We are awakening to our local heritages... J. George Frederick, 1935

{HISTORY}

First published in 1935, under the title The Pennsylvania Dutch and Their Cookery, the mission of writer J. George Frederick (1882-1964) was to collect the often hidden away recipes of the Pennsylvania Dutch community for the enjoyment of a wider audience. 

Passed down through generations of family members, these recipes brought to America by German and Swiss settlers were often recorded in humble notebooks intended solely as reference guides for the cook at hand. Beloved and familiar, they were made so often by Pennsylvania Dutch families that they often become committed to memory, leaving the potential to be lost over time.

In the 1930s, just before George began compiling this cookbook, he noticed the emergence of a disturbing trend regarding modern home cooks. They were losing interest not only in the regional recipes their parents and grandparents grew up on, but also they were losing the taste for local foods. The cultural spotlight on sophisticated French cuisine, city lifestyles, and less time spent in the kitchen contributed to the less than favorable regard for the seemingly old-fashioned farm foods of their ancestors. Without an appreciation for the variety and influence of Southern, New England, and Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, George worried that the delightful founding foods of America would be forgotten.  

Growing up in a Pennsylvania Dutch community near Reading, PA, George knew first-hand what excellent cooks emerged from his neighborhood farm kitchens. Interested in keeping the spirit of this unique type of regional cooking alive, he was granted extensive access to a litany of personal recipes, cooking tips, and techniques of traditional cuisine that had been passed down for generations from one Pennsylvania Dutch cook to another. Faithly documented, George preserved this regional heritage food so that it could be shared with future generations and fellow epicureans.

The first of its kind to be published,  The Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book is made up of traditional German and Swiss heritage foods that were interpreted through the lens of the rural farming lifestyle experienced in the Keystone State throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

With self-sustainability always in mind in both the garden and the kitchen, these recipes are made of simple, whole ingredients intended to delight the appetite and nourish the body season by season throughout the year. 

Interesting recipes include Cocoanut Crackers, Moravian Coffee Cake, Potato Biscuits, Dutch Plum Pudding, Pennypacker Breakfast, Shrew-Berry Pie, Dutch Crumb Pie, Dandelion Salad, Amish Corn Salads, Corn Fish Cakes, Philadelphia Scrapple Croquettes, Vally Forge Onions and Apples, Sauerkraut Tulpehocke, Bean Schnitzel, Philadephia Sherry Sauerkraut, Pumpkin Custard, Blue Mountain Sausage Cornmeal Mush & Apples, Baked Ham with Spiced Oranges, Dutch Chicken Floats, Grumbera Potato Dumplings, and Mt. Joy  Spring Vegetable Soup. 

Another lovely aspect of this cookbook is the final chapter where George describes visiting his Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother on her farm in the late 1800s. Recalling all the cooking endeavors, kitchen chores, and farm market offerings she undertook from May to December, it's a captivating glimpse into the domestic life of Pennsylvania Dutch women just before the turn of the 20th century.

Photo of J. George Frederick courtesy of The Missoulian, March 29, 1936

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

• 1971 unabridged printing of the original 935 version by Dover Publications
• 186 pages not including an extensive list of recommended Dover Publications
• Includes 358 recipes 
• Paperback binding

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition, this cookbook is clean and bright throughout. Page 125 contains a small cooking spot in the top right corner. There is a small wrinkle on the front cover near the bottom edge and a light stain on the back cover at the bottom edge. The spine is tight and all pages are intact. 

{SIZE}

Measures 8" inches (length) x 5.5" inches (width) x .5" inches (thickness) and weighs 7 oz.