SPEAKER_00: 0:04

Welcome to Back to Luxembourg, a podcast by American Luxembourgers about the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and its people, from the Moselle to the Mississippi. I'm Matthew Foster.

SPEAKER_02: 0:13

And I'm Rebecca Seymours. It's the 1st of October, and on today's episode, our first episode, we're explaining who we are and what this podcast is all about.

SPEAKER_00: 0:22

Then we're trying a Luxembourgish recipe for rhubarb custard cake and comparing it to a related dish from the Dakotas, Kugen. So come along with us as we go Tek of Letztebusch. Back to Luxembourg. Hi, Rebecca. Hi, Matthew. How are you doing? Good. How are you? I'm good. So this is our first episode. Yes. I was thinking that we should start out by talking about origin story, I guess. Sounds good to me. So we're both Americans, both born in the United States, and we're both Luxembourgers.

SPEAKER_02: 0:59

Yep. I grew up in Minnesota. This journey of being a Luxembourger has been interesting. I always was told we were German. Great great-grandfather who came from Germany. And about 10 years ago, maybe I did, I can't, I think it was 23andMe like a DNA genetic ancestry thing. But now I'm like, wait, was that a good idea? I don't know. But anyway, someone came up as a first cousin and she messaged me because she's like, who are you? So we're trying to figure out who it is. And it turns out it was a cousin of my dad's. And then she said, you know what? We're actually not German. We're Luxembourgish. And I knew none of this. And what had happened is her and her dad hired a genealogist, went to Germany in the early 2000s. And right away the genealogist is like, You're not German. You're Luxembourgish. Go to Luxembourg. And then ended up giving her like a list of people, like modern day relatives. And she literally went door to door, knocked on these people's door, and was like, hey, so I'm a distant cousin. Do you have any interest in being friends and whatever? And some people did. And so then through that, I've then met these Luxembourgish relatives, which is a really awesome experience. I didn't realize that I was eligible for dual citizenship for like another maybe five years after that.

unknown: 2:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 2:20

How about you? How did how did you come about it?

SPEAKER_00: 2:23

Mine pretty similar. I remember, and this is like clear as day in my head, asking my father, where are your ancestors from? And he was like, Well, I know that my grandfather was from Canada. My mom's side of the family, I don't know, German or Dutch or something. And it's just like, well, in retrospect, not wrong. Not wrong. Yeah, exactly. Not right, but not wrong. Like in the early 2000s, I think that it was just like kind of identifying that my dad's mother, all of her grandparents were from Luxembourg. And I knew that Luxembourg extended citizenship to people who were the descendants. I didn't think that I qualified. That would come much, much later. And that was re-sparked when I got together with Mark, my partner. So we were hanging out during COVID. We're sitting on the couch watching a movie after dinner and talking about hobbies and stuff like that. And both of us have a little bit of an interest in genealogy. And so he's like, Well, where are your ancestors from? And I was just like, Well, kind of a hodgepodge, you know, basically half from like Scotland and Ireland, and then half from like German-ish, but I'm a quarter Luxembourgish. And he just stopped cold and he said, I'm half.

SPEAKER_02: 3:26

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00: 3:27

Like, what? I didn't grow up knowing about it. Mark did, however, uh, because he grew up in a part of Minnesota that was really heavily Luxembourgish and has been Luxembourgish for a very long time. Me not so much. So it was it was really a process of rediscovery, much like you, where it was just like we just kind of thought, yeah, it's just kind of generic German.

SPEAKER_02: 3:46

And even the documentations, like the death certificate, it says Luxembourg, Germany.

SPEAKER_00: 3:53

Yeah. Cause like in the census records for my ancestors, they are identified as being from Luxembourg in some documents and then Germany and then Holland. And then I realized that what it was is like, oh, well, that was who was ever in charge that day that the census guy came around. Absolutely. Yeah. And so, like, they knew it's just like, well, we're from this like village, we don't know who controls it right now. It changed hands so many times, right? Who was in charge? Very hashtag Luxembourg problems. Did you know anything about Luxembourg before all of this?

SPEAKER_02: 4:22

Or not really. I drove through Luxembourg before this. I didn't really have much of an impression because I drove through it. Just like, oh, pretty exactly. Exactly. It very much was like, I do remember being like, oh, this is pretty and like the kind of rolling hills and the river valleys and stuff. Right. And now we're in Belgium. Yep. That was exactly it. Once I found out about that connection, I was like, this is really interesting. Just the idea of this very small country that has persisted for all these years. It it was just like mind-boggling to me because I'm like, I'm somebody who I love history. I, you know what I mean, have like traveled a lot, lived abroad, whatever.

SPEAKER_00: 5:03

Both of us have always been curious about the outside world, like since we were little kids. And it'd actually be a good time to mention that we haven't known each other for that long. Right. Like, yeah, maybe two years. Yeah, two or three years. Cause like I mentioned I at work that I was going on vacation. I was going to be out of the office for a couple of weeks. And so it's like, oh, well, are you going to go have fun? And it was just like, well, I'm actually going to go apply for nationality for this country Luxembourg. And a coworker of mine was like, Oh my God, my neighbors did that. Yeah. And it turns out that that was your sister and brother-in-law. And so he was like, Do you want me to pass on your email? And I was sure. And yeah, so that's that's how I discovered like the local group in the Twin Cities. Yep. So we are both involved pretty heavily. Yes.

SPEAKER_02: 5:50

The Twin Cities say we're board members.

SPEAKER_00: 5:52

Yes, we're board members. Um in the Twin Cities Luxembourg American Society. And now this podcast is not officially sanctioned by the Twin Cities Luxembourg. We are just speaking as for Matthew. This is this is our thing. But one thing that I've really enjoyed from going to the events that we've organized for the for T class is learning about people's motivations for getting nationality. Yeah. And then what they've done with it or like how it kind of changed them. Yeah. I don't know about you, but I know that like it went from being really cool to being like, oh my God. Yeah. Like that. I mean, just overnight. Yep.

SPEAKER_02: 6:33

It did. And I honestly feel, and I still feel sometimes to this day, like I'm not worthy. Yeah. You know what I mean? I'm like my experiences with Luxembourg have been incredible. Like I love being there. Everyone I've interact, you know, I've just have had all positive. And it feels like incredibly amazing that I can be a citizen of this amazing country.

SPEAKER_00: 6:53

Right. Because all inheritance is accidental. Yes. I mean, I didn't do anything to deserve this. I just I got lucky. And I think that with it with a combination of that and the fact that both of us take the idea of citizenship so seriously. I mean, I think that that's really what our motivation is.

SPEAKER_02: 7:11

Well, and I very much felt like the very least I could do in becoming a citizen, I think you felt the same. I think we've talked about this. The very least I can do is get to know more about Luxembourg.

SPEAKER_00: 7:23

Yeah. Cause when I see people who talk about like, well, why did you get citizenship? And they talk about, well, I wanted to feel more connected to my ancestors. And it's like, yeah, you don't need a passport to do that. Not at all. Yeah. But I also understood that, like, by accepting the citizenship, by pursuing the nationality, the Luxembourgish nationality, that the relationship between me and Luxembourg no longer went through my ancestors. Yeah. It became one-on-one. It is you, yeah. And I feel that it's part of the deal of being a good citizen. How do we become good Luxembourgers? Yes, even from this distance. We'll probably never live in Luxembourg. Right. I mean, I would like to. I would too. I mean, but I don't know. I don't know if that will happen, but I'd like to. I don't know if it would happen. I mean, like I would even love to live there for just like a year. Yeah. Just to like do all the stuff that happens the year. Like go to the hopping procession and same.

SPEAKER_02: 8:16

Seriously.

SPEAKER_00: 8:17

Like and all the other stuff that we're going to be talking about over the course of this podcast. And yeah, like I would really love to do that. But like, but again, but that that that it is such a profound gift. Yeah. That we have just been given. Yeah. That it's just like, yeah, this really makes me feel humbled. Like I really need to know my stuff.

SPEAKER_02: 8:36

I think about how if my ancestor who came from Luxembourg to the United States, like if I could talk to them now, they'd be like, what? Like the world was so different. You know what I mean? They'd be like, why do you want what? Why do you care about Luxembourg? Like we left here, whatever. It's just a totally different reality. So it it very much felt like for me getting citizenship, like, okay, sure. I want to understand the history and and to get to know the country more, but I also want to understand modern day Luxembourg. What is life like on a daily basis for modern people, you know, normal people living in Luxembourg?

SPEAKER_00: 9:11

Right. And now we have decided to do this podcast to just kind of explore more about not just the heritage but modern day Luxembourg and dig into it more and more and more. What do you want to learn? What and what do you hope what do you hope people kind of learn about Luxembourg through all of this?

SPEAKER_02: 9:31

I feel like my answer is everything, which is I just I'm fascinated. I want to learn more information. I also think it's why does it exist, right? And like why is it persisted? And what what is so unique about it? Why do we love like modern day? What's the culture like? What you know, and I mean there's a million questions that I think are just interesting. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 9:53

Well, we will be exploring all of it. All of it. So, Rebecca, we have cake. Can't wait. I know we have so we have two cakes. I thought that this would be sort of fun. So, one of the things that I'm really interested in, and that we're both pretty good home cooks. Yep. I was reading a recipe, Anne's Kitchen, uh, from Anne Faba, who is basically the Martha Stewart of Luxembourg of Luxembourg who has written cookbooks available in English, has TV shows in Germany, and yeah, she's done a lot of really cool work. I took one of her recipes, which is for a rhubarb custard cake. Okay. So I made this, and as soon as I made it, it reminded me of a dessert that I grew up with, which is coogan, the official state dessert of South Dakota. I didn't know that. Yeah, a lot of things are called Koogan, though. Yes. Like I don't know what what coogan did you grow up with? I grew up eating peach cooking. Yes. Oh, in Kooken. Yep. Yeah. No, in in Dakota, it's Kogen. Nope. That always was told it kuken. No, Kugen.

SPEAKER_02: 11:18

It's spelled the same, right? Uh yeah. I think K-U-C-H-E-N. Yeah, K-U-C-H-En. Yeah. My mom's mom, who they're from Germany. Apparently, it was the family recipe passed down. I don't know how much truth there is in that. So I still will make it in August because that's when peaches are ripe and I love it.

SPEAKER_00: 11:41

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 11:41

But it it the reason I'm like, I don't know, is because it's sour cream. I guess it could have been like creme fresh or something different. Or like fark or yeah, like some sort of fresh yeah, cheese, something like that. But so it's peaches and sour cream and egg yolks, I think. And similar.

SPEAKER_00: 12:00

Well, and and and so and the base of this is it. This base is like a pie crust.

SPEAKER_02: 12:06

Oh, so it's not yeast. It is not. So it's definitely on the sweeter side. It's more like a dessert, but we always had it as like a brunch.

SPEAKER_00: 12:15

Right. So, but as I was doing the research for this, where there are a lot of analogous recipes where it's like that you have this kind of like idea of fruit plus custard plus crust. Yep. Now, whether or not the crust is chemical leavened, like with baking sort of baking powder, or if it's yeast leavened, that seems to be a big difference. And so I was able to snag some rhubarb for pretty cheap. Awesome. And that's the other thing that I have discovered too in my research into the culinary history of both countries, is that upper Midwesterners and Luxembourgers are united in a love of rhubarb. Yep. Because it's it's really good.

SPEAKER_02: 12:57

It is good, it's great.

SPEAKER_00: 12:59

So this morning went to the farmer's market in Minneapolis, got some rhubarb, and then I made two versions of custard rhubarb. There's there's yours. A custard, custard, custard rhubarb cake. So the one that isn't quite as shiny is the Luxembourgish one. Okay. And so this is based on a recipe from Anne Faber from Ann's Kitchen. Okay. I don't think that it's a traditional recipe per se. Okay. But it's definitely something that she presents as being kind of typically Luxembourgish. Sure. And then the other one is the Dakota version. So shall we try the Anne's version?

SPEAKER_02: 13:39

Anne's versions for yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 13:45

Okay, that's that's real good.

SPEAKER_02: 13:47

Oh god, that is so good.

SPEAKER_00: 13:49

I've made this before.

SPEAKER_02: 13:51

Oh my god. I okay, and truthfully, looking at it, I thought like it might be a little dry, right? Because it looks like it, you would think it's going to be dry.

SPEAKER_00: 14:00

Yeah. And when I was baking it, like because the crust, I mean, it basically comes out like a cookie dough. Yeah. Like you press it in. I mean, it says, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 14:08

And I could see that. And like, yeah, but it's not.

unknown: 14:11

Damn.

SPEAKER_02: 14:11

It like crumbles with the like I don't know. I was like, the I hate the word moistness, but you know what I mean? It crumbles with the I don't.

SPEAKER_00: 14:24

Well, it's yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 14:25

Oh my gosh, that's so good.

SPEAKER_00: 14:28

Good work as usual, Ann.

SPEAKER_02: 14:30

Yeah, I might have to make this, or not might. I feel like I should make this.

SPEAKER_00: 14:35

Yeah, if it's rhubarb season. Fortunately, he says as his mouth is filled with rhubarb does freeze really, really well. That's true.

SPEAKER_02: 14:47

Literally, maybe I have to go to the farmer's market tomorrow and make some. That was so good.

SPEAKER_00: 14:51

It's so well balanced. I mean, like, it's it's not sweet at all. Like, I really want coffee with us. Right? Except it's like what? What? Yeah, it's seven o'clock at night. At night. So really not coffee time. Yeah, we're not we're not having coffee. Like it would it would also go well with port.

SPEAKER_02: 15:09

It would. It would go very well with port.

SPEAKER_00: 15:12

I don't have any of that either.

SPEAKER_02: 15:14

But it's the perfect because like I don't love overly sweet things. You know, rhubarber's is tart, so you need some sugar to balance it. Sometimes it can like overcorrect too much, right? Where you do too much sweetness.

SPEAKER_00: 15:29

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 15:29

But it's the perfect where it's like sweet, but not overly sweet, but you get the flavor of the rhubarb. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00: 15:37

Yeah, it's a really solid recipe. It really is. I mean, the only pain in the butt for this is that it requires a spring porn pan, yeah, which is a little bit of an annoyance. And a lot of people don't have them, but well worth it. So good job, Ann. Yes.

SPEAKER_02: 15:55

Good work, Ann. And good work, you on making it.

SPEAKER_00: 15:57

Well, thank you. Thank you. Okay, so shall we try the Dakota? Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02: 16:02

So this is and I have And this looks more similar to the peach cooking I grew up eating.

SPEAKER_00: 16:12

And this is also really good. Also very good. So this recipe, again, nobody really knows what the origin of this is, but it's definitely Germanic in some respect. The theory is that it's actually from the Volga Germans, who were Germans who had been invited by Catherine the Great to settle in Russia to modernize Russian agriculture. And then they all moved out. Yep.

SPEAKER_02: 16:38

Because people have getting getting rid of serfdom and then trying to just oops fix it.

SPEAKER_00: 16:45

Because people tend to move out of Russia. And they all ended up in the northern Great Plains. Okay. Basically the Dakotas and parts of Nebraska. And so, which is why that this form of Coogan is really not known very much outside of the upper Midwest. So how does this compare to like what you yeah? So it's pretty similar.

SPEAKER_02: 17:05

It's very similar and very different, if that makes sense. So I would say the the custard is very similar. It's the the crust is very different.

SPEAKER_00: 17:14

Right. So this is a yeast-based crust. The base for this is extremely bready and not sweet at all. Yep. Like if you just eat this on its own, there's almost no sugar in it. It doesn't really taste that sweet. It's just basically a good flat bread.

SPEAKER_02: 17:30

And there is a similarity with the peach coconut I grew up eating. So a pie crust, right, is basically just butter and flour, right? And sugar, a lot of times, like people sweeten a crust. And the peach cocon I grew up eating is not sweetened. So the crust is like crumbly, but the sweetness comes from the peaches and the cust the middle part, you know what I mean? Rather than the crust.

SPEAKER_00: 17:53

And yeah, and this is exactly the same way where it's just like the crust is basically like you could use this for any number of applications. Yep. But I can definitely tell that these two dishes are uh related. Yes. Like they came from like it's the same idea, executed in a slightly different way. Which one do you prefer?

SPEAKER_02: 18:14

That's a good question. I don't know. I think I would have to revisit both, but I think I'm leaning towards the Anne Kitchens one, only because I've never had something quite like that.

unknown: 18:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 18:27

Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00: 18:28

No, and I think that I'm with you is that it's because like the Dakota cooling here that we have the raspberry, where it's like it's very distinct layers and things like this. The rhubarb cake, the custard cake, even though it is made in distinct layers, because I made it, yep, they all kind of meld together and it's uh it's more coherent.

SPEAKER_01: 18:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_00: 18:50

And I do think that I prefer the the ants. And it's because the ants, too, is a little more fruit forward. Like it's a little more rhubarbi.

SPEAKER_02: 19:03

You definitely taste the rhubarb in like the best way possible, right?

SPEAKER_00: 19:07

Both have their merits, but I'm gonna have to go. I think that team Luxembourg wins.

SPEAKER_02: 19:12

It is Team Luxembourg, they're both great, like amazing. But like if I had had the South Dakota one by itself, yeah, I'd be like, this isn't the best thing ever. This is incredible. I love all of this. Sure. You know what I mean? And then you throw in the Luxembourgish and the rhubarb, and you're like, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_00: 19:29

Yeah, and if you read if you like rhubarb, yeah, and that bright citrusy aspect that rhubarb has, that's really the choice. If you like more kind of sweet, dairy, forward, then go to the Dakota Coogan.

SPEAKER_01: 19:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_00: 19:46

It's gooeier, yep, it's more, yeah, it's more custardy. Yep. Yeah. So they have both, they both have their place. They do. Now I'm kind of wondering, it's like, should I go upstairs and make a pot of coffee quick?

SPEAKER_02: 19:59

I mean, maybe, right? I mean, like, and they're meant for like and people be like, you dip it in the coffee, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00: 20:04

Like, yeah, no, no, no. And we're not gonna do that because it's 7:30 in the evening. Yeah, and we're both north of 40.

SPEAKER_02: 20:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 20:11

So fuck coffee.

SPEAKER_02: 20:13

So not now.

SPEAKER_00: 20:14

Yeah. In fact, guys, we're gonna go have dinner and go have a couple of drinks. Sounds good. It's yeah, can't wait.

SPEAKER_02: 20:22

So and probably still talk about this kookin for real.

SPEAKER_00: 20:26

Right. Next time I'm back to Luxembourg, we'll be reporting from Luxembourg on the enthronement of Guillaume V, Luxembourg's new Grand Duke.

SPEAKER_02: 20:42

Since we're traveling, we'll also have a rundown of our favorite things to do, places to stay, and food to eat in Luxembourg City.

SPEAKER_00: 20:50

We'll also cover our souvenir shopping in Luxembourg. We'll exchange notes about the things that we always bring back, and what fun new stuff we grabbed on the trip.

SPEAKER_02: 20:59

Look for that episode on Wednesday, October 15th, 2025. For more from Back to Luxembourg and to get in touch, visit our website at back2.lu.

SPEAKER_00: 21:11

And remember to subscribe to the podcast service of your choice. And if you like the episode, please write a review.

SPEAKER_02: 21:17

Thanks very much for listening. I'm Rebecca Seamers.

SPEAKER_00: 21:20

And I'm Matthew Foster. Until next time, A biento, bis speta, and of course, Hadi!