The book on the picture above is a cookery book and a rather old one. The book is called “Ik kan koken” (“I can cook”) and it belonged to my mother. I have known this book all my life and now it is standing between much modern books of Jamie Oliver, Pierre Wind and 24Kitchen (those are the more famous books, but I have some others that are rather nice).
As the book tells us it is “an illustrated manual for those who want to learn to cook and want to learn about the requirements for a good kitchen“.
It was printed in 1954 and it is the 15th revised edition. It seems that it was a very popular and sold very often.
When our friend Miranda, who is a chef cook by profession, was visiting us, she discovered this book. She had great fun with reading and studying it. As she told, she would loved to add this book to her collection of cookery books, but as she knew it belonged to my mother that I would rather keep it myself. Luckily, as said, the book was in the past very popular. And because of that it was not very hard to get one for Miranda through a website for old/used books.
Miranda already knew it, but this books showed how much cooking changed in around 60 years. Recipes mentioned in the book we don’t make any more or it is made in a complete different way. Many things that are nowadays very common to eat, you will not find in the book. And we prepare things nowadays really different. And not always for the better, according Miranda. Often we don’t want recipes ro take a lot of time to prepare any more and we have found all kind of tricks to shorten the preparation time. But some things just need a lot of time to be prepared in the best way possible. Sadly it seems that often people don’t want to take the time for that any more.
But the book also holds some other “secrets”. as the drawing of a mighty medieval castle that I draw on the inside of the cover long, long ago. If I remember correctly, my mother was not too happy about that (which I can imagine now I am older myself). It shows that even as a young boy I had an interest in fantasy and things alike.
Of the drawing I was fully aware that it was there in the book…
To my very surprise, I found a dried flower between pages 40 and 41. There was just one time in my life that I really did something with dried plant and even had my own herbarium. That was during my time at the primary school. So we are talking at least 40 years ago. It is very nice to realize that this dried flower has been there for so long without me knowing it. And then more then 40 years later and on the other side of the country I discover it there… Nice. Very nice.
And oh, I placed the dried plant back between page 40 and 41 of the cookery book. Maybe when I have a nice spot for it, I will place it in a frame and place it there.
(Credit photo’s: Rob)