Photo by Regula Ysewijn
If you have read either of Regula Ysewijn’s previous titles, Pride and Pudding, and Oats in the North, Wheat from the South you will recognise in Dark Rye and Honey Cake that particular mixture of deep scholarship, elegant playfulness and gorgeous painterliness that she brings to all her work. It is a majestic achievement, and a fascinating read. Subtitled Festival Baking from the Heart of the Low Countries, it covers a subject very little known over here, and offers a historical education and a practical guide, the two joined together by an aesthetic and attention to detail that elucidate and delight.
Ysewijn brings us waffles (many of them), sweet, enriched breads, pancakes, pretzels, fritters, tarts and pies, gingerbreads, biscuits and sweets that make you feel at one and the same time steeped in the history of her culture, and impatient to rush off into your present-day kitchen at home to bake. In short, it is a book for those interested in food history, for curious home bakers, and anyone who needs to be uplifted by beauty.
I know I often give a potted selection of recipes from the book, but I do feel you need this in your hands to understand the full sweep, and so much needs to be understood in context. Still, that’s not a prerequisite for cooking from this book, by any means — and I’m very happy to share with you, from its pages, the Potsuikervlaai, a custard tart with a brown-sugar crumble-topping.
Dark Rye and Honey Cake: Festival baking from the heart of the Low Countries by Regula Ysewijn (Murdoch Books, £26). Photography by Regula Ysewijn.
