Siemieniotka
Hardly anyone outside Silesia has tasted it, but in villages around Racibórz and Opole siemieniotka is still the first dish on the Wigilia table, ladled out before the carp and the poppy-seed sweets. Hemp seeds are simmered, crushed and strained with onion into a pale, creamy, gently nutty soup, then poured over a spoon of buckwheat groats in each bowl. Use only food-grade hemp seeds from a health food shop. Where most people go wrong is skipping the straining, which leaves the soup gritty with shell. Chef's tip: toast the seeds in a dry pan for a minute before simmering to deepen the nutty flavour.



