Did I "steal" the recipe? - Reflections on my great-grandmother's 100-year-old booklet

"My great-grandmother's notebook is proof of this: recipes travel. And as long as there's someone to cook them, they live. And I am happily a link in this long, floury story."

When I launched my site and my YouTube channel at that time, I received some comments and messages that I have to admit, at first struck me and then got me thinking. "You stole this!", "This is not your recipe!", "I saw this first at XY!" - sometimes I get accused of doing something when I show you a classic recipe. Not only do these sentences make me feel bad, but they also highlight a huge misunderstanding in the world of gastronomy. So I've decided to pour clean water into the glass (or rather, flour into the bowl).

No, I did not invent Spanish wax. In fact, I'll let you in on a secret: it's probably not who you think is the "original" source.

Cooking and baking is a knowledge that has been in constant flux for thousands of years. When I share a sourdough bread recipe or an old cake with you, I never claim to have invented it from scratch. The chemistry of flour, water, salt, sugar and eggs is a given. Our grandmothers and even their grandmothers learned them from someone.

The proof: 100 years of my great-grandmother's legacy

The other day I got my hands on a real treasure, the perfect answer ad to this question. We found my great-grandmother's handwritten recipe booklet (pictured), which is at least 100 years old.

When I flip through the yellowed, stained pages, I see treasures such as "French tart", "Nigger dice" or "Nut grid". Did my great-grandmother "steal" these? After all, I'm sure she didn't invent the French tart on a boring Tuesday afternoon. No. She got it from the lady next door. She wrote it down, just like her mother said in penmanship. She ate it at a wedding in the village.

This is the history of gastronomy: preservation and transfer. Not about ownership.

So what makes it something like "SourdoughFairy"?

Although the basics are common - they were baked with flour and sugar 100 years ago - the end result is unique.

When I present a recipe to you, it becomes "my own" because:

1. I'll give it a try: I bake it many times, I mess it up, I start again, until I get the one that is the best for us, for our palate.
2. I'm modernising: Granddad's recipe still calls for "a handful of flour" or "two batches of yeast". I'm translating this into the language of today's kitchens, with exact grams and temperatures, so that you can get it right the first time.

- 3. I'm shaping it: I add a little twist, change the ingredients, add a little extra spice. That's how recipes have been shaped, modified, "individualised" for centuries.

The question of ethics

Make no mistake: I believe in fairness. If I'm inspired by a particular food blogger or book, I always do it ethically and so should everyone! Obviously copying someone's own pictures, videos, full recipes is not acceptable, I wouldn't be happy either because I work a lot on pictures, videos, recipes, useful information.

But it's important to see that the basic recipe was probably not his originally, but he brought it from somewhere in the past.

So, next time you see a recipe from me, don't look for "where it's from", look for what it is: a lovingly tested and refined recommendation for you, which I share to ensure that the joy of home baking is not lost.

My great-grandmother's notebook is proof of this: recipes travel. And as long as there is someone to cook them, they live. And I am happily a link in this long, floury story.

Bake it, pass it on and add your own secret ingredients! ❤️

Bianka, the Fairy Godmother