In an excerpt from 'Fieldwork,' Iliana Regan’s second memoir, the chef traces her family’s czarnina-making tradition back to the woods of Poland
, out this month, is firmly rooted in the woods, whether it’s those that surround Milkweed , the ones that were the setting for her rural Indiana childhood, or the Eastern European forests roamed by those relatives Regan never met, but have nonetheless left an unmistakeable imprint on Regan’s philosophies, culinary and otherwise. With each chapter, Regan seems to hunt for the threads that tie them all together.
Mom sliced most of the borowiki into quarters and the smaller ones in half. When Dad and I hunted them, he told me to look near the bases of the largest pines, and specifically under the hemlocks. “See how this one has the branches in triplets, how they fan out like the chickens’ feet?” He placed his palm under one of the branches and held it there. The pads of his calloused palms were shiny beneath the hemlock needles. The branch looked like a peace sign on his palm.
A crack echoed. The wind came in from the north — the southernmost end of the boreal forest. The sound waves echolocated white oak, wild apple, gray pine, paper birch, hemlock, beech, mulberry, and silver-tipped maple. The wind pushed the echo into the valleys and bounced it along the surface of whitewater rivers. It spread across fields stubbled with yellow prairie grasses.
“Something like you,” Dad would say one day, telling me about her. But she was more interesting, I thought. A green glass bottle of red wine that had turned to sour was next to the bowl. She added some of it to the blood to prevent clots. The smell of iron and acid was piercing; she could almost taste it as it settled in the ripples of her own esophagus. Just then, the whip of cool air blew in; it felt good, releasing the shirt stuck from sweat to her chest. She caught the scent of forest. She loved this smell. This meant the borowiki were here.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Poland Suggests Sending German-Made Tanks to Ukraine Without Berlin’s OKThe statement is the latest sign of exasperation shared by the U.S. and its European allies that Germany’s hesitation over sending tanks will deprive Ukraine of critical resources in its war with Russia.
Read more »
Binance registers as virtual asset service provider in PolandCan't stop, won't stop. Binance is blanketing the globe and it's sights are set on Poland next.
Read more »
Binance to Increase Presence in Poland in Compliance With Local Regulations – Exchanges Bitcoin NewsBinance has unveiled intentions to broaden its activities in Poland, another EU member state where the global crypto exchange is registered.
Read more »
Why is Germany under pressure to send tanks to Ukraine?The outcome of Ukraine’s increasing push for Western tanks depends in large part on Germany. Poland and Finland say they want to send German-made Leopards to Ukraine. But the German government has not signed off.
Read more »
Feds trace Hyde Park shooting to alleged straw sale, charge gun dealerFederal authorities charged a 28-year-old Massachusetts man with conspiring to sell three handguns to a straw buyer that were later linked to one of three people injured in a shooting in Boston.
Read more »