For most of the year the Poles had to get by with only domestic winter fruit and vegetables: apples, onions, potatoes, cabbage, root vegetables.This situation led in turn to gradual replacement of traditional Polish cuisine with food prepared from anything available at the moment. Among the popular dishes introduced by the public restaurants was an egg cutlet, a sort of a hamburger made of minced or instant egg and flour. The traditional recipes were mostly preserved during the Wigilia feast (Christmas Eve), for which most families tried to prepare 12 traditional courses.

The appetizers we ordered included Fried pickled herring, Twarog (farmer’s cheese) smorrebrod, and Placki ziemniaczane with gravlax. The Fried pickled herring turns out to be a Swedish specialty, also known as Stekt strömming. The fried pickled herring was served at room temperature and topped with gravlax and vegetables. It was tart, savory, and tasty for those who like pickled herring. The Twarog (farmer’s cheese) smorrebrod was like a cucumber sandwich, Polish style. Twarog is a fresh white cheese common in Eastern Europe, best likened to a ricotta in flavor, but drier and more solid (the Polish variety is apparently even drier and more solid than other Eastern European Twarog). Placki ziemniaczane with gravlax are potato pancakes served with smoked salmon. Placki is the Polish term for potato pancakes and there is a lot of regional variation in the preparation of pancakes (in Silesia and Beskydy they may be oven-baked rather than fried). Ziemniaczane is Polish for potato, and gravlax is the Polish term for smoked salmon (lox) is gravlax. The predominance of gravlax might be an indication of the Scandinavian bent of some of the food at Domku Bar & Cafe. These were thinner than we predicted, crispy, and savory.

The entrees we ordered were Bigos Warszawski, Swedish meatballs & mashed potatoes with lingonberry preserves, and Stuffed nalesniki (cheese). According to Wikipedia Bigos is:

A savory stew of cabbage and meat, there is no standard recipe, as recipes vary considerably from region to region and from family to family. Typical ingredients include fresh and fermented white cabbage (sauerkraut, kapusta kiszona in Polish), various cuts of meat and sausages, often whole or puréed tomatoes, honey and mushrooms. The meats may include pork (often smoked), ham, bacon, beef, veal, sausage, and, as bigos is considered a hunters’ stew, venison or other game; leftover cuts find their way into the pot as well. It may be seasoned with pepper, caraway, juniper berries, bay leaf, marjoram, pimento, dried or smoked plums and other ingredients.

The Bigos Warszawski at Domku Bar & Cafe was very thick and contained carrots and sausage. In the Polish epic poem Pan Tadeusz the members of szlachta are described eating Bigos returning from hunting:

In the pots warmed the bigos; mere words cannot tell

Of its wondrous taste, colour and marvellous smell.

One can hear the words buzz, and the rhymes ebb and flow,

But its content no city digestion can know.

To appreciate the Lithuanian folksong and folk food,

You need health, live on land, and be back from the wood.

Without these, still a dish of no mediocre worth

Is bigos, made from legumes, best grown in the earth;

Pickled cabbage comes foremost, and properly chopped,

Which itself, is the saying, will in ones mouth hop;

In the boiler enclosed, with its moist bosom shields

Choicest morsels of meat raised on greenest of fields;

Then it simmers, till fire has extracted each drop

Of live juice, and the liquid boils over the top,

            And the heady aroma wafts gently afar.

The Swedish meatballs & mashed potatoes with lingonberry preserves were rich, hearty, and delicious despite the fact that they were not Polish. However, the Stuffed nalesniki we also ordered is a traditional Polish food. Nalesniki translates to pancake in Polish, and is similar to a crepe and can be served either sweet or savory. These were served savory and filled with cheese, kasza, vegetables, and cream. They were incredibly rich. Apparently nalesniki have also been adopted in Russia and the Ukraine.

We also sampled the wide array of drinks and had dessert (bread pudding and beet cake). The bread pudding was not Polish. The beet cake was an interesting usage of an ingredient common in Polish food, to be reserved for those who genuinely love the taste of beets. The drinks offered at Domku are impressive and they have a large bar featuring Polish beers, aquavits (Scandinavian), unique cocktails, and seasonal beverages (we tried to get the mulled beer, but they were out). They have a huge amount of options, including elderflower cordial, Becherovka herbal liquor, lemongrass ginger aquavit, etc.

We also learned that pierog is singular and pierogi is plural, so saying “pierogis” is double pluralizing.

Note: Call ahead if you are set on a certain item, like pierogi, as they were out of several items when we arrived.

TOTAL: $130, excluding taxes and tip (three appetizers, three entrees, four cocktails, three desserts)

We ordered the Confit Pork Belly and the dinner meat pie (there are several varieties, including vegetarian, but we chose lamb). The Confit Pork Belly was rich and had a meatball like texture and was served with mashed potatoes. The meat pie is an iconic food in New Zealand (and Australia) and are hand-sized (like this one was). According to Wikipedia, the average Kiwi consumes 15 meat pies per year. Traditional meat pies are known for their low nutritional value and quality, in fact, “former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr launched a Childhood obesity Summit in 2002 where he told participants that feeding children a diet of meat pies, sausage rolls and chiko rolls was akin to child cruelty” (Australian & New Zealand Meat Pie). However, Cassatt’s ingredients tasted high quality and the meat pie was served with a fresh salad and chutney, rather than gravy. Meat pies are so integral to New Zealand culture that there is even an annual meat pie contest, judged by celebrities:

In New Zealand an annual pie competition is held since 1997, the Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards aims to recognise the best pie manufacturers in New Zealand and assisting them in producing award-winning pies and continuing to help foster and encourage developments within this category of baking.

[There are] 11 categories – mince and gravy; chicken and vegetables; gourmet meat; bacon and egg; gourmet fruit; steak, vegetable and gravy; steak and cheese; vegetarian; mince and cheese; seafood and commercial wholesale pies. The pies were judged on presentation, the pastry on the top and bottom, the filling and the profile.

We finished the meal with tea and pavlova. The tea, disappointingly, was a standard bag of Stash tea. The pavlova tasted delicious and appeared quite legitimate, served with kiwi, strawberry, and blueberry on top along with raspberry syrup. The pavlova is purported to have been in invented in New Zealand and is named after the ballerina, Anna Pavlova. The Pavlova:

is made by beating egg whites (and sometimes salt) to a very stiff consistency before folding in caster sugar, white vinegar, cornstarch, and sometimes vanilla, and slow-baking the mixture to create the meringue. This makes the outside of the pavlova a crisp crunchy shell, while the interior remains soft and moist. The pavlova’s internal consistency is thus completely different from that normally associated with meringue, having more of a soft marshmallow texture.

A Pavlova is traditionally decorated with a topping of whipped cream and fresh fruit of sweet/tart flavours, such as strawberries and kiwifruit, or passionfruit and banana or berries and peach slices. Raspberry is a popular topping in the United Kingdom, with the tartness of raspberries contrasting with the sweetness of sugar. Factory-made pavlovas can be purchased at supermarkets and decorated as desired. A commercial product is available that includes pre-mixed ingredients for baking the meringue shell, requiring only the addition of water and sugar.

The secondary influence in New Zealand cuisine, which was not available at Cassatt’s, is Maori cuisine. This style of cuisine is called Hāngi. Newzealand.com describes this cuisine:

Another style of all-year-round outdoor cooking is the traditional Maori hangi (pronounced hung-ee), cooked underground on hot coals, usually prepared for special occasions. It includes a vegetable called the kumara (sweet potato, pronounced ‘koo-murra’) in its feast, along with chicken, pork, lamb, potatoes and other vegetables. The smoky flavour of the hangi is delicious and an essential culinary experience while in New Zealand. Several tourist locations, including Rotorua in the North Island, put down hangis for groups of visitors. A deep hole is dug in the ground, lined with red-hot stones and covered with vegetation. The food is then placed on top. The whole oven is sprinkled with water and sealed with more vegetation. The hole is then filled with earth and left to steam for several hours. Traditionally, men dig and prepare the hole, and women prepare the food to go in it. All members of an extended family (whanau) help out for such a feast. The occasion is relaxed, friendly and fun, with people often eating the meal under a marquee.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any restaurants in the D.C. area that offer this style of New Zealand cuisine we could find.

Total: $33.34, excluding tax and tip (two entrees, one tea, one dessert)