Kochbuch für den Schützengraben
(Cookbook for the Trenches)
Kochbuch für den Schützengraben (Cookbook for the Trenches) was a booklet of recipes published in 1915, before the worst of the wartime food shortages began to be felt in the front lines. Food shortages in Germany increased as World War I slogged on, reaching crisis level by the end of the war. The British naval blockade and the non-availability of Russian exports eventually reduced the importation of food, fertilizer and animal feed to a fraction of their prewar levels. Agricultural production suffered as a result of forty percent of German male farm laborers being taken away by the war effort. The situation was further exacerbated by the potato crop failure of 1916, when potato production dropped to less than half that of 1915. This forced the cultivation of yellow turnips and the resultant “yellow turnip winter” of 1916-1917, when potatoes were in extremely short supply or simply unobtainable in many German cities.
Although the war was in its
early stages, some ingredients in Kochbuch für den Schützengraben were
listed as optional; it was noted that they might not always be available. But
eggs, meat, dairy products, and sugar were still obtainable, at least in
theory. It was a time when soldiers could still enjoy, at least occasionally,
meat cutlets, potato pancakes and thick sauces.
Most of the recipes were quite rudimentary: they often did not include the
amounts of ingredients and gave only very basic cooking directions. Some
recipes need no further embellishment, and one should feel free to use whatever
amount of ingredients are available, or whatever seems an appropriate serving
size. In other recipes I have estimated the ingredient amounts based on daily
rations, sound cooking techniques and the proportions used in similar recipes of the time.
The recipes are scaled for one serving. This post will take a look at the
basics: meat and potatoes.
Cutlets
The
German soldier’s daily meat ration at the beginning of the war was 375 grams of
fresh meat or 200 grams of smoked meat or sausage. The meat recipes are scaled
to 200 grams of meat, which is approximately half of the daily meat ration.
Pork, Mutton or Veal Cutlets
US Metric Ingredients
7 oz 200 g pork loin, mutton, or veal (preferably
loin)
1 each 1 each egg
2 fl oz/¼ cup 60 ml grated bread or bread crumbs
1 tbsp 1 tbsp butter
Procedure
1.
Cut the meat into finger-thick slices (about ¾ inch or 2 cm thick).
2.
Flatten the meat and
well beaten to about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thickness (1 cm).
3.
If a meat mallet is
not available, a heavy object may be substituted: skillet, wine bottle, beer
stein, etc.*
4.
Sprinkle with salt
5.
Roll in beaten egg,
then in grated bread.
6.
Add to browned butter
or other fat in a pan on a good fire and fry for two minutes on each side. To serve,
top with butter sauce.
(*Cooking tip: To determine the amount of force needed to flatten
the meat, lightly hit the heel of one hand with a meat mallet or other object held in the other hand. It should not be painful. This is the amount of pressure you need to apply to the meat. Any more
force than that will tear the meat or turn it into mush.)
Wiener
Schnitzel
US Metric Ingredients
7 oz 200
g veal
to taste to
taste salt
1 tbsp 15
ml butter
Procedure
1.
Wiener schnitzel was
cut from the leg of veal. Pieces of any size may be used.
2.
Flatten veal slices to
about 1/4 inch thickness (0.6 cm).
3. Rub with salt, then fry in hot butter.
4. Serve with slices of lemon, anchovies, or Pfeffergurken
(“pepper gherkins”: small cucumbers pickled in vinegar with chili peppers and
other spices), or whatever is available.
Beefsteak:
US Metric Ingredients
7 oz 200 g beef loin
Procedure
is the same as for Wienerschnitzel.
Chopped Beefsteaks (Gehackte Beefsteaks)
US Metric Ingredients
7 oz 200 g beef , finely chopped
1-2 tbsp* 15-30 ml* fat (lard, butter, cooking oil)
to taste to taste salt
Procedure
1.
Mix the meat with salt
and pepper.
2.
Add the additional 1
tbsp fat to the meat only if the beef is very lean.
3.
Shape into round, flat
dumplings.
4.
Heat 1 tbsp fat in a
frying pan. Fry the steaks for a few minutes (3-5 minutes) on each side.
Meat Patty (Buletten)
“Buletten”
to Berliners, these pan-fried ground meat patties are known elsewhere in
Germany as Frikadellen, Frikandellen, Fleischpflanzerl, etc.
US Metric Ingredients
7 oz 200 g boiled or roasted meat
4 fl oz 120 ml bread crumbs
1 each 1 each egg yolk
1 tbsp 15 ml fat (lard, butter, cooking oil)
to taste to taste salt
to taste to taste pepper
Procedure
1.
Mince the cooked meat
and combine with breadcrumbs, fat, egg yolks, salt and pepper.
2.
Mix well, shape into 6
balls and flatten slightly.
3.
Heat the fat in a
frying pan and fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until well browned.
Potato Dishes
Potatoes were an important part of the
German soldier’s ration. Early in the war, the daily allowance was 1500 grams
(53 ounces) of potatoes. While this may seem like a huge amount, it is only approximately
1200 calories: about 1/3 of a soldier’s daily requirement. I have scaled the
potato recipes to 375 grams (about 13 ounces). This is the weight of raw,
unpeeled potatoes.
Fried
Potatoes
Peel the
potatoes, cut into slices about 3/8” (1 cm) thick. Fry in hot fat until
browned. Sprinkle with salt. You can also add thinly sliced apples or
onions in the middle of cooking.
Potato
Pancakes
One large russet potato works well for this recipe and
yields about 5-6 small potato pancakes.
US Metric Ingredients
13 oz 375
g potatoes
(any type)
1 each 1 each egg yolk
2-4 tbsp 30-60 ml flour
to taste to
taste salt
1-2 tbsp 15-30 fat,
for frying
Procedure
1.
Peel and grate the
potatoes.
2.
Mix with egg yolk,
salt and flour.
3.
Heat the oil in a frying
pan with a cover.
4.
Take a rounded
tablespoon of the mixture and place it in the heated pan.
5.
Flatten the potato
mixture with the back of the spoon into a small circular fritter.
6.
Cover the pan and cook
for about 4-5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.
7.
Remove from heat,
Variations
Sprinkle
with sugar and serve with stewed fruit.
Serve with
a bacon sauce made from fried bacon bits, a few tablespoonfuls of broth, a
little vinegar and sugar to taste.
Meat Sauce for Potatoes
I scaled this recipe large enough to suffice as the meat ration for a meal. These
are only guidelines, and the amount of ingredients can vary according to taste
and to what’s available.
US Metric Ingredients
8 fl oz 250 ml leftover ham, salt pork, or any type
of roasted meat, chopped
1/2 tbsp 15 ml fat
4 fl oz 120 ml meat broth (add
more broth if the meat is dry)
1 tbsp 15 ml cream
2 fl oz 60 ml bread crumbs
1-2 tbsp 1-2 tbsp grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese
Procedure
1.
Chop the meat into
small pieces.
2.
Heat the fat in a pan.
3.
Add the meat
4.
Once the meat has been
warmed, add the broth, cream, bread crumbs and cheese.
5.
Serve over boiled and
sliced potatoes or cooked dehydrated potatoes.
6.
Alternately, place the
potatoes in an oven-proof pan, cover with the sauce, then dot with small pieces
of butter and grated cheese. Cover the pan and cook in a field oven or on a
fire with hot coals placed on top of the lid. Bake until ingredients are heated
through, and the cheese has melted.
Potato
Salad:
US Metric Ingredients
13 oz 375 g boiled
potatoes
Procedure
Cut the
cooked, cooled potatoes, into slices 3/8 inch (1 cm) thick.
Mix with
one of the following salad dressings.
These
dressings may be mixed with leftover (cooked) fish to make fish salad.
(Note: in the original booklet, the following recipes for salad
dressings had neither names nor amounts. I have added descriptive English names only for
the sake of convenience. The addition of salt was added for those recipes where it was not included, but assumed to be an ingredient. And although not noted in the
original recipe, the sour cream dressing is greatly enhanced by the addition of
chopped fresh herbs such as parsley and/or chives)
Lard and Vinegar Dressing
US Metric Ingredients
1-2 tbsp 15-30 ml lard
1-2 tbsp 15-30 ml hot meat broth (fish broth if dressing is used for fish)
1½ tsp 8
ml vinegar
to taste to taste salt
to taste to taste pepper
Procedure
Stir the
lard together with the broth, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Optional
Add 1
tbsp minced onion
Add a
pinch of ground laurel (bay leaf)
Oil and Vinegar Dressing
US Metric Ingredients
2 tbsp 30
ml oil
2 tsp 10
ml vinegar
½ tsp ½
tsp sugar
to taste to taste salt
Mustard Dressing
US Metric Ingredients
2 tbsp 30
ml oil
2 tsp 10
ml vinegar
2 tsp 10
ml mustard
2 tsp 10
ml white wine
to taste to taste salt
Sour Cream Dressing
US Metric Ingredients
2 tbsp 30
ml sour cream,
1 tbsp 15
ml vinegar
½ tsp ½
tsp sugar
Sources
Annals of
the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Volumes 91-94
A.L.
Hummel, 1920, pg.132
Germany’s
Food Supply, Prof. W.J. Ashley, London: Jas. Truscott & Son, Ltd, 1916.
Reprinted
from The Quarterly Review, October, 1915
Germany,
Propaganda and Total War, 1914-1918: The Sins of Omission, David Welch
Rutgers
University Press, 2000, pg.119
Kriegskochbuch, Anweisungen
zur einfachen und billigen Ernährung. 5. Auflage.
(War Cookbook, Instructions
for Simple and Cheap Food. 5th Edition.)
Gebrüder Hoesch (pub.), Hamburg, 1915
Kochbuch
für den Schützengraben, Hans Werder, Otto Janke Publisher, Berlin, 1915
The Scientific American War Book, The Mechanism and
Technique of Warfare, Albert A. Hopkins (Editor), New York, 1916
