FENYVES FAMILY RECIPE BOOK, undated 2014.317.1

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW

Washington, DC 20024-2126 Tel. (202) 479-9717

e-mail: reference@ushmm.org

Appendix A. Commentary on the Fenyves Family Recipe Book & Table of Contents

The following Commentary on the Fenyves Family Recipe Book, written by Steven Fenves, is housed in the donor files of the United State Holocaust Memorial Museum. A transcribed Table of Contents is also attached.

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COMMENTARY on the RECIPE BOOK of Mrs. Louis Fenyves

by Steven Fenves

Origins.

I have no idea when my mother, Mrs. Louis Fenyves, started authoring her Recipe Book, how often she added to it, or how frequently she or her cook Maris (whose last name I don't remember) consulted it. The book survived the Holocaust thanks to the efforts of the cook Maris, whom my parents had to let go following the Hungarian occupation of Subotica, Yugoslavia, in 1941, because (a) the occupying army expelled my father from his office, cutting off all of his income and (b) a law was introduced, prohibiting employment of gentiles by Jews.

Following the German occupation of Hungary in 1944, when we Jews were ordered to move to a ghetto facing the railroad yards, Maris competed with the crowd that jostled to ransack our apartment. She entered and saved the Recipe Book, a slim diary our mother kept of my sister Eszti's and my early development, and a cardboard binder into which Maris stuffed all of mother's lithographs, etchings, school exercises, sketchbooks and other works on paper that she could grab (the inventory of the family's artwork holdings lists over 250 items).

When my sister Eszti and I returned to Subotica from the camps the following year, Maris returned to us everything she had. In 1947, before we escaped from Yugoslavia, we turned everything back to her for safekeeping until we could find a permanent home. Finally, in the early 1960s she sent the material to us in Chicago. Eszti and her family visited her later in the sixties, but by the time I first got back to Subotica in 1976 I could no longer locate her.

The Recipe Book and its fate featured prominently in both my sister's and my Shoah Foundation testimonial. On that basis, we were asked to lend the book to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for the Some were Neighbors special exhibition. After my sister passed away in 2012, with her four daughters' concurrence, I donated the recipe book to the Museum.

Description of the Recipe Book.

The Recipe Book bears all the hallmarks of books produced in the bookbinding shop of the Minerva Publishing House, co-owned and managed until 1935 by my father, Louis Fenyves. The maroon cloth binding of the cover with the gold imprint of the title and author's name on the front cover, the hand-cut tabs, and the pages printed on the machine that was used to print ledger book pages all point to that shop. The book consists of five sections, delineated by tabs, with many spare pages at the end of each section. My rough estimate is that only a third of the book contains entries.

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The Recipe Book must have seen heavy usage in the author's kitchen. Only the first two tabs are legible; the other three tabs are smudged or entirely worn away from frequent usage. The conservator who prepared the book for display in the Some were Neighbors exhibition remarked on the large number of food stains on the pages. There are a few entries at the end of each section that are not in the author's handwriting; I presume that they were made by Maris while the book was in her possession, and I did not include these in the Table of Contents. The last time I examined the Recipe Book was in 2012 or 2013, prior to the Some were Neighbors exhibition opening, when I was asked to select a page for display in the exhibition. The last time I held the Recipe Book in my hands was at An Evening to Honor Holocaust Survivors at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum on November 17, 2018. In preparing the table of content in January 2020, I noted two things. One, the cookbook was in a much worse condition than the one I remembered, and two, that the section identified on the tab as Soups, meats, sauces, etc. was extremely short, containing only 7 entries. i have no explanation for either of these two observations.

Contents of the Recipe Book. The Recipe Book contains146 entries. A typical entry (page 51, dish 86 in the Tables of Content), in my translation, reads as follows: Date cake (mother)

8 egg whites beaten into foam, 25 dkg (approximately 9 ounces) sugar, 25 dkg dates cut into slivers, 25 dkg blanched almonds, half ground half cut into slivers, 2 soupspoons of flour. Bake for an hour, when cooled coat with whipped cream.

As can be seen, an entry identifies a dish, described by: • the name of the dish, • the source (person or publication) that provided the recipe, and • the recipe for producing the dish.

The Tables of Content contain translations of the names and sources of the dishes, but omit the recipes. The Recipe Book is divided into sections by tabs. The sections, their subject matter, and the number of entries in each section are as follows:

Section Subject matter Number of entries One From tab: Appetizers, pastes, salads 37 Two From tab: Soups, meats, sauces, etc. 7 Three By inspection: Tarts, slices, cakes 28

Four By inspection: Tortes, slices, cakes, pastries, breads, crèmes, glazes 51

Five By inspection: Jams, preserves 16

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The recipes have clearly been accumulated over time; there is no internal organization of the various kinds of dishes in a section. There is no apparent reason why dessert recipes are presented in two overlapping sections.

Contents and organization of the Tables of Contents.

An entry in the Table of Contents (TOC), identifying one dish, consists of the following fields:

• Page Number. The page in the digitized Recipe Book, accessed at the USHMM Collections website:https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn48140#?rsc=196909&cv=0&c=0&m=0&s=0&xywh=-1113%2C-271%2C5994%2C5411

• Dish Number. For organizational purposes, sequential numbers are assigned in the TOC to each dishin the Recipe Book, starting with 1.

• Name. This is the translated name of the dish. If the name cannot be adequately translated("Florentine" tarte, etc.) or if the translated name is not descriptive of the dish (Urchins' salad, etc.)the major ingredients are listed in the Comments column (Urchins' salad contains cucumbers,peppers, tomatoes).

• Source. The person or publication that provided the dish description. The Recipe Book uses specificpersonal names, but in the TOC these are replaced by generic relation names (mother, aunt, sister-in-law, etc.). Names that could not be translated or classified by relation are shown verbatim, forexample, "B. N."

• Comments. Ingredients, as stated above, or other facts about the dish are added here (for example,"Louie" cookies, a recipe supplied by the author's mother, are named after the author's brotherLouis)

Two versions of the TOC are presented in the tables that follow.

TABLE ONE retains the original order of the dishes in the sequence that they were entered in the Recipe Book. As can be observed, there is no pattern: identical or similar dishes pop up everywhere and there is no way to examine them together.

TABLE TWO adds a layer of organization within each section by grouping together dishes of similar type. The types used are not necessarily those that an expert cookbook author would use, but they should be helpful in searching the TOC for certain types of dishes. For reference, the groupings used are shown below. The original Page Number and Dish Number of each dish is displayed so as to facilitate the retrieval of the full entry, including the recipe, from the Recipe Book.

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Section Type

One

Pâtés Soufflés, puddings Salads Spreads, sauces Appetizers

Two

Soups Meats Sauces Side dishes

Three Tarts, slices, cakes Miscellaneous

Four

Tortes, slices, cakes Pastries Breads Crèmes, glazes Miscellaneous

Five Jams Preserves Miscellaneous

Note to potential users of the recipes: The recipes are rather minimal. There are no temperature indications anywhere, and few timing indications; "bake" or "fry" instructions appear without any further detail. Units are kilograms and liters.

Note to potential researchers: In order to facilitate the use of the Tables of Contents (TOC) in connection with the digitized Recipe Book, it would be helpful if the Dish numbers assigned in the TOC were entered on the master document of the digitized Recipe Book for faster retrieval of the recipes.

Page 

Number

Dish 

NumberName Source Comments

1 Duck liver pâté mother

2 Meat pâté sister‐in‐law

3 Sardine pâté mother

4 Herring butter mother

5 French salad mother potatoes, carrots, beans

6 Herring salad mother

7 Parmesan soufflé aunt

8 Cauliflower soufflé aunt

9 Potato pudding aunt

10 Veal marrow pudding aunt

11 Bechamel cauliflower aunt

12 Scrambled veal liver aunt

13 Spinach soufflé aunt

14 Meat pudding sister‐in‐law

15 Mayonnaise sister‐in‐law

16 Sauce for filled eggs sister‐in‐law

17 Potato bites mother

18 Veal liver pâté mother

19 Mayonnaise sister‐in‐law

20 Cottage cheese pâté aunt

21 Liver pâté mother

22 Hungarian omelette aunt

23 Potato doughnuts aunt

24 Layered cabbage "Red Barn"

25 Tartar sauce (not recognized)

26 Urchins' salad (not recognized) cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes

27 Veal liver pâté friend

28 Liver pâté aunt

29 "Garibaldi" aunt ham, veal

30 Rabbit pâté (empty)

31 Herring salad aunt

32 Meat roll friend

33 Beef pudding "Politica"

34 Meat pâté friend

35 Duck liver pâté aunt

36 Hollandaise sauce sister‐in‐law

15 37 Sandwich aunt

TABLE ONE

Section One

Tab: Appetizers, pastes, salads

37 dishes

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

5

Page 

Number

Dish 

NumberName Source Comments

38 Mushroom sauce aunt

39 Roast veal w/sardines sister‐in‐law

40 Hollandaise sauce sister‐in‐law

41 Pureed liver soup mother

42 Potato side dish aunt

43 Breaded samolina sticks aunt

44 Baked carrots "Vrbas"

Page 

Number

Dish 

NumberName Source Comments

45 French pancake aunt

46 "Black and white" aunt chocolate and eggwhite

47 Russian tart aunt

48 Walnut tart aunt

49 Tyrolean tart aunt

50Horseshoe 

w/walnuts & poppyseedsaunt

51 London slice aunt

52 Pressburg crescent aunt

53 "Louie" cookies mother named after brother Louis?

54 Butter cakes mother

55 Sour cherry tart "Prepp"

56 Butter pastry friend

57 Vanilla wreath mother

58 Braided milk bread mother

59 Apple tart friend

60 Pepper bagel cousin

61 Walnut tart cousin

62 Stuffed roll cousin

63 Currant tart sister‐in‐law

64 Cottage cheese tart cousin

65 Apple tart cousin

66 Marvel slice sister‐in‐law

67 Omelette sister‐in‐law

68Cottage cheese and sour 

cream rollaunt

69 Almond slice sister‐in‐law

70 Klinger torte friend

71 Linzer wreath cousin

72 Doughnut friend

73 Linzer torte mother

22

23

31

32

Section Three

Tab illegible, by inspection: Tarts, slices, cakes

28 dishes

33

34

35

36

37

38

Section Two

Tab: Soups, meats, sauces, etc.

7 dishes

6

Page 

Number

Dish 

NumberName Source Comments

74 Chesnut crème cake mother

75 Wedding cake sister‐in‐law almonds, chocolate

76 Chocolate cake mother

77 Cakes mother eggs, sour cream

78 Cheese cake aunt

79 Almond cake "B. N."

80 Doughnut "B. N."

81 Chocolate glaze "B. N."

82 Apple slices friend

83 "Marokoff" cake sister‐in‐law almonds, candied fruit

84 Bisquit sister‐in‐law

85 Russian crème sister‐in‐law

86 Date cake mother

87 Chesnut cake mother

88 Cottage cheese cake mother

89 "Brandfeid" sister‐in‐law butter, flour, eggs

90 Salted pretzels cousin

91 Chocolate cake aunt

92 Chocolate bread friend

93 Chocolate cake aunt

94 Chocolate slices aunt

95 Fruit bread aunt

96 Fruit bonbons aunt

97 Stuffed dates aunt

98 Chocolate bonbon aunt

99 Walnut crème cake mother

100 White bishop's bread friend

101 Almond crescents mother

102 Date‐almond roll mother

103 Honey cake mother

104 Mocca cake aunt

105 Hazelnut pastry aunt

106 Grillage torte friend

107 Chocolate crème mother

108 Hazelnut crème mother

109 Coffe crème (not recognized)

110 Honey cake sister‐in‐law

111 Chocolate squares "Vrbas"

112 Chocolate cake sister‐in‐law

113 "Florentine" torte cousin almonds

114 "Gerbeaud" slice cousin from famous Budapest coffee house

115 Roasted hazelnut torte friend

59 116 Date torte (not recognized)

52

53

54

55

56

Section Four

Tab illegible, by inspection: Tortes, slices, cakes, pastries, breads, crèmes, glazes

51  dishes

48

49

50

51

57

58

7

117 Chocolate torte friend

118 Hazelnut torte sister‐in‐law

119 Walnut torte sister‐in‐law

120 Date slice friend

121 "Kikies" torte sister‐in‐law chocolate, walnuts

122 Vanilla ice cream sister‐in‐law

123 "Pischinger" slice governess from another famous coffee house

124 Cheese cake sister‐in‐law swiss, gouda, parmesan cheeses

125 Chocolate‐walnut slice cousin

126 Lightning bread cousin eggs, butter

127 Cheese cakes sister‐in‐law

128 Sweet cakes sister‐in‐law

129 Sweet cakes sister‐in‐law

130 "Vegerinc" sister‐in‐law chocolate, almonds

Page 

Number

Dish 

NumberName Source Comments

131 Small cucumbers friend

132 Orange jam aunt

133 Lemon jam mother

134 Pickled tongue sister‐in‐law

135 Orange jam sister‐in‐law

136 Pickled cold cuts (not recognized) pork

137 Sour cherry preserve friend

138 Cantalope preserve friend

139 Orange jam friend

140 Green pea preserve friend

141 Sour cherry jam friend

142 Pickled pork cousin

143 Plum preserve mother

144 Plum preserve sister‐in‐law

145 Sour cherry liqueur friend plums, etc. added to schnapps

146 Bitters friend walnuts, etc. added to schnapps

75

59

62

71

72

73

74

Section Five

Tab illegible, by inspection: Jams, preserves

16  dishes

60

61

8

9

Page Number

Dish Number Name Source Comments

Pâtés5 1 Duck liver pâté mother5 2 Meat pâté sister-in-law5 3 Sardine pâté mother9 18 Veal liver pâté mother9 20 Cottage cheese pâté aunt9 21 Liver pâté mother

11 27 Veal liver pâté friend11 28 Liver pâté aunt12 30 Rabbit pâté (empty)13 34 Meat pâté friend14 35 Duck liver pâté aunt

Soufflés, puddings6 7 Parmesan soufflé aunt6 8 Cauliflower soufflé aunt6 9 Potato pudding aunt7 10 Veal marrow pudding aunt

7 13 Spinach soufflé aunt8 14 Meat pudding sister-in-law

13 33 Beef pudding "Politica"Salads

6 5 French salad mother potatoes, carrots, beans6 6 Herring salad mother

12 31 Herring salad aunt11 26 Urchins' salad (not recognized) cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes

Spreads, sauces 5 4 Herring butter mother8 15 Mayonnaise sister-in-law8 16 Sauce for filled eggs sister-in-law9 19 Mayonnaise sister-in-law

11 25 Tartar sauce (not recognized)14 36 Hollandaise sauce sister-in-law

Appetizers7 12 Scrambled veal liver aunt8 17 Potato bites mother

10 22 Hungarian omelette aunt10 23 Potato doughnuts aunt10 24 Layered cabbage "Red Barn"12 29 "Garibaldi" aunt ham, veal13 32 Meat roll friend15 37 Sandwich aunt

TABLE TWOSection One

Tab: Appetizers, pastes, salads37 dishes, 5 categories

10

Page Number

Dish Number Name Source Comments

Soups22 41 Pureed liver soup mother

Meats22 39 Roast veal w/sardines sister-in-law

Sauces22 38 Mushroom sauce aunt22 40 Hollandaise sauce sister-in-law

Side dishes23 42 Potato side dish aunt23 43 Breaded samolina sticks aunt23 44 Baked carrots "Vrbas"

Page Number

Dish Number

Name Source Comments

Tarts, slices, cakes31 47 Russian tart aunt31 48 Walnut tart aunt32 49 Tyrolean tart aunt32 51 London slice aunt33 55 Sour cherry tart "Prepp"35 59 Apple tart friend35 61 Walnut tart cousin36 63 Currant tart sister-in-law36 64 Cottage cheese tart cousin36 65 Apple tart cousin37 66 Marvel slice sister-in-law37 69 Almond slice sister-in-law38 70 Klinger torte friend38 73 Linzer torte mother

Miscellaneous31 45 French pancake aunt31 46 "Black and white" aunt chocolate and eggwhite

32 50 Horseshoe w/walnuts & poppyseeds

aunt

33 52 Pressburg crescent aunt33 53 "Louie" cookies mother named after brother Louis?33 54 Butter cakes mother34 56 Butter pastry friend34 57 Vanilla wreath mother34 58 Braided milk bread mother35 60 Pepper bagel cousin35 62 Stuffed roll cousin37 67 Omelette sister-in-law

37 68Cottage cheese and sour cream roll

aunt

38 71 Linzer wreath cousin

Section TwoTab: Soups, meats, sauces, etc.

7 dishes

Section ThreeTab illegible, by inspection: Tarts, slices, cakes

28 dishes

38 72 Doughnut friend

11

Page Number

Dish Number

Name Source Comments

Tortes, slices, cakes48 74 Chesnut crème cake mother48 75 Wedding cake sister-in-law almonds, chocolate48 76 Chocolate cake mother48 77 Cakes mother eggs, sour cream48 78 Cheese cake aunt49 79 Almond cake "B. N."50 82 Apple slices friend50 83 "Marokoff" cake sister-in-law almonds, candied fruit51 86 Date cake mother51 87 Chesnut cake mother51 88 Cottage cheese cake mother51 89 "Brandfeid" sister-in-law butter, flour, eggs52 91 Chocolate cake aunt52 93 Chocolate cake aunt53 94 Chocolate slices aunt54 99 Walnut crème cake mother55 103 Honey cake mother55 104 Mocca cake aunt56 106 Grillage torte friend57 110 Honey cake sister-in-law57 111 Chocolate cake sister-in-law57 112 "Florentine" torte cousin almonds58 113 "Gerbeaud" slice cousin from famous Budapest coffee house58 114 Roasted hazelnut torte friend58 115 Date torte (not recognized)59 116 Chocolate torte friend59 117 Hazelnut torte sister-in-law59 118 Walnut torte sister-in-law59 119 Date slice friend60 120 "Kikies" torte sister-in-law chocolate, walnuts61 123 "Pischinger" slice governess from another famous coffee house61 124 Cheese cake sister-in-law swiss, gouda, parmesan cheeses61 125 Chocolate-walnut slice cousin

Pastries49 80 Doughnut "B. N."50 84 Bisquit sister-in-law53 96 Fruit bonbons aunt53 97 Stuffed dates aunt54 98 Chocolate bonbon aunt54 101 Almond crescents mother55 102 Date-almond roll mother55 105 Hazelnut pastry aunt57 111 Chocolate squares "Vrbas"62 127 Cheese cakes sister-in-law62 128 Sweet cakes sister-in-law62 129 Sweet cakes sister-in-law

Section FourTab illegible, by inspection: Tortes, slices, cakes, pastries, breads, crèmes, glazes

51 dishes

12

Breads 52 92 Chocolate bread friend53 95 Fruit bread aunt54 100 White bishop's bread friend61 126 Lightning bread cousin eggs, butter

Cremes, glazes49 81 Chocolate glaze "B. N."50 85 Russian crème sister-in-law56 107 Chocolate crème mother56 108 Hazelnut crème mother56 109 Coffe crème (not recognized)

Miscellaneous52 90 Salted pretzels cousin60 122 Vanilla ice cream sister-in-law62 130 "Vegerinc" sister-in-law chocolate, almonds

Page Number

Dish Number

Name Source Comments

Jams71 132 Orange jam aunt71 133 Lemon jam mother72 135 Orange jam sister-in-law73 139 Orange jam friend74 141 Sour cherry jam friend

Preserves71 131 Small cucumbers friend72 137 Sour cherry preserve friend72 138 Cantalope preserve friend73 140 Green pea preserve friend74 143 Plum preserve mother75 144 Plum preserve sister-in-law

Miscellaneous71 134 Pickled tongue sister-in-law72 136 Pickled cold cuts (not recognized) pork74 142 Pickled pork cousin75 145 Sour cherry liqueur friend plums, etc. added to schnapps75 146 Bitters friend walnuts, etc. added to schnapps

Section FiveTab illegible, by inspection: Jams, preserves

16 dishes