Famous slovene cookbook writer Felicita Kalinšek

When I visit the library, I always look into the corner of discarded books. That’s how I came across the famous “Slovenian Cookbook” by nun Felicita Kalinšek from 1952.

Terezija was born in Podgorje pri Kamniku to her father Tomaž Kalinšek and mother Uršula (5. 9. 1856 Podgorje pri Kamniku – 21. 9. 1937 Ljubljana). She entered the novitiate with the school sisters in Maribor in 1892, received the religious name Felicita and made her perpetual vows in 1896. She trained as a teacher and took over the management of the monastery kitchen. In 1898, the Agricultural Catering School was founded in Ljubljana, where she, at the age of thirty-three, was sent to teach cooking. Her reputation grew rapidly. She was entrusted with the care of the bishop’s dining room, and she also taught girls from wealthier bourgeois families “this important task for every family”. The kitchen was always loud and cheerful, the students loved her, and she devoted herself to them with all her heart.

Soon after arriving in Ljubljana, she was offered the task of preparing a new edition of the Slovenian Cookbook by Magdalena Pleiweis, published in 1868. This was the first original Slovenian cookbook. Before that, we practically only had Vodnik’s “Cooking Book”. Valentin Vodnik was a good translator, but not a cook. Felicita approached the work thoroughly and with the utmost responsibility. She had in mind that “not every girl is so lucky as to have parents who are five; therefore, other ways must be sought so that even the less wealthy can be educated in this important business”.

She supplemented and edited the manual, so that her name also appears in the 6th edition (1912). Later, she more than doubled the number of recipes, added new chapters, explanations of cooking terms, and even eliminated old measurements. Seasonal and local – this was her guiding principle. She introduced numerous new foods and techniques for storing and preserving foods. This way, the cook will not be embarrassed in the winter, when there are no fresh foods on the market, and she will also improve her annual income. And so the 8th edition (1935) was published entirely under her name and then renamed “The Great Slovenian Cookbook”.

“Cooking is an art that must be learned”. The richly worded style of the recipes and precise advice for composing menus, setting the table and serving food “in the most beautiful and elegant way possible”, with the housewife being careful not to overdress the table, are her invaluable advice. All recipes are tried and tested, seasoned with a touch of Felicita’s wit, which assures the housewife that the dish will definitely be a success.

Later, the sisters Izabela Gosak, Vendelina Ilc and then Bernarda Gostečnik took over the editing, under whom the 30th anniversary edition was published. She adapted the content to modern times, thus becoming the cookbook with the longest tradition in Europe.

Irina Mitov