Russian, Polish& German Cooking

by Lesley Chamberlain (Contributing Editor)

Large format, soft cover book with recipes and lots of color illustrations

Genres: Cooking, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food, Russia, German Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

So yes, I have definitely enjoyed skimming through the many diverse food and meal ideas which Lesley Chamberlain has featured in her 1999 Russian, Polish & German Cooking (with there also being quite a lot of them I would certainly enjoy trying out) and in particular that there are not just heavy and substantial meat but also very many dairy and vegetable based recipes included (and indeed, that in particular for many of the soups, salads, grain and pasta dishes encountered in Russian, Polish & German Cooking, making them vegetarian or vegan should actually be pretty easily achieved and should also not take all that many necessary substitutions either). And furthermore, I also and equally do very much appreciate (since this is sadly and frustratingly not always the case with cookbooks) that in Russian, Polish & German Cooking, Lesley Chamberlain not only strives to keep her instructions for the featured recipes simple (and also with not too many exotic and hard to easily obtain exotic ingredients as well as with suggestions for possible substitutions) but that the accompanying colour photographs (and for basically every single recipe) not only of the end products but also of the recipes during their stages of preparation are certainly and definitely textually delightful and will hopefully also make actually preparing these different and varied foods much easier and with less potential guesswork.

However, in my opinion, the book title of Russian, Polish & German Cooking is actually rather misleading since the recipes are in fact NOT ALL Russian, Polish or German but also of Austrian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Czech and (former) Yugoslavian origin. And indeed, there are in fact more Hungarian and Czech meals than German recipes and I thus simply cannot understand why instead of Lesley Chamberlain using a book title such as for example An Introduction to Eastern and Central European Cookery she has used the rather lacking and also not really all that truthful designation of Russian, Polish & German Cooking (which certainly does rather academically annoy me, and does make me only want to consider three stars maximum as a rating, as the introduction to Russian, Polish & German Cooking is also a bit confusing and seems to almost suggest that Germany is located entirely in Eastern Europe, which is geographically speaking simply not true).

[Anna Nesterovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a trial this cookbook got an average score of 3.7 from me. But. The authors are not overly familiar with the recipes or their history. There are a few very dumb things in this book that could have been cured by reading Wikipedia. On the other hand, traditions surrounding other recipes are spot on. I hesitated between 3 and 4 for a while. What swayed me is the fact that I actually want to buy this book and have it on my shelf.
p. 25 - 3 stars - Grandfather's Soup - An average tasting soup, with not enough "drop noodles" (They really don't have a special word in English?!) given in the recipe.
p. 31 - 2 stars - Buckwheat Blini - First, buckwheat blini are not traditionally eaten at any time, they are an extravagance. Second, this recipe is not quite what I'd call blini. Third, buckwheat flour outside of Russia is apparently made from raw buckwheat, so anyone going for a Russian flavor be advised, it's not supposed to be bitter; raw buckwheat is bitter. And last, the suggested topping is disgusting and I never saw anything like it outside the page of this book.
p. 56 - 4 stars - Rolled Fish Fillets - Tasty, but too much fuss.
p. 102 - 4 stars - Cauliflower Soup - Yam!
p. 104 - 3 stars - Hungarian Sour Cherry Soup - Made like this, it's a marginally tasty soup, on the edge of being a waste of cherries.
p. 161 - 5 stars - Spicy Apple Cake - AKA Apfelkuchen, a perfect winter apple cake, easy, fast, tasty. Unfortunately, I was the only one in the family who liked it :(
p. 170 - 5 stars - Stollen - I love Stollen! As much as I'm not a fan of yeast (because I rarely get it right), this version was so easy even I managed. And learned to make marzipan in the process.

[Cristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many great and familiar recipes! Can't help but understand the presence of most our American food that has an underlying basic component from all of the countries mentioned in this book.
Full color, 8 1/2 x 11 photos of food in the cookbook. Fantastic!

[Grisha Temchenko · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cookbook of the worst kind – it is literally a collection of recipes, photos of the dishes, and photos of step-by-step cooking. The little introduction it gives for the three regions is rather in reference style, providing some random facts such as what vegetables are common to the region. Any kind of personal touch is removed from the book. Skip the book and better find a related YouTuber if you need the recipes.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delicious combination of traditional dishes! Just like grandma and mother made.

[Sliefoxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't gone through the recipes completely, but am having a blast. I find this book easy to follow, with simple recipes but good for learning things like gravy, sauces and breads.

If you're an experienced cook you will probably find these recipes too easy or too familiar. For someone like me who loves to cook but needs to expand a little, this recipe book is perfect.

Many of the recipes call for some variation of onions and potatoes, at least in the Russian, Polish, Ukrainian section. It is very easy to experiment and not have to measure things exactly or even use a different kind of meat than what the recipe calls for. There are plenty of fish recipes, though I find there a little too much pork but usually can find a way around it.

There is an index in the back, which is very helpful as the book is divided by the region and Soups and Appetizers, Meats, Grains, and Deserts.

As someone who likes all-vegetable dishes, this is a good book for a vegetarian diet.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for some good recipes from my heritage and found some good ones here. It was a nice collection of recipes that are not hard to do. The recipes are rich in flavor and sauces just like I expected they would be. It's like Oktoberfest all wrapped up inside the covers of a brilliant cookbook.

[Dave Haskins]

Food,Cooking,European Cuisine

[Janin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of my favorite recipes.