Dark Rye and Honey Cake: Festival baking from the heart of the Low Countries

"I have utterly fallen in love with this beautiful book." NIGELLA LAWSON

"The scholarship here is astonishing. It is an engrossing, original and beautiful book." DIANA HENRY

From the heart of the Low Countries of northwestern Europe, Belgium has long forged a distinctive culinary identity through its seasonal feasts and festivals. In this follow-up to her internationally lauded Pride and Pudding and Oats in the North, Wheat from the South, Regula Ysewijn turns her attention to the baking traditions of this unique country - the place of her birth.

Regula uses history and art to guide the reader through a fascinating period, and paints - through her stunning photography and recipes - the landscape of the region's rich baking culture. Dark Rye and Honey Cake explores a whole year of rustic bakes, unearthing long-forgotten recipes and reviving treasured favourites. There are waffles and winter breads for the 12 days of Christmas, pancakes for Candlemas and Carnival, pretzels for Lent, vlaai and fried dough for Kermis and all the special sweet treats that make up Saint Nicholas and Saint Martin.

With this collection of timeless recipes, Regula reveals the origins of her country's ancient food culture and brings a little Belgian baking into every home.

"This is a gorgeous book; full of recipes I want to cook, foods I want to eat, and pictures I want to lose myself in for hours on end." DR ANNIE GRAY, BBC The Victorian Bakers and The Sweetmakers and author of The Greedy Queen

"A rare glimpse into the rich and fascinating food culture of one of our closest neighbours - a work of scholarship, but also a work of art." FELICITY CLOAKE, Guardian and author of One More Croissant for the Road and Red Sauce Brown Sauce

"An irresistibly tactile book, and a work of art in its own right, filled with detail and description, glorious photography and curious tales, surprise and satisfaction. I cannot think of a single person that it would not appeal to." CAROLINE EDEN, author of Black Sea and Red Sands

About the Author :
Regula Ysewijn is a Belgian author, culinary historian and photographer with a particular interest in the evolution of our food and drink culture. Her books Pride and Pudding, Belgian Cafe Culture and Oats in the North, Wheat from the South were lauded by BBC Radio Four's acclaimed The Food Programme. The latter was also named one of the best books of 2020 by The New Yorker Magazine and The Washington Post and 'Highly commended' at the Guild of Food Writers Awards. Both Pride and Pudding and Oats in the North, Wheat from the South were also nominated for the Andre Simon Awards and Pride and Pudding for the Fortnum & Mason Awards.


Regula is also a judge for the BBC's Platinum Pudding Competition and in Belgium she has been one of the two judges on the Flemish edition of the Great British Bake Off. She has also written a book for the National Trust and Downton Abbey.