June and July are two of the most delicious months of the year. The abundance of seasonal fruit and vegetables can be intimidating. Wild cherries, sweet strawberries, blackberries or raspberries are just waiting to be put to good use in the kitchen. Today, we have asked the head chefs of Pomorskie about their plans this year for these seasonal delicacies.
Marcin Faliszek, the head chef of Piwna 47 restaurant, is an expert in breaking salty flavours with the sweetness of seasonal fruit. As he says:
“I like the contrast between sweet and salty. I serve deer loin with fruit demi-glace: currant, cherry, or strawberry. My duck recipe has cherry demi-glace, and beef tenderloin is paired with strawberries. Fruit flavours complement savoury dishes perfectly.”
Indeed, the deer loin with fruit sauce, potato purée with horseradish, served with spinach and parsley tastes exquisitely. It will be in the menu of Piwna 47 for the next 2-3 months. If you’d like a dessert after that, take a walk to the Gdański Bowke restaurant, whose signature dishes are inspired by the traditional, Gdańsk cuisine. The head chef in Gdański Bowke is – surprise, surprise! – Marcin Faliszek. His recommendation for dessert is traditionally served strawberries, roasted with the classic kogel-mogel (egg yolks battered with sugar). The simple yet impressive dessert brings out the sweetness of strawberries. It will take you back to a lazy, sunny summer afternoon at your grandmother’s house.
Speaking of a lazy summer afternoon, the Eliksir restaurant & cocktail bar has something especially for you. A mouth-watering cheesecake with pink candy floss, reminiscent of the “good, old days”. The cake is as light as candy floss, all thanks to creamy cheese and baking in a water bath. Add strawberry coulis and freeze-dried strawberries and you will get a quintessential summer dessert. The counterpoint to the sweet, fruity flavours is the crunchy almond and chocolate cake. If it is true what they say: that a dish reflects its creator’s personality, then it’s no wonder that the author of such a beautiful and crazy dessert is Paweł Wątor, the head chef at Eliksir. Let us not forget that the main idea of the restaurant is exquisite food pairing, i.e., combining cocktails with food. This is why the lovely cheesecake goes so well with the Strawberry Spice cocktail, a combination of GH Mumm champagne with smoked strawberry and juniper liquor, and allspice tincture.
Another delicious item on our menu comes from Mateusz Janusz, the head chef of the Canis restaurant in Gdańsk, located on Ogarna street. Here also the strawberry plays the main part. Together with rhubarb, it sits on top of a crunchy tartlet. However, the head chef has prepared a rather unobvious combination of flavours. But let the author describe it for himself. Says Mateusz Janusz: “The dessert is not too sweet, but rather a bit savoury. Puree of roasted rhubarb and strawberries, blended with fresh basil, is served on a crispy tartlet. On top of the purée, we’ve put white chocolate ganache with a pinch of matcha, which gives a vibrant, green colour, and makes the dessert more refreshing. As sides, we serve warm strawberry confit in potato vodka, with a pinch of cinnamon”, says the head chef, and adds: “it’s an extremely fascinating flavour, which shows a different face of strawberry. Earthy, spicy flavours combine with strawberries, and a crunchy, refreshing tartlet contrasts with warm strawberries”.
You will find an entirely different pool of seasonal flavours in one of the main courses served by Mateusz Janusz: juicy lamb served with sweet and sour carrot and rhubarb purée, with a bit of crunchy confit rhubarb in tarragon and mint essence, topped with pistachio crumble and seasonal vegetables. The sweetness of the carrot puree can easily compete with the flavour of seasonal fruit, and perfectly complements the tender meat.
The Polskie Smaki restaurant, located in the heart of Sopot, opposite the pier, add seasonal fruit to their exceptional desserts. Strawberries are served in the form of jelly, with sour yogurt and lemon cake that complements the flavour of the dessert. The highlight of the second dessert is a chocolate cake served with raspberry cream, and red beets with honey and thyme. As we all know, chocolate and strawberries make a perfect couple, and the red beet side makes this couple a bit crazy. The author of these dessert masterpieces is the executive chef, Krystian Szidel.
Our last stop on this short culinary trip is in Jastrzębia Góra, and more specifically – Lazurowa restaurant in the Szafir hotel. For those hungry for seasonal fruit: the head chef, Tomasz Leśniak, has something just for you. A beautiful, yet simple dessert: strawberry confit and panna cotta served with white chocolate and vanilla. The strawberries are served warm, which causes the panna cotta to melt slightly, flooding the fruit with sweet, vanilla sauce. Everything looks a bit like the strawberries with kogel-mogel that I’d mentioned before. A hint of mint breaks through the sweetness of the dessert and is a refreshing touch. The sight of warm strawberries mixed with melting panna cotta is pure foodporn that is hard to resist.
