common. thelma and louise is nothin, send me your personal email and i will tell you a great story about my ex mother in law and a story about how i got kicked out of paris!! i know you will like it. to answer your question ive been into french cooking for 20 years, worked for some of the best chefs in the world, traveled alot and seen alot of food trends come and go. even though i am more american polish, i just like well prepared ethnic foods that are served in a stylelistic fashion on really nice linen, plates and stemware!! let me digress! it was actually two women in polish history who single handedly changed our culinary history around 1386, that was jadwiga of anjou and princess bona sforza 1518, both chicks came from really well to do families that put on lavish spreads that put the french to shame!! true story!! you come from the same background as mine, my dad was a well known polish immigration lawyer in chicago and my mom put on alot of really cool sitdown candle style spreads. i guess it rubbed off, unfortunately major newspapers around the country dont agree with my position on polsh cooking so my personal plight continues!! good news though, last year i cooked at the whitehouse, the year befor that at the vatican and the city of chicago gave me an award for being the young polish guy of the year!! not bad for a guy who didnt go to chef school!! enough about me, did you learn how to make tamales or good chile down mexico way? i got kicked by a mule in laredo while dancing naked!! polish people do not do good on tequila!! oh i got ya covered on the ocean stuff here. i sometimes date a chick who works at a place called the scripps institute of oceanography about 5 mins from my house here. i live in del mar.. i dont surf because the water is really poluted here with sewage backwash.. all sewers lead to the ocean here. really prestine water is about 10 miles out in baja mexico, and the sport fishing is unreal!! i hang out in the florida keys alot with my cousin from tampa and love to reef dive. i also dig photography and the arts! after my next books come out im thinking of buying a small farm up north where im going to live off the land and grow pickles and make artisianal ryebreads that i will sell to chinese tourists!! i will also buy one cow and call her doris!! and maybe a chicken and a goat named wally! feel free to come visit!! alright enough of my schitck!! its really nice what you folks are doing with this website, sometimes when im on the road and its not going so well i think back to when i was a kid and my great aunt sister norbert who was a franciscan nun would say mihawik , all good polish girls and boys deserve good things, as long as they remember in their hearts where we have come from and where we need our culture to be! amen to that! really sorry i stole those hosts and that bottle of lancers when i was in 8th. grade!! im out there doing it like you good folks are to carry on the tradition and keep the polish spirit alive!! hey, send me some of your photos of the water around you!! peace for 2006

[rdywenur]

Mickey, I am enjoying your stories. You are my kind of guy. I think I would enjoy hangin with someone like you. Your time spans are much longer than you look...(20 years cooking french ) You don't look much older than that yourself. I also agree from a previous post that someone posted that you look like a young Pat Sajak only cuter. I think it is also great that you are doing it your way. Not sure what you mean by up North but there is a guy from my travel site that has a farm house close to here but lives in Florida. Maybe he would be willing to lease it out. Good Luck to you.

[nancy]

Mikey, you are too much. ;D I suspect you have been readin the crazy messages in the forum - a cow named doris indeed (not susan?). Does not sound to me like you lead a boring life - not with all that running around in Laredo and Paris.

You can get my email from my profile here - love your stories but paragraphs would help.

PS. Hubby and I celebrated after we both shut off the computers!

[piwo]

AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BUY A REALLY, REALLY,REALLY NICE POLISH COOKBOOK FOR YOURSELF THAT I WILL PERSONALLY SIGN WRAP AND SEND TO YOU VIA MEDIA MAIL SEND A CHECK TO MICHAEL BARUCH,

do you prefers money orders to personal checks? It is just as easy for me and many people prefer them. just asking......

[mikey b]

dear rdywenur, nancy and piwo! happy new year to all of you! i hope the angels bring you alot of love and joy in this new and exciting year!! rdywenur, thank you so much for your order! i know you will like it! i would send you a few pictures from it but the pics are all high resolution digital and it would take like all day on my computer! also dont be shocked, its a real high end fancy kick ass recipe book that martha stewart said she was jealous of!! i had one sent to her when she was in prison!! she liked the recipe for chicken and potatoes greek style!! PIWO ANY WAY YOU WANT TO SEND IT TO ME IS FINE, AS LONG AS IT CLEARS WERE GOOD TO GO!

[piwo]

Thanks Mike.... one further question. If it helps in the standings at any of the "retail" outlets, I would not be opposed to purchasing the book on line (so they record a sale and show purchases of the product), then simply send the book to you to autograph.

It may cost a few bucks more (i'll pay for the return postage), but if it helps with the retailers carrying it, I've no problem with that approach either. What are your thoughts? Would that be helpful, or just a waste of time .....