The Cookbook Junkies

The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook – Plus Giveaway – Two Winners

by 36 Comments

The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook was originally published in Yiddish in 1938 under the name Vegetarish-Dietisher Kokhbukh: 400 Shpeizn Gemakht Oysshlislekh fun Grinsn (Vegetarian-Dieteti Cookbook: 400 Recipes Made Exclusively from Vegetables) by Fania Lewando.

Fania Lewando was the proprietor of a popular vegetarian restaurant in Vilna, Lithuania and this book chronicles 400 of her recipes. She was an advocate of nutrition and vitality and founded a dietary school that taught Jewish women healthy cooking.  She and her husband fled the Nazi invasion of Vilna in the fall of 1941 and were captured by Soviet soldiers.  They died sometime thereafter and it was feared that all copies of her cookbook were gone. However in 1995, a couple attending a book fair lucked across a copy of Fania’s original book and donated it to the Institute for Jewish Research in New York.  Fast forward to the present,  Eve Jochnowitz and Schocken Books translated Fania’s original version so that we can make these recipes today.

vilna

This book isn’t akin to the books of today with stunning photographs of the finished dishes and nicely formatted recipes with the ingredients listed first with instructions following. The recipes are in paragraph form – you need to read the recipe to make your list of ingredients but the recipes are very easy and simple to read and the measurements are in volumes. The illustrations are lovely.

Again, 400 vegetarian recipes — Cabbage Kreplekh, Fried Stuffed Eggs, Shortbread Cake with Farmer Cheese, Potato Cutlets Stuffed with  Mushrooms and more.  Breads, soups, salads, latkes, pierogies, frittatas, desserts, vitamin drinks, juices, glazes and garnishes for cakes, sauces and it goes on and on.

It is a lovely book and a piece of history with recipes that will work in our kitchens today.

Random Number Generator picked #26 and 34 — Lisa Barron and Christine Dutton — Congratulations!

Thanks to Schocken Books, we have two copies of this exceptional work for two winners.  The giveaway is open to US addresses only.  Please leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite vegetarian dish.  Two winners will be drawn by random number generator on June 24th.  Good luck.

 

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Comments

  4. 4

    I’ve been a vegetarian for 35 years, so hard to pick a favorite dish……But since you asked, I’d say “zoodles” (zucchini noodles!)

    Reply
  5. 5

    My favorite is a vegetarian lasagna that I had several years ago. Thank you for opportunity to win a wonderful book as this. It is the first I’ve known of this moving story. Please enter me in the drawing. Thank you.

    Reply
  14. 14

    I’ve been vegetarian for the last 20+ years and love to cook. I think my favorite recipe is a Chickpeas and Feta in a Tomato Sauce.

    Reply
  21. 21

    I love an nice chilled avocado soup or a chilled fruit soup. I would love a copy of this not just for the recipes but also because of its history!

    Reply
  23. 23

    Sounds like a fascinating book. I have a lot of favorite vegetarian recipes but I’ll have to go with latkes.

    Reply
  24. 24

    In the summer it gazpacho made with vegetables I’ve grown or have been given by my mom and dad. I love the taste and texture!

    Reply
  34. 34

    My favorite vegetarian dish is vegetable carpaccio. So much opportunity and flexibility with this type of dish!

    Reply

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