Cooking from scratches

/ J. F. Riordan

My mother was an excellent cook. Her meals were complex, flavorful, and creative. She baked her own bread, catered to my father’s sweet tooth with all kinds of amazing desserts: pies, chocolate eclairs, apple crumble, cookies. Her stews and main courses had depth and richness. She cooked with lashings of wine and butter, and although she used recipes, they were merely jumping off points for her creativity.

She was also not a woman much devoted to method. I think you could fairly call her general style slapdash, except for the fact that her results were so wonderful. Her handwriting was distinctive, but often scrawled (much like my own) and such recipe cards as she had—and she had a lot—are often nearly impossible to decipher. My niece very thoughtfully gave me a dishtowel with some of my mother’s recipes reproduced in her own writing, and when people see it they almost always ask: Can you read that? Usually, I can. A lifetime’s experience. But sometimes reading them isn’t enough.

My old friend, Julie, from sixth grade, like so many Wisconsin natives, is German through and through. She was lamenting recently that most of the old restaurants that served Sauerbraten are gone. Sauerbraten is a dish that requires three to five days to marinate the beef, and comes with complicated side dishes. Very German. My mom always made it, and although I have the recipe, I never have. So, back in December when things were hectic I told Julie—who is a treasured friend—that come January I would make Sauerbraten for her husband and her. It was a leap of faith.

Sauerbraten is one of those things that really does require a recipe. The seasonings and details vary regionally: Some versions have raisins, some have crumbled Lebkuchen, some have a chunk of rye bread at the bottom. But the fundamental seasonings are the same: apple cider vinegar, sugar, bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, onions, lemon. It doesn’t sound good, does it? But it is delicious: the German version of sweet and sour. The beef has been marinating since yesterday, and today I will make potato dumplings—which scare me— and red cabbage. So I am depending heavily upon my mother’s recipe cards.

The funny thing is my mother’s recipes are a bit like that old Far Side cartoon, where the mathematics professor has a long equation with an arrow pointing to the phrase: And then a miracle occurs. Many of the steps are not clearly explained. It makes me laugh. SO like her. For example, the recipe tells me the ingredients for the potato dumplings (Kartoffelklösse), but it’s kind of vague on how to cook them. The Sauerbraten is the same. I inherited her authentic German cookbook, and it, too, assumes that every idiot knows how to cook dumplings. But the Sauerbraten steps are so elaborate and complex that they tell the close reader much about the German mind.

My mother didn’t have a German mind. She had a passionate, fiery and creative Irish mind—which made her an interesting match to my studious, brilliant, but also passionate father. Tomorrow will be their wedding anniversary—79 years ago they were married at the Navy chapel in Anapolis—so it seems appropriate to be making the meal that was my mother’s specialty and my father’s favorite. And I think the best approach for me will be to throw culinary caution to the wind and adopt my mother’s joyful carelessness. If nothing else, it will be more fun.

I will report back.

47 thoughts on “Cooking from scratches”

  1. I am from Germany and your story took me right back to my mother and her kitchen. Good luck with the Sauerbraten! And – I also have a German cookbook that assumes everyone knows what baking at “mittlere Hitze” means. These somewhat vague instructions truly inspire the creativity in one’s culinary attempts, don’t they?!

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  2. Oh how I love how you write! And I so enjoy getting your musings through email with pictures of the boys – always a smiling start to my day. When the next North of the Tension Line book makes itself known I will eagerly reenter that world as well.

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  3. I’m looking forward to tasting notes, and photos! Our very creative neighbor (born in Iowas, married to a Kerala native, during grad school lived among foreign students soaking up culinary influences) is an amazing cook. Years ago, knowing my husband and I were recovering from the flu, she sent dinner over. She had made sauerbrsten with pork, adding some Indian flourishes. It smelled so wonderful we found ourselves standing at the kitchen counter, eating the delicious pork with our fingers. Alas, she didn’t take any notes, and has never been able to recreate that amazing dish. We still love her anyway.

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  4. I love this, Jan. This would be a wonderful piece for your next book of essays. My grandmother was German and her recipes were a lot like your Mother’s. Unfortunately, most of them were lost along the way, but her meals were always scrumptious . Can’t wait to hear how this all turns out. I’m sure it will be delicious.

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  5. “potato dumplings—which scare me” made me laugh out loud. I am no foodie; that’s my youngest brother’s gift. But I can boil dumplings well enough, I suppose.

    I have made sauerbraten only once but loved it so very much that I really need to repeat the dish. You are right that it reflects the “German personality” so well. Fussy, specific, and very sure there is only one correct way. Much like a BMW or a Mercedes, come to think of it. You may not agree with the sauerbraten recipe’s method or the way the heat and a/c or traction control on your BMW behave, but rest assured, they are the correct decisions and they are delivered to you with your best interest in mind.

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  7. Woot!

    If you come across the recipe for zwiebelfleisch I can be on your doorstep by noon. We had a wonderful German restaurant in Chicago named The Golden Ox (North and Clybourn for those playing at home) that served the best rendition of it. My 95-year-old neighbor and I often lament not being able to find its equal.

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  8. I’m sure it will be delicious! I would never attempt something so difficult and detailed. But I don’t enjoy cooking , and you do. Have a great weekend, and be sure to let us know how it all turns out!

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  9. I loved this one. I am a voracious reader of cookbooks and all recipes. I checked James Beard American Cookery and Marcia Adams Heartland. Both had sauerbraten recipes. Yours is probably more complicated. I may try it now after you piqued my interest. Let us know about yours.

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  10. I commend you on tackling Sauerbrauten. Even being half German, second generation American I’ve never had it. And every time I’ve seen my brother-in-law have it, his stomach isn’t right the next day. I’ve recently gotten into my German roots a bit with Schnietzel, but that’s about as far as my cooking German adventures go. I much prefer preparing Italian dishes.

    I hope your Sauerbrauten is as good as you remember.

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  11. This caused me to think about my Grandma from Burlington, WI. Birth name Meta Marta Berta Recknagel. Then she married a man of British descent, last name Richmond. So she became Meta Martha Bertha. Richmond. I have always loved to speak her name. She was an excellent cook, and gardener.

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  12. It’s best to understand the basics, have some wine(s), and throw caution to the wind! I always cook better (with abandon) after imbibing. The recipes may not always turn out the same, but they are always good. Well, mostly. Ha!

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  13. I have had my grandma’s sauerbraten recipe for 50 years or more now. I haven’t made it in quite a while. You inspire me…almost. I have her ancient cookbook too. How special it is! What wonderful memories. I can almost smell her bread baking now.

    Your sauerbraten will be fabulous! And you will have a kitchen full of invisible chefs cheering you on from wherever we are!

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  15. Another ode to your maman and once again I know I would have liked her. As if loving fresh flowers and daily fresh sheets weren’t enough. She was also a culinary artist.
    Decades ago you could get a perfect sauerbraten on 86th Street, Yorkville in New York city. I think it was often referred to as Germantown.
    Your version of this wonderful dish should be wonderful, good luck and Happy Anniversary to your parents. I so enjoyed reading this. Thank you.

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  16. Extraordinary! Mom usually stuck to her meat and potatoes menu, largely because our family liked it. However, she perused recipes regularly to find something new and interesting. One time, she found Sauerbraten. Don’t know where she found the recipe, but the results were magnificent. We loved it! My sister requested it as her special dinner on her birthday!

    After Mom passed away, we found her cookbooks and hand-written recipes. We never found the Sauerbraten recipe she used. However, after reading your post, I want to search for one to try. It brings back such wonderful memories. Thank you! 😉

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  17. Extraordinary! Mom cooked the basic meat and potatoes for our family, largely because that’s what we ate. She’d peruse recipes to find something new and interesting to try. Of all things, she found a recipe for Sauerbraten. She cooked it one night, hoping we’d like it…or at least eat it. It was magnificent, and we loved it. My sister requested it for her birthday dinner!

    After Mom passed away, we found her cookbooks and hand-written recipes, but we never found the one for Sauerbraten. Now, after reading your post, I’m going to search for one to try! Such wonderful memories! Thank you!

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  18. I imagine you will definitely do your mother justice with her recipe! Sauerbraten is my husband’s favorite German dish. When we went to Germany back in 1986 we bought the spice blend needed to make it. I divided it out into recipe size amounts and placed each in little amber glass bottles. All but one of the ose bottles were left behind 38 years later when we moved to Spain. The one time I made it the final product was great but the process was more than I wanted to repeat. I certainly sympathize with deciphering your mother’s recipes. My mother wrote in quantities such as “size 2 cans” and “3/4 of a box of (fill in the blank)”. Graham crackers is one that comes to mind in the second example. I don’t have to be reminded how many times the size of a box of Graham crackers has diminished since my mother wrote these to know why my final product never compares to what I remember. Enjoy your Sauerbraten and your company should feel very special!

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  21. I read this to my husband and it reminded us of when he was trying to make his mom’s butterscotch pie. He couldn’t get the butterscotch to thicken and caramelize without lumps. Finally he called her. Well, I always use a cast iron skillet, she told him, because it works much better for caramelizing. She was a master pie baker who sold her pies for a time in southern Indiana. It hadn’t occurred to her to put that information in the recipe. It was obvious!

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    • This posted as ‘anonymous’ because I was using my iPad instead of reading this here on my laptop. I couldn’t get my password manager to sign me in there for some reason.

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  22. Your mother cooked exactly the way I cook – recipes are taken as suggestions. My Mama was the same way. Married to papa at age 17 (both of them were Nicaraguan), she never learned to cook at home because there was always someone else to prepare the food. She had to learn on her own after she and Papa married and moved to Syracuse NY. Imagine the culture shock! By the time I came along, Mama had two children and had become an excellent cook. Everything she made was delicious. Not quite American, not quite Nicaraguan. But she never used recipes. Never. I learned to cook like she did, slapdash, improvising as I went, using recipes as suggestions. I’ve never tasted sauerbraten, but now, maybe I will. Suzy

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  23. “That sounds like it’s pretty tasty!” – Eli

    “Yes, and she always uses the secret ingredient that makes it so good.. It’s made with luv’in!!
    ..I can’t wait to try it!” – Auggie 😁😉🐾🐶🥩

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  24. My mother and sister and I are German—mom was from Düsseldorf, sister Rita and I were born in Stuttgart, my German father’s home. Your story about the recipes and sauerbraten brought back lovely memories, thank you ☺️ Ingrid

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

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  26. When I was young and newly married, I tried to replicate a friend’s recipe for sauerbraten.

    He had experienced my hopeless, early attempts at cooking and was determined to put me on some path to culinary righteousness.

    So I did try. And much like you, I suspect there were steps he left out or I couldn’t remember

    What I ended up with was a pot of rotted meat.

    It was truly disgusting, and it’s still the image seared into my brain whenever anyone mentions sauerbraten.

    I know you will have much better luck with yours!

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  29. Our mother’s cooking – and our grandmother’s – brings them immediately back us like a gift. Take charge of that dumpling recipe, and let your own hands render what your Mom’s hands did. May she be right there with you in your kitchen, while you knead away at your counter top. May your memories and palate be replete with every invocation of her. May she be brought back to you in morsels of your rich and inescapable DNA. xo

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