The Old World Kitchen: The Rich Tradition of European Peasant Cooking

by Elisabeth Luard

Within the ken of the kitchen, the most basic elements of history, economy, and geography are carried by hand through time; recipes are records of that transmission, keeping culture in seasoned anecdotes. Such tales, told through many generations, provide the contents of Elisabeth Luard’s compendium of European peasant cooking. The more than 500 recipes Luard has collected are emblems of parochial lore and family tradition, of common wisdom and cunning necessity, and they treat every imaginable aspect of taste and appetite. The preparations described here are, as Luard writes, “the ‘mother-recipes’ from which all European cookery springs. . . . For most of us . . . they are as integral a part of our past, and of what shapes and nourishes us today, as our literature and songs, our paintings and technology.” We couldn’t agree more.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Food History, History

538 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Elisabeth Luard is an award-winning food-writer, journalist and broadcaster who often illustrates her own work. Her most recent cookbook, A Cook's Year in a Welsh Kitchen with photography by Clare Richardson, was published by Bloomsbury in 2010. Previous books include European Peasant Cookery (US The Old World Kitchen), Festival Food and Tapas, all of which are in print with Grub Street. Others include Classic Spanish and Soups (Octopus), The Latin American Kitchen, The Food of Spain and Portugal and Food Adventures: Introducing your Child to Flavours around the World (Kyle Cathie) - written with daughter-in-law Frances Boswell, and Truffles (Frances Lincoln). She is currently Trustee Director of The Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, contributes a monthly column to Richard Ingrams The Oldie Magazine, and is a member of the team at online culinary magazine Zester Daily. She has published 2 novels, one of which, Emerald, won the WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award. Her work as a journalist appears regularly in The Daily Mail, The Scotsman, Country Living, Cambria Magazine, The Jewish Chronicle and the TLS.

Reviews

[Johanna Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook is fun - it dips you into the kitchens of regular European families of days gone by, entwining stories and recipes. The recipes use simple ingredients to create dishes bigger than what they are made of. Pease porridge - put dried peas in a bag and put it in a pot where pork is boiling in water, remove the peas, mash the peas, and steam the result until it sets. The book includes recipes for cold beer soup, haggis, and syllabub. It also has a chapter called "Beef, Reindeer, and Grilled Meats".

[Cookie M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much I have asked my mom to get the print version of it for me for Christmas. All the dishes we love best are really peasant dishes, and this cookbook goes back to the roots of them.
Even if you are not a book the stories and descriptions are worth reading.

[miss carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Old World Kitchen is a lot of fun if you're looking to explore a wide range of European cuisines without going through the trouble of getting individual cookbooks. There's a lot of variety to be had here, organized by dish type and supported by a well laid out index. With this many recipes, there's definitely something for everyone!

If I have to ding The Old World Kitchen for anything, it's that it's somewhat dated and I find some of the measuring amounts specified confusing and inconsistent. Some people have also pointed out inaccuracies in the research, which is also a problem for something purporting to be "authentic".

Still, overall this is a fun cookbook if not a mind blowing one. Maybe my rating will go up as I have a chance to try more recipes, but for now I'll say a solid three stars.

[Paul Durham · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could only keep one cookbook (I have dozens) it would be this book. Such a depth and variety of recipes from most European countries, with an emphasis on peasant type dishes. Want to make a pigs blood sausage, cook eels, make sauerkraut, or brawn? This is your book.

Even if you don't want to make unusual dishes, it is a great source of no nonsense delicious cooking.

Lamb with oregano and lemon, aubergine salad, Jannsen's delight (potato baked with cream and anchovies) and roast beef with Yorkshire pudding are all recipes I have used often.

A good general purpose cookbook empahsising our own European heritage.

You may love Thai and Turkish as I do but it is great to examine one's own heritage.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great exploration of Old World European recipes. The kind of food your grandmothers grew up eating & made for their loved ones. Recommended for fans of Fallon's 'Nourishing Traditions'.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 solid stars. The kindle version I borrowed from the library was, curiously, the 1980s something version so geography and country names, particularly those in Eastern Europe, are dated both in name and spelling. I mean…I was in elementary school in the mid 80s and early 90s and don’t recall seeing Romania spelled as Rumania, so.

Despite the desperate need for a geographic update, this was a fascinating look into so called peasant cuisine of Europe. Yes, some weird ingredients are needed and many recipes might not be defined as “quick and easy”, but it’s nonetheless an engrossing read.

[Amy Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very different style that I was not used to. The recipes are very heavy-duty everyone is looking for lightweight recipes today.

[Annette]

Fascinating, and she frequently made me laugh!!

[rara ➶ · Rating 1 out of 5]

lame and wrong.

[Lee Broderick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elisabeth Luard is one of Britain's most revered food writers and this is widely considered to be her magnum opus. She combines functional recipes for every kind of European comfort food, here, with meticulous research and mixes her fine prose with recollections of her interviewees and excerpts from the journals of nineteenth and early twentieth century travellers.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book was published in 1987, recent interest in Nordic Nouvelle cuisine indicates another look through these recipes. A renewed trend in scavenging for fresh food can lead us to enhance our cooking with young, tender, succulent ingredients for old recipes.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. Amusing. Should be a classic. Lots of tasty not weird gluten free foods, because not every region was dependent on wheat. I think I'm going to buy a copy of this, which is not something I often do. It's useful.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive introduction to European peasant cooking, including lore, techniques, and ingredients. A little from every country.

[beentsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just stunning. So much amazing in one place. I may have to purchase the hardcopy edition in addition to my ebook.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Mine is a hardcover edition, not an ebook.)

Excellent, international reference book. Glad I bought this.

[Flint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super... but too hard to read on ebook... will be much better when I find a printed copy.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this book an obsession with food history was born.