What's your food story? October - Polish Bigos or Hunter's Stew
Explore Councils by state
Published on 01 October 2018
Last year, the City of Swan ran a recipe competition inviting residents to submit their food stories. The winning recipes were selected by local Swan Valley chefs, Herb Faust (Houghton Winery Cafe) and Caroline Taylor (Taylor's Art and Coffee House).
October's winning recipe is Polish Bigos or Hunter's Stew submitted by Rev Father John Jegorow. Father John elaborates;
"Most of the ingredients for the Polish Bigos came from my mother's magnificent garden. Today I go shopping! The aroma of cabbage cooking filled the house and in summer attracted those pesky flies. We closed the front and back fly screen doors. Mum said it was a poor man's meal. If the hunter returned empty handed there was no meat for the dish. Today, only the best will do. My father's favourite dish. Reheated leftovers tasted the best. But visitors rarely left any. We lived in Bellevue opposite the Kacubas who sailed with my parents as post WWII displaced persons."
Ingredients 500g quality kielbasa (Polish sausage) diced into 1cm pieces (the smoked variety can be used) 500g cubed pork (any meat could be used - especially game meat) 2 medium or one large onion, diced 6 cups thinly sliced/shredded cabbage 3 or 4 pieces of smoked bacon ribs. 500g sauerkraut, rinsed and drained 5 cups (1 1/4 litres) beef stock 1 pinch ground black pepper 1 pinch caraway seed, crushed 1 or 2 tins diced tomatoes 125g dried mushrooms (optional) 1 dash hot chilli sauce (optional) 100ml good shiraz (optional) 2 cups sliced field mushrooms Method For the flavours to fully infuse, this dish is best cooked in the morning and then reheated for the evening, or the next day. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add diced bacon and kielbasa. Cook and stir until fat is released and sausage is lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl or saucepan. Use same pan with fat to brown the lightly floured cubes of pork. Transfer pork (not fat) to the bowl. Lightly fry garlic and onion and add to the bowl. In large saucepan, in a dash of water, cook shredded fresh cabbage with the smoked bacon ribs until soft, then add sauerkraut and carrots. Reduce heat to medium and cook about 10 minutes. Add all contents of the bowl (bacon, pork, onion and garlic) to the cabbage then add all seasonings (bay leaf, basil, marjoram, paprika, salt, pepper, caraway seeds and cayenne pepper, dried mushrooms, beef stock, chilli sauce, tomato paste and diced tomatoes). If wine is included, then use to de-glaze the frying pan with the leftovers and put in the pot. Heat, close to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer for up to three hours. Allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight for best results. Add fresh mushrooms, before reheating, about 60 minutes before serving.