Alsace to release a cookbook of traditional recipes by amateur cooks

A new cookbook will gather traditional recipes from home cooks in Alsace alongside those of professionals, creating a resource of regional culinary know-how from Michelin-starred prowess to grandma’s best dishes. 

Amateur cooks in Alsace, where local classics include sauerkraut, baeckeoffe and kouglof, can submit their recipes to www.marecettealsacienne.fr, and 100 of those recipes will be chosen to be included in the book alongside 200 from professional chefs. 

The book will be officially launched at the Michelin star ceremony which is to be held in Strasbourg in March 2023 and which is what sparked the project, led by the la Collectivité européenne d’Alsace (CEA) and Étoiles d’Alsace, an organisation which brings together the region’s starred chefs. 

Étoiles d’Alsace director Prescillia Cerdan said: “We wanted to create this book to get Alsatians in the Michelin ceremony.” 

Entries have come flooding in and locals can rest assured that even if they don’t make it into print, their recipes will remain on the website for people to use. 

Ms Cerdan said:  “Dishes with pigeon have come up a lot, I’ve also seen date tarte, fleischschnacka (pasta spiral stuffed with meat) with snails and lentil soup. But I’m not saying that everything will be kept!” 

Among the 40 professional members of the association, recipes have included a lobster baeckeoffe, beef cheek with ginger-infused broth and frog legs pan-fried with chervil served with ravioli. 

Anne-Catherine Ferber, chef at Maison Ferber in Niedermorschwihr (Haut-Rhin), was among those to send in recipes. She said: “Each family has its own tricks, its secrets. It’s good to promote them, it’s the richness of the region. It’s a magnificent ode to the Alsatian terroir.”