"Fresh From Poland" is beautifully designed, personal, accessible, and has easy-to-follow recipes. Although I'm of Polish descent, my experience with Polish food is very limited, and of the experiences I've had, most are specific to Ashkenazic traditions. As a librarian, a novice chef, an avid eater, and most importantly, a reader who reads cookbooks like novels, I loved how Michal made the recipes come alive through his personal story and yet precise and informative so that this book appeals to readers, eaters, and cooks.

I tested out his sauerkraut fritters - it just so happens that I had all of the ingredients in the house to begin with. Michal encourages readers to personalize recipes, so I did just that. I happened to have a beautiful batch of cabbage sauerkraut and beet sauerkraut, so why not use both in the recipe? The prep was easy to follow (and easy to do) and the cooking took no time at all. As a lover of (almost) all things fermented, I accidentally ate half of the results within a few hours, and I'm very okay with that.

I can't wait to try his other recipes for myself and if there are any leftovers, for my loved ones. This is definitely a cookbook to have on hand at all times.

I love cooking a variety of foods from all around the world so when I see a region specific cookbook that I haven't really cooked from I am always interested to learn some new dishes. I thought it was also pretty cool that even though this is a Polish cuisine cookbook, that is is 100% vegetarian. I didn't think that took away from the book at all, and I think even non vegetarians (like myself) can find plenty to enjoy in these pages. I was specifically intrigued with the sauerkraut fritters, the side dishes, and the section on pierogi alone is worth getting the book. I also think all of the desserts sound delicious. I recommend this book to vegetarians looking for some diversity in their meals, as well as people who enjoy learning about other cultures and food from around the world.

Most people associate Polish cuisine with rich, heavy meats such as kielbasa. But Michał Korkosz reveals a whole new side of his beloved culinary heritage—showcasing beautiful fruits, vegetables, grains, and herbs while still evoking the traditional food of his mother and grandmother.
Korkosz’s passion for food shines through in his award-winning photographs. Here is vegetable-forward comfort food for every occasion: Brown Butter Scrambled Eggs; Buckwheat Blini with Sour Cream; Sourdough Rye with Cultured Kefir Butter; Chilled Beet Soup with Cucumber, Radish, and Dill; Polish Cheesecake, and (of course) sweet and savory pierogi of every kind. Polish cuisine has never been more vibrant—or delicious.

This book is lovely. The photography is clear and beautiful, the food sounds delicious. Korkosz's writing is very personable and what he has to say about each recipe is an added bonus. I got hungry every time I picked it up.

This cookbook is amazing! Not only does it have the background of each recipe, history, how to make it here in the states aka outside of Poland- the pictures are beautiful and the most important part the recipes are laid out in clear directions!
The layout and design are one of the best I have seen for a while. It's simple, clean, with pictures and clear directions.
The author starts with how he got cooking and then main Polish ingredients. The cookbook is broken into typical themes. As someone who lived in Eastern Europe and has been to Poland -- I can't wait to try some of these recipes!

This cookbook is a beautiful delight. It is one of the most unusual cookbooks I’ve been lucky enough to preview. I am not usually a fan of cookbooks with “arty” photos but these are great and there is one for each recipe which is a big plus for me. There are so many fantastic sounding recipes I want to try starting with several in the first chapter alone. I have never felt a desire to make cheese before I read about twarog and now I am writing out my grocery list to do just that. Each recipe includes the Polish name of the dish and ingredient(s) which I will enjoy googling to hear the pronunciations. I can’t wait to get started trying these out. First up the aforementioned twarog and then on to Popped Buckwheat! This would be a treasured addition to anyone’s collection.

I got this to see if I could eat the foods my ancestors ate. I am a few generations post assimilation and a paleo eater. As such I couldn't find much here that seemed both healthy and tasty. I think this is more about me than the book. The recipes seemed well described and illustrated and I imagine those who already like Polish food (beyond perogies and the other more common Polish foods) will enjoy this book.

Very well presented selection of many useful Polish recipes, all of them involving things I won't do – baking, pickling, or six pounds of butter per serving – and all involving nothing I generally rely on, namely meat. Yes, it takes a rare talent to successfully suggest Polish cuisine can be vegetarian, but these selections – cold summer soups through to hearty stews, light breakfast-cum-tea-cum-anywhen-in-between dishes and so on – all contain no meat, and a lot of variety. It also most successfully pegs things back to the traditional family round the traditional kitchen table, each member with their own tastes and approaches but combined in their appreciation of fresh and seasonal ideas. I'm certainly going to try out a few of the soups, if nothing else – to a proper cook or a collector of cookery books this is certainly going to be a keeper.

Growing up I never liked vegetables, even though I was served some every meal. A few years ago, my health had really declined and I made some major changes to my diet. I used to eat a lot of protein with little to no vegetables. I have no reversed this and try to eat a lot of vegetables with very small portions of meat. I got very excited when I saw this cookbook as I'm always looking for more vegetable recipes!

The majority of the recipes do tend to use a lot of flour, milk, and tomatoes. I am gluten-free (GF), so several of these recipes I am going to change them to using GF flours. I am fully aware, the taste may not be exactly the same, but I am looking forward to trying several of these recipes.

While I have some dietary restrictions, this author has done a fantastic job on this cookbook. There are a LOT of great recipes and some beautiful pictures. If you are interested in Polish food, I would highly recommend this book!

As an American of Polish descent, I love Polish food. I have visited Poland in recent years and expanded my knowledge of Polish cooking from what I learned from my family. However, some of my younger relatives are vegetarians and have not been as interested in Polish cuisine because so much of their experience has been recipes heavy with sausage and pork. I ensure a couple of pierogi are meat free each year at the holidays, but real vegetarian options have been out of my repertoire.

To see Fresh From Poland pop up on my radar was so exciting. I have already pre-ordered a couple of copies. The recipes are those I am familiar with, but created without meat. They sound amazing and I can hardly wait to make them with my vegetarian family members. In addition, some recipes are for fundamental ingredients that I am excited to make and have on hand, such as sauerkraut and farmer’s cheese. Bread recipes and desserts that I have not found in my mother’s recipes, such as Polish cheesecake, will now be possible for me to make.

The book is chock full of adapted traditions and lovingly created photographs. I love cookbooks with lots of photos. For the thousands of Poles living in the US, this cookbook will be a great inspiration and a necessary addition to their cookbook collection. Libraries in Polish communities in the US should take note. This is the first really modern Polish cookbook I have seen and the younger generation looking for vegetarian ideas will find them here combined with their family traditions. A winning combination.

As Eastern European food often gets a bad reputation, it was nice to see a cookbook focusing on vegetarian dishes from Poland. Several of them are fairly inexpensive and I loved the layout and sections in the book. The book has also lots of amazing photos.

While I am unable to make most of the recipes in this cookbook (I cook gluten free with limited dairy, and this book is heavy on wheat and often specialty dairy for nearly every recipe), I can't help but give it 5 stars because of all that it has going for it. Korkosz is a Saveur award winning Polish chef who clearly loves this food and passes on traditional Polish recipes in ways that make them appealing and accessible, with gorgeous color photos of every dish. He accompanies them all with stories of how his grandmother or others prepared the dish, how it would be traditionally eaten, and other details that really leave the reader feeling as if they've been taught by a passionate Polish friend who's taken them under his wing, rather than just reading a dry cookbook.

Take note that you may have to source some ingredients you don't generally cook with, such as rose petals (used often). Vegans take note that not many recipes can be adapted easily, as Korkosz loves his butter and cheese. Also note that while this is labeled a vegetarian cookbook, at least one recipe calls for gelatin, which is not vegetarian. No nutritional information is provided.

I am going to attempt to convert some of these recipes to gluten free and adapt them to ingredients in my kitchen while still working to maintain their overall aesthetics. I'll update this review with my results when and if I get a chance to do so.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

I love cookery books and I find that ones that focus on recipes from other countries and cultures particularly interesting. This does not alway work out as I quite often find the recipes difficult to recreate as I am not able to buy the ingredients. This book has great recipes with minimal fuss and easy to find ingredients. I love it (particularly the dessert section).

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an unbiased review.

Polish (and lots of Eastern European) cuisine gets a bad rap for being bland, heavy, and full of meat. Michal Korkosz completely proves that wrong, These recipes sound so good and use a lot of easily available and kind of underrated ingredients (like farmer's cheese) and bonus: a lot of these are very inexpensive. I bookmarked a bunch - a kind of sauerkraut pancake, creamy beets, a lentil, cabbage and mushroom concoction that sounds like perfect wintertime food. I really want to try to make pierogies and admittedly he makes it look easy with some great variations on the typical vegetarian options.

He tells some sweet stories of his family and growing up and what the various foods are eaten with and when, and it was a fun cultural immersion.

Also, the photographs are stunning. The bio explains that he combines his love of cooking with that of food photography, and I was so impressed that he'd done the photos himself. And he's 22! Wonderful book, great ideas, and gorgeous presentation. Polish cuisine really deserves a better reputation, this book makes huge leaps in getting it there.