Culture in the Kitchen: Recipes from a Multicultural Cooking Series”
By Saskatchewan German Council
Published by Saskatchewan German Council
$25 ISBN 9780969401698
What the Saskatchewan German Council undertook with this labour-of-love book is to be applauded. Culture in the Kitchen: Recipes from a Multicultural Cooking Series is a cookbook that is broken into 13 chapters, each one focused on the meshing of German food with food from another country or culture. (For example: Germany meets China, Germany meets Ukraine, Germany meets Saskatchewan).
The true test of any cookbook is its recipes so I gave a bunch of them a try. From the Germany meets Brazil chapter, the arroz carreteiro (wagoner’s rice) was delicious! It tasted similar to a red beans and rice dish that is on my regular rotation and the recipe is a keeper. Next up was the stuffed tomatoes from Germany meets Vietnam. I haven’t had a stuffed tomato in over two decades, something I now regret. This one was full of so many ingredients that melded together perfectly inside the plum tomato — vermicelli, pork, mushrooms, green onions, and a handful of other yummy ingredients.
To satisfy my sweet tooth, I whipped up a batch of vanilla sauce from Germany meets Nigeria. I had no idea if it was to be a stand-alone dish or something to use on top of a dessert but I ate it like a pudding. It was so good that only my table manners kept me from licking my bowl. I also made the apple crumble from the Germany meets Romania chapter. Not only was it delicious, it was the ideal way to use up soft apples while satisfying your hankering for something sweet.
In total I tried nine of the recipes. The directions were easy to follow and I was never unclear as to what I was supposed to do. All nine of the recipes I made were a hit at my dinner table and I can’t wait to try more. (The buffalo stew from the Germany meets Indigenous Saskatchewan chapter is calling my name.)
I appreciated the fact that most of the recipes called for items that I already had at home. Often with cookbooks from cultures I don’t regularly cook, I have to go hunting at numerous stores to collect the ingredients. Thankfully that wasn’t the case with this scrumptious cookbook.
Each recipe is accompanied by a photo of the dish. As a visual person, having a picture of what the finished product looks like is a huge help. I have been to Germany three times and this book takes me right back to the adventures I had there. As a foodie, some of my most vivid memories of Germany involve the delicious meals I devoured. I love how this cookbook transported me back to those precious times.
Guten appetit!
This book is available at your local bookstore or from www.skbooks.com.
