It's no secret that we're A) always hungry and B) consistently on the prowl for new dishes and recipes. So as part of an ongoing series, we'll be profiling innovators in the field of our primary lifeforce: food.

Today, we talk to the author of a gorgeous new cookbook, Beata Zatorska.

Starting with the name, Rose Petal Jam: Recipes & Stories from a Summer in Poland, Zatorska's cookbook has a charmingly whimsical feel. But hidden among photos of the Polish countryside and recipes for pierogi, pickles, and doughnuts are miniature history and anthropology lessons.

This book was a labor of love for Zatorska, who moved to Australia from Poland in 1981. She went on to become a family physician, but always looked back on her early childhood with her grandmother, a chef who also created herbal rememdies, as a force in shaping her life. So after a vacation to Poland, she decided to spend a summer in her native country and reclaim family recipes, including the namesake rose petal jam, and do a sort of culinary tour of her country.

We caught up with her to learn more about the recipes, Polish cooking, and a woman whose summers in the kitchen with her grandma shaped her entire life.