Customer Reviews

Cooking with the Saints: An Illustrated Treasury of Authentic Recipes Old and Modern

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4 star:		(1)
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Cooking with the Saints, by Ernst Schuegraf, is a magnificent volume of cooking inspiration for Catholics. This full-color hard-cover book is so elegant, I hated to drop batter on the beautifully designed pages! At 330 pages, this heavy volume covers recipes for saints from Agnes to Wilfrid. The recipes have been meticulously culled from many nations, traditions, and time periods, to arrive to us in one complete book.

The recipes have conversions for United States and European cooks. Each recipe features a short biography of it's namesake saint, as well as full-color photograph. The recipes are diverse and include: Stuffed Peppers in Walnut Sauce, Soup for Saint Francis Xavier's Day, Melachrino Cake, Saint Margaret's Lebkuchen, Saint Martin's Day Duck, Saint Roch's Fingers, and Saint Theresa's Bread.

The 3-page Introduction by Schuegraf tells us the story of his inspiration. He discusses some of the differences cooking and baking has undergone, and tells us that he has done his best to retain the recipes as they were found. Some of the recipes are pulled from antique cookbooks, and many others were carefully researched at St. Francis Xavier Library.

Saint Barbara, pages 33 - 36, is a prime example of the quality of work put into this book. The biography of Saint Barbara encompasses what is known of her life from the third century, a thirteenth-century book about her, and even legends about her father. Page 33 features a beautiful fifteenth century painting of her by Jan Van Eyck. The author attributes three recipes to Saint Barbara's name: Saint Barbara Cake, Pork Tenderloin Saint Barbara, and Dessert for Saint Barbara's Day.

I prepared the Saint Barbara Cake in my kitchen at home. The ingredients were readily on hand: butter, sugar, eggs, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and a lemon. This cake has a silky texture, due to the large amount of cornstarch that goes into the recipe. The cake possesses a light, lemony flavor with a dense but silky texture. It is a perfect accompaniment to your morning ritual, substitute this lovely cake on December 4th (Saint Barbara's day) for your muffin or bagel.

Ernst Schuegraf has created a treasure for Christian bakers with Cooking With the Saints. Christians can enhance their experience of the holy days with their families by cooking from this volume. Enjoy!

This book by Ernst Scheugraf is such a fabulous presentation! The book is large and heavy -- the glossy pages are chock full of mouthwatering recipes with matching colorful photos of the dishes and beautiful graphics of the saints with small biographies of each saint. All the dishes are related to saints--with the criteria that each dish must contain the saint's name.

The presentation is just beautiful. The book rivals Martha Stewart's books!

All the recipes are written with regular and metric measurements, with easy to follow directions. The recipes range from appetizers to main dishes to dessert -- and all levels of experience can find useful recipes.

I study and probably own all the books on the Catholic liturgical year in the domestic church (home) and this book I can really say is unique and worthwhile addition to my collection.

This is truly a most unique cookbook! For centuries -indeed throughout the millennium -saints have inspired our beliefs, nurtured our faith, and now in this book promise to nourish us as well. Journey with Ernst Schuegraf into the very heart and soul of an emerging western culture as he delivers the culmination of his research and travels in "far away places with strange-sounding names". Ernst masterfully leads you through historic archives, medieval cathedrals, ancient monasteries, rare private collections, news-clippings and books that were yellowed and brittle with age. Who was the saint who inspired Ernst to dedicate so much commitment and passion to seeking out the recipes that you will enjoy this tremendous book? Cooking With the Saints features over one hundred seventy recipes and seventy-three mini-biographies of the saints, and are accompanied by beautiful color photographs. Each recipe has been prepared by Ernst himself, then tested and tasted by family and appreciative friends. Whether you plan for a simple but delicious home meal, a tasty dessert, or an exotic banquet, this is the book that will truly bless your cooking experience! Consider a feast of delicious St. Fortunatus Suckling Pig while enjoying an evening with the camaraderie of good friends and fine wine. Or perhaps Hildegard von Bingen may beckon you to the dining table? Enjoy Cooking With the Saints!

I received this beautiful book last year as a Christmas present and am quite happy to share it with others. Not only are the recipes delicious, but the photography is remarkable and the historical research is extraordinary. This book was obviously a labour of love. While some can compare this book to the works of Martha Stewart in terms of its presentation, this does not reflect the character of the book or its author. Ignoring this book simply because one does not like Martha Stewart is ridiculous. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in cooking, art, travel, or history.

Yes, this cookbook is beautiful and a welcome addition to growing library of books associated with the Church's liturgical year. BUT the recipes are deeply flawed. It's obvious that the author did not really test the recipes--for example, the sesame/anise bread for St. Joseph's Day calls for 4 cups flour, 6 eggs, 2 cups water, and 1/2 cup of melted shortening. Anyone who knows how to cook would know instantly that you will not end up with a kneadable dough with those quantities but rather a form of library paste. So beware if you try to cook from this book.

We have been enjoying this book. It was a neat idea to combine saint stories with recipes, and the recipes we have tried have worked out well.

This book has wonderful recipes and information about Saints. There are many pictures and a variety of different dishes to choose from. The food is delicious and the information about the Saints is very interesting. My 3 children put yellow sticky notes on almost every recipe in the book to try to make and they read about the saints too.
A wonderful addition to any household recipe library.

I've purchased this cookbook on two separate occasions (as a Christmas gift and as a graduation gift), to give to a man and to a young woman, both of whom really appreciated the book. It has impressive illustration work, a wealth of historical information, and a variety of interesting and unique recipes. A nice display book as well.

I gave this book to my teenage son who loves to cook for a Christmas gift. He loves it and has learned so much!! The recipes are very advanced with many exotic hard to find ingredients. Not a good everyday recipe book.

Amazon.com, you are the greatest. This was given to a friend as a gift. They raved about it. This is truly a"Heavenly Book". Thank you once again for your promptness.