I would like you to meet someone. This is Pani Halinka, or Mrs Halinka, as you would say in English.
She is 68 and has spent thirty years in a Koło Gospodyń Wiejskich, a village housewives’ association. She knows more about Polish regional cooking than most cookbooks, and she will happily tell you so.
One thing you should know straight away: Pani Halinka is not a real person. I created her with AI. Her face, her voice and her kitchen are digital. The recipes she shares are real, and I test every one of them in my own kitchen.
Why an AI grandmother?
Every Polish cook learned from someone like her. A grandmother, an aunt, a neighbour from the village who measured flour by eye and never wrote anything down. A lot of those recipes are slowly disappearing.
Pani Halinka is my way of keeping them alive and sharing them with you, in a voice that feels like home. Think of her as the warm, slightly chatty side of this blog. I will still be here cooking; she will be the one telling stories.
What she will be cooking
- Halinka’s secrets: one small kitchen trick at a time
- From grandmother’s notebook: pierogi, proziaki, żurek and other classics, step by step
- Poland on a plate: a different region every week
- The housewife’s calendar: pickling, preserves and holiday traditions through the year
Her first recipe is coming soon. Is there a Polish dish you would like her to explain? Let me know through the contact page and she will add it to her notebook.