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Post by Jaga on Jan 1, 2006 10:14:04 GMT -7
My ex-neighbor - America lady did something unusual and very touching. She gave me for Christmas (and i just opened it yesterday) Sekacz produced by Polish Backery and I am not sure how she was able to get it in the USA, maybe through this Vermont store. According to what is written on the box - sekacz takes its origin from the former borderland areas of North Central Europe - Prussians, KJacwings, Lithuanians. The baking of sekacz reqies special wooden log that spins around on the long spit in a very high temperature. I actually did not hear about sekacz before I came to the USA.... then several people ask me about it and I learnt partly from them... this backery has a website at www.janza.com.pl
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Post by mikey b on Jan 1, 2006 13:50:00 GMT -7
dear jaga and charles, happy new year to you both!! yes jaga i have seen this cake throughout europe and charles is right! baumkuchen is a really old and festive cake that is prepared around the holidays.. the polish name is called dziad or beggars cake. its cooked on a horizontal spit that is turned very slowly, while the batter is ladled on to create a bee hive affect. the sugar carmelizes on the outside leaving the inside soft and moist.. jaga im still working on my computer skills so im sending you the recipe to please post. charles yes you are also correct, our cuisine and zest for life and eating are very similar. i have worked along side many a great german chef and baker and their dedication to preserving their ethnicity is as great as ours!
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piwo
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Post by piwo on Jan 1, 2006 15:33:28 GMT -7
Feast your eyes, and fantacise....... This was a gift to us from my cousin Marek when we visited this summer. Made the day before we arrived, even wrapped in the plastic, it made the bedroom smell WONDERFUL! All the eggs and milk used to make it were from Marek's cows and chickens, and of this, he was extremely proud. His niece has a business baking, in Augustńw I believe. I got this back to the USA by putting it in an Adidas athletic bag (like soccer players use), and using the handles like shoulder straps: i carried it across my back and stored it above my seat on the plane. I got it back completely intact!!With coffee, it was wonderful. My Czech brother in law couldn't get enough either, though he'd never seen it before.
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Post by Jaga on Jan 1, 2006 16:00:43 GMT -7
Charles,
the form of baumkuchen and the forum of sekacz are similar but from what I understand baumkuchen consist of several layers of teh cake whereas sekacz is from one cake which is just put vertically. Anyways, Prussia, Lithuania were also under strong influence of German culture so who knows!
Michael, I need to post your picture in the forum, I would do it until tonight
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nancy
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Post by nancy on Jan 1, 2006 16:54:04 GMT -7
Piwo,
what a great photo ... I have looked at all 500 (?) of your photos and did not see that one!
One time Aadam (wherever he is) told me that to make this cake properly you had to have fresh eggs from uncaged chickens, fresh milk etc. so I think you really had a treasure there. Too bad you ate it and now it's gone!
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piwo
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Post by piwo on Jan 1, 2006 17:07:44 GMT -7
Piwo, what a great photo ... I have looked at all 500 (?) of your photos and did not see that one! One time Aadam (wherever he is) told me that to make this cake properly you had to have fresh eggs from uncaged chickens, fresh milk etc. so I think you really had a treasure there. Too bad you ate it and now it's gone! It is located in the album entitled "Rene Poland 2005", unless somehow it's not being shared. (winkflash.com). It may not be, since there are over 900 pictures from Poland. It was a shame we didn't get to try it when it was it's freshest: it was a week old before we were able to try. And don't ask about the fresh milk: my daughter had two bowls of cererel with fresh, WARM milk.. YUK!
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nancy
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Post by nancy on Jan 1, 2006 19:08:33 GMT -7
There are two albums that I can view but Rene is not one of them.
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piwo
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Post by piwo on Jan 2, 2006 8:12:28 GMT -7
I can confirm that Sękacz is a solid, one piece cake. Like a large, chewy Chrusciki! I had never seen one before, and really didn't know what it was. Moja koleżąka in Warszawa told me it is somewhat unique to the eastern portion of Poland, and my cousin said you will get this once, maybe twice in your life: maybe First Communion or your wedding.
It was their gift to my wife, and I was very worried that customs would not let me pass through with "food", which I did not declare. My logic was, it wasn't "food", it was nothing but a big donut, and everybody eats candy and donuts on the plane, right??
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Post by gardenmoma on Jan 2, 2006 8:36:53 GMT -7
Oh, boy...i did get caught with cookies, candy bars, etc. this past summer...the Custom's Officer was typical NY Brooklyn who, I believe, was amused with my answer to "Why I did not declare them..." "I didn't think of cookies and candy as food!"
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Post by gardenmoma on Jan 2, 2006 8:44:27 GMT -7
Several of my Polish cookbooks have recipes for Baumkuchen = wood cake.
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Post by gardenmoma on Jan 2, 2006 8:47:51 GMT -7
Jaga...what is the name of the store in Vermont?
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nancy
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Post by nancy on Jan 2, 2006 12:36:47 GMT -7
I found this cake last summer at the Vermont Country Store - I think that is the store Jaga means. Polish Knotty Cake
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piwo
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Post by piwo on Jan 2, 2006 15:07:40 GMT -7
Well, the ones in the picture are just a trifle "homely", but they are the real deal! I love the spelling "Senkach", which is a perfect phonetic spelling of Sękacz. Nice to know they're available. Would be interested if anyone's tried them from there??
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Post by gardenmoma on Jan 2, 2006 16:21:05 GMT -7
Thanks, Nancy... That's what I thought...unless the weather turns terrible, we will be going right past the VCS next Friday and then again back home on Sunday or Monday. We usually stop there for R & R. Last year, they also sold Lebkuchen...I forgot to look to see if they had any left when we stopped there last week
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nancy
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Post by nancy on Jan 2, 2006 16:22:58 GMT -7
In our discussion of this cake last summer, I posted the product information for the one from Vermont: "Wheat flour, Eggs, Sugar, Butter, Margarine, Cream, Potato starch, Beta carotene ( E-160A ), Natural-like food dye, Natural and natural-like aromas." It sounded OK up until the part about potato starch and "natutral-like" food dye and aroma! Aadam talked me out of it, told me to wait till I returned to Poland. So, nope, haven't tried it. I wonder if this is indeed the one that Jaga received from her neighbor.
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