Packet soup or ready-made pizza? Oldenburg's shared kitchens also cook "properly". A student project group has collected and published 32 unusual recipes. The cookbook "Your favourite recipe for everyone!" is now available.
Strawberry daiquiri, French Epiphany cake or Vietnamese spring rolls - the new cookbook "Your favourite recipe for everyone!" contains many unusual recipes - and yet there is something for everyone. The special thing about the cookbook is that it was published by a student project group. "There are recipes for starters, main courses and desserts," reveals Ronja, one of the editors. Whether with meat, vegetarian or vegan, the variety is huge. "That was particularly important to us," she says. Her fellow student Stephanie adds: "The dishes are selected so that everyone can find something delicious to cook. And if you fancy a special drink, you'll also find recipes in our cookbook."
Ronja and Stephanie are two of a total of eight students who have realised the "Cookbook Project" as part of the "Project Management" modules in the area of specialisation. Students from all subject areas come together here to continue their education in other disciplines alongside their regular seminars at the university. They study social sciences, education and cultural studies in different semesters.
Last semester, four of them worked on the actual implementation, while the other four had laid the foundations for the cookbook the semester before. "Our initial task was to find a unique selling point," says Ronja, another member of the group. "At some point, we came up with the idea of combining the favourite recipes of students at our university with a personal story and a photo," she continues. Following calls on the notice board, flyers and their own website, they received over 50 submissions within a few weeks. "We had to sort out a few recipes because we obviously didn't want to include suggestions like packet soup - even if it was quite funny," adds Stephanie. 32 cooking instructions made it into the book, all favourite dishes from Oldenburg students - and one each from the editors.
For example, one student ate the French "Galette des Rois", the Epiphany cake, for the first time during a stay in France. This is traditionally served on 6 January to commemorate the Three Kings. The special custom: "A little figure is baked into the galette," reports Miriam. "Whoever finds the figure in their piece of cake gets a crown and is king for a day." The project group loved the recipe and the story and adopted it. Another recipe even helped the Oldenburg candidate to win the TV cookery show "The Perfect Dinner". But they don't want to reveal which recipe it is. You would have to buy the book to find out.
The editors made an exception when selecting the dishes: the supervisor of their project, Thomas Schneeberg, was also allowed to submit a recipe as their lecturer. "I wrote the recipe for Vietnamese spring rolls. I often ate them during an academic appointment in the country and thought they were perfect for the cookbook. They are delicious and easy to make." Schneeberg has been leading the two-semester seminar "Project Management" since 2011, in which the students' cookbook has now been created. He taught the students the most important steps, from idea development to implementation. "The building blocks of project planning are always quite similar," says Schneeberg. "When realising the cookbook, for example, we first had to collect ideas together, then later draw up personnel and financial plans, write a marketing concept and find sponsors". This was not easy for some of the students, as they had little prior knowledge. "Drawing up the financial plan was a real challenge," recalls Miriam. "It took a lot of time and familiarisation." At the end of the project - the most important phase - Johannes was particularly challenged. He took care of the layout and organised photo shoots with all the recipe contributors to ensure a uniform appearance.
The effort paid off. The cookery book was launched at the end of June with a print run of 800 copies. A special moment for the publishers. "I couldn't believe it until I held it in my hands," says Ronja. Now she and her colleagues have to spread the word about the cookbook, because: "30 per cent of every book we sell at the university goes to DKMS as a donation".
The book is now available for 8.90 euros from the university bookshop and from students by emailing deinlieblingsrezept@gmx.de.
