Light cuisine from difficult times, Gabriele Schmenkel

Light cuisine from difficult times, Gabriele Schmenkel

LIGHT CUISINE FROM DIFFICULT TIMES
ORIGINAL RECIPES FROM THE POST-WAR PERIOD
These recipes from the post-war period not only consist of simple, inexpensive ingredients, but are often also sugar-free, gluten-free, lactose-free, vegetarian, or vegan. Besides numerous baking recipes, there are also recipes for cooking and preserving, naturally written in our modern script and using today's measurements.
FROM POTATO CAKES TO MILK BREAD
Not only are these more than 70 recipes from the post-war period 1945 to 1949 – born out of necessity – extremely tasty with simple, inexpensive ingredients, but they also offer a light cuisine, often sugar-, gluten- and lactose-free – and in many cases vegetarian or vegan food.

Recipes from bygone days – adapted for a new generation
After her grandmother's death, Gabriele Schmenkel found an old, tattered notebook in her kitchen cupboard: It contained the extensive recipe notes of her grandfather, who – originally from the Sudetenland – wanted to prepare his native dishes with the limited resources of those difficult post-war times and preserve his knowledge. His granddaughter has now made it her mission to make these recipes available to the next generation.

From Bundt cake to potato cake, from quark pasta to buttermilk candies
This book brings together more than 100 recipes from this valuable find, which the editor has supplemented with extensive notes and explanations of terms. Besides a large number of baking recipes, it also includes recipes for cooking, preserving, and beverages. The preparation is clearly explained – naturally in modern script and with modern units of measurement – ​​and all the ingredients are readily available.

Tasty and easily digestible
The ingenuity of post-war cuisine, shaped by scarcity, is a treasure trove for people who, for various reasons, avoid certain foods today, offering a wealth of food substitute ideas. Whether sugar-free, gluten-free, lactose-free, vegetarian, or vegan, these "with-without" recipes have something for everyone.

A DOCUMENTARY OF TIME AND FAMILY HISTORY
In a comprehensive introduction, Gabriele Schmenkel traces the eventful history of her grandparents, recounting the family's escape from the Sudetenland after the Second World War and the food situation in the post-war period in which this collection was compiled. With her grandfather's recipe book, she has discovered a historical document that extends far beyond her own family history.

GABRIELE SCHMENKEL ON HER BOOK:
"Of all the exciting projects I've been able to participate in, my book project 'Light Cuisine from Difficult Times' was by far the most beautiful for me."
The culture of the Sudeten Germans, a population group from the area of ​​present-day Czechia who were forced to resettle in what is now Germany at the end of the Second World War, is increasingly being forgotten. My grandfather's small recipe book from the post-war years, the basis for this book, is therefore a valuable historical document of Sudeten German cuisine and the resourceful, necessity-born cooking and baking skills of the post-war period. Even deciphering my grandfather's faded Sütterlin handwriting was a real challenge. Recreating, testing, and photographing the 160 recipes—from which I selected over 100 for this book, and for which mostly only the ingredients, but not the preparation, were given—occupied me for a good two years alongside my job and family.

• 12th edition
• 128 pages
• Hardcover
• Format 16.5 x 19.8 cm