Dark Rye and Honey Cake

What a beautiful book! As the owner of two bookshelves containing nothing but cookbooks (and having given away probably the same number again) it’s rare to find a book that fills me with inspiration and this book does this along with joy and an immediate desire to dig that waffle pan out of my equally stuffed pan drawer

I loved this book, it literally made my mouth water. Beautiful pictures, delicious sounding recipes and great stories. Looking forward to trying some of these very festive sounding treats.

I always love a good cookbook and when there are stories attached it makes it all that more real. You know the recipes have been tried and tested over the years. This book is cookbook, history lesson, short stories and is a great book to add to my ever growing recipe book collection.

The wonderful and delightful recipes looked good enough to eat, the recipes themselves are ones I will be trying out in my home and the stories really do go hand in hand with the recipes. It inspires me to be creative and makes me want to get in the kitchen and start cooking.

I love it and will now have to go out a buy a proper copy to add to my heaving shelves. It will fit right in.

This is such a lovely book to dip into. There are fascinating stories of foodstuffs in the Low Countries of which I knew nothing about - a whole new cuisine to discover. I particularly enjoyed the author's inclusion of paintings from the eras she discussed showing how food was served and eaten at fairs for example. The recipes themselves are very tempting - I am sure, like me you'll end up wanting a waffle iron! They are clearly described and well researched. Definitely a book for foodies.

Is gorgeous book full of delicious recipes photography that will make you drool.The information about the low country was fascinating to me.A book I will be purchasing for my kitchen library.#netgalley #murdochbooks.

Definitely on the higher-brow than your average cookbook, this discusses the history of the Low Countries (Benelux without the Lux bit) before it gets to food. It's aimed at honouring and reviving the traditional, feast day-type baking of these realms. To that end, we get (possibly over-large) images and (potentially over-long) essays before hitting the first recipe, for a beery waffle. Many other waffles follow – each slightly different due to their mixture and of course their size, depth and decoration courtesy the relevant waffle iron. Yes, you could be discussing semantics here for all I know, for several browsers here will see little that is vital in the differences between them all.

Next comes certain breads, even a Grecian-styled one, pancakes, krakelingen and pretzels – stuff that I am sure tastes marvellous, but which I have no intention (nor capacity) to make. Vlaais and taarts galore could keep you more than occupied, and if the likes of Amelie and Chocolat were to combine, provide you with more than enough to find a perfect shop to bake and sell it all in, alongside the love of your life. This is stuffed with such wish-fulfilment on a plate, or just sold in a paper bag on a street corner to a winsome lass, if the portrait photography involved is anything to go by.

As a result it seems at first glance to have less concern for the kitchen-bound practicalities, and more concern for the heritage, the vintage appeal, the romance. But even the briefest of glimpses shows these recipes are easily followable, and while I don't regret never becoming a home baker I can see that this would have entertained me royally if I had done so.

Earnest, sincere, high-falutin' in visuals and yet accessible to all, this does definitely pack the historical essays in alongside the recipes more than you may ever have seen before, but there's very little to fault. Even from someone like me, for whom this is so not aimed, this smacks of being a cherishable success. A strong four stars.