"Pizza" and Thinking About My Family

Today I decided to make "Polish Pizza", as we call it in my house.  This wasn't any ordinary pizza.  In fact, it really wasn't pizza at all.  It was what I made while in the Polish countryside with my cousins the first time I returned to Poland to visit them. 

We were staying in their parents "Kolonia Letnia" (Summer Camp).  It was gorgeous!  I was so envious of them.  Could you imagine?  Living at a summer camp?  Anytime you wanted to, a campfire could be made and your mother could play her guitar and everyone could sing together.  Or you could go ride horses, hike up the mountain, go raspberry or mushroom picking.  Look up on a chilly summer night after a warm summer day, and really see the Milky Way.  I don't mean the way most can see it in their suburban backyard, I mean standing on a Polish mountain.  Clubs, malls, shopping centers, cities miles and miles away so that there is no light pollution blocking you from seeing what our ancestors saw so many years ago.

Anyway, I'm rambling.  But I miss them and when I think about them, I usually eat or do something to think about them and talk to my kids about my amazing family.

I was recalling us as children, teenagers mostly, sitting in the white tiled kitchen which served the entire "Kolonia" (for short).  I was craving pizza.  At first, I was irritated that I couldn't have any.  After all, in the US, I would just call and order some.  There was no pizza place here and now I am so glad there wasn't!

My mother and their parents suggested we think how to make one.  I don't know who came up with the idea but it was brilliant!  We took Wroclawski Chleb (a very light rye bread), smeared Ketchup on it, topped it with a soft white sharp Polish cheese (think something like Sharp White Cheddar Cheese) and toasted it.

I know what some, particularly my husband's very funny and honest cousin, might say.  "That's hood/ghetto pizza!"  But it is different. 

First, the flavor of Ketchup in Poland is different.  It is called Lagodny Ketchup.  In the beginning of the trip, I didn't like their version of it.  But then I opened my mind to the experience and realized I love it better than the American version I was used to.  It is one of the items I prefer to buy at the Polish store.

Also, the cheese was obviously not the Mozzarella cheese I was used to on pizza.  I didn't see how this could taste good.  Oh, but it did!  I think we each ate probably 4 slices of bread like this. 

So, today I made some and shared it with my children, along with the story.

I hope you enjoyed it as well as my children and I did!  Na razie!