New cookbook ‘Honey Cake & Latkes’ features harrowing stories and recipes from Holocaust survivors.
The construct of an Auschwitz - cheer cookbook might voice jarring at first . Ronald S. Lauder , chairman of theAuschwitz - Birkenau Memorial Foundation(ABMF),even acknowledges in the foreword that the approximation “ may appear , on the aerofoil , to be a terrible joke or at least something in very bad taste . ”
But one look throughHoney Cake & Latkesproves quite the opposite . Within the first couple of pageboy , it is clear that it is more than a cookery book — it is a symbolisation of resilience , residential district , and love .
Honey Cake & Latkesall pop to come together during lockdown , when Lauder and AMBF executive conductor Dr. Maria Zalewska asked a chemical group of Auschwitz survivors if they had anyPassover recipesthey would be willing to share . What started as a simple question evolved into an accumulation of deeply cherished memories .
Lois Flamholz’s apple cake|Photo courtesy of Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial Foundation
“ We were essentially flood with recipe . Some were very long and detailed , and others were informally scribbled and uncomplete , ” say Zalewska , the editor of the book and the executive director of the Auschwitz - Birkenau Memorial Foundation that , under the leadership of Lauder , organized a slip to Auschwitz with the survivor and their loved ace right before the pandemic . “ We knew powerful aside that we had something very extra . ”
And the cookery book excogitate just how special it is — its varlet are brim with pre - World War II house portraiture , as well as CAT scan of survivors ’ original recipes in all their scribbled glory . While the first section of the cookbook is dedicated to each subsister ’s singular and harrowing fib , they are at long last unify by the universal feelings of love and warmth pass off from misrepresent and broil .
“ Flavors , scents , and image , which are connected to puerility memories and preparation , really remain pictorial . ”
Lois Flamholz|Photo courtesy of Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial Foundation
“ We created a unique tapestry of memories and flavors that are uplifting , but also stories of going and trauma , ” Zalewska say . “ It ’s a story of promise and victory of the human spirit , as well as fresh beginning and healing . ”
At its heart and soul , the object lens of the cookery book is to bring people together . Historian and director of theAuschwitz - Birkenau State MuseumDr . Piotr M.A. Cywiński explains the grandness of the dinner table , food , and custom , all critical thing that were taken from the survivors when they were ram into Auschwitz .
To encourage all readers , Jewish and non - Jewish , to make them for their loved one in the widget of their own place , many of the recipe are simple , have relatively unforesightful ingredient lists , and utilize store - grease one’s palms patty and pud mixes . The book is a way of preserving a special , ineradicable culture that will continue to experience on .
“ Flavors , scents , and image , which are connected to puerility memory and cooking , really remain vivid . They fill our hearts with love and appreciation of traditions , ” Zalewska says . “ It ’s something that we do n’t forget . ”
The assemblage of formula tells an regalia of story — some are the last meals survivors share with their kin before entering the camp , while others were learned out of necessity once they were set free . Each subsister has their own indorsement explaining why they included the recipe , from Eugune Ginter discussing how his mother fed him chocolate sandwich to aid him recover from emaciation after the war to Lois Flamholz serving her Malus pumila cake at Hadassah instrument panel meeting .
Flamholz was extradite to Auschwitz - Birkenau when she was 16 , along with her agnate grandparent , father ’s sister , and extensive family , many of whom she never saw again . She remained with four of her full cousin throughout her metre in the camp , where three out of the four survived . Once she moved to the United States in 1948 , Flamholz became a lifelong member of Hadassah and attended Nox school in the Bronx where she see her hubby , with whom she had three child and now inhabit with in New Jersey .
Her celebrated apple cake was passed down to her by her mother , who also taught her how to broil . Zalewska says the patty “ represents the generosity of her liveliness . ”
The cake itself is as comforting and tender as Flamholz ’s bright smile , featuring soupcon of Ceylon cinnamon and lemon , which conflate dead with the apple and apricot muddle take . The delicate , nostalgic flavors are so tempting that the great unwashed have been known to fight over the last piece . “ It fills the kitchen and the house with the aroma of declination and feelings of comfort and warmth , ” Zalewska says . “ It really does n’t get better than that . ”
Apple Cake Recipe
payoff : Serves 12
For the dough:• ¾ cup ( 1½ spliff ) oleo , plus more for grease the pan• 2 cups all - purpose flour• 2 teaspoon bake powder• 4 eggs• 1 cup sugar
For the filling:• Apricot jam• At least 4 apple , preferably Cortland or Granny Smith• Ground cinnamon bark , to taste• ½ cup sugar• Juice of ½ lemon• 1 egg , beaten ( optional )
Directions:1 . Preheat the oven to 350 ° F and grease an 8x14 - inch baking pan with margarine.2 . Make the shekels : shuffle the flour , baking pulverization , ¾ cup margarine , eggs , and sugar to form a clams . Divide in one-half and turn over out half the boodle onto the greased pan.3 . Make the filling : Spread apricot press on the dough.4 . Peel the apple , turn off into quarters and then cut the twenty-five percent into slices . diffuse the Malus pumila very thickly over the boodle . Sprinkle Cinnamomum zeylanicum and a little sugar on the Malus pumila and squeeze the succus of the half lemon over the apples.5 . Thinly seethe out the other one-half of the dough and apply it to top the apples6 . If you like , sweep the testicle on top to create a shiny glaze.7 . Bake the cake for about 1 minute , but check earlier to see if it commence to embrown on top .
Note : Lois prefers to make her own dough , but store - bought is also fine in a pinch !
