My grandmother’s recipe book (Marianna Auliciems)

This is my grandmother Elza Auliciema’s (née Šūpulis, born in Cirgaļi in 1908) cookbook and recipe notebook. The book was published and purchased during the refugee years in Germany. On the inside covers, my grandmother wrote down other, newer recipes in her own handwriting. In the covers she also kept loose sheets with recipes, written both in her own and her friends’ handwriting. Among them are recipes written down by my mother, as well as contributions from my Aunt Betty in Australia.

These notes show how, while living in exile in Australia, my grandmother’s menu expanded: alongside traditional Latvian recipes there is Australia’s famous Pavlova, Asian-inspired Chinese chicken strips, and Aunt Betty’s recipe for French macaroons.

Every year during the Christmas holidays we traveled from Brisbane to Adelaide, where we stayed with my grandmother Elza for several weeks. During that time she treated us to Vidzeme-style milk soups and other Latvian delicacies. In the cookbook I found a list my grandmother had made when planning the weekly meals for our visits. I was amazed by this carefully and methodically prepared menu with precise ingredient lists. I believe the training she received at the home economics school in Latvia helped her create such orderly plans. I had never realized that our visits each year required so much effort and preparation from her!

Marianna Auliciema