Baking away loneliness by helping young
Print Edition
Framed by wooden cabinets, Karin Hofbauer holds a stick of butter to her laptop camera and imparts to the novice bakers gathered virtually in her kitchen the secrets of kneading shortcrust dough.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a simple recipe, I鈥檝e made it so many times for friends and family, and it鈥檚 always a success,鈥 the 62-year-old Austrian says before filling the baked apple tart with nuts and vanilla custard.
The five Germans and Austrians taking notes have come to the online class because the recipes are simple and straightforward 鈥 and because they鈥檙e taught by real-life grandmothers like Hofbauer, who will soon be joined by fellow grannies and grandpas from across the world in a scheme run by a Vienna cafe.
鈥楰eep our grannies going鈥
Two years ago, Hofbauer retired from an administrative position at a hospital.
Healthy, active and eager to 鈥渄o something meaningful,鈥 she joined about 50 other 鈥済rannies鈥 at Vienna鈥檚 Vollpension cafe, a social enterprise where retirees bolster their often meager state pensions and bake away the loneliness many senior citizens can feel.
The idea was born almost 10 years ago, over a too-dry slice of cake at a Vienna cafe.
鈥淣obody makes better cakes than grandma,鈥 Vollpension鈥檚 co-founder Moriz Piffl-Percevic said during an interview, recalling how wistful the dry sponge made him for the comforting indulgence of his grandma鈥檚 cakes.
Following a 鈥淕ranny Wanted鈥 classified in a local paper and some trials as pop-up cafes at festivals, the intergenerational team opened the first 鈥淰ollpension鈥 鈥 a German term referring to both full retirement and accommodation with full board.
At the social enterprise鈥檚 two cafes, coffee is served in old mugs with flower prints and cross-stitches of border collies grace the walls.
The clientele, many of them hipsters, are often joined by the elderly part-time hosts 鈥 unless, of course, a pandemic forces them to shut.
When Austria鈥檚 first virus lockdown hit, patrons donated 140,000 euros (US$170,000) to maintain the extra income that many of the staff depend on 鈥 especially single women who, after years as homemakers, receive relatively small state pensions.
That, however, is just one benefit of the social enterprise.
鈥淥lder people want to feel needed, that is something incredibly essential to ageing, and that鈥檚 something that Vollpension provides,鈥 says Franz Kolland, a professor at the University of Vienna who focuses on social aspects of old age.
As people grow older, 鈥渢hey face two decades of retirement during which they are mobile. They want to do something 鈥 they just have to be approached,鈥 Kolland says, lauding Vollpension as a 鈥渞ole model.鈥
Piffl-Percevic says he is touched when friends and family report how much their grandma鈥檚 wellbeing improved after joining Vollpension.
鈥淪uddenly they don鈥檛 feel their hip aching anymore, or they鈥檝e stopped drinking a little too much,鈥 he says.
To 鈥渒eep our grannies going鈥 during the pandemic, Piffl-Percevic and his colleagues began looking for alternatives beyond takeaway cake.
Taking the grandmas鈥 and grandpas鈥 baking skills online was the next logical step.
An army of volunteers helped create a baking studio similar to those of TV chefs, and filmed on-demand baking classes ranging from Christmas cookies to vegan cakes, while Hofbauer and others are hosting live baking classes in their own kitchens.
After overcoming the familiar pitfalls of Zoom meetings, Hofbauer is passing on her knowledge from decades of baking 鈥 including on the best apple peeler.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to be something expensive 鈥 I think mine cost three euros,鈥 she says, laughing.
Going global
When the most recent Vollpension cafe opened 鈥 just before the pandemic 鈥 more than 300 eager seniors applied within 24 hours.
The baking courses鈥 success with hundreds of participants is now prompting Vollpension to go global.
In several languages, Vollpension is this week calling on grandmas and grandpas from all over the world to join them.
鈥淰ollpension was founded to give people like us a place where they find meaning, and can lead a life worth living even in old age,鈥 one granny says in Italian in a video promoting the call for applications.
People from all over the world can learn to bake with 鈥渙riginal family recipes from the region, and straight from grandma鈥檚 kitchen,鈥 another one says in Spanish.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about local and national recipes 鈥 mango with sticky rice being taught by a Thai grandma, and panna cotta by a Sicilian,鈥 Piffl-Percevic says.
Hofbauer, who says she has had participants tune in from Boston and Crete, is already looking forward to see the baking classes go global.
鈥淚 found new friends, new acquaintances, and if we鈥檙e going international, it鈥檚 going to be even more fun,鈥 she says, the scent of warm apple tart now filling her 80s-style kitchen.
鈥淭he more the merrier.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
