Poland’s leading restaurants are seeing a significant shift toward culinary traditions. Homemade sourdough, homemade jam and seasonal pickles, once associated exclusively with country cooking, have become a marker of quality in prestigious establishments. Top-notch cooks are reaching back to ancient methods of food production, combining them with modern techniques. Practices that have served to preserve products on farms for centuries are now hosted in places honored with Michelin stars. The professionals make it a point of honor to bake bread themselves, create creamy butter and prepare original preserves that give dishes their unique character.
This fascination with traditional methods is the result of broader changes in the Polish restaurant market. Inspiration was provided by the slow food philosophy, which promotes the conscious and careful preparation of dishes, as well as the experience of Scandinavian cuisine, valued for its closeness to nature and respect for ingredients. Initially, only a handful of establishments chose to make their own bread or preserves, but today it is a growing trend. Increasingly, in award-winning restaurants, self-prepared products – from sourdough baked goods to long-matured meats – are being created in specially adapted spaces.
At Warsaw’s NUTA restaurant, the kitchen prepares butter, hams and ferments seasonal produce on its own, guided by the belief that culinary development must grow out of a deep understanding of ancient techniques. –Only perfect mastery of classic culinary methods opens the way to experimentation in the restaurant. Every chef is first and foremost a craftsman.
He needs to know the classical techniques, because without this he will go no further. He can’t become a true virtuoso and get a Michelin star without a solid foundation. It would be like a Nobel winner in mathematics not knowing the basics of arithmetic: it would be inconceivable – says Chef Camastra of Warsaw’s NUTA restaurant.
Pickling in Polish tradition goes beyond a mere method of preservation. Perfected for generations in rural households, it gave dishes a distinctive, intense flavor. Every farm collected barrels of sauerkraut and cucumbers as a reserve for the winter. Various ingredients were added to the cabbage – carrots, dill, cherry sprigs or horseradish leaves – creating regional flavor variations. Modern science confirms that lactic acid bacteria not only prolong the shelf life of products, but increase vitamin content and create natural probiotics.
Baking and dairy products have always been of special importance in the Polish home. Viewed as a living organism, bread leaven was often passed down between generations and required regular care. Equal attention was paid to the creation of butter, where the right temperature of the cream and thorough quenching in cold water were crucial.
Chef Camastra, who has already won a Michelin star seven times for his establishments, works on a four-year old bacterial culture, using both rye and wheat bases and their mixtures. He also creates exceptional butter – recently served with nduja. –When making our own butter, we can add any flavorful ingredients: bear garlic, herbs or even truffles. The secret to velvety butter is to choose cow’s milk fat cream with 100% preservative-free cream composition – he reveals.
In addition to fermentation and baking, smoking meats played an important role in Poland’s culinary heritage. This skill required expertise – from the selection of suitable wood to knowledge of maturation methods. Like pickling, it allowed food to be preserved for a long time while enhancing its qualities. At NUCIE, this craft finds a contemporary application – proprietary meat products are created here, including hams and pancetta, as well as hand-smoked salmon.
Today, restaurant guests are becoming increasingly aware of the quality of the food they eat. They are asking not only about the menu, but also about the origin of ingredients and methods of preparation. This is part of a broader trend – a growing interest in food made by traditional means, without artificial additives. Handmade cheeses, pickles or homemade jams are recognized as expressions of authentic mastery. Responding to these needs, culinary experts are taking charge of the process of creating the base ingredients, allowing them to ensure the highest quality. Thanks to their own facilities, they control the aging time, the degree of maturation and the composition of spices. Original preserves and pickles make it possible to create unique flavor combinations that become the hallmark of individual places on the gastronomic map of the city.
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Andrea Camastra – One of the most talented and honored chefs in Poland. Former owner of Senses restaurant, five times honored with a Michelin star for its original Polish-Italian menu. Senses was also the first restaurant in Poland to be included in the prestigious 50 Best Discovery list. Since 2015, a member of the “Oxford Encyclopedia of Personalities of the Republic of Poland” – a title awarded to him for his lifetime achievements in the culinary field, and now also a master’s degree from Oxford University. He is a promoter of the innovative “note-by-note” (note-by-note) cooking technique, which reaches for the purest single particles of flavors and aromas, extracted from naturally occurring ingredients.
Prof. Hervé This, creator of molecular gastronomy, recognized Andrea Camastra as the successor to the legendary Ferran Adria of El Bulli restaurant. In 2015, he was recognized by the Gault&Millau Poland guide as “Chef of the Future” and in 2017 as “Chef of the Year.” Andrea Camastra was also included in the list of 100 Best Chefs in the World 2019 according to the prestigious French magazine “Le Chef.” In 2020, the Government of the Italian Republic and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs included Andrea Camastra in the list of the most talented and successful Italian professionals on the international scene of the last century.
