TRAVELERT: Krakow Concert and Event Alerts

When in Krakow and not in the hostel you should really find the time to stop by Massolit books. Not only do they have a great selection of english-language books with very reasonable prices, they make excellent coffee. On Sunday mornings there are readings for children (they sell lots of great children’s books, too) and occasional events and ‘happenings.’ The place is an institution (named after a fictional literary society in the beloved book The Master And Margarita) and some have called it “the best bookstore in Central Europe.” How could they possibly have visited all of them? Massolit is pretty fantastic, though. Read their books! Trade in your own for newer, unread ones! Eat their homemade carrot cake! Eavesdrop on the bizarre conversations at the next table! And, as of last spring, they now serve wine.

If you’re looking for a similarly distinct cozy experience but with all spanish-language books, head to Mały Rynek #4 to check out the spanish-language equivalent.

Spinach! Rich in iron, captain of the leafy greens! Here are a few things I didn’t know about spinach (السبانخ in Arabic, 菠菜 in Chinese, szpinak in Polish):

• it is originally from Asia
• it was added to the wine given to French soldiers who had lost a lot of blood during World War I
• it is delicious in Pierogi

If you’re looking for good pierogi ze szpinakiem in Krakow, you have a lot of options.

For the cheapest option (and perhaps closest to our hostel) look up Filarki or Bar Targowy on our Milk Bar Map. Milk bars offer good, fast and shockingly inexpensive food. They are a favorite with students and the quasi-homeless; it is a good place to find older guys asleep in their soup. Since pierogi ze szpinakiem isn’t standard fare, it is not common at Milk Bars. At Filarki, though (right across the street from the hostel) you can find it — their filling is very creamy, with hints of cheese and a strong but gentle garlic element. The ones at Bar Targowy have a more “leafy” filling, also quite delicious but distinctly different. They also offer delictable naleśniki ze szpinakiem (crepes with spinach) which are fried to slightly-crispy perfection.

Of course Pierożki u Vincenta has some spinach offerings which change from time to time. At one point they offered one with chicken and another without. I have not tried the chicken option, but the “normal” one, though we can be sure they have used the very best ingredients, is in my opinion a little blander than the milk bar variety.

Where else? One more slightly upscale suggestion — Restauracja Marchewka z Groszkiem (The Carrot & the Pea restaurant) has pierogi with spinach and sheep’s cheese (called oscypek) and like everything else I have had there, it’s excellent.

Niegrzeczne

There’s a photography exhibition on at Bunkier Sztuki (“The Art Bunker”) themed around women rebelling against “cultural and societal norms” called  Niegrzeczne (“Rude”). The work plays with anger, strength, beauty and women’s struggle within and against the various roles they adopt in society. If you are confused by things in Polish (like me) and you’ve seen these posters around town with the girls and the biting {image above} you will have wondered what it’s about. Well, this is it.

The exhibit runs until 27 February. While you’re there (or even if you don’t bother to go) you should really check out the Bunier Sztuki cafe. It’s an outside cafe in the summer, walled off with an insulating wall of plastic in the winter. You can drink your coffee (people who know things about coffee say it’s the best in the city) and watch the snow in warm comfort.

Bunkier Cafe

Then you can go inside and look at interesting pictures of girls biting each other.

Opening: January 11, 2011, 18.00; to 27 February 2011.

As almost every week we make a free dinner for our guests (actually not only for guests, but as well for hostel friends, friends of guests and friends of friends).

This week spicy soup will warm us up.

Starts at 8 pm, everybody are welcome;)

Sarego 24

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See Isaiah “Ikey” Owens from The Mars Volta playing with Free Moral Agents on the 2nd of March at Klub Re in Krakow! You can read Spin’s short review of their record here, or check out a sample of their music here on YouTube or their MySpace page. 

The concert is 35 PLN in advance or 45 PLN at the door.

Doors open at 20.00.

Krakow’s excellent Kino Pod Baranami (the cinema under the rams) has organized a silent film festival taking place from 2-5 December. Check their festival schedule online (in English) to see what films are playing when and where (not all are at Kino Pod Baranami, some are at the Manggha center for example) and most of the films are classics. Many of them will have live bands (some very well-known ones) providing new soundtracks for the movies.

Of course this title is not really encouraging but the fact is that the tour in Krakow this friday has been muddy. No rain during the walk but quite enough the night before to make the path to the kopiec really sticky because of the mud. But… but… from there, in spite of the cloudy sky, we have seen the Tatras mountains far away in a pink sky. Wahoo…

Yes, you can see the mountains very, very far away. I swear. As usual, between the cafe and the polish milky bar “bar mleczny” my guests chose the latter for the polish experience. As usual it was good, cheap and polish. We couldn’t miss the picture with the dragon so we did it. Same with the hot chocolate (or the beer).

A lot of french speaking people were present in the hostel yesterday for the dinner but not only : travelers from all over the world : Switzerland, Brasil, Georgia, Poland, France, Australia, Belgium and Germany. So we also try to speak english and spanish. The story of the Krakow’s dragon was a new and strange experience for me. The barszcz was one of the best I’ve done, thanks to the help I had to peel and cut all the vegetables… (here the link to the recipe)

The shisha had problems to start but seems to have worked finaly.

More pictures of the party in the galleries. I can send you some in good resolution if you want.

Dear Guests…

I remind you that tonight I will cook for you at the hostel in Sarego street. It should be a good occasion to meet each other and eat something good (hope so). Rendez-vous : 20.00 pm at the hostel.

If you’re interested by going with me to the open air market place called “Kleparz” where I buy the food and where you can find some cheap polish “things” (mostly food and clothes new or used) we can meet at 14.00 at the hostel Sarego.

Important : I’ll try to bring with me my shisha water pipe so we can experience some turkish fruit tobacco after dinner.

So this is finaly the recipe of the famous Barszcz Czerwony. Well, one of the different ones that exist.

Barszcz czerwony (soupe)

Cuisson : 1h30

pour 6-8

• 1,5kg de betteraves crues
• 500g de carottes
• 2 oignons
• 1 petit celeri rave
• 1 bouquet de persil plat
• 2 gousses d’ail
• 1 kub bouillon
• 1 petite bouteille de betteraves fermentees (ou alors 1/2 verre de vinaigre de vin)
• 3 feuilles de laurier + thym
• une petite cuillere de ziele angielski (= poivre de jamaique en graines)
• sel, poivre

couper tous les legumes en morceaux (sauf : une petite batterave)
tout mettre dans une casserole (sauf : une petite betterave, le vinaigre-ou la betterave fermentee, le persil)
ajouter de l’eau pour couvrir les legumes
faire bouillir a feu doux pendant 1h15 environ
mettre le vinaigre, le persil
Rectifier l assaisonnement
ajouter la petite betterave et laisser encore cuire une dizaine de minutes
servir chaud avec ou sans les legumes selon les gouts

Curry de carottes au sarrasin

Cuisson : 45 minutes

pour 6-8

• 1 kg de carottes
• 3 oignons
• 1/2 kg de champignons varies
• 1 gousse d’ail
• 1 kub de bouillon
• 1 ou 2 cuilleres de curry
• un petit pot de creme fraiche
• sel, poivre
• 500g de sarrasin
  

eplucher et couper les carottes en petits morceaux.
emincer les oignons et hacher l ail
faire revenir carottes, oignons et ail dans un peu d’huile d’olive dans une grande casserole
saler, couvrir et laisser cuire a feu doux pendant longtemps en remuant (le temps que les carottes soient cuites)
ajouter le curry en milieu de cuisson
en fin de cuisson ajouter la creme fraiche et rectfifier l’assaisonnement
faites cuire 400g de sarasin dans un peu d’eau salee pendant une dizaine de minutes
servir ensemble, chaud et accompagner d’un petit vin fruite.

Cześć !

The cook is back from France. That means two important things :

- the free dinner for our guests will take place at the hostel on thursday night at 8 pm.  For those who would like to experience a real polish open air market, meet at 2 pm in Hostel ul. Sarego.

- there will be a walking tour around Kraków organised on friday if the weather is not too… wet. Meeting at 12.00 in Plac Na Groblach.

Soupe de carotte sante

cuisson 30 minutes

pour 8

• 2 kg de carottes

• 1 orange

• 2 pommes sucrees

• 1 oignon

• laurier, bouillon, curry, ziele angielski

dorer l oignon dans un peu d huile

couper les carottes en rondelles et les mettre dans la casserole

ajouter le jus de l orange et les pommes en morceaux

sel, poivre, epices et bouillon

ajouter 1 litre d’eau et faire bouillir

laisser cuire a petit feu pendant environ 30 minutes, le temps de cuire les carottes

mixer et servir chaud ou froid

Betteraves alla polonaise facile

cuisson : 1 heure

pour 8

• 5/6 belles betteraves CRUES

• 4 oignons

• 1 belle gousse d’ail

• 2 c.a s. de vinaigre de vin rouge

• sel, poivre

raper grossierement les betteraves crues.

emincer l oignon et le faire dorer dans un peu de beurre ou d’huile

ecraser l ail et l’ajouter ainsi que les betteraves

verser le vinaigre, saler, poivrer

couvrir et laisser cuire a feu tres doux pendant environ une heure et demie

servir chaud

Puree facile

cuisson : 20 minutes

pour 8

• 6 belles patates

• 1 verre de lait (ou de creme pour les gourmands)

• agrements : ail hache, oignons dores, curry, muscade (pas tout en meme temps !!!)

eplucher les patates et les cuire dans l eau ou a la vapeur (meilleur)

ecraser les patates en puree, ajouter le lait (ou la creme pour les gourmands) et les agrements (pour les encore plus gourmands)

servir chaud