Van wafel tot koek: Gebak uit het hart van de Lage Landen voor alle feesten van het jaar

by Regula Ysewijn

Regula verbeeldt met haar verhalende fotografie en recepten het landschap van de rijke bakcultuur van de Lage Landen. Van het donkere roggebrood en de honingkoek die de ruggengraat vormden van een dagelijks feest op het bord tot lang vergeten recepten. Er zijn wafels en winterbroden voor de twaalf dagen van Kerstmis, pannenkoeken voor Lichtmis en Carnaval, krakelingen voor de vastentijd, vlaai en gefrituurde bollen voor Kerstmis en alle kruidige lekkernijen die ons meteen aan Sinterklaas en Sint-Maarten doen denken.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food and Drink, Food History

272 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top !!!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prachtige foto’s en zoveel interessante bakgeschiedenis dat ik onze traditionele wafels en koeken nu veel meer weet te waarderen 🧇

[Heleen VR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prachtig boek voor iedereen die houdt van geschiedenis, bakken en mooie foto's.

[Elise Van de Velde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een bakboek zoals ik er nog nooit één gezien heb, omdat het veel meer is dan dat. Als een persoon met liefde voor bakken, lezen én geschiedenis vormt dit boek de ideale combo. Regula neemt ons mee door de gebak-geschiedenis van de Lage Landen, met prachtige beelden. Ook boeiend om te lezen zijn Regula haar ervaring met Vlaams gebak én de belangrijke context helemaal aan het begin van het boek die me toch even deed stilstaan bij de traditionele recepten waar wij zo van houden … Prachtig en eerlijk. Op het boek staat een recensie “Ik ben verliefd op dit prachtige boek”, and I couldn’t agree more.

[Honest Mabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was interesting

I can’t say I looked at a single recipe and definitely wanted to make them. I think it is a beautiful book though.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazing, and includes recipes, history of baking, and artworks showing where some of the items have been painted. I have a short list of recipes to try, and had to return it to the library (with no renewals) as there was a reservation after me.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely on the higher-brow than your average cookbook, this discusses the history of the Low Countries (Benelux without the Lux bit) before it gets to food. It's aimed at honouring and reviving the traditional, feast day-type baking of these realms. To that end, we get (possibly over-large) images and (potentially over-long) essays before hitting the first recipe, for a beery waffle. Many other waffles follow – each slightly different due to their mixture and of course their size, depth and decoration courtesy the relevant waffle iron. Yes, you could be discussing semantics here for all I know, for several browsers here will see little that is vital in the differences between them all.

Next comes certain breads, even a Grecian-styled one, pancakes, krakelingen and pretzels – stuff that I am sure tastes marvellous, but which I have no intention (nor capacity) to make. Vlaais and taarts galore could keep you more than occupied, and if the likes of Amelie and Chocolat were to combine, provide you with more than enough to find a perfect shop to bake and sell it all in, alongside the love of your life. This is stuffed with such wish-fulfilment on a plate, or just sold in a paper bag on a street corner to a winsome lass, if the portrait photography involved is anything to go by.

As a result it seems at first glance to have less concern for the kitchen-bound practicalities, and more concern for the heritage, the vintage appeal, the romance. But even the briefest of glimpses shows these recipes are easily followable, and while I don't regret never becoming a home baker I can see that this would have entertained me royally if I had done so.

Earnest, sincere, high-falutin' in visuals and yet accessible to all, this does definitely pack the historical essays in alongside the recipes more than you may ever have seen before, but there's very little to fault. Even from someone like me, for whom this is so not aimed, this smacks of being a cherishable success. A strong four stars.

[Lucia Graziano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Se cercate un libro di ricette tradizionali legate al mondo della pasticceria belga, qui ne troverete a centinaia (forse un po' ripetitive: di fatto, il libro è composto al 70% da waffles e crepes in ogni possibile variante).
Ma se cercate un libro sulla storia della cucina belga, e sui piatti che nel passato venivano portati in tavola per onorare le grandi feste del calendario liturgico civile, questo è il libro che fa per voi. Include anche centinaia di ricette, accompagnate da fotografie suggestive; ma soprattutto, contiene pagine (e pagine e pagine...) di Storia, con informazioni preziosissime e precise sugli usi, i costumi e le tradizioni locali, e sulla loro evoluzione attraverso i secoli. Se guardiamo alla quantità (e anche alla difficile reperibilità) delle informazioni fornite, è nettamente migliore rispetto ai libri (pur molto godibili) che l'autrice ha dedicato alla cucina britannica. E' un libro di ricette, ma si legge (se lo si vuole) come un libro di Storia e di folklore.

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was interesting to look through and I enjoyed the photography, the photographer has made the pictures interesting and artistic.

The recipes were interesting but none I'd particularly want to make. This book has a collection of recipes from the Netherlands, this could be quite interesting if you have connections with the country. To make many of the recipes you need traditional wooden molds or waffle irons, without these the results will look dramatically different. There were quite a few waffle based recipes.

The author had some odd views about meat eating. She states she didn't want to eat meat if the animals weren't treated kindly as she thought that eating a stressed animal would make you stressed because you are what you eat. The author has missed the point that all animals are stressed when they are killed.

2.5 stars

[Grietleest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regula Ysewijn. Wat een koningin!

Wie anders dan zij kan recepten combineren met lessen geschiedenis en kunst?
Wie anders dan zij kan mij, iemand die altijd chips boven koekskes zal kiezen, doen watertanden over een paar perfect gestileerde wafels?
Wie anders dan @brunovergauwen, die ik pas ontdekte dankzij Het lied van de bultrug, kan ook nog eens de meest schone cover afleveren?

Dit boek is er eentje om te koesteren en om cadeau aan iedereen te doen. En om onze baktradities in ere te houden.
En dat mag met een elektrisch wafelijzer. Maar het kan ook met een echt ijzeren model op een leuvense stoof. You do you 🧇🥞🥨.

[Fem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes me so happy! Not only are the recipes phenomenal and extensive, but the author also does a great job making the history and culture of the recipes come to life alongside colorful pictures.
These recipes and the info in this book have enabled me to keep my heritage and culture close, while living far away.

10/10 would recommend. Would make a great gift for any Dutch/Belgian baking enthusiast with ambition and curiosity.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful cookbook, but also history of the Low Countries' Festival baking. I read every word of every essay and studied every photograph, and learned so much.

I love it! I don't know if I'll ever bake anything from the recipes, but I'll have them in my collection.

[Sarah Lombard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. A treasure. And a art book

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read from a historical standpoint, though I'm not sure how many of the recipes I will actually end up trying.