Christmas cooking workshops with Sokołów
Every year before Christmas, Sokołów invites bloggers to a unique, Christmas-themed cooking workshop. This time, cooking together and discovering new taste combinations took on a special character. The special guest of the workshop was Matteo Brunetti – a cooking enthusiast born in Italy, who prepared traditional Italian Christmas dishes together with the participants. There were also great propositions for a festive dinner derived from British cuisine, which the guests prepared with the Sokołów chef - Dominik Moskalenko.
Christmas is a time of meetings with family and friends. Their integral part are festive, carefully prepared meals. Although here the tradition reigns, many people are looking for inspiration and new ideas to surprise their guests with exceptional taste. “During our workshops, we educate people on important issues, such as the diet of the elderly, children and cooking in the zero waste spirit,” says Marcin Bałanda, Sokołów S.A. PR and Communications Director. “We also try to expand our culinary horizons. The upcoming Christmas is a great opportunity to discover new flavours and cook dishes that cannot be found on our tables every day. Together with our special guest, Matteo Brunetti, we have invited participants on a culinary journey to Italy, which is famous for its kitchen. We also got to know the dishes originating from Great Britain, which we have prepared with Dominik Moskalenko - the Sokołów chef.”
In Italy - just like in Poland - Christmas is celebrated in a very traditional way. That is especially true when it comes to food. Mateo Brunetti told the guests about the dishes most common in the Lazio region. Many recipes are passed down from generation to generation and have not changed for years. The whole family gathers at the Christmas table, so the preparations require the involvement of many people. Many of these dishes are time-consuming and require a lot of work, precision and skill. One of such dishes is undoubtedly the tortellini in brodo – the famous Italian ravioli, served in broth. During the workshops they have been prepared with hand-made pasta, carefully formed and glued together, then briefly cooked in an aromatic beef and vegetable broth. They owe their unique character to the stuffing stuffing prepared on the basis of beef sirloin, pork loin and maturing Sokołów sarmacka ham. The magic ingredient was the parmesan cheese, which has complemented the stuffing perfectly and gave a unique flavour to the entire dish. Of course, Italian Christmas, wouldn’t be complete without traditional sweets. They are not just pastries, such as panettone and pandoro, but also desserts which do not require baking. One example is another food that we have prepared during the workshops. i.e. torrone bianco morbido. It is a dessert prepared on the basis of egg whites, sugar and honey, with lots of crunchy nuts – mainly pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts. Deliciously sweet, a truly festive treat.
The Sokołów chef, Dominik Moskalenko, presented dishes originating from the British cuisine. Together with the participants he has prepared some classic proposals. For entrée – the Yorkshire pudding, which works well when combined with additives such as crispy, fried bacon, meat pies or “Z gruntu dobre” vegetable pastes. It was served with beef sirloin steak tartare with the addition of shallots, capers, pickles and Worcestershire sauce. The main course – as befits a festive dinner – was impressively served and excellent in taste. It was the famous beef Wellington – or beef sirloin steak, baked stuffed with mushrooms and spinach, wrapped in pancake dough and puff pastry.
Traditionally, the meeting was culminated with a common meal accompanied by lively conversation about Christmas inspirations and how many positive emotions can be gained by reaching for culinary traditions of other countries.