Great cookery book, filled with lots of home cooking type German recipes. I've made a few things from here and really liked them. And a good apple cake recipe.

With the intention of showing German cuisine to be versatile, friendly-for-all and downright tasty, this probably succeeds as a cookbook – but also fails as a culinary statement; it could hardly feel more Alpine at times if it donned a dirndl, climbed a mountain and began singing about edelweiss. On my first look I wasn't finding much favour with it, thinking the amount of main meals limited, but I can't complain too much – it is the way of these whole-cuisine books that they have to include everything here. And it's only my fault I don't bake breads, do biscuits and cakes for pudding or visitors, and really don't have the space for pickling everything I perhaps ought to.

There is a chunk of introductory matter, not that large, that kind of sums up the author, her background and intent. There is also a main section discussing the German flavours, as regards their herbs, spices and so on of choice – this, oddly, comes in the middle. Before then, as I say, we get dumpling things, pickled things, soups, and the rest, with space after it for some mains, quicker meals (that get their own mini-index at the very end), sweet things and cocktails.

And it all felt very nice – if I were a better dab hand with things like buttermilk, rye flour, quark and all of that I could still be exploring this yet. But it also felt a touch too olde timey – the introduction says how much Gastarbeiter changed German tastes, and yet this is still your noodley soups, your home-spun pasta, and your strudels – don't forget your strudels. It's nice to touch base with German snacks, cold soups, pickled vegetable salads and what they do with fruit, perhaps none of that exactly what one expected from these pages before opening them, but I kind of expected something a bit more eye-opening. Still, for the friendly, encyclopaedic gamut of what we do get, and even forgiving the huge bits of blank space on the page at times between the talkie bit at the top and the ingredients and the recipe, bottom-justified, at the foot, this probably does deserve four stars.

Tasty, intriguing and brilliant! This cookbook was a great way to discover new recipes, with clear and well-thought out dishes.

Being married to a Welshman who spent many summers living in the Germanic part of Switzerland, this book could have been written just for us. It brought back many memories for him of meals eaten with family and friends and allowed us to experiment with recipes in order to try and recreate those wonderful tastes.

We loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to try for themselves cooking German food, or simply reading this book is a treat in itself.

I'm glad German food is having its time in the limelight (Phaidon have also released a weighty tome on the subject). Thanks to Anja Dunk, you can throw away any preconceptions you might have about German food being dense or stodgy and a bit earnest. Yes, like most Northern European cuisines, the food of Germany is rooted in the need to survive a shorter growing season but Dunk's recipes are light and bright (yes, even the noodles and dumplings) and anyone interested in eating healthily but without all the self-denial that can go alongside such regimes will enjoy this book. I love the sound of quark fritters made with buttermilk; bottled greengages; a magic vegetable bouillon designed to be kept in the fridge and used as a savoury base; griddled mushrooms with coriander and honeyed onions; carrot pickles (which are one of her many recipes which showcase the culinary contribution of the Gastarbeiter- the guest workers- who came from Greece and Turkey) and gorgeous baking (spiced rye and applesauce cake, rye and buttermilk crackers).

This review will be published in the Bury Free Press and regional Iliffe Media titles as part of a Christmas cookbook guide.

It is obvious Anja has a big love of food from the content of Strudel, Noodles and Dumplings. You can almost smell the smokiness and spice. Over 200 recipes give you lots of choice from special occasions to wee snacks. Recommended.

Some recipe books are a delight to read, others contain wonderful recipes. Occasionally a book provides both and that for me is the ideal book.

Strudel, Noodles and Dumplings was a most enjoyable read; I liked the concept of “the taste of home” and found the introduction to the book, and to each chapter, delightful and interesting. I loved the photos, with the author’s children part of so many of them - what a great idea!

However, I expected to find chapters focused on Strudels, Noodles and Dumplings and this is not the case. Instead I found the chapter divisions confusing and frustrating – for example in the chapter “All Things Jars” there are pickles and preserves, but in the chapter “German Flavours”, I found recipes for onion pickles and carrot pickles. In “Something for the Weekend”, there are chicken recipes, then more chicken recipes in ”Anything Goes”

So the book does not quite fulfil the second requirement of an ideal recipe book; it is as stated in the introduction “Simple home cooking, inspired by the seasons and by my children” but there are simply not enough recipes that I felt inspired to try out.

A beautiful presented and illustrated book, the information about the dishes are really interesting and the recipes are easy to follow.
Having said that, this book draws me back on another level, as a child I remember my Austrian grandmother making some of these dishes. I have long to reproduce some of them but I was only a child a the time and whilst I remember the cubes of bread soaked in milk to make dumpling, I don't remember the rest. And as for the "Kaisershmarren", eating it for breakfast was pure joy, but I could never replicated for my children on grandchildren. This book and recipes are very much like I remember the food to taste like, they do not seem to be modernised, and whilst not every recipes takes me back, there are quite a few that do.
So yes I really recommend this book, it does stand alone for me as a well written and informative book with great recipes.

Strudel, Noodles & Dumplings is a lovely cookery book providing lots of delicious recipes from Germany, which is part of the authors family heritage.

The book is split into many chapters and is much more than its title as it also includes recipes for cocktails, biscuits, puddings, cakes, main meals, soups and more. And when it refers to noodles, in England this is really strios of pasta such as tagliatelle.

Each chapter begins with an introduction, and so do the recipes themselves. Each recipe provides easy to follow instructions and alternative instructions if not making something yourself, using a food .processor rather than by hand or using dried yeast instead of fresh.

The book has a multitude of colour photography, but not all recipes come with a picture. The ingredients are provided in metric measurements and even though its a German cookbook, everything you need appears to be found in a local supermarket.

There are a few recipes I'd like to cook from this book to begin my journey into German cooking We enjoy pork belly in our house, so the Crispy Pork Belly with Creamy White Beans and Spring Greens sounds delicious, along with a Baked Pancake and the Spiced Sweet Yeasted Buns.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

Interesting spread of recipes that conjure a warm feeling inside. The emphasis is on homely recipes made from ingredients that most readers will have in their homes already and the dishes and drinks showcased will be accessible to all.

I loved poring over this book! Some of the recipes whisked me back to my childhood and my father's side of the family who would enjoy traditional German foods. I still gravitate towards these things as an adult as comfort food, but I've never tried to make very much of it myself. I was so pleased that everything was laid out in a clear, easy to follow way. Also, the pictures are just gorgeous. I felt inspired, and not just a little envious of such a beautiful rustic style kitchen. The chapters go above and beyond by covering everything you could possibly need, including canning and preserves which is something I've got such a keen interest in trying. There are even special occasion and seasonal options. I am certain that I bookmarked at least one recipe in every single section to try very soon. I love that the author has elevated classic foods, but also made them so very accessible. I think a better cover would really set this book apart, definitely the current sleeve could use updating since it really jars with how lovely the inside is.

Strudel, Noodles and Dumplings has a wonderful selection of recipes. They look and sound delicious. The layout is easy to follow and the photos are beautiful.
Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read this. .