By Kasia Pilat, The New York Times
Athletes fuel themselves in many ways: Tom Brady has his TB12 method. Michael Phelps consumed about 10,000 calories daily while training. WNBA star Caitlin Clark dreams of chicken Parmesan, pasta and chocolate milk after a game. But for one of tennis’ top-ranked athletes, her go-to is simple: strawberries and cream.
No, not the strawberries and cream long associated with Wimbledon, but strawberries and cream over — wait for it — pasta. According to tennis star Iga Świątek, ranked No. 4 in the world in tennis and competing in the Wimbledon singles final Saturday, makaron z truskawkami, as the dish is called in her home country of Poland, is her go-to.
“I ate it as a kid,” she said in a post-match interview this week. “It’s pasta with strawberries — pasta, strawberries, a little bit of yogurt — it’s just great.” Her response was met with audible gasps and murmurs from the Wimbledon crowd. “How strange,” the interviewer mused.
A video clip of the interview, posted to the official Wimbledon TikTok account, has been viewed 2 million times and garnered hundreds of comments. Some were skeptical: “What on Earth are people eating,” read one. Most commenters, however, were thrilled to see a nostalgic Polish dish publicized and praised on a global stage.
“Best Polish summer food ever made,” read one comment on Wimbledon’s TikTok. “Brings back childhood memories,” read another. Many reminisced about eating the dish at their grandmother’s house or for a primary school lunch. At the famous Bar Prasowy in Warsaw, a plate of strawberry pasta goes for 9 złoty, about $2.50.
“It’s one of those dishes every Polish kid remembers,” Adriana Marczewska, a Polish cookbook author and television presenter, said in an email. “For me, as a chef and culinary journalist, it’s both deeply sentimental and unexpectedly complete. It has all the elements of a perfect dish: carbs, fruit, dairy, sugar and a generous serving of nostalgia.”
“It’s the taste of summer in Poland,” she added.
Strawberries are plentiful in Poland: The country is the second-largest producer of the fruit in the European Union, a fact that may give some insight as to their unexpected use. But Poles are no strangers to the marriage of sweet fruit and starch.
“Conceptually, it is not far from pierogi filled with blueberries,” said Fabio Parasecoli, a professor of food studies at New York University and research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Science.
In addition to sweet-leaning pierogi filled with fruit, there is fruit soup, or zupa owocowa, where fruits like strawberries are often simmered with potato starch for thickness.
The 24-year-old Świątek is probably far more focused on her Saturday match against Amanda Anisimova than the public reaction to her favorite food. But she might consider skipping next year’s Italian Open.
“I wish good luck for her when she come back in Italy,” Italian tennis player Flavio Cobolli playfully warned after learning of her pasta preference.
Recipe: Makaron z Truskawkami (Polish Strawberry Pasta)
This Polish childhood staple of creamy strawberry sauce over pasta is a fast, fuss-free way to make the most of peak summer berries. For Polish tennis star Iga Świątek, the dish is her go-to. “I ate it as a kid,” she recalls. Poles are no strangers to the marriage of sweet fruit and starch: In addition to fruit-filled pierogi, there is zupa owocowa, a thickened fruit soup. While there are many family recipes for this nostalgic pasta, this one is one of the simplest: Sliced strawberries macerate in sugar while the pasta boils, before getting mashed with yogurt or sour cream. A short spiral-shaped pasta is ideal for holding onto the tangy, surprisingly refreshing strawberry sauce.
By Vaughn Vreeland and Kasia Pilat
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 16 ounces strawberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Salt
- 12 ounces fusilli, rotini or any other short pasta (about 4 cups)
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt or full-fat sour cream
Preparation
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Trim strawberries and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Reserve 1 cup for serving and place the remaining strawberries in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar to the bowl of strawberries, mix well and let sit to macerate.
2. Add 2 to 3 generous pinches of salt to the boiling water, and boil the pasta according to package instructions until just past al dente. Drain the pasta and briefly rinse with cool water. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Mash the strawberries in the mixing bowl with a potato masher until most of the juices have been released and a smattering of strawberry chunks remain. Add the sour cream and mix until well combined.
4. To serve, divide the pasta among bowls and top with the strawberry sauce and the reserved sliced strawberries.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.