When I was growing up I had the great pleasure of eating some of the most scrumptious desserts (and real food) one could ever imagine. My dad’s mom (Nana, as we call her) was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1903 and her mom was a seamstress for the nobility there. With her mom’s connections, she obtained recipes from some of the great European chefs and in turn, she passed them on to my Nana. Nana would make cream puffs from scratch with real custard filling and chocolate icing, mondel brot cookies, zucchini bread … and well, just all sorts of things. I am very pleased to say that my Nana is still alive and doing fairly well at 105 (for her 101st birthday she went to Disney World for the first time and actually rode the Haunted Mansion ride!).

At one point in her life, she wrote down many of these recipes in a little book for a charity fundraiser ("Taste a Bit of Europe: Continental Pastries for the American Sweet Tooth"). I rediscovered my photocopy of this book recently and realized that she had noted the nationality of each of the recipes and it started me thinking about a thread for this forum. What if people posted one (or more) of their favorite recipes from their native areas? And… if they were also willing, give a little history about why the dish is important to them, what memories it brings back or what traditions it might hold for that area of the world. This would be a great way to learn about other areas of the world, customs, traditions, food and let people try new foods all at the same time. You could even include a photo of the food, so we know what the final product “should” look like.

Now, I know that the U.S. uses different measurements than the rest of the world, so I have uploaded some cooking conversion tables to help out and here's that link http://www.mediafire.com/?yzyidyz5jiy

To get things started, I have uploaded a copy of my Nana’s cook book http://www.mediafire.com/?ow1mewmntom

If you already are familiar with any of these dishes, please let us know!

Also, if you try one of the recipes posted on this thread, give your feedback or "review"!
Did you like the dish? Was it easy to make? Too hard too make? Were the directions confusing? Was the food too spicy? Was it much better than it sounded? Did you have trouble finding ingredients? Were you familiar with all of the ingredients? Would you make it again? Blah, Blah, Blah...

Here are the recipes in her book:

From Austria:
  • Sacher Torte
    Rumplatzchen (Rum Cookies)
    Schaumtotre (a meringue base to use for ice cream, fruit or melon balls for a low calorie dessert)
    Nuss Torte (Nut Cake)
    Continental Frosting (Semi-sweet chocolate)

From Belgium:
  • Pain D’ Amandes (Almond Cookies)
    Bohemian Wafers
    Angelique (Delicate Cake Roll)

From Denmark:
  • Royal Crowns (Cookies)
    Danish Puff

From England:
  • English Savouries (Hors D’oeuvres)
    London Mushroom Muffins

From France:
  • Mayonnaise Canapé Pastry
    Gateau Bonbons
    Parisian Breakfast Puffs

From Germany:
  • Linzer Kranze (Wreath Cookies)

From Holland:
  • Apfel Kuchen (Apple Cake)
    Kletskoppen (Gossip Heads, lacy cookies)

From Italy:
  • Calcioni (Filled Holliday Cookies)

From Ireland:
  • Dublin Fruit Cake

From Mexico:
  • Polvoroner (Cookies)

From Norway & Sweden:
  • Norwegian Almond Bars

From Poland:
  • Paderewskis (Party Cookies)
    Baba Un Rhum (Rum Cake with Whipped Cream, yet her recipe does not tell you how much Jamaican rum or how to make the whip cream!)
    Mazurek (Polish Breakfast Cake)

From Portugal:
  • Pasteis de Belem (Puff Pastry, mini egg-custard pies)

From Spain:
  • Cuernitos (Little Horns also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies)
    Castilian Layered Rum Cookies

From Switzerland:
  • Schweitzer Shocoladen Torte (Chocolate Cake)