A treasury of delectable recipes, Celtic Folklore Cooking by Joanne Asala will help you select foods to serve at your celebrations of the Sabbats and Esbats: the festivals and ritual times for Witches and Wiccans. It is also a terrific introduction to Celtic culture. The recipes in this book were gathered during four trips the author took to Ireland and Britain, as well as visits to Scotland and Wales. She searched for people who still cooked in the traditional of their ancestors, passing down recipes from generation to generation. The result is a book that is rich in Celtic tradition. And the foods are delicious any time, too!
Like a well-stocked larder, Celtic Folklore Cooking offers plenty of tempting choices for daily meals or special celebrations. Pick from more than 200 tasty traditional dishes, all nestled among colorful food-related proverbs, poems, tales, customs, and other nuggets of folk wisdom. Each recipe lists ancient and modern holidays associated with the dish so you can select the perfect fare to complement the season. Recipes include:
- Mushroom and Scallop Pie
- Heather Wine
- Pratie Oaten
- Beestings Pancakes
- Hot Cross buns
- Figgy Pudding
- Boxty on the Griddle
- Barm Brack
- Sweet Scones
- Scotch Eggs
- Colcannon
- Cockle Soup
- Flower Pudding
- Flummery
- Mead
The ancient Celts celebrated their Sabbats with music, dance, games, food, and drink. Whether you are a solitary practitioner or a part of a larger group, food and drink should always be a part of your festivities, rituals, and ceremonies. This book can be the key to a wide variety of foods that will make you the talk of the town!
If you are involved in Celtic traditions, this book is a must. If you simply like unique recipes for foods that are as tasty today as they were hundreds, even thousands of years ago, you'll want this book, too.
Sabbats, festivals, and informal gatherings all have something in common--food. But choosing the right food for the occasion can be difficult. Celtic Folklore Cooking takes the guesswork out of planning a feast, with plenty of sumptuous ideas for an entire meal, from soup to dessert and even drinks to accompany your food. (Consider baked trout for Beltaine or Lammas cookies for Lughnasadh.) Joanne Asala gathers generations-old recipes from Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, Ireland, and England, associates them with appropriate festivals and times of the year, then sprinkles a dash of folklore between them. Perhaps you would like to learn the 400-year-old "Song of Harvest Home" while making Marigold Buns. Celtic Folklore Cooking is like having centuries of Celtic tradition in your kitchen, and it will help you find just the right flavor for your festivities. --Brian Patterson
Author: Joanne Asala
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
Customer Reviews
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Celtic culture
I received this book just prior to a Lughnasadh celebration with other members of a Celtic cultural organization called An Ceangal Mara (The Linking Seas, to symbolize the linking of the Celtic minds in the Old World to those of us in the New World). I used the recipe for Citrus Curd, combined it with an oat-based shortbread crust and topped it with a compote of seasonal fruits. It made a wonderful dessert for out celebration. I love the bits of folklore, stories and poetry in this work, as well as the connections of each recipe with the important events in the wheel of the year. Food is such a vital part of any culture, and it is a lovely thing to be able to count on the historic linking of the food and recipe to the holiday. Our next celebration will be the Celtic New Year, and I will again turn to this book for inspiration and guidance in my culinary efforts.
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So much culture mixed with recipes
I love this book. It's like sitting down with Grandmother and hearing old time stories mixed with family favorite recipes. This is as much of a good read as it is a good cookbook. Worth every penny!
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Unique and educational
"Celtic Folklore Cooking", by JoAnne Asala, is a unique blend of recipes and lore from the British Isles. Part history lesson and part mythology class, this text weaves stories and folklore together with timeless recipes in a seamless, easy-to-follow fashion.
<br />The book is organized into sections based on the main recipe components (such as "Meat and Wild Game" and "Breads, Porridges, and Breakfast Foods") and further grouped into similar dishes (i.e. porridges and furmenty, fritters, pancakes, and so on) regardless of their sometimes unusual names and origins. This makes for a convenient reference if you know the basic dish you'd like to prepare. However, for more Pagan-minded individuals, the detailed Index in the back of the book has suggested recipes for Celtic holy days as well. There is a bibliography which proves just how much detailed research Ms. Asala put into this excellent cookbook, as well as a glossary of terms.
<br />My favorite part of the book, though, is the simple but effective description of the Celtic Wheel of the Year, and a page on each holiday and esbat which includes associated dieties, customs, symbols, and sacred food for the event.
<br />In all, this is a fabulously well-research cookbook for any enthusiast of British history and mythology, Pagan cooking, and those who want to try their hand at ancient and tasty dishes.
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an absolute favorite
This book is an absolute favorite of mine. Normally I love big glossy photos in a book- but this one just has something special. It is like the Joy of Cooking that way- it doesn't need it. The writing style draws you in and recipes are wonderful. Pumpkin bread, sorrel soup and cock-a-leekie are loved by people who don't think they like 'that kind' of cooking! Hearty country fare, but with wierdly wonderful herbal additions and old time drink recipes sprinkled with bits of folklore. Contains both things you can use in your regular cooking rotation and special recipes to try once in a while for historical interest.
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Great Book
This book has more than just traditional Celtic foods but has foods geared toward each Sabbat along with some history like the corndollies for example and some poems. What a great book!!
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