As Thanksgiving and winter holidays approach, many people return to classic and treasured family recipes, returning to traditional favorite foods. At Syracuse University Press, we wanted to see what books in our library may help plan a traditional Thanksgiving.

With that in mind, we turn to The Sensible Cook: Dutch Foodways in the Old and the New World. Originally published in Dutch in 1667, the SUP edition was republished in 1998 with a new translation and commentary by Peter G. Rose, The Sensible Cook allows a look back at middle class Dutch life in the 17th Century, both in the Netherlands and in the colonies. Rose’s commentary refers to how the Dutch celebrated holidays specifically and how bread stood at the centerpiece of holiday traditions.

For holidays and celebrations, special breads would be baked, as for instance the duivekater, a diamond-shaped bread baked from early December through the New Year. The duivekater appears in different forms, again according to the region. In addition to the diamond, a shape apparently typical for the town of Broek-in-Waterland, it is found in the shape of a shinbone; and like the pretzels and sole-bread described below, it was purported to be used as a pre-Christmas offering. We are fortunate that before most of the old bread forms and customs had disappeared, they were recorded by J. H. Nannings. His is still the main work on the subject of the meaning of bread and baked goods in Dutch Folklore. He proved over and over again how bread shapes held and important place in the imagination of the people and were often an expression of their beliefs and customs.

Breads and baked goods were (and a few still are) the physical manifestations of religious and other holidays. When the molded spiced koek named speculaas appears in the baker’s shop, the Dutch know the Saint Nicholas celebration is near. Three-Kings-Bread prepared for the celebration of Twelfth Night (Epiphany), contains a bean. The person who gets the piece with the bean in it is king for the night.

The Sensible Cook is divided into a number of chapters, including many of the original recipes that appeared in the book’s first printing. These recipes are written with few details contemporary cooks are used to, like cooking times or precise measurements, and often include substitutions for cooks with few available choices when feeding their families. The below recipe, for guaranteeing an “absolutely delicious” turkey offers a look into how cooks made due with relatively few pans, seasonings and little attention to rigorously taking the meat’s temperature.

To nicely cook young hens, turkeys and ducks

When they are cleaned inside and washed fill them and cram them full of Parsley. Boil them then only with Salt and Water until they are done. Take an earthenware pan, pour in some Verjuice and Salt [and butter], and when the butter is melted take out the Parsley from the Hen, cut it [the parsley] small. add it to the Verjuice and butter stir them together well, place in a dish and the Hen or Duck whatever it may be on it. Is absolutely delicious.

Along with the original recipes, Rose included a number of adaptations and of these recipes and dishes inspired by the Dutch classics in the book’s final chapter. Below is the recipe for Shoemaker’s Taert, a well-known dessert with a basis in the same 17th Century traditions.

Shoemaker’s Taert

The recipe still appears in modern Dutch cookbooks in much the same form as we find it in The Sensible Cook.

  • 10 sweet/sour apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 5 tablespoons butter, melted, plus additional butter for greasing the pan
  • Sugar to taste
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 4 egg whites, stiffly beaten
  • 1-1 1/2 cups plain dry breadcrumbs

Boil or steam the apples without water until very tender. This requires supervision, otherwise they will burn. Mash the apples and taste the. Add as much sugar as you think is necessary. Add the raisins and butter, then the yolks and finally gently fold in the egg whites and incorporate thoroughly. Butter a 9-inch springform pan very carefully and sprinkle with bread crumbs to make an even coating. Pour half the apple mixture in the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with more bread crumbs. Then add the remainder of the apple mixture and and top with an even layer of bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 to 6 minutes until the cake is firm and light brown. Remove, cool, and remove ring. Serve cut into wedges with or without a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.