I remember when I sat down to a meal together with René, not knowing that it was his place. Our first conversation concerned the Tatar cuisine, Cook It Raw and the Suwalki region. Intimidated I tried to gather my thoughts together. At one point, René asked me how did I get here, which I replied that because of him. He quickly recalled that I was the Polish girl, for which he recorded a few words. The next day I went up to him and said that I forgot to thank him for this opportunity. He told me not to be silly, because I work hard for free, and he thanks me.
We happened to have a few conversations. Whether it is difficult to be a vegetarian in Poland, on the condition of Polish gastronomy, how much divided against itself is this community. We had the last chance to talk when Wladimir Szpirt visited Noma, a René’s friendly doctor, a great enthusiast of food, and Małgosia Minta, with whom we work in the USTA Magazine. We talked about Mexico – how difficult it is to make the perfect tortilla, about René’s Macedonian roots and emotions related to opening a restaurant in Japan. René tells stories beautifully. He always surprises us with some interesting story that he suddenly recalls. This time, it was about one of the mushrooms suppliers. It’s a nice old man in his seventies, of Polish origin. He doesn’t speak a word of Polish, but he knows everything about mushrooms, and more interestingly – he keeps a journal for fifty years, in which he writes down the weather, humidity and all the information, so that he knows where and which mushrooms grow at the time. In addition, he is a big fan of wine and has excellent sense of hearing. Apparently in his youth he worked at a company producing hi-tech and he was evaluating the quality of the sound.
During the last conversation we admitted that it would be great to meet some time in Poland, without the glam and cameras, just do a meeting of cooking enthusiasts and freely talk about food.
I believe that the meeting is going to happen because knowing René it is quite possible.
Text and photos: Maria Przybyszewska
The sponsor of Maria Przybyszewska’s report from the stay in Noma is HERMES, a manufacturer of functional water taste. www.hermes-amita.com.pl
NOMA. GREAT RENE
