It’s almost time to wish you all a wonderful Christmas break. There are presents to wrap and people to see – we’ll all be getting busy. Without doubt, I’m ending the year on a food writing high and this particular feature in BBC Good Food Magazine couldn’t have come at a more special time. If you are able to get your hands on a copy of the January edition of BBC Good Food Magazine – out now – you’ll see an exciting feature called Global Kitchen, with some vibrant ideas for New Year cooking. The BBC Good Food team love to spot new trends and they’ve picked out six cuisines they think we’ll be eating more of and hopefully cooking more of in 2014. Favourites include Pakistani food, aromatic Lebanese, the food of Vietnam, homely Polish food, the Inca-inspired Peruvian kitchen and fresh Korean flavours. What a line up!
To celebrate these ‘up-and-coming’ cuisines, BBC Good Food selected six recipes – including my very own Polish apple cake (Szarlotka) – for us all to try our hands at. I’m incredibly excited to be featured alongside some of my favourite food writers of the moment, including Bethany Kehdy (author of The Jewelled Kitchen highlighted here), cookery teacher and writer Sumayya Jamil. entrepreneurs Van Tran and Anh Vu, Martin Moore (author of Ceviche:Peruvian Kitchen) and Judy Joo, who is about to begin a new series of Korean Food Made Simple.
Spot my Polish apple cake recipe…
Credit: Photograph by Will Heap for BBC Good Food Magazine
So, what do you all think about the cuisines that have been highlighted by the feature? Whilst I am of course biased and hope that Polish and Eastern-European food may make its mark on global cuisine (Poland recently achieved it’s first Michelin star via Chef Amaro in Warsaw.) I am also intrigued by Korean food and I would also love to explore more Lebanese food in my own kitchen as well as trying out some Vietnamese dishes.
I also spotted a recipe in the previous edition of BBC Good Food Magazine for Piernik – a Polish gingerbread cake, by Edd Kimber, which is stuck to my kitchen cabinet with a ‘must-make’ post-it note attached.
I’m more hopeful than ever that I can tempt you all with more Eastern-European baking here on my blog and elsewhere next year.
In the meantime, I’m signing off now for a festive break. Please do leave me a comment in the box below if there are any particular recipes you’d like me to share in 2014, or cuisines you think I should be exploring in my kitchen!
With thanks to Sarah, Helen, Will and the BBC Good Food Team for inviting me to be a part of this feature and for styling and photographing my cake so beautifully.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Sylvia says
Congratulations! It’s always nice to see polish food in papers across the world!
Ren Behan says
Dzieki Sylvia, lovely to find your blog, too.
Urvashi@BotanicalBaker says
That Polish Apple Cake looks wonderful. Beautiful colours. Happy Christmas Ren and what a wonderful year 2014 is for you already! x
Ren Behan says
Thank you Urvashi, yes the feature was a lovely Xmas present. All the very best to you too and I hope your dreams come true xx
Anneli Faiers says
Goodness your apple cake looks divine! Well done. Merry Christmas and happy new year to you x
Ren Behan says
Thank you Anneli, Polish Apple Pancakes up on the blog today, equally tasty!
Mary Sweeting says
Well done Ren it looks wonderful!. Enjoy a very Happy Christmas and a productive cooking and blogging 2014 ahead x
Ren Behan says
Thank you so much Mary, hope to see you again soon. x
kellie@foodtoglow says
Congratulations on this very prominent feature. I do make Vietnamese and Lebanese food, as well as attempting a few authentic Pakistani recipes (Sumayya’s dishes on Instagram are always very vibrant). I must confess that I need to catch up with the Polish trend, but as I have a good friend who is not only Polish, but a great cook, I do leave it to him! Have a wonderful festive break Ren. Enjoy every moment.
Ren Behan says
Thanks Kellie, it’s always good to have a Polish friend, especially one who cooks good food! I too enjoy Sumayya’s recipes. All the best for the new year x
bakingaddict says
Congratulations!! I saw your recipe as I have a subscription to BBC Good Food and added it to my ever growing to bakelist. Have a lovely Christmas and a wonderful New Year X
Ren Behan says
Ah lovely – thank you. Hope you find time some day!
Andrea Mynard says
Well done Ren, hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Would love to explore more Polish & Lebanese food in my kitchen next year, more Scandinavian for me too.
Ren Behan says
Thank you – I adore Lebanese food, and I’ve love to explore more Turkish food, too.
thelittleloaf says
Yum! And congratulations! Have a wonderful Christmas 🙂
Ren Behan says
Thank you so much – hope you enjoyed a good break!