We'll admit right up front that we¹re not big fans of German cooking. Its seems heavy and lacks the perfume and intrigue of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, or Asian cooking. But as this book shows, German cooking has its poetic moments, in a crumbling cake or a sausage dish that captures the crisp warmth of fall.

As the author notes in the preface, German cooking has been reduced to a number of cliches, rye bread, sauerkraut and beer among them, and she admits that German cooking is not as distinctive as Italian, Chinese or French, but it is savory and substantial, with plenty of meat...in generous helpings, in presentations that are simple and direct.

Before the recipes, the book describes Germany's history and regional variations, from the middle ages to the modern age, with influences of Prussia and the France. The author also includes a brief review of German Jewish food traditions, mostly centered on holiday food traditions. The recipes are arranged in menu order, with separate chapters of vegetable, potatoes, egg, and sausage dishes, as well as beverages.

We tried to cook away from the culinary cliches, to find some unfamiliar flavors and preparations. While many of the recipes are no surprise--potato salads and sauerkraut, the book does include a few twists like sauerkraut salads with wine, bacon and mushrooms, or apple. There are also recipes for hearty bean and vegetable soups in meat broth, stewed chicken, a whole chapter on potatoes, and chapters on sausages game, and pork and lamb roasts.

The book also includes interesting old recipes like Himmel und Erde (translated as Heaven and Earth) a casserole dish of apples and potatoes, or a recipe for Schweinsfusse, pig's feet that recommends removing the thin layer of fat and serving them on a bed of lettuce leaves. Perhaps the most interesting chapter is on drinks with recipes like egg beer, a kind of punch with lemon, sugar, egg yolks and milk whipped and mixed in to the beer, and served warm. The lustily named Turks Blood is a more appealing drink, a mixture of burgundy, sekt, and a few slices of orange. And Raspberry Buttermilk sounds like a dream, the two ingredients blended with a bit of honey and nutmeg.

Deviled eggs are pretty universally appealing, but we found Stuffed Eggs with Smoked Fish to be a waste of good smoked salmon. The fish is mixed with the cooked egg yolk, but made stodgy with the addition of bread soaked in milk and sauteed onions. The mixture is even described as a sturdy paste which is good for papier mache, but no so good for lunch.

Berlin-Style Hard Cooked Eggs are one of the few recipes tied to a specific place. They are lightly pickled eggs cooked and steeped in a reduced brine flavored with peppercorns, garlic, and bay. After steeping two or three days, they take on a pale tea color, but their overwhelming taste is salt. A more nuanced solution, with less salt, might result in a more subtle flavor.

Chicken Roll with Vegetables is easy enough to assemble, but breasts need more than recommended five poundings to be thin enough to wrap. The finer they're pounded, the more elegant the dish. we found the filling of sauteed carrots, peas, and onions bound with eggs to be bland. We couldn't help thinking what a few sun dried tomatoes would do, or a spike of spice, even something as mild as celery seed.

German Cake (Kuchen) is eggy, rich, and simple. It is a old world torte, lightly flavored with lemon and cinnamon, and deeply sweet. The cake mixes and cooks up simply, with a medium crumb texture. We split it and spread it with lemon curd, but would be equally good plain, or with a dollop of whipped cream.

Almond Crescents are another classic recipe, a butter cookie flavored with ground almonds and almond extract, here shaped like a horn, and covered with powdered sugar. We found this version slightly too sweet and a bit greasy. It's a fine balance in a such a simple cookie between flour, sugar, butter. You want to taste those ingredients, but taste them melded into something else, not each bite a grit of sugar and slick of butter.

We are sure there are good German recipes, but we'd like to look a bit further to find them.

© 2002 Claudia Kousoulas and Sandy Tallant