Classic German Cooking: The Very Best Recipes for Traditional Favorites, from Semmelknödel to Sauerbraten

by Luisa Weiss

A collection of more than 100 of the best, most emblematic recipes of German and Austrian home cooks, from the author of Classic German Baking.To many, German food is humble comfort food, the kind of food that may not win a beauty award, but more than makes up for it with its power to soothe, nourish and cheer. In Classic German Cooking, Luisa Weiss—born in Berlin to an Italian mother and American father, and who married into a family with roots in Saxony—has collected and mastered the essential everyday recipes of Germany and Austria. Classic German Cooking features traditional and time-honored recipes that are beloved in homes across the region, such as Rinderrouladen (Braised Beef Rolls), Quarkauflauf (Fresh Cheese Soufflé), Hühnerfrikassee (Chicken Fricassee) and authentic Viennese Gulasch or Alpine Germknödel (Plum Butter-Stuffed Steamed Dumplings). Cozy Apfelküchle (Apple Fritters) bring warmth to an afternoon snack, while tangy Spargelsalat (White Asparagus Salad) signals the sweet start of Spring.Luisa gives history and context to the cooking of Germany and its influences worldwide. Sprinkled with both personal stories and historical insights, Classic German Cooking will leave you with a well-rounded understanding of the cuisine and its lasting influence.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference

272 pages, Hardcover

Published October 29, 2024

About the author

Luisa Weiss was born in West Berlin and spent her childhood shuttling back and forth between her Italian mother in Berlin and her American father in Boston. She started her much loved and highly acclaimed food blog, The Wednesday Chef, in 2005, and has worked as a literary scout and cookbook editor in New York. She lives in Berlin with her husband and sons, and works as a writer and translator.

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of making German cooking more accessible to American cooks--I've had a weird time finding recipes for traditional family foods that loved ones made from memory--and this book has a wide range of traditional German foods without trying to be exhaustive, as things vary so much from place to place. (It omits bierocks, a lunchtime staple in our house.) Yet, the book suffers from that minimal look that is just not my favorite for cookbooks, and is inconvenient to use.

Take the recipe for maultaschen, pages 155-161. Page 155 is the ingredients and notes/story. Pages 156-157 are (very helpful) step-by-step wordless instruction images for assembling and cutting out the dumplings. Pages 158-159 are the written instructions (TWO pages turns away from the ingredients list...y'all I'm not on America's Test Kitchen, I don't pre-measure every ingredient in little glass bowls!). Page 160 is a full-page image of the uncooked dumplings, nearly identical to one of the images on p 157, for some reason, and p 161 simply says "maultashen, continued" at the top, I suppose since the full-page image of uncooked maultaschen didn't get a caption, before moving on to geshmeltze zwiebeln, neatly contained on one page, no images provided.

I would like to give this to my mom (and I still might), but the lack of images and the weirdly blah book design makes me less enthusiastic about the prospect. Most of the recipes don't have pictures, yet a cute little egg shelf manages to get a full-page image and several other appearances in the book. I mean, honestly. I know what eggs look like; I would like to see if my graupensuppe is headed in the right direction. A diet with lots of cabbage and potatoes might not be the most aesthetic, but we are here for German food. Whenever I see those uninspiring pages and oddly long stories accompanying the ingredients list (the design for maultaschen is not unusual!) I want to aggressively populate the pages with gravy stains and splashes from red cabbage water. I suppose that makes me want to cook, but it also makes me feel like my mom in the theater for Julie and Julia, when she was the only one who laughed at Irma Rombauer's comment about the recipe index in The Joy of Cooking. This book was not, perhaps, designed by someone accustomed to lots of time in the kitchen. I do like that the stories before the recipes include notes about serving sizes, substitutions, a bit of history or culture here and there. I just wish they didn't so often break the ingredients from the instructions!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful companion to Luisa Weiss' Classic German Baking: The Very Best Recipes for Traditional Favorites, from Pfeffernüsse to Streuselkuchen. I loved reading the cultural information about each recipe, and there were several recipes that I'm looking forward to trying. Definitely recommended.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve eagerly anticipated this book all year and I finally got my hands on a library copy. I also happen to know I will get a hard copy for Christmas because my husband told me to order it for myself for Christmas. We’re cool like that.

These recipes look so delicious. There aren’t many photos but there is history, and I like that even more. These recipes have survived the test of time, and they don’t need a fancy photographer making them look delicious. Their reputation precedes them. And I’m ok with that.

So, I drooled over this book. I wanna make everything.
And I will- after I open it up on Christmas morning.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a nice cookbook with classic German food that isn't too complicated to make. The little stories included with each recipe are entertaining and impart useful information. I have two complaints. 1. Although the photographs in the cookbook are beautiful, there are not enough. In a cookbook that has recipes from another culture, you need pictures, maybe not individual ones, but maybe a photo of a grouping of several recipes together with labels. 2. Also, she frequently refers to items needed for a few recipes that can be gotten via mail order, but she has no index listing sources.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is definitely American and German so she knows authentic German food and how to translate it into cooking in the US. She has a wide range of dishes, including plenty that are not commonly known in the US, which I am particularly interested in. I can’t wait to make the Eier in Senfsoße(boiled eggs in mustard sauce over mashed potatoes), Hühnerfrikassee, Obatzda(Bavarian Cheese Spread), and Pflaumenmus(plum butter). It all looks delicious!

[Elizabeth]

As heard on The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters:
https://mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/r...

[Kate]

Made krautsalat and chicken fricassee, and plan to make the hamburger pannfisch. All good recipes!

[M M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Beef Barley soup recipe EVER.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one I need to own. A dozen or more recipes that family has cooked for us. Well written. History behind recipes. And great pictures, in COLOR!

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great German recipes and ideas for classic meals