Poland, like France, is a country where people really know food. One can stop at a wayside inn in the country or at a modest restaurant in a working-class city neighborhood and be served a meal worth remembering. Good food is a tradition. Polish Cookery is an American adaptation of Uniwersalna Ksiazka Kucharska (The Universal Cookbook), long the most famous standard cookbook in Poland. All weights and measures have been converted to American usage, and suitable substitutions are provided for hard-to-get ingredients. The recipes range from the familiar to the exotic and include soups like Polish Mushroom and Barley Soup, Fresh Cabbage Soup, many variations of Barszcz, the famous Polish beet soup, and Sorrel Soup with Sour Cream. The Poles are very fond of pates, dumplings, and meat pastries. In Polish Cookery, you'll find recipes for Meat Patties, Potato Croquettes, Venison Pastry, Partridge Pie, Game Pate, many variations on the celebrated Pierogi, or dough pockets, and Buckwheat Cakes. Authentic entrees include Loin of Venison, Roast Wild Goose, Smothered Pike, Turkey in Madeira Sauce. Chicken Casserole with Currants, Smothered Duck in Caper Sauce, Hussar Pot Roast, Tenderloin Smothered in Sour Cream, and perhaps Poland's most famous dish, Bigos, or Hunter's Stew. To round out the Polish meal, there are recipes for Mashed Turnips and Potatoes, Split Pea Fritters, Stuffed Kohlrabi, Fried Carrots, Mushroom Ramekins, and Pearl Barley with Dried Mushrooms. Finally Polish Cookery offers such dessert treats as Almond Torte, Cracow Torte, Spice Cake, and Almond Babka. Polish cuisine evolved over centuries, a combination of East and West, aristocratic hauteur and peasant fare. It is a rich culinary heritage that is faithfully represented here in Polish Cookery.

Marja Ochorowicz-Monatowa is the author of Uniwersalna Ksiazka Kucharska (The Universal Cookbook), a classic Polish cookbook translated and released in English as Polish Cookery.