Culinary Cultures in Eastern Europe

Few topics are as multifaceted as the subject of food and drink. It ties individual sensory experience and culinary satisfaction to practically every other aspect of human life. It is also an important, but often overlooked, part of our shared cultural legacy. Eating and drinking, therefore, to a great extent both shape and are shaped by our history, as shown in the contributions to this key topic.

Background article
Laima chocolate – a Riga icon
Latvia’s most famous confectioner and its Jewish origins
If you’ve ever visited Latvia, you’ll probably have heard of the chocolate brand Laima. Perhaps you’ll even have seen the Laima Clock, a popular meeting point in central Riga. Laima products have been among Latvia’s most successful exports all the way back to the 1920s. What’s less well...
Katja Wezel
Background article
The culinary Ashkenaz
Jewish food cultures in Eastern Europe
Ashkenazi Judaism is inseparably linked to Eastern Europe. Unique Jewish ways of life evolved here, only to be virtually annihilated by the Shoah. And yet, specific Ashkenazi eating habits, with their mix of religious rules and regional influences, survive in many places around the world today, in...
Gunther Hirschfelder | Antonia Reck | Jana Stöxen
Background article
Fasting Rules Become Food Taboos
How The Russian Old Believers Wanted To Distinguish Themselves From The Orthodox By Abstaining From Food
In almost all religions, dietary rules and food taboos play an important role. The example of the Russian Old Believers shows the importance that food practices and body images can have in differentiating them from those of other faiths.
Julia Herzberg
Background article
Siberian food and European taste
Siberian eating habits in the 18th century, as seen through the eyes of European travellers
This article invites the reader to join a culinary journey through Siberia in the 18th century in a company of ethnographers from Europe and the Russian Empire. For the Russian Empire, the 18th century was a time of great expeditions to explore the vast imperial territory that extended all the way...
Olga Trufanova

Prague Coffeehouse Culture around 1900
Background article
It would be almost impossible to imagine the rich history of European café culture without the Vienna coffeehouses or the Paris cafés. By contrast, the Czech capital, Prague, tends to be more associated with the consumption of beer. Yet, in the history of that city, the tradition of the...
Magdalena Eriksröd-Burger
Lemberg's Coffeehouse Culture Before the First World War
Poles, Ukrainians and Jews mingling and meeting over coffee and tea
Background article
The east Galician city of (Lemberg) Lviv had a lively coffeehouse culture during the Habsburg Empire. Poles, Jews and Ukrainians would gather over pots of coffee and tea. As the First World War approached, however, a growing sense of nationalism could also be felt in these otherwise convivial...
Lukas Vogel
On the connection between migration, diet, and belonging
Russian German food cultures
Background article
To what extent can diet create social and cultural belongings? What is its potential significance in contexts of migration? Russian German examples demonstrate the very diverse ways in which questions of identity and diet are connected.
Anna Flack

It is served!

Background article
Hanklich
A celebratory cake baked by Transylvanian Saxons
The cultural diversity of Transylvania is reflected in the culinary culture of the region, which has been shaped by extremely varied influences, diverse ethnic groups, and their eventful histories. An exciting example of this is a flat, yeast cake called hanklich.
Irmgard Sedler
Background article
“As in heaven and in Warmia”
Gänseschwarzsauer – a dish to remember the East Prussian and Pomeranian region
The period in the run-up to Christmas is full of customs, traditions, and special foods. Gänseschwarzsauer is a soup made with goose (“Gänse” in German) blood and dried fruit. Its name derives from the fact that the blood is very dark red in colour (hence “schwarz” or black in English) and...
Heidi Hein-Kircher
Cooking recipe
Mini-Napoleons
The Triumph of the Puff Pastry Tartlets
Every recipe tells a story – be it that of one’s own family, social group, region, of nation states or whole empires. A particular dish is thus always both a symbol and an expression of cultural concepts. A recipe booklet compiled by students at the University of Bamberg looks at “Culinary...
Ani Hovhannisjan | Magdalena Eriksröd-Burger
Background article
Mayonnaise
The quintessence of Russian cuisine
Russian cuisine, especially festive cuisine, is simply unimaginable without mayonnaise. Salads such as seledka pod šuboj (herring in a fur coat), salat oliv'e (olive salad), krabovyj salat (surimi salad), mimoza (mimosa salad) and many more, as well as meat dishes such as mjaso po franzuski (meat...
Alexander Meienberger
Background article
Staesz Pfefferkuchen Spices!
The name alone is evocative of family traditions. It carries the promise of delicious cakes and biscuits, particularly in the run-up to Christmas.
Heinrich Lohmann