Culinary Travels with Okrasa at Belvedere

For the fifth time Belvedere Restaurant, the Polish Vodka Association and chef Karol Okrasa invited representatives of the diplomatic circles to learn about the delicacies of our native table.

On January 16, 2012, Belvedere restaurant at Warsaw's Lazienki Park held another culinary workshop from a series of culinary workshops promoting Polish cuisine - "Culinary Travels with Okrasa at Belvedere". This time, the Ambassadors' wives, under the watchful eye of Karol Okrasa and the head of the Belvedere patisserie - Aneta Lukasik, prepared Polish cakes. The experts told the story of Warsaw's "Wuzetka" cake and revealed the "secret" to an ideal poppy seed loaf and cheesecake. The meeting ended with a joint lunch combined with a tasting of the pastries baked during the workshop.

The goal of the "Culinary Travels with Okrasa at Belvedere" is to promote Polish cuisine and culture. Preparing traditional Polish dishes together allows representatives of other countries and cultures to get to know our food and beverages as well as regional products, and through them Polish culture, history and traditions, handed down from generation to generation. The campaign is also actively supported by Poland's First Lady – Mrs. Anna Komorowska.

MICE Poland Personality of the Year

On January 20, Warsaw's Pepsi Arena hosted the MICE Poland Personality of the Year 2011 gala, organized for the fourth time by MICE Poland magazine.

During the event, the winners of this year's edition of the contest were announced. They included Renata Razmuk, Renault Poland (Employer of the Year), Wojciech Cłapiński, El Padre (Organizer of the Year) and Katarzyna Niezgoda, Vienna International Hotels & Resorts (Facility Manager of the Year). A new item on year's agenda was the title Discovery of the Year of MPI Poland, awarded to Davide Odella (Trip Group)

The culinary side of the event was the work of Belvedere Catering by Design, which prepared exceptional catering for the gala. Cold appetizers and salads were elegantly displayed on illuminated buffets. Out of the hot dishes, the roast duck in rose petals was the most popular, followed by Asian carp in red curry and aromatic tomato cream with coconut milk and soy sprouts. Connoisseurs lined up for the live cooking station with oriental pasta prepared on request, the cafe with cut layer cakes, the ice cream trolley and the chocolate fountain.

The prestigious Personality of the Year competition organized by the industry monthly MICE Poland is an award from MICE experts to their colleagues from the industry who in a given year distinguished themselves by professionalism and commitment to the development of the Polish meetings industry.

Fall in love with the Lazienki Park

We invite all lovers of the Lazienki Park to participate in a contest: FALL IN LOVE WITH THE LAZIENKI PARK. The winners of the competition, organized by the Patron of the Royal Lazienki - the Enea SA company, will win a romantic dinner at Belvedere Restaurant.

The competition is meant for couples in love, who by February 13 will take a photo of themselves together at the Lazienki Park in Warsaw or find their photo taken at the Lazienki Park in the past. You can take photos at the Royal Gardens, as well as such facilities as the Old Orangery, the Myślewicki Palace or the Palace on the Island. They can be in color, black and white or made with a camera phone – it's the idea and creativity that count.

The photo for the competition must be uploaded to the facebook.com / Dumni.z.Dziedzictwa profile. The photo that receives the most likes from users wins, and its author will receive a double invitation to an exquisite, romantic dinner at the Belvedere Restaurant. You can vote and upload photos by February 13, 11:59 pm.

More at: www.dumnizdziedzictwa.pl /Konkursy

February at the Lazienki Park

Late January marked the start of the Lazienki Music Salons. Music at the Palace on the Water can be hear each Sunday at noon. The audience will have a chance to listen to some of the best students of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, while the program will be overseen by the faculty of the Piano Department of the school.

The new concert series is a response of the Royal Lazienki Museum to the great interest aroused by the works of Fryderyk Chopin performed during the summer months next to the monument of the composer. During the Lazienki Music Salons, the audience will have a chance to hear piano works composed not only by our great pianist but also by other marvelous artists of his time. The series is entitled: "Chopin and the Romantics."

Admission to the salon concerts is by free ticket – they can be picked up at the Palace on the Island box office. Before the concert, we recommend that you visit the coin exhibition at the Palace on the Island – "Treasure of Kiev. Gold gallery. Royal collection of Stanislaw August's medals" and after the concert, we invite you and your whole family to a WYBOROWA DINNER to Belvedere.

More at:
www.lazienki-krolewskie.pl

Sommelier recommends

Raspberry Passion – A drink for Valentine’s Day

Valentine's Day is a sweet holiday in red and pink. It is no surprise then that Valentine's evenings are most often accompanied by pink champagne. This year, however, I have a different pink suggestion for your, which will warm your hearts equally well – the RASPBERRY PASSION drink:

40 ml WYBOROWA vodka
20 ml apple juice
15 ml sugar syrup
10 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 ml passion fruit syrup
5 x raspberries
1 passion fruit

Blend the fruit. Pour the resulting fruit mousse into a shaker glass with vodka, apple juice, the syrups, lemon juice and ice. Shake well. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Recipe of the month

"Belle Helene" – romantic pear

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 large, ripe but quite firm pears
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 vanilla pod
bar of dark chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
50 ml brandy
4 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Pour 2 cups of water (or white wine), lemon juice, sugar and vanilla into a saucepan. Cook covered for 5 minutes. Peel pears, leaving the stem. Hollow out the seeds, but be careful not to disturb the structure and shape of the fruit.

Put pears upright in syrup and cook for 10-15 minutes. When they turn quite soft, remove, drain and cool. You can leave them whole or slice in half.

Pour 3 tablespoons of water into the saucepan, add butter, add crushed chocolate, pour the brandy and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly.

Place the pear centrally on a plate, pour chocolate sauce over it. Serve with vanilla ice cream and raspberries.