Customer Reviews

Invitation to Dine

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Christiane Herzog is the former First Lady of Germany and in this cookbook she offers a personal selection of classic German cuisine that clearly has a southern German bias. Wonderful about the recipe selection is that she picked mostly dishes that have been handed down the generations of her family, so the selection is clearly very traditional. The overall variety of dishes makes this book a good starting point for a collection of truely old-style central European recipes. The instructions are simply written, like many family recipes are, but the reader will find out that Mrs. Herzog was a very accomplished cook based on the attention she pays to important details and the selection of high quality ingredients. For a cookbook that is clearly southern German in style the selection of seafood recipes is quite impressive, but it is the desserts and cakes that really hit the homerun - wonderful stuff. The whole book is beautifully produced with great photographs that set the mood for the different chapters and food types.

Don't put much stock in the rating I gave this book, because its value depends primarily on the kind of cooking you like to do. If you like complex dishes with unusual pairings, you'll be greatly disappointed by Invitation to Dine, but if you're an American "home cook," this might be worth five stars.

Invitation to Dine is written by a former First Lady of Germany (as is Hannelore Kohl's Culinary Voyage Through Germany, a book that's in my well-thumbed pile).

The title implies that this is a "cooking to entertain" cookbook, but several of Herzog's recipes say that she learned them from her grandmother, and they sound a lot like "grandmother" recipes: very traditional, very stick-to-your-ribs, very comforting -- what Grandma might serve for Sunday dinner. Plenty of these will be familiar to American cooks (the highest percentage of immigrants in the U.S. came from Germany, particularly in the midwest, so that's no surprise), and in most cases you'll be able to find the ingredients at your local supermarket. Among these are leg of lamb in a mustard crust; stuffed roast chicken; potato pancakes; Bavarian mousse with pumpernickel (that's a dessert). The traditional recipes have some variations, though not shockingly so; her kasespatzle (Germany's answer to mac-and-cheese) uses rye flour along with white flour in the spatzle, and we liked the result so much that we'll probably adopt it as our standard.

The mix of recipes is different than a traditional American cookbook, even for one that's German-influenced. There are a few recipes for eel and venison, which are hard to come by here, but are common in Germany. (I can get good venison from my favorite butcher, but I'm not willing to pay $22/pound.) There's also a whole chapter dedicated to pickles and preserves, including elderberry liqueur, preserved walnuts, and tomato ketchup.

The author made several changes to recipes, apparently based on what she believed someone in the UK or America might be able to get. The subhead might still say "Apfel- und Quarkstrudel" but the English description is Apple and Cottage Cheese Strudel. I like cottage cheese just fine, but it's sure not the same as quark (which is a soft cross between cream cheese and a sharp yogurt). Personally, I'd prefer to make the dish with the "real" ingredients, and I don't mind seeking them out -- but it's also likely that if your grandma in Missouri made an apple and cheese strudel, it used cottage cheese because it was all that was available. Even more "eew, yuck!" is her use of Monterrey Jack in "Handkas mit Musik," a Frankfurt specialty that traditionally uses a very stinky cheese. (At least use a blue cheese instead!)

But the substitution (without even a note that, say, quark's the original, and use 2 cups if you're lucky enough to find it) is odd when compared to a recipe calling for 4 pounts of elderberries, which I've never seen for sale.

I have about a dozen German cookbooks, a few of which are in German. This one won't push them off the shelf, but I'm sure I'll consult it for comparative methods and techniques. And if I ever find a market with elderberries, I know which book I'll turn to first.

However, this book would be a great choice if your background is German and you wish you knew how to make cookies the way Grandma did. Or if you want simple, easy to put together meals when the kids come over on Sunday afternoon.

There hasn't been a bad recipe that I have tried from this book.

Many of the recipes are very easy to make and are so tasty. People often think German food is heavy and is only sour kraut and potatoes, but this book will show all that the food can be very delicate and simple!

Simple: THE BEST collection of classic, Home Style German recipes - with Christiane's own twists. No fancy, TV, school taught chef can come close to Christiane's home style recipes. If you want a real, authentic Germany menu, this is the book for you. Also, Christiane's shares her years of experience on how to prepare and serve the German way. No fussion here!!!!

Christiane Herzog is the former First Lady of Germany and who in this cookbook offers a personal selection of classic German cuisine that has a southern German bias. Wonderful about the recipe selection is that she picked mostly dishes that have been handed down the generations of a Germany family, so the selection is clearly very traditional. The overall variety of dishes makes this book a good starting point for a collection of truely old-style central European meals. The recipes are siomply written, like many family recipes are, but the reader will find out that Mrs. Herzog was a very accomplished cook based on the attention she pays to important deatil and the selection of correct ingredients. For a cookbook clearly southern German in style the selection of seafood recipes is quite good, but it is the desserts and cakes that really hit the homerun - wonderful stuff. The whole book is beautifully produced with great photographs that set the mood for the different chapters and food types.