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The Dish

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Serendipit-cheese

Hot Cheese promises over 50 “gooey, oozy, melty recipes,” including this one for Cajun cheesey waffle fries.

Former local food scene standout Polina Chesnakova pens her first cookbook

By Shea Gibbs

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Charlottesville lost a rising food industry star when Polina Chesnakova moved away in 2017.

The accomplished baker, chef, and blogger suffered a devastating car accident while driving to work at Greenwood Gourmet Grocery in December 2016. She lost most of the functionality in her left hand in the crash and moved back to her childhood home to recover.

Charlottesville’s loss, though, may have been the wider food world’s gain. Chesnakova transitioned from cook to full-time writer after her accident, and she’s recently published her first cookbook, Hot Cheese. Knife & Fork spoke by phone with Chesnakova about her tome, time in C’ville, and next steps.

Knife & Fork: Most folks in the Charlottesville food community know you as a baker. What’s up with a book on cheese? Polina Chesnakova: It all started when I graduated from UVA and started working at Feast!. That was my first intro to the world of artisan cheese. It was 2014, and they carried this magazine called Culture. When I moved back home, with all my injuries, I couldn’t take on a cooking job. Culture was hiring an intern for the fall.

It was through the internship that an editor at Chronicle Books found my work. They said, ‘Would you want to write a book on hot cheese?’ My dream has always been to write a cookbook and become a cookbook author. But hot cheese was not necessarily part of that.

PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

collaborate with and connect with? That’s how one’s following grows. The more you put out, the more you get back. That’s why I did this cookbook. It might not be the greatest work I will ever accomplish, but it is getting me there. I think everyone has their own path.

K&F: At that point, you’d already started your K&F: What do you miss most about the C’ville blog Chesnok, correct? food scene? PC: I started the blog even before working for PC: It’s a small town, and that makes it easy to Culture. I knew my journey was into the food get together. For its size, there’s so much hapworld when I graduated, and I kind of knew I pening on the food scene, as well as music, had something special with my Russian-Georculture, arts. Every night there was something gian heritage. That’s where my love of food happening. You can call up four or five differand being in the kitchen started. I started the ent friends and have a wonderful night. You blog to share that food and heritage, and after lose that in a big city. Looking back, most of the accident, it became my outlet. my friends were in the food industry, where K&F: So the book came to you? PC: Yeah. The next step was coming up with 50 you have an eclectic mix of people. It makes the potlucks pretty interesting. to 55 recipes, not having tested any of them. That K&F: What’s next for you? was one of the hardest parts—that and bringing PC: So, my first book ended up being on hot them all to life. My khachapuri—Georgian cheesy cheese. But I’m not stopping there. I’m workbread—of course that was going to be in the ing on a second book and getting back to my book. I did a Philly cheesesteak with a Korean roots of baking with Piece of Cake. bulgogi marinade, and that is one of my favorites. We did a Midwest hot dish. I also had a lot of influence from France and Italy and Switzerland. K&F: Any last messages for C’ville foodies? PC: I miss everyone. It’s just a really special community that is living K&F: How does a first time cookand supportive. I knew that before book author compete with all the the accident, but afterward the outestablished writers? pouring of support was just overPC: I draw upon my community whelming. That’s something I will to support me—who do I know to Polina Chesnakova always carry in my heart.

The Dish

Polina Chesnakova’s Cajun Cheesy Waffle Fries

“When I was in college in Virginia, there was a divey, windowless bar called St. Maarten,” says Chesnakova. “The drink specials were wacky (think ‘Dr. Jones Love Juice’) and the interior decor was wanting, to say the least. However, they had these Cajun cheesy waffle fries that kept me, and all of my friends, coming back again and again.”

INGREDIENTS One 22 oz. bag frozen waffle-cut fries 2 tsp. Cajun seasoning, plus more for seasoning 6 oz. sharp Colby Jack cheese, coarsely grated 1/4 cup crumbled crisped bacon (optional) Minced fresh chives, for garnish (optional) Ranch dressing, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange the frozen fries in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping them over halfway through, or until the fries are lightly browned and crisped all the way through. Remove from the oven and toss with the Cajun seasoning to evenly coat. Sprinkle with the cheese and, if you want, bacon. Sprinkle with more Cajun seasoning, if desired. Bake for another three to five minutes, until the cheese has melted. Top with chives, if desired, and serve immediately with ranch dressing for dipping.

Reprinted from Hot Cheese by Polina Chesnakova with permission by Chronicle Books, 2020. Summer Knife&Fork 9