Around the Table

Remembering is Part of Survival

When I excitedly told my high school friend turned food writer/author/blogger extraordinaire about my new blog, she was thrilled, but cautioned me about the need to blog regularly. I assured her that this would not be a problem. Little did I know how little I knew about the rigors of the blogging world.
I have been consumed (with a capital C) with co-chairing an annual fundraising dinner that benefits the Florida Holocaust Museum. This has been an extremely rewarding experience for me for many reasons, not the least of which has been the connection to my parents who were forced to leave their home in Vienna in 1938 and flee from the Nazis. After a tortuous journey through Germany, Belgium and finally France, they arrived in the United States six months later. The theme of this year’s dinner was To Life… To Heroes…To Courage. It truly was a labor of love to serve the Museum and honor the memory and legacy of my parents, Kurt and Sylvia Leighton who were my heroes.

So I am sure at this point you are wondering, what is the connection here to food and tradition. Well, you may remember that the genesis of this blog came as a result of my desire to compile recipes and stories of family traditions and my mother’s recipe collections started the process. Her memoir (unpublished but cherished) about their escape from the Nazis strongly urged us to tell their story for “remembering is part of survival.”
Preserving family traditions is certainly one way that we can honor the memory of our parents and grandparents and ensure that our children will remember and honor their heritage. It is the glue that binds one generation to the next.

I remember so many of our traditional Viennese dinners, served on warmed plates and beautiful white linen or embroidered table cloths. My father was always dressed to perfection, with a tie or an ascot and my mother looked elegant and graceful. Conversation around the table was always stimulating and revolved around current events. One of the main courses that my mother served regularly was Eingemachtes Kalbfleish (veal stew!). When I was a young girl, the only thing that I liked about this dish was its name. My brother and I loved to utter the word “eingemachtes”, in our best emphatic back-of the-throat German. Unlike its name, Eingemachtes Kalbfleisch is a rather simple dish and one that can easily be made on a weeknight for your family.

EINGEMACHTES KALBFLEISCH (VEAL STEW)

3 pounds of veal chunks
salt, paprika and flour
3 tablespoons margarine
1 cup beef stock
1 small can green peas

Sprinkle meat with salt, paprika and flour. Melt margarine in heavy pot and brown veal chunks. Add beef stock and simmer for about one hour. Test with a fork to make sure that the meat is tender.

When the meat is done, drain the can of green peas and add to the pot. If necessary, add some water to make more gravy.

Serving suggestion: serve with buttered noodles.

Mom's Signature Dessert

Rehrϋcken is a classic Viennese chocolate cake, recipes for which are easily found in most traditional Viennese cookbooks. For example, check out Viennese Cooking by Olga Hess (a well-worn version was always displayed prominently on my mom’s kitchen counter). Rehrϋcken was my mother’s signature dessert. She made it for every occasion –birthdays, Jewish holidays, secular holidays and “just because.” Some family members liked it with frosting; others did not. My brother just plain loved it. Every so often, mom would make it and serve it with home made whipped cream, which is called “schlag” in Viennese slang. I loved the word schlag and remember making fun of the pronunciation when I was a little girl. Speaking of pronunciations, saying the word “rehrϋcken” was a favorite pastime of mom’s grandchildren. We all decided that my brother’s daughter, Kelly (four years old at the time of the “contest”) had the best rendition - in the most guttural German you could imagine.

The German word “rehrϋcken” literally means the saddle of the venison or as my mother used to tell us when we were little, the spine of the deer. If you use your imagination, the finished cake with the almonds sticking up, looks like a deer’s spine. At least, this is what my mother had me believe.
I have since learned that the almonds actually represent the strips of bacon or salt pork inserted into the saddles of venison to lard them. I imagine this information was a bit too graphic for a young girl and mom’s story worked just fine for our family.

I never tried to make the cake while mom was alive. I didn’t need to because she always did. I am not even sure which recipe she used to develop her version as my paternal grandmother’s recipe is different from my mother’s finished product.

This picture is taken from my Nani Elsa’s collection. The recipe below is my mom’s English translation of what I suspect is a conglomeration of recipes. Here is exactly where the frustration comes in. I wish my mother was here so I could ask her about these details but she just isn’t. And that is why I am so adamant that you talk to your family members NOW in order to preserve their recipes and precious memories.

A couple of years after mom died, I finally summoned up the courage to make a rehrϋcken. Somehow it was the ultimate testament to my mother’s legacy. My brother and his family came over for dinner and after putting his dessert plate in front him, I anxiously waited for his reaction. After the first bite, he said that it tasted just like mom’s cake. I didn’t think so, but thanks Len for making us feel that mom was still around the table.

SYLVIA LEIGHTON’S REHRÜCKEN

Cake:
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
5 large eggs separated
4 oz. sweet butter
5 oz. sugar
¼ cup coffee
6 oz. all purpose flour (for Passover, use 4 oz. cake meal)
Chocolate frosting:
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
2 oz. water
2 oz. coffee
2 oz. milk
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Almond slices

Peheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt chocolate over hot, but not boiling water in a double boiler. Beat egg yolks, butter and sugar until thick and lemon colored. Add chocolate and coffee and mix well.
Beat egg whites until stiff; fold flour and egg whites alternately into chocolate mixture.

Butter rehrϋcken pan or if not available, 11” x 4” mold tube pan. Put mixture in pan and bake 50 minutes. Cool slightly and then turn out on to wire rack.

Procedure for frosting:
In top of double boiler, melt chocolate with water, coffee and milk.
Remove from heat. With a rubber spatula, stir in unsalted butter, two pieces at a time.
Continue to stir until perfectly smooth. Let cool. Spread frosting on top of cake. Place almond slices in two parallel rows down the top of the cake.

Ronnie’s Notes:

 Rehrϋcken can be served with or without the frosting but is most impressive when served with the frosting and home made whipped cream.

 Molds made in the shape of a stylized saddle of venison have been manufactured for making this cake. They are fluted and have deep indentations down the middle. I have finally found one of these molds/pans and they can be ordered online: http://www.fantes.com/loaf_pans.htm#moravian.

This stroll down memory lane is being submitted to the "nostalgia tastes bitter sweet event"

Welcome

In August of 2001, my 88 year-old mother was diagnosed with brain cancer and died six weeks later. She was a strong, sensitive, beautiful woman as well as a phenomenal cook and baker. Just before she died, she gave me two tattered notebooks filled with family recipes. These recipes were beautifully handwritten in fountain pen and in her native language, Viennese German. Unfortunately, my mother and I did not have much time to talk about the specifics of the recipes or their origin, and frankly, even if we did, I am not sure I would have known what questions to ask. It is only now, that I am writing a book about family recipes and traditions, that I realize the true significance of the recipe collections.

My mother and grandmothers lived in Vienna, Austria before immigrating to the United States in 1939. They, along with these special cookbooks, survived the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis during the holocaust. My book, which will be titled: Around the Table: Culinary Adventures Rooted in Family Tradition was originally conceived as an honor to my mother’s memory. But as I began to compile, translate and test some of her recipes, it occurred to me that families, in addition to my own, also had memories and recipes to share. The common theme became readily apparent: food is so much more than the culinary experience of preparing and eating it. Food is about families; about friendships; about the conversations that take place around the table; and perhaps most importantly, about the traditions which are passed on through the generations. Regardless of the nationality or ethnic background of the family, the goal is the same: to provide a nourishing environment for our loved ones every time we are together around the table. Then, our children and our grandchildren will not only remember us, but they will treasure our traditions and continue them for the future.

This blog is intended to be a forum for people to share recipes, stories and traditions. By opening your kitchens and your hearts and souls, we will be able to share in your precious memories. I know that your stories will provide the reader with joy, heal their spirit, bring comfort to their soul and help to rekindle memories of their own family’s traditions.