Food blog Rye & Ginger marks Kitchener's past with recipes from 1916

A localfood writer is documenting the culinary history of the Kitchener area, with asite dedicated to local recipes from 1916, the year the town of Berlin officially changed its name toKitchener.

"We have this rich, rich food history here," saidJasmine Mangalaseril, a freelance food writer, and author of thesite Rye & Ginger, in an interview with Craig Norris on CBC KW's The Morning Edition."If you look at our demographics ... people have come from all over the world, and brought our food traditions."

The name Rye & Gingerisinspired by the city'sculinary roots:rye representingdistilling history, and ginger, both for theindigenous wild ginger, and for the many multi-cultural influences on the region'scuisine.

Some of the recipes are straight from vintage cookbooks, whileMangalaserildiscoveredmany more while "camped out" at the Kitchener Public Library, reviewing microfilm copies of the two English language newspapers of the day, both of which regularly featured recipes.

"From what I can tell, recipes were basically filler between articles," she said.

Dishes like Dreiknigskuchen, or Epiphany Cake, reflectthe culture of the region's manyearly German settlers,while recipes forIrish Stew andGai Yuk Chee Yuk represent thediversity that was starting to take shape in the area in those days.

The recipes are original, with someadaptationsfor the modern kitchen. Afterall, ingredients like "sweet milk"and units of measurementlikethe "salt spoon" don't appearin our cookbooksas often as they once did.

"Even a cup is not the same cup weuse today," she said.

Recipes at theturn of the last century often took on a more freeformapproach as well,geared toward the experienced homemaker, rather than the casual cook.Mangalaseril'sincludes both theoriginal text andmodern additions(like precise oven temperatures)for the less self-directed chef.

"People need a little extra guidance than they did a hundred years ago," she says.