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In the past cooking was simple but honest. Ingredients were available, homemade and often grown on one’s own field or yard. The result was dishes that still evoke memories of childhood, the scent of home and the loving kitchens of our grandmothers. We present a selection of 10 traditional “poor” dishes that may have been part of your parents’ everyday menu – and yet (or precisely because of that) taste great even today.
1. Cabbage soup with sausage
- 500 g sauerkraut
- 2 potatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 sausage
- 1 bay leaf
- salt, pepper, ground paprika
Put the cabbage in a pot with water, add potatoes cut into cubes and the bay leaf. Fry the onion in oil, add the paprika and put it into the soup. Finally add the sliced sausage, cook for 20 minutes and serve.
2. Dumplings with brynza and bacon
- 5 potatoes
- 200 g plain flour
- 1 egg
- 250 g brynza
- 100 g bacon
Grate the potatoes, add the flour and egg and work the dough. Press through a dumpling maker into boiling salted water. Mix the drained dumplings with brynza and sprinkle with fried bacon.
3. Grenadier’s march
- 300 g pasta
- 400 g potatoes
- 1 onion
- sweet paprika, salt, pepper
Cook the pasta and potatoes separately. Fry the onion in oil, add the paprika, mix with the potatoes and pasta. Season and serve.
4. Bean soup
- 200 g dry beans
- 2 potatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- marjoram, salt, pepper
Soak the beans overnight, the next day cook until tender. Add potatoes, onion and garlic. Season with marjoram, pepper and salt.
5. Baked potatoes in their skins
- 5 medium potatoes
- salt
Bake the potatoes whole and in their skins at 200 °C for about 40–50 minutes. Serve with butter, curd cheese or sour cream.
6. Bread with onion and lard
- slice of bread
- 1 tablespoon pork lard
- 1 onion
- salt
Spread lard on the bread, add onion slices, salt and serve as a quick dinner or snack.
7. Leavened steamed buns
- 500 g semi-coarse flour
- 1 cube of yeast
- 250 ml milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 egg
- plum jam or other jam
Roll out the prepared dough into a sheet, cut into squares, fill with jam and shape into buns. Steam for about 15 minutes.
8. Sorrel stew
- 200 g sorrel
- 200 ml milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- salt and sugar to taste
Briefly sauté the sorrel in butter, add the flour, pour in the milk and simmer until thickened. Season with salt and sugar. Serve with a boiled egg.
9. Potato dumplings with poppy seeds
- 500 g potatoes
- 200 g coarse flour
- 1 egg
- ground poppy seeds and sugar for sprinkling
- melted butter
Make a dough from the potatoes, flour and egg, form rolls and cut into dumplings. Cook in boiling salted water. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and sugar and drizzle with butter.
10. Simple cabbage soup
- 400 g sauerkraut
- 1 potato
- 1 onion
- sweet paprika, bay leaf, pepper, salt
Cook the cabbage with potatoes and spices. Fry the onion, add the paprika and stir into the soup. Cook until soft and serve.
Summary
These traditional “poor dishes” prove that with a minimum of ingredients you can create meals with excellent flavor and filling power. They are ideal for those who want to save money, return to their roots, or just remember the taste of childhood. Which of them do you still cook today?
