An Autumn Cultural Cookbook

It is no secret that the traditions tied to the people we love in the places we love are centered around food. When we embrace the same spices and fragrances honed by our ancestors, we, in turn, honor the same things they shared amongst each other. Even in the simplest acts of kneading a dough or grating cheese over a fresh bowl of pasta, there is an added element of love that goes into a dish, telling those next to you that you love, honor, and care for their existence enough to share the things created by the people that influenced yours.

The autumn season is one marked by tradition. Yet, it can be hard to find small moments to celebrate. While those who adore summer are stuck mourning its end, there are those who crave winter and are floating in a state of limbo. However, in learning to celebrate the beauty in sharing food, autumn becomes a time of memorial and gratitude towards our past – thus making the season as golden as it has the potential to be. 

Compiled here are the recipes of St. Andrews students that, to them, create the essence of autumnal days. From childhood to their present days spent away from home, these recipes are a gift to those of us shaping our own identity and appreciating our own cultures during the start of October. They are invitations to you, the reader, to gather your loved ones and simply celebrate the fact you are together, which, to the wonderful people who shared these recipes, is what made their stories so special in the first place. 

I hope you enjoy reading the words of those studying alongside you each day. I also hope you find yourself in the kitchen after reading this, singing along to your favorite songs, inviting autumn into your own new traditions. 

Recipes

Marina (Italy)- Pumpkin Ravioli

Born in Italy, Marina marks autumn with the heartiness of fulfilling, handcrafted, and beautifully produced food, crafted tenderly by her family and loved ones. Specifically, she recalls a classic variation of a staple dish in her life: homemade ravioli with a pumpkin filling.

Marina, in remembering the early days of autumn, speaks of her family waiting for the perfect moment to harvest pumpkins. When the time came, her afternoons were filled with the smell of herbs and garnishes associated with the tradition and her home. 

While one can simply find premade raviolis in the aisles of any supermarket, the act of cooking with the people we love is what makes this dish special to Marina, and what creates the cozy abodes we nestle in throughout the brisk evenings of autumn. From the first buttery bite you get of the t herbs and spices coloring this dish, I guarantee you will feel the same way.

For the Ravioli

400g flour

4 large eggs 

For the filling

600g of cubed pumpkin

1 finely chopped shallot

50g parmigiano reggiano 

50g butter

4 tbsp olive oil 

1tsp thyme 

Nutmeg, salt, pepper (to taste) 

Filling

One can always use pumpkin puree, but where is the fun in that?! 

Scatter your chopped pumpkin on a baking tray and drizzle  two teaspoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast in a preheated oven (175°C) for around 30 minutes, or until tender and slightly browned.

In a large frying pan, heat olive oil, add shallot and garlic, and gently sauté. Add in the butter and allow it to melt completely before tossing in the thyme. Leave a few minutes on low heat, enabling the flavors to delicately infuse. 

Once your pumpkin and the shallot mixture are relatively cool, add them to the bowl of a food processor. Add your grated cheese, along with a generous helping of freshly-grated nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Pulse the mixture to combine, ensuring everything is fully incorporated, but aiming to retain some texture in your filling!

Transfer to a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Ravioli

To make the ravioli, there are multiple methods you can use. However, as students with varying culinary skills, sometimes the  simplest methods are the best . 

To begin, combine the flour and egg in a food processor, waiting until a dough-like consistency is formed. Let this rest for up to an hour to ensure the dough is easier to roll.

For the lucky culinary connoisseurs with pasta makers, this next part need not apply to you. However, for the rest of us, you will need to coat your surface with flour and roll the dough into a thin sheet, resembling the consistency of paper. 

Next, fold the sheet in half lengthwise to create a crease down the middle. When you have unfolded the sheet, begin placing the filling down this line, placing about 1.5tbsp of filling  roughly equidistant from each other . 

Fold over the dough on the left side of the filling. Then, press firmly so each piece of the filling is covered. Don’t worry if there are a few air pockets! A helpful trick is to roll a wooden dowel along each edge to more firmly press in the filling. 

Next, use a circular pizza cutter to create your individual ravioli pieces, cutting about an even distance in between each one. 

Now, dust each ravioli piece in flour and boil for about four minutes. For long term enjoyment, you can also easily freeze and store your raviolis made with love, especially  when that autumn craving hits as the months grow colder.

This dish can be paired with any sauce of choice but  the fragrant flavors of autumn truly compliment the flavors in a simple butter and sage sauce. Best enjoyed sitting by the fireplace with a wool blanket and your favorite book. 

Rosie (Scotland) – Flapjacks 

Many of us travel to St. Andrews for Uni and get to romanticize our first autumn here. However, for Rosie, a Scottish autumn is what she has always known and cherished. Recalling the autumnal showers that dampened the home soil of her youth also reminds Rosie of the gift of her mother’s hot chocolate and the Flapjacks they baked together. 

Rosie speaks of her days as a child in the Highlands. Nature was a force of her youth as she spent her time immersed in it. As the autumn cold sank into her bones as the days grew shorter upon her return from school, the only thing that could dry her clothes and warm her body were the words of her mother. Letting her eat the sugared oats from the bowl, her mother would reassure her saying the flapjacks they created together would “show mother nature to not mess with her daughter.” The memory of these afternoons sit with Rosie still. To this day, as the hours grow shorter and her jackets become damper, she still smells the fragrant cinnamon and hears the sizzle of a flapjack on a pan, regardless of how far she is. 

Recipe 

250g porridge oats 

125g butter

125g brown sugar

5 tbsp golden syrup

*This looks quite a bit like honey, but it isn’t! Golden Syrup is unique to the UK and can be found in most grocery stores’ baking aisles. Honey or corn syrup can also be used as a substitute need-be! 

2tbsp cinnamon

1tbsp nutmeg 

Preheat oven to 180c!

Begin by combining your dry ingredients, then set aside. Next, gradually combine melted butter with your dry ingredients. 

After your ingredients are combined, line a baking tray with non stick parchment, or simply spray it to ensure the  mixture does not stick. Pour the flapjack mix into the tray, then bake for 15 minutes. 

Rosie recommends a glass of hot cocoa on the side to combat the autumn chill and enjoy the comfort of a dish that brings you back to childhood. 

Tess (Netherlands)- Dutch apple cake

To Tess, the brisk winds of autumn bring along a sense of nostalgia. For as long as she can remember, her family honors the tradition of waiting for the first apples to blossom into season to craft their family’s Dutch apple cake, known as Appeltaart. Born and raised in the Netherlands, her family’s story of the appeltaart began with Tess’s grandmother. As the chapters continued, the creation of this cake recurred in each one, a motif in Tess’ life reminiscent of the smell permeating her household this time of year. 

In the days of Tess’ childhood, she remembers waking up to damp autumn mornings with the fragrance of baked apples, enjoying a warm cup of tea, and always taking as much whipped cream as she could which – she says – is  crucial to the enjoyment of this treat as you begin your own journey of autumnal nostalgia and create the Dutch Appeltaart yourself.

Recipe 

300g of self-raising flour

200g cold butter (cut into cubes)

150g of soft light brown sugar

¾ of an egg (for the dough)

*Use the remaining ¼ as brushing for an egg wash!

Pinch of salt

1kg of tart apples 

Fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons (6g) ground cinnamon 

50g white sugar

**Optional: 50g raisins, washed, soaked, and drained

For the dough

Mix the flour, salt, brown sugar, and butter with your hands until you have a mixture that resembles bread crumbs. Then, add  ¾ of an egg and knead into a smooth dough. Leave to rest in the fridge for an hour. 

For the filling 

Peel the apples, cut each apple into four equal parts, then each of the parts into 5 thick slices. Sprinkle with lemon juice; then, add cinnamon and 50g of white sugar to the apples and stir. If you choose to include raisins, add those as well. 

Preheat your oven to 175c. Line a round baking tin and add about ⅗ of your dough. Next, layer in your apple mixture, making sure to distribute evenly and pack firmly with apples (as they will soften with baking). With the leftover ⅖ of your dough, create a lattice formation on top of the apples. Then, brush lightly with your ¼ of an egg. Bake for 60 minutes. This can be enjoyed both warm or cooled and always with a generous helping of whipped cream. 

Thea (Norway and Sweden)- Kardemumboller 

In Scandinavia, the foreboding short, winter days is something that Thea will always associate as the October mornings draw in. However, one becomes familiar, in Scandinavia, with the concept of Hygge- a Danish word that distinguishes the coziness found in the darkness of the season. A beauty is drawn upon as one takes solace in the season, and this, to Thea, is marked by the olfactory memory of Cardamom greeting her as she came home from school each afternoon as autumn drifted along. 

With sweet sugar complimenting a distinctly fragrant and floral cardamom, these buns are truly one of a kind, bringing about feelings only reminiscent of Autumnal mornings, frosty breath, and the leaves painting the world with a similar gold.. 

Recipe (For 12 buns)

Dough

240 ml milk

2 tsp fast-acting yeast

56g softened butter 

40g light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cardamom 

420g flour

Pinch of salt (about ¼ tsp)

Filling

84g unsalted butter

60g light brown sugar 

2tsp ground cardamom

*To top – One egg for eggwash 

Sprinkling of cane sugar (or pearl sugar, if you have it!)

Forming the Dough 

Warm your milk gently until it starts to bubble; then, remove this from heat. Let cool slightly before adding your yeast. Set this aside, you will need it later. 

Mix together your softened butter, sugar, and cardamom.  Mix your butter into the yeast and milk mixture. Add your salt to flour, then gradually incorporate into the butter/yeast/milk mixture. Once combined, spread this onto a floured surface and gently knead your dough for around 5 minutes. After you are satisfied with the consistency, lightly oil a bowl, then place the dough into the bowl and cover. Set your dough aside in a warm place. 

Maya (Jordan)- Manakeesh

Tradition is a recurring motif as we reminisce over what is loved through Autumn. Just as she and her extended family returned to their Teta and Jido’s (grandmother and grandfather’s) house each Friday morning in the autumn, Maya’s family returned to this recipe each visit. Served alongside Jordanian tea, slowness, and quiet of mind is embraced in the peace that envelopes her family. The flavors of Manakeesh intertwine with the autumns she knows, those of which she embraces so dearly no matter the distance from home. 

Recipe

Dough

3 cups flour

1 tbsp powdered milk

½ cup oil

½ tbsp dry yeast

1 egg

1 cup room temperature water

¼ tsp salt 

100g grated Mozarella cheese

200g sliced Hallom cheese

*Hallom cheese – A goat’s/sheep’s milk cheese that is also known as halloumi

Topping (Zaatar- A spice blend traditional in Middle Eastern cuisine)

½ cup olive oil 

3 Tbsps dried Zaatar

*Mix together the Zaatar with a pinch of Sesame and Sumac spices

Begin by preheating your oven to 230c, or 450f. 

Combine the hallom and mozzarella cheese. Set aside – this will be used as a filling. 

Add water to your yeast to  activate it. Mix until combined and  set aside. In a bowl, incorporate the powdered milk, oil, egg, salt, and yeast mixture gradually add your flour and mix by hand (or a stand mixer) until a dough is formed. Cover well and set aside in a warm place for two hours.

After two hours… 

Divide the dough into six balls. Roll out each into a circular shape, flattening it slightly to resemble  a “flatbread”. Place each circle on parchment paper, leaving some space between each one, and grease each top with olive oil. Next, add your toppings (the cheeses and zaatar). Feel free to combine the two, or leave each separate. Like Maya, enjoy your Manakeesh with a warming cup of tea and the company of friends and family.

Cara (Argentina)- Dulce de Leche 

Having older loved ones share the  stories of their youth is a cherished moment of connection to culture and tradition for many. Embedded with the knowledge that these stories are fleeting, this intergenerational act is unique to each person and touched with a tinge of nostalgia, thereby making it a gift more so than a simple story. 

Cara recalls her father’s stories of the Argentinian days spent in sunshine and his creation of a thick, caramel, Dulce De Leche sauce. Now, it is enjoyed by her family as a way of warming their hearts with every nostalgic bite. With the sweet, caramel, layers, and a nutty hazelnut crunch, this cake perfectly complements a return home from a brisk autumn walk through golden woods. The caramel itself pairs the scent of golden sunlight before dusk. Thus, I guarantee you it will create that same nostalgia as you try it yourself. 

Ingredients

For the Sauce- Dulce de leche sauce is sometimes sold in cans, but it is just as fun to try and make it yourself!

50g sugar

50g unsalted cubed butter

75ml whole milk

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

For the Cake

4 eggs 

½ tsp salt 

200g sugar

230g sour cream

340g of dulce de leche (or, one can if  store bought)

1 tsp baking soda

280g flour

2 tsp baking powder 

240g of hazelnuts 

For the sauce

Heat a saucepan to medium and pour in your sugar. Carefully melt and tilt the pan rather than stirring to avoid it sticking to a spoon or spatula. When your sugar is melted, add in the entirety of your butter and stir. Next, add in a little milk at a time and stir with consistency.

Finally, add your sweetened condensed milk and stir this until fully incorporated. Keep stirring until the sauce bubbles and thickens (this should take about 5-10 minutes). It should turn a darker shade of brown when complete. Add a pinch of salt, then set aside to cool. As it cools, the sauce should thicken and can be stored in the fridge.

For the cake 

Preheat your oven to 176c (350f). 

Begin by placing the hazelnuts on a rimmed baking dish, baking for 15 minutes and tossing every 5 to see if they are roasted to your liking. Once these are roasted, add to a ziplock bag, and shake until the skins come off. Remove the skins, then crush the bag with a rolling pin, or use a large knife to dice finely. Set aside. 

In a bowl or stand mixer, whip eggs, 1 cup sugar, ½ tsp salt for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk sour cream, dulce de leche, and baking soda until no dulce de leche lumps are seen. The mixture will “inflate” in size. Fold the two mixtures together and be careful to not overmix or allow the mixture to “deflate.” 

Then, sift in flour and baking powder. Fold into batter. 

Grease/line either 2 large rectangular baking trays or 3 medium-sized round baking trays. Add the mixture into the pans of your choice. 

Bake for 9 minutes for rectangular pans. 

Bake for 12 minutes for round pans. 

To frost, it is recommended to use a whipped cream frosting – both premade and homemade will work! 

To assemble

Begin by halving each layer of cake. For the rectangular cakes, do so by simply cutting each piece into two equal segments, creating four total layers. For the round cakes, cut each  circle in half horizontally, creating six total layers. 

Place a cake onto a serving plate. Layer cream, hazelnuts, then dulce de leche sauce. Repeat for all layers. 

For the final layer, use the remaining cream to cover the top and sides. Coat with the remaining dulce de leche sauce. Garnish with chocolate shavings or crushed hazelnuts. 

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving. Even if we can not experience Argentinian autumn days ourselves, we can join Cara in reminiscing and enjoying this delectable treat from Scotland!

With these fabulous recipes honoring intercultural learning, sharing, and love, honor them yourself by creating an Autumn baking night with the people you love! I guarantee you, the essence of home will not feel too far away, and you will find yourself creating a new home with the stories and people that you hold close to you, here. 

• Autumn
• baking
• cooking
• entertainment
• fall
• family
• friends
• gatherings
• recipes