Tacoma Community College Archives: Archives News

Archives Recipes #1: The ISO Cookbook (1978) – Austria recipes

In January I cooked the first set of recipes in the International Students Organization’s 1978 cookbook, which are Austrian recipes from contributor Lilo Feix. The four recipes all worked together as a meal, so I made them all in one day!

This multilingual cookbook was compiled by the TCC International Students Organization (ISO) in 1978, and features recipes by students from Austria, China, France, Germany, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, USA, USSR, and Vietnam. Each recipe is presented bilingually, in English and in the student's native language.

The recipes in the cookbook are somewhat brief to fit the space, and often have some surprise ingredients in the instructions that aren’t in the list at the top of the recipe. So for each recipe I discuss below, I’m including: 1) the image of the original bilingual recipe, 2) the original recipe text in English, and 3) a more detailed version of the recipe in English based on cooking my way through it, with additional notes on ingredients, things I learned while cooking the recipe, etc.

Jump to my final results here to skip the recipes.

Dessert First! Sachertorte

Original Recipe

SACHERTORTE
Austria
Lilo Feix

Serves 12
An excellent cake. This is a recipe of the famous restaurant keeper Frau Sacher in Vienna, who made the torte for the Austrian Kaiser.

6 oz semisweet baking chocolate
6 eggs, separated, egg whites beaten until stiff and set aside
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup apricot jam

Have all ingredients at about 75°, room temperature. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, being careful that it does not get too hot. Let cool. Beat butter until fluffy, very slowly add the sugar, then egg yolks and the cooled chocolate in a thin stream. Sift flour with baking powder and add slowly to chocolate mixture. After this is all well mixed, take the beaten egg whites and with a wooden spoon or spatula fold them gently into the mixture.

Sprinkle bread crumbs in bottom of an ungreased springform (removable rim) pan, about 9 inches in diameter. Pour in the cake mixture and bake in a preheated oven at 350° about one hour. When the torte is cooled, probably the next day, slice it horizontally in two or three slices and spread apricot jam on the slices. Stack them up and cover the torte with icing (below).

CHOCOLATE ICING
4 oz unsweetened cooking chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon coffee-flavored brandy, optional
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons light cream

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler over low heat. Meantime combine the sugar, salt, vanilla and cream. Add to chocolate mixture and heat for about 15 minutes. Take off heat and cool slightly, then add the brandy. Cover torte with the icing.

Edited & Annotated Recipe

SACHERTORTE

Ingredients

Cake
6 oz semisweet chocolate
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Breadcrumbs, for dusting the pan {1}

Filling
1 cup apricot jam

Chocolate Icing {2}
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon coffee-flavored brandy, optional
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons light cream {3}

Special Tools Needed
Double boiler or heavy-bottom pot & large heat-safe bowl {4}
Electric hand or stand mixer (recommended)
Springform pan {5}

Instructions

1. Make the cake.
Have all ingredients at room temperature. Separate the yolks and whites of the 6 eggs. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Melt the 4 oz of semisweet chocolate in a double boiler, being careful that it does not get too hot. Let cool. In a separate bowl, beat 1 c butter until fluffy, very slowly add the 1 c sugar, then 6 egg yolks and the cooled chocolate in a thin stream. Sift 1 c flour with 1 tsp baking powder and add slowly to chocolate mixture. After this is all well mixed, take the beaten 6 egg whites and with a wooden spoon or spatula fold them gently into the mixture. {6}
Sprinkle breadcrumbs in bottom of an ungreased springform (removable rim) pan, about 9 inches in diameter. Pour in the cake mixture and bake in a preheated oven at 350° about one hour. Cool the torte fully, several hours or overnight.

2. Make the icing.
Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler over low heat. Meantime combine the sugar, salt, vanilla and cream. Add to chocolate mixture and heat for about 15 minutes. Take off heat and cool slightly, then add the brandy.

3. Assemble the cake.
When the torte is cooled, probably the next day, slice it horizontally in two or three slices and spread apricot jam between the slices. {7}
Cover torte with the icing.

Notes

{1} The recipe calls for breadcrumbs to dust the springform pan prior to pouring in the batter. I opted for dusting with flour.

{2} This produced more icing than my cake needed - your results may vary depending on how much your cake rises!

{3} I used whipping cream (as opposed to heavy whipping cream).

{4} I use a stainless steel mixing bowl that is larger than the opening of my pot to rest over boiling water in the heavy-bottom pot to sub for a double-boiler and this works fine. For the cake, you can melt the chocolate in a microwave, but you'll want the double boiler setup for heating the chocolate in the icing step.

{5} A cake pan may work for this recipe if you don't have a springform pan, but you may need to grease the pan and/or use parchment paper so the cake doesn't stick.

{6} The batter at this stage before adding the egg whites is very dense, so be extra gentle folding in the whites. I think my cake didn't rise as much as it could have because I lost some of my egg fluffiness with this step.

{7} My cake was only tall enough for two slices, probably because I didn't fold my egg whites in gently enough!

Warmer Kartoffelsalat - Warm Potato Salad

Original Recipe

WARM POTATO SALAD
Austria
Lilo Feix
Warm potato salad is a favored side dish for Austrians to eat with the Wiener Schnitzel.
Serves 4

1 lb small, red potatoes cooked in their jackets, peeled and sliced , while they are still warm
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon mustard

Put all ingredients except potatoes in a glass jar, cover and shake well till well mixed, then pour in a small pot and heat slowly, don't boil. Pour over potatoes, and add 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion, 1 to 2 tablespoon chopped chives and a touch of oregano.

Cover and let marinate about 1 to 2 hours, keep warm.

Edited & Annotated Recipe

WARM POTATO SALAD
Ingredients {1}

1 lb small red potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp chives, chopped
oregano, to taste

Instructions

1. Cook potatoes.
Boil potatoes until cooked through. Allow to cool slightly, then peel and slice them while they are still warm. {2}

2. Make dressing.
Put all ingredients except potatoes in a glass jar, cover and shake well till well mixed, then pour in a small pot and heat slowly, don't boil. {3}

3. Marinate potatoes.
Pour dressing over potatoes, and add 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion, 1 to 2 tablespoon chopped chives and a touch of oregano.
Cover and let marinate about 1 to 2 hours, keep warm. {4}

Notes

{1} This made a relatively small amount of potato salad compared to the other recipes, I found, so I’d recommend doubling or even tripling.

{2} The original recipe doesn't specify the method of cooking the potatoes. I've recommended boiling here to keep them from drying out.

{3} I whisked these ingredients directly in the small pan I heated them up in rather than dirtying a glass jar and found it sufficient.

{4} In order to keep the salad warm during the marination time, I added the potatoes to the small pan I warmed the dressing in (removed from the heat), rather than pouring the dressing over the potatoes in a different container and gently tossed.

Weiss Kraut - Sweet and Sour Cabbage

Original Recipe

WEISS KRAUT
(Sweet and sour cabbage)
Austria
Lilo Feix
Serves 4 to 6

A well known vegetable dish in Austria which is served often with a pork main dish.

1 medium white cabbage head, shredded
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons bacon dripping, or margarine
1/2 cup white raisins
1-2 tart apples, grated
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 teaspoon caraway seeds

Put the shredded cabbage in a glass bowl, sprinkle with the salt and sugar, press down and cover and let stand for about 1 hour. Heat the bacon drippings in a large shallow skillet. Discard the liquid from the cabbage, put the cabbage in the skillet and saute over low heat until wilted. Add the raisins, apple, lemon juice, and wine. Cook slowly just until cabbage softens. Taste and add more sugar if needed, put in the caraway seeds and cook slowly a few minutes longer.

Edited & Annotated Recipe

WEISS KRAUT

Ingredients {1}

1 medium green cabbage
2 tablespoons brown sugar (plus more to taste)
1/2 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons bacon fat, or butter or margarine
1/2 cup golden raisins
1-2 tart apples
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 teaspoon caraway seeds

Instructions

1. Season and remove excess water from cabbage.
Shred the cabbage and put in a large glass bowl. Sprinkle with the 1/2 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp brown sugar, then press down, cover, and let stand for about 1 hour (a small plate with weight on top works well).

2. Cook the cabbage.

Peel, core, and grate the apple(s). Discard the liquid from the cabbage. Heat the bacon drippings in a large shallow skillet, then add the cabbage and saute over low heat until wilted. Add the 1/2 c raisins, apple, lemon juice, and 1/2 c wine. Cook slowly just until cabbage softens. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Add the caraway seeds and cook slowly a few minutes longer.

Notes

{1} A few notes on the ingredients: the original recipe calls the cabbage "white cabbage," which is the same as green cabbage, and "white raisins," which I've taken to mean golden raisins (also known as sultanas). I used Granny Smith apples for the tart apples. The original recipe prefers bacon fat for the cooking fat, but you can sub butter to make it vegetarian or margarine (which the recipe suggests as the alternative) to make it vegan. Other sweet and sour cabbage recipes also leave the bacon in altogether - if you want to try this, I suggest cutting the bacon into lardons or small cubes prior to cooking/rendering.

Wiener Schnitzel

Original Recipe

WIENER SCHNITZEL
Austria
Lilo Feix
Wiener Schnitzel is also known as Breaded Veal Cutlets.

Serves 4

To get the right cut of meat for this tasty dish is harder than the preparation and cooking. If real milk-fed variety is not available, veal can be improved by soaking it overnight in milk. The meat should be dried carefully before using.

1.5 lbs veal cutlets
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon oil
dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup oil

In a shallow bowl beat the egg, milk, and oil together, dip one veal cutlet in the mixture, shake off and put it in the crumbs, bread on all sides, shake excess crumbs off, and do the same once again. Each cutlet is breaded twice.
In a deep frying pan heat butter and oil. Deep fry veal over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes each side, drain carefully.

Edited & Annotated Recipe

WIENER SCHNITZEL

Ingredients

Cutlets
1 pork tenderloin (approximately 1.5 lbs) {1}
1 c milk, optional

Breading
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon oil
dry bread crumbs

For Frying
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup oil

Instructions

1. Prepare the meat.
While the meat is still cold, slice the pork tenderloin against the grain on a slight diagonal, approximately 1/2 inch thick. Pound the cutlets to thin and tenderize them. Optional: soak in approximately 1 c milk (or however much needed to cover cutlets) for several hours or overnight. Allow the meat to come to room temperature prior to cooking. {2}

2. Bread cutlets.
In a shallow bowl beat the egg, 1 tbsp milk, and 1 tbsp oil together. One at a time, dip cutlet in the mixture, shake off and put it in the crumbs, bread on all sides, shake excess crumbs off, and do the same once again. Each cutlet is breaded twice. {3}

3. Cook cutlets.
In a deep frying pan heat butter and oil. Deep fry cutlets over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes each side. Drain on a rack over a sheet pan or a plate lined with paper towels. {4}

Notes

{1} This recipe calls for veal, which you’re unlikely to find, and/or may not want to use. A common substitution is pork tenderloin, which is what I used.

{2} I chose to soak the tenderloin cutlets in milk for a few hours in the fridge; I imagine doing so overnight would have a more substantial effect.

{3} Instead of patting the cutlets dry from the soaking milk, I used this as the first liquid "dip" prior to dipping in the breadcrumbs, then used the egg/milk/oil mixture for the second dip. I still ended up using all of the mixture, so if you don't do this, you may need to double the dipping mixture in order to bread each cutlet twice.

{4} Make sure you pound out the meat thinly so that it cooks faster, and bring it to room temperature prior to frying – otherwise the exterior will fully brown before your schnitzel is fully cooked through. This amount of meat took quite a few batches of frying, and I found my batches got increasingly burnt due to the butter browning then burning over time. So you may want to pause to wipe down your pan and use fresh oil and butter after a few batches – (you could also try using clarified butter, though this may change the flavor slightly, or only oil, which would definitely change the flavor).

The Feast

It was a lot of work but this was a delicious meal all together!

This was my first time making a layer cake and I found I actually liked the sachertorte better the next day (I recommend pairing with a hot cup of coffee), when the flavors had melded more and the apricot had soaked even further into the cake. I ended up with a truly epic amount of icing that did not all fit on the torte, and in general, this is a cake that needs to be shared - it's big! I wanted way more potato salad than the recipe made, but the cabbage and schnitzel scaled with each other nicely.

Trying these recipes? Post a photo on social and tag us @TacomaCCLibrary with #TCCArchivesRecipes so I can see and share your results! Guten appetit!