This is, at its heart, a recipe book, and I don't do recipe books...but-!
This is by the same author who did The Old Magic of Christmas, which is a delightful, nonstandard history of Christmas' pagan antecedents—truly, "not your mother's Christmas book." This volume is about the Christmas standards: stollen, gingerbread, fruitcake, and all, full of the spices and nuts we consider essential to the holiday, and the history of the use of these spices along with the recipes for these items (and more) included. For instance, one used to have to get spices from apothecaries, as they were used in ancient medicines. Raedisch's history begins, indeed, in ancient Egypt, with a recipe using "tiger nuts." Did you know that candy corn was originally invented as a Christmas treat? In the United States, where corn syrup replaced marzipan as a sweetening for the lower classes, the result was candy corn! Also covered is Germany's Christkindl, portrayed by a young woman in a crown, the bleak companions of St. Nicholas who meted out punishments, and finally American contributions to gingerbread lore via the Pennsylvania Dutch.
History and vintage recipes all in one volume! I'm here for the history, but I don't mind the other.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the Advance Reading Copy!
