a treasure from the past - part 2

This treasure from the past I am referring to is a book called Koche mit mir! (Cook with me) which was published in Germany in the 1950s. I wrote a bit about it in my previous post, but it's basically a how-to-guide for everything a good housewife should know.

I have spent many hours reading through this book and always seem to struggle to put the book down once I have started. My poor husband has basically read this book himself (by no choice of his own) as I keep reading and translating everything to him... Imagine a live audio book you can't escape!

In the introduction of this book it says:

Das Buch ist also durchaus auf die neuesten, ernahrungsphysiologischen Erfahrungen, auf unseren schmalen Geldbeutel und auch auf die gesunde schlanke Linie zugeschnitten, vergisst aber keineswegs, das trotzdem jeder Mann gerne gut isst!

This roughly translates into:

This book is aimed at the latest nutrition physiological experiences, for a tight budget and a healthy waistline, but by no means forget that every man still likes to eat well!!

I can just picture the women in the kitchen, dressed very elegantly with no hair out of place, spending almost all day in the kitchen to create the perfect meal for there partners which is then served at a perfectly set table.

Another sentence that stands out in the introduction is: "Gut" kochen heisst ja nicht teuer kochen which translates into Cooking well doesn't mean expensive cooking.

I would imagine after the war a lot of the ingredients might have been expensive or not easy to find, therefor I love how this book uses simple ingredients and shows how you can prepare them in varies ways. Some recipes are honestly a bit unusual, where others are more traditional. But the unusual recipes are too fascinating for me and I am intrigued to try some of them.

The book starts with:

Terminologies that are often used in a kitchen.

Examples include: what are croutons, what does blanching mean, what is julienne... caramel... a puree... reducing... soufflé ...etc.

The correct quantities/ portion sizes per person

Example:

Meat per person:

As an everyday 50 -80 g

As a starter 50g

On special occasions 100 - 125g

(Very helpful information when cooking for larger groups of people)

A how-to for shopping:

Different types of meat, what they are used for and what to look for to know if its a good quality product

Different types of fish and seafood

Different Fat/ oils and how they can be used

Dairy products

Different cheeses

the list goes on and on.

I can imagine this book must have been so helpful for someone who is new to cooking.

A few weeks ago I tried my first recipe from this cookbook which was a potato soup.

The recipe did not state measurements or the exact ingredients so I had to improvise, but it turned out so well.

Read more about it here.

I have found a few interesting recipes which I am eager to try really soon!! Eek!

I will write more about this book over the next few months and I hope you will enjoy the posts.