Warsaw: The Amazing Food Served At A Former Communist Canteen | Paul Hollywood's City Bakes | Tonic

I'm visiting the baking capitals of the world volition in search of the people the places and the traditions that make the very best of baking Wow from the laid-back sunshine vibe of Miami to the European chic of Paris ah super [Applause] [Music] I'm in Warsaw I've never actually been to Poland before but I'm here to check out the baking culture of this former communist state I meet up with a queen of Polish patisserie with a unique take on cake so you get big woman small woman this is any favorite yeah and this is it is more slim I find a home away from home and a former communist canteen you are a good chef will you be my mother and for my city bake lovely polka those fellow I'm raising the bar by putting a modern spin on a Polish classic they look fantastic [Music] my journey to find the best of world baking has brought me to Poland's capital city of Warsaw I love it and love revived this place it's a complex City where reminders of Warsaw's communist past loom large alongside the pretty fairytale streets of the old town this is the almost a showstopper of Warsaw this is the main market place I think it's absolutely gorgeous Warsaw has withstood anything history could throw at it and during the Nazi occupation was almost brought to its knees 85% of Warsaw was flattened during the Second World War since then it's all been rebuilt and rebuilt based on pitches and photographs of the old town when you look at all these old lamps looks like Victorian thing it's not it's 60 years old [Music] despite its old-world charm Warsaw is a forward-looking city in fact Poland's economy has never been stronger Warsaw now is a cool funky city I say cool it is absolutely breezing it's minus seven degrees today but one thing that's always guaranteed to warm me off is sampling the delights of the city's baking culture like this ice to doughnut with rose petal Jam now that is unusual and quite popular in Poland but I can't hang around eating Donuts all day I've got an important date I'm meeting Magda Kessler a TV chef and a national treasure who's been hailed as the queen of Warsaw patisserie she apparently makes the most exquisite cakes and pastries let's see what the like shall we Magda's made a name for herself by putting traditional polish cakes back on the menu she's updated recipes and injected a dollop of flamboyant font making the classic school again hello how are you and just like her Magda's cakes are big and creativity and even bigger of personality the first one is this one okay vodka vodka vodka it's a woman that was a woman yes it's woman okay because it's round it's the way the babka is the grand-am of Polish cakes and translates as grandmother because of its shape that resembles the pleats of a ladies scarce [Music] there's lots of versions of the theme but this one's a classic smothered in almonds and fruits very very fresh regular looks very lots of flavor new orange button right no no no fresh it's orange skin and you fry it off it's fried indeed sugar syrup no ice you've got that citrus going through you've got the free coconut it's like it's like me it is like you it's very sweet lots going on Magda's babka has hit the spot now for her next choice we're going from the matronly to the miniature vodka I love the way you realize all cakes to women woman yeah and this is a little more free more younger totally bonkers but I love it this little lady's looks are deceiving I thought it had a pastry crust but it's actually sponge got the yellow in that the yellow is fantastic I comes from the eggs it comes from the butter but it tastes so good and it does melt in her mouth very different to the first babka I couldn't come to Magda's without trying her poppy seed cake an Eastern European speciality crammed with ground poppy seeds nuts and dried fruits and a world away from the pale of Western versions that I'm used to this would be a first name Wow the player is intense that's a strong flavor you get sweetness but not too much it's a perfect combination but then you get the poppy seed coming through hi little poppy seed anyway Papa's here anything's gorgeous but poppy seed in this soft and then there's a like crunch in there as well that is a bit like a Christmas cake but better that is delicious that for me encapsulates what polish baking is about Magda has built up a great business here for herself with cakes as good as you get anywhere in Europe but there was a time when it wasn't possible to set up shop in the streets of Warsaw during poland's four decades of communist rule if you weren't eating at home you're probably in a bar Malecha or milk bar and a handful of these subsidized canteen style kitchens can still be found in the city today hello and for one good reason right if you know what you're ordering they offer hearty homestyle canteen food that's popular with everyone from pensioners to students and it all costs next to nothing thank you of three pounds this is obviously the heart of the operation the main kitchen it reminds me of a CAF I used to go see when I was a kid okay it's gonna erythema steer it site loads and mums feeding me food I think it's a good thing smells coming from there they're incredible my three pounds has bought me what looks like beetroot soup some dumplings a cabbage dish and a lovely cup of tea Germany milk make obviously it's slightly ironic to have to ask for milk in a milk bar so-called because of the number of dairy items on the menu although there's plenty of other traditional dishes too hmm there's beetroot soup vegetables in there beetroot in there too warm season beautifully I like that Wow now this is the cabbage it's fried cabbage a little bit of stock lots and lots of flavour in there quite pungent in flavour good for you but again everything now everything that's on this play is basically functional to keep you going its nutritional you've got the beetroot you've got the cabbage over here you got the dumplings which I think it's got meat inside it and then look it's like an unbaked empanada oh they're lovely if I stuck that in the fryer neeti you'd swear you're in Spain it is amazing it's it's it's like stepping back in time and it and you get that feeling of communism in the air live not that before since have been in Warsaw reflective as well just let you think one of the reasons this place has stayed true to itself is thanks to owner Jemima Bukowski who for the past 27 years has been rustling up good honest polish fare like this traditional fried pancake you're a good chef we'll eat will she will you be my mother [Music] well that was my little tasters come in his field nutritional it was warm it does the job and you need it it's that cold outside but I braved the elements again [Music] next time time travelling through walls baking past Wow but that's incredible er my dad used to work on something like this and it's the future with Poland's most visionary patisserie well we have done is deconstructed a traditional polish game a whole thing together is a work of art [Applause] my baking adventure has brought me to Poland's capital Warsaw a city of contrasts from indulgent rich cakes to good honest communist staples I'm discovering a whole new world of paper [Music] it's early evening in Warsaw and most people are heading home but for some the working day is just beginning the darkness is always the time for a baker to go to work now this bakery is very special it's been around for a long long time make some of the best bread in Warsaw and apparently they've got an oven that dates about many many years and I can't wait to see it Pierre Carina Pavan sky bakery is as authentic as they come Robert Pavan sookie's father opened this family-run business in 1955 and incredibly it's hardly been modernized since just follow me I love traditional bakeries having grown up in my dad's in the 70s but this is the real deal most of this equipment dates back to pre World War two and for enthusiasts like me it's geek heaven [Music] after the operation this is where the mixing in the dough happens the molding the shaping of the go and the rising of the dough slowly before it goes his nil but you can smell the flower Robert and his team supply a hundred shops across the city with some of the finest polish breads from Hulka a braided egg loaf to the horseshoe brioche raga lick and all with the help of these fateful machines this is a very old mixer isn't exactly here's the mix the mix trace of this all the beginning of the 20th century Wow but that's incredible my dad my dad used to work on something like this very similar yeah but it was a it's art effects mixer mm-hmm mixes like this this place is like a working museum and the mother of all ovens thought to be the oldest in Warsaw is at the heart of the operation as soon as we walked in i knew that was very special I want to go look it can I get see this of course please you'd like to try I would like to have a go yeah I've never seen anything quite like this before it kicks out a fearsome amount of heat I can't wait to get stuck in it's a big please come up to you okay I'll make it oh I see so why'd you put it from this oven to that oven because here that the preacher is to hire in this in this cave it's a good temperature for beginning you know but not for finishing baking okay okay so basically the oven and there's things the bread kills the yeast and then it goes into the top to dry out and finally bake how long did these ovens been here already secondhand construction you know so the construction was from they're knighting a southeast 1940s I think it was during the forties when Poland was under German occupation that Roberts father first discovered his love of baking during the war he have to hide from Germans in the bakery because he he was sentenced to death by the German authorities Wow during occupation see your tab became a baker because he was hiding from the from the Germans at the time wow that's incredible it's humbling to think what Roberts dad must have gone through but inspiring all the same to see his legacy living on believe me that's hard work there must be 500 600 loaves in there bringing them all out with appeal from there to there and then out again it's hardware but worth it you end up with a great quality product at the end of it this is what bacon is all about [Music] it's my last day in Warsaw and for my city bake I'm heading to the ultra chic Cafe a debt a place that's been redefining Polish patisserie suta me look at these these are top ends the man behind these intricate works of art is perfectionist and HF Jarek Nowakowski how are you here we are extinct minded obsession with cake excellence has resulted in some world-class bakes your we have done is we have deconstructed a traditional polish bag we have a cheesecake which is baked we have poppy seed cake which is massive of a Christmas so we wanted to include all the flavors that go into it but so you could get basically a better visual effect where you can a whole thing together is a work of art and taste absolutely the fact that taste is doing the work for knowledge that poppy seed cake is gonna be itching to get to work for my city bake Derek and I are going to create baking perfection by putting a modern twist on a great polish classic okay so what we're going to do is basically a pop currently about 10 now it's just basically a sponge which we're gonna bake in these little dinky tins traditionally a babka is a sweet yeast leavened cake with raisins but we're going to mix it up a bit we're starting off as you would a basic sponge firstly in goes our softened butter then add to that caster or granulated sugar and mix together [Music] next gradually start to add the eggs so we carry on mixes together you can see the consistencies quite soft see now I'm happy with that now basically the next thing in add is some flour now this has got baking powder in it you want glucose look at us first now this is unusual why'd you put glucose in there it's just a little secret that I actually picked it up in France from an old Baker it helps to maintain the moisture within the cake and also the the mixture becomes a little bit more elastic and we don't put as much ok next at the plain flour and baking powder and mix together now we've got something which is fairly interesting we've got a toasted desiccated coconut yeah that is interesting and that goes very well with lemon and I mean that's a lot of coconut though it does a lot of pertinent yet yeah I mean it turns out like a coconut cake rather than a vodka lady's Bop go just with a twist okay we'd give that a mix together spreads up with a mix Charlotte looking looks pretty nice nice shiny smooth now we've got some cream there's just double cream iam double cream can be whipping cream okay we'll just add it last right we mix this together and you end up with a beautiful dropping consistency like that now we're gonna add some lemon zest and lime zest now you normally weigh this or that yeah I do yeah now I used to do that many many moons ago and then because most of their measurements don't go to that small so to be honest use to the zest of two lemons and the zest of two limes in there basically basically this need Sharma makes a bit blogs it was a fine microblaze it's like no no no to be honest we have chosen that just so you don't get to says the pith yeah so you get only this comment I don't want to take the pith [Laughter] [Music] okay so what I've got in there is the zest I'm just gonna fold that in so you end up with hundred smells lovely that coconut on that line okay go on you get hands dirty so what we're going to do is put this mixture in these little kings here we need scales you're gonna wait you're actually gonna wait this up oh yeah unbelievable [Laughter] Derek's being super meticulous but for mere mortals like you and me just put a thin layer of mixture into the tin and then for an authentic polish touch we're adding a layer of traditional rose petal Jam okay so we've got a little bit of rose jam in the middle yeah so now the a little bit more sponge on the top yeah someone cake you've got that beautiful little bit of rose and Yodle lovely so okay it's one more thing I would like to do okay I've got the little bit of oil mm-hmm and I'm just gonna score them that's a nice touch obviously you don't have to do this at home this is just emphasizing that when it cracks it ensures that the crack actually happens in the middle or not to the side and balloons the whole cake up so we're going to pop up perfectly fill mini tins into a fan oven on about 160 see for 35 minutes oh yeah lovely how those fellas now all that's left is a few finishing touches painter lemon icing glaze on the top about 200 grams of icing sugar to 25 grams of lemon juice a little bit of lemon and grape that onto the top or look at that and finally Gehrig's immaculate yellow macaron complements the lemon peel and that is cake perfection they look fantastic but the last thing I want to do really is try that a place [Music] look at that texture smell of coconut lovely it's beautiful they've got that coconut in it's got the lemon in they taste a little bit of lime in there as well but a little of the texture nice sponge thank you all right thank you let me use your kitchen thank you thanks buddy pleasure Marvis [Music] when I came to Warsaw I was expecting dark dingy not what's going on a bit grey request it's not the right word but I couldn't have been more wrong it's a colorful place peg on personality steeped in history mitts baking is superb it draws inspiration from its past but it's also looking ahead the future of always baking is very very bright I think it's a very very cool City I will definitely be back [Music]

Channel: Tonic

Views: 439,622

Rating: 4.7534342 out of 5

Keywords: Paul Hollywood, paul hollywood's city bakes, city bakes, city bakes full episodes, paul hollywood warsaw, Paul Hollywood full episodes, City bakes, city bakes paul hollywood, full episode, full episodes, season 1, season 1 episode 8, tonic, tonic channel, what to eat in warsaw, miami seafood restaurants, Tonic, odette warsaw, food in warsaw

Id: Ez0Vf0rZkKc

Length: 23min 15sec (1395 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 27 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/rzeczem]

Discount Gordon Ramsey couldn’t go 3 minutes without talking about communism. Overall it was an interesting watch though.

[u/allotaconfussion]

I liked his baking show. He’s a little full of himself but all in all pretty entertaining.