The Best Of east and west

Poland is a true ethnic mosaic of Poles, Germans, Lithuanians, Jews, Turks and Tatars – with the latter’s cuisine highlighted at the Polish Tatar Food Festival 2018 held at Shook! in Starhill Gallery’s Feast Village . The three-day festival showcased the best of traditional Tatar food, characterised as Central Asian dishes with Eastern European influences.

Organised in partnership with The Embassy of the Republic of Poland, a delicious array of dishes was prepared by guest chef Marcin Budynek. The famed chef was selected for his culinary prowess, hosting his own cooking shows, running a culinary academy as well as his own riverside restaurant in Poland, Tawerna Fisza.

Dishes like the baba ziemniaczana (potato cakes) and dumplings known as czebureki and manty were showcased. The flavourful czebureki was stuffed with minced beef marinated in cumin and cinnamon, while the potato cakes accompanied a scrumptious duck baked in garlic and rosemary. A cuisine dominated by grain, wild game and freshwater fish, other mains included a slow-roasted lamb shoulder and buttered salmon with a casserole of haricot beans, warm grapes and pickled vegetables.

“The Tatar kitchen is Oriental because it’s located at the crossroads between the East and West, with influences from Mongolia,” explains Chef Budynek. His favourite dish is the cold beetroot soup, which is a cooling summer dish made from fresh yoghurt, sour cream, buttermilk, Dijon mustard and roasted beetroot juice.

With an estimated 200 Poles living in Malaysia, according to the Embassy, the festival was all the more special as it marked the 100th year of Poland’s Independence Day on 11 November 1918.

For dining reservations at Shook! at Feast Village Starhill Gallery, call +60 3 2782 3875 or email feastvillage@ytlhotels.com.my.