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Clever Cooks: A Concoction of Stories, Charms, Recipes & Riddles
Start with a basic collection of clever cooks, such as Betta, a rich merchant’s daughter who creates her true love out of marzipan. Or Gretel, who eats up her employer’s chicken but neatly avoids punishment. Stir in a few recipes—quick butter cookies, hearty soup, molasses milk shakes. Sprinkle in some riddles and a charm or two, and you end up with a most delightful concoction. This is precisely what Ellin Green has done Iin this charming anthology. She has put together a dozen stories involving clever cooks who outwit fairies, giants, kings and just ordinary people. Interspersed among the stories are charms, riddles and recipes that augment the stories and tickle the imagination. Mrs. Green has woven a wide variety of material into a cohesive whole that is laced throughout with warmth and humor.
Contents:
The woman who flummoxed the fairies
Fairy cake recipe
Come, butter, come
Butter cookies recipe
Brewery of eggshells (Wales)
The old woman who lost her dumpling (Japan)
Cherry dumpling recipe
Clever Oonagh (Ireland)
Griddle bread recipe
Dwarf Long Nose (Germany)
Chocolate potato cake
Chocolate butter icing
Cushy cow, bonny
Molasses milk shake recipe
Pinto Smalto (Italy)
Marzipan recipe
Coconut kisses
The miller, his cook, and the king (Slovenia)
Menu for a king
Clever Grethel
Roast chicken recipe
The one-legged crane (Italy)
A very great curiosity
Pancake day
Pancake recipes
Honey butter recipe
The birth of Simnel cake (England)
Simnel cake recipe
The perambulatin' pumpkin
Pumpkin chiffon pie recipe
Gingersnap crumb crust recipe
The old woman and the tramp (Sweden)
Hearty soup recipe
Contents:
The woman who flummoxed the fairies
Fairy cake recipe
Come, butter, come
Butter cookies recipe
Brewery of eggshells (Wales)
The old woman who lost her dumpling (Japan)
Cherry dumpling recipe
Clever Oonagh (Ireland)
Griddle bread recipe
Dwarf Long Nose (Germany)
Chocolate potato cake
Chocolate butter icing
Cushy cow, bonny
Molasses milk shake recipe
Pinto Smalto (Italy)
Marzipan recipe
Coconut kisses
The miller, his cook, and the king (Slovenia)
Menu for a king
Clever Grethel
Roast chicken recipe
The one-legged crane (Italy)
A very great curiosity
Pancake day
Pancake recipes
Honey butter recipe
The birth of Simnel cake (England)
Simnel cake recipe
The perambulatin' pumpkin
Pumpkin chiffon pie recipe
Gingersnap crumb crust recipe
The old woman and the tramp (Sweden)
Hearty soup recipe
164 pages, Hardcover
Published February 1, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 19, 2025
Storyteller, librarian and writer Ellin Greene presents folk and fairytales with the theme of cooks and cooking in this charming anthology from 1973, pairing the tales from various sources with recipes, descriptions of folk customs and riddles. The former includes such treats as fairy cakes, butter cookies, cherry dumplings, griddle bread, chocolate potato cake with chocolate butter icing, molasses milk shake, marzipan, coconut kisses, roast chicken, pancakes, honey butter, simnel cake, pumpkin chiffon pie in gingersnap crumb crust, and hearty soup. The latter includes charms to encourage butter to churn and to convince bewitched cows to give milk. The stories themselves include:
The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies, a Scottish folktale taken from Sorche Nic Leodhas' Heather and Broom: Tales of the Scottish Highlands , in which a woman renowned for her baking is kidnapped by the fairies, who long to enjoy her baked goods. The woman wins her freedom through her cleverness, quick thinking, and judicious use of noise. This story can also be found, as The Fairies and the Cake Baker, in Tanya Robyn Batt's A Child's Book of Fairies .
Brewery of Eggshells, a Welsh folktale taken from Joseph Jacobs' Celtic Fairy Tales , in which goblins exchange their own children for two human twins, until the human mother forces them to change them back again by boiling some pottage in eggshells. There is an Irish variant of this tale in Thomas Crofton Croker's 1825 Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland .
The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumpling, a Japanese folktale translated into English by Lafcadio Hearn, and originally published in Japan in 1902, in which an old woman follows her wayward dumpling into an underground land, and becomes the cook for an oni (an ogre).
Clever Oonagh, an Irish folktale taken from Amabel William-Ellis' Fairy Tales from the British Isles , in which the wife of the giant Fin protects him from the giant Cucullin, with the help of some very hard griddle cakes, and a clever plan. This story has been retold numerous times, in various collections and in picture books such as Fin M'Coul: The Giant of Knockmany Hill by Tomie dePaola, Finn MacCoul and His Fearless Wife by Robert Byrd and Mrs. McCool and the Giant Cuhullin by Jessica Souhami.
Dwarf Long Nose, a German fairytale taken from Andrew Lang's The Violet Fairy Book , in which a handsome young boy named Jem in turned into a long-nosed dwarf by the sorceress with whom his mother quarrels in the market, spending seven years as her enchanted servant, and many years afterward as the local Duke's cook, until he finally finds a way to undo the spell cast on him. This tale was originally written by Wilhelm Hauff, and adapted in English by Lang. There are a number of published editions of the original Hauff version, in English and in German.
Pinto Smalto, an Italian tale taken from Giambattista Basile's collection of Neopolitan fairy-tales, Il Pentamerone , in which a young woman named Betta creates a man out of almond paste, rose water, perfume, and jewels. Brought to life by the goddess of love, Pinto Smalto is to wed Betta, but is kidnapped by a great queen who wants him for her own. Betta must seek far and wide for her lost bridegroom, and endure many trials to win him back. Apparently Italo Calvino included a Calabrian variant of this story in his collection of Italian folktales. For my part, I was struck by the similarity here, at least in the final section, with the Scandinavian tale of East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon .
The Miller, His Cook and the King, a Slovenian tale taken from Vladimir Kavčič's The Golden Bird: Folk Tales From Slovenia , in which a prosperous miller's boast that he has no care almost brings him to calamity, when the king of the land challenges him to answer four questions. Fortunately, the miller's cook knows what to do.
Clever Grethel, a German fairytale taken from Walter de la Mare's Tales Told Again , in which the eponymous Grethel, a very talented cook, manages to outwit her employer and avoid the consequences of eating both of the roast chickens she initially prepared for his dinner with a guest. This story comes from the Brothers Grimm originally (or from their sources), and was published in 1819 in the second edition of their fairytale collection.
The One-Legged Crane, an Italian tale taken from Domenico Vittorini's Old Italian Tales , in which another clever cook outwits his employer after a portion of the meal he is preparing is eaten before it gets to the table. In Chichibio's case, it is his humor that saves the day in the end, in addition to his creative cookery. This story originally comes from Boccaccio's 14th-century story collection, The Decameron
The Birth of Simnel Cake, an English taken from Eleanor Farjeon's The New Book of Days , in which an argument between husband and wife Simon and Nelly results in the creation of the simnel cake, traditionally served on Mothering Sunday, in the season of Lent.
The Perambulatin' Pumpkin, an Appalachian folktale taken from Ellis Credle's Tall Tales From the High Hills , in which Hank Huggins tells the story of how his wife rolled down the mountain in one of his enormous pumpkins, creating the perfect pumpkin pie filler in the process.
The Old Woman and the Tramp, a Swedish tale taken from Nils Gabriel Djurklou's Fairy Tales from the Swedish , in which a clever old wander convinces a stingy old woman to make and share a hearty soup with him, under the pretense that they are making broth from a nail. This story is very similar to the famous French folktale concerning Stone Soup , although there the soup is made from a stone rather than a nail, and the miracle is pulled off by a group of soldiers in a village, rather than a lonely tramp in a private home.
In enjoyed Clever Cooks: A Concoction of Stories, Charms, Recipes & Riddles immensely, appreciating both the stories (and recipes, charms and riddles) collected by Greene and the accompanying artwork by the marvelous Trina Schart Hyman. Ellin Greene collaborated on two picture books with Hyman before this collection, The Pumpkin Giant and Princess Rosetta and the Popcorn Man , but I think they really created something special here! The tales are engrossing and entertaining, the black and white illustrations gorgeous! A fabulous thematic folklore collection, one I would recommend to readers who enjoy such fare in general, as well as to those looking for good and cooking-centered tales.
The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies, a Scottish folktale taken from Sorche Nic Leodhas' Heather and Broom: Tales of the Scottish Highlands , in which a woman renowned for her baking is kidnapped by the fairies, who long to enjoy her baked goods. The woman wins her freedom through her cleverness, quick thinking, and judicious use of noise. This story can also be found, as The Fairies and the Cake Baker, in Tanya Robyn Batt's A Child's Book of Fairies .
Brewery of Eggshells, a Welsh folktale taken from Joseph Jacobs' Celtic Fairy Tales , in which goblins exchange their own children for two human twins, until the human mother forces them to change them back again by boiling some pottage in eggshells. There is an Irish variant of this tale in Thomas Crofton Croker's 1825 Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland .
The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumpling, a Japanese folktale translated into English by Lafcadio Hearn, and originally published in Japan in 1902, in which an old woman follows her wayward dumpling into an underground land, and becomes the cook for an oni (an ogre).
Clever Oonagh, an Irish folktale taken from Amabel William-Ellis' Fairy Tales from the British Isles , in which the wife of the giant Fin protects him from the giant Cucullin, with the help of some very hard griddle cakes, and a clever plan. This story has been retold numerous times, in various collections and in picture books such as Fin M'Coul: The Giant of Knockmany Hill by Tomie dePaola, Finn MacCoul and His Fearless Wife by Robert Byrd and Mrs. McCool and the Giant Cuhullin by Jessica Souhami.
Dwarf Long Nose, a German fairytale taken from Andrew Lang's The Violet Fairy Book , in which a handsome young boy named Jem in turned into a long-nosed dwarf by the sorceress with whom his mother quarrels in the market, spending seven years as her enchanted servant, and many years afterward as the local Duke's cook, until he finally finds a way to undo the spell cast on him. This tale was originally written by Wilhelm Hauff, and adapted in English by Lang. There are a number of published editions of the original Hauff version, in English and in German.
Pinto Smalto, an Italian tale taken from Giambattista Basile's collection of Neopolitan fairy-tales, Il Pentamerone , in which a young woman named Betta creates a man out of almond paste, rose water, perfume, and jewels. Brought to life by the goddess of love, Pinto Smalto is to wed Betta, but is kidnapped by a great queen who wants him for her own. Betta must seek far and wide for her lost bridegroom, and endure many trials to win him back. Apparently Italo Calvino included a Calabrian variant of this story in his collection of Italian folktales. For my part, I was struck by the similarity here, at least in the final section, with the Scandinavian tale of East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon .
The Miller, His Cook and the King, a Slovenian tale taken from Vladimir Kavčič's The Golden Bird: Folk Tales From Slovenia , in which a prosperous miller's boast that he has no care almost brings him to calamity, when the king of the land challenges him to answer four questions. Fortunately, the miller's cook knows what to do.
Clever Grethel, a German fairytale taken from Walter de la Mare's Tales Told Again , in which the eponymous Grethel, a very talented cook, manages to outwit her employer and avoid the consequences of eating both of the roast chickens she initially prepared for his dinner with a guest. This story comes from the Brothers Grimm originally (or from their sources), and was published in 1819 in the second edition of their fairytale collection.
The One-Legged Crane, an Italian tale taken from Domenico Vittorini's Old Italian Tales , in which another clever cook outwits his employer after a portion of the meal he is preparing is eaten before it gets to the table. In Chichibio's case, it is his humor that saves the day in the end, in addition to his creative cookery. This story originally comes from Boccaccio's 14th-century story collection, The Decameron
The Birth of Simnel Cake, an English taken from Eleanor Farjeon's The New Book of Days , in which an argument between husband and wife Simon and Nelly results in the creation of the simnel cake, traditionally served on Mothering Sunday, in the season of Lent.
The Perambulatin' Pumpkin, an Appalachian folktale taken from Ellis Credle's Tall Tales From the High Hills , in which Hank Huggins tells the story of how his wife rolled down the mountain in one of his enormous pumpkins, creating the perfect pumpkin pie filler in the process.
The Old Woman and the Tramp, a Swedish tale taken from Nils Gabriel Djurklou's Fairy Tales from the Swedish , in which a clever old wander convinces a stingy old woman to make and share a hearty soup with him, under the pretense that they are making broth from a nail. This story is very similar to the famous French folktale concerning Stone Soup , although there the soup is made from a stone rather than a nail, and the miracle is pulled off by a group of soldiers in a village, rather than a lonely tramp in a private home.
In enjoyed Clever Cooks: A Concoction of Stories, Charms, Recipes & Riddles immensely, appreciating both the stories (and recipes, charms and riddles) collected by Greene and the accompanying artwork by the marvelous Trina Schart Hyman. Ellin Greene collaborated on two picture books with Hyman before this collection, The Pumpkin Giant and Princess Rosetta and the Popcorn Man , but I think they really created something special here! The tales are engrossing and entertaining, the black and white illustrations gorgeous! A fabulous thematic folklore collection, one I would recommend to readers who enjoy such fare in general, as well as to those looking for good and cooking-centered tales.
April 1, 2015
Part cookbook, part fairy tale retellings, “Clever Cooks” is a winsome treat for people who like to cook and for their children. What better way to keep children engaged in reading than to wed the printed word to a household craft that requires a child to stand and work by the storyteller’s side? The recipes are easy and apropos to the stories that precede them and the tales are just unfamiliar enough to entertain people who might not have heard them in the past.
The illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman are realistic with just enough detail in light shading and expressive features. Whether showing grotesque oni or gross-featured giant or delicate flying fairies, her talent is undeniable and an apt accompaniment to the stories that range from Ireland to Japan.
The illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman are realistic with just enough detail in light shading and expressive features. Whether showing grotesque oni or gross-featured giant or delicate flying fairies, her talent is undeniable and an apt accompaniment to the stories that range from Ireland to Japan.
March 30, 2022
A classic collection for every storyteller's library.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews