I guess I am on a roll with this new cookbook.  Here's a new to me procedure to harvest yeast to use in yeast cakes.  I imagine that the rinsing process would remove the taste of barm and wine slurry to get a more delicate yeast flavor.  And though the recipe doesn't specify this, these types of fritters are often coated with sugar/cinnamon, which ( Read more... )

Also from the Nuremberg 1560 cookbook, Ein sehr Künstliches und fürtrefflichs Kochbuch von allerley Speysen, Auch wie man Latwergen und Zucker einmachen sol, und sonst von andern guten heimlichen Künsten : Einem jeden im Hauß sehr notwendig und nützlich zugebrauchen here: Read more... )

I am especially interested in this recipe as part of my own personal heritage.  The city of Zwickau is just a few miles from my mother's father's birthplace and ancestral family seat.  It seems to be a stewed chicken with a finished sauce of creamy milk, eggs, parsley and bacon.  I want to try it ( Read more... )

I took a little side trip to see how I am doing on being able to read cooking manuscripts.  Not too bad!  At first I was a thinking whoa, this is too hard, but then I remembered that I have to practice before I can read these things.  I started an index for this, and got through the first 25 pages and the manuscript came to life ( Read more... )

This is taken from Das Ackerwerk by Lucii Columellae and Palladii (1536) - an ancient Roman text.  It is clear that it is a translation of the Latin text "De Re Rustica", and there is some difficulty with the translator identifying the original plants.    One of the big problems is that looking up some of the plant names in 16th century herbals ( Read more... )

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Deutsche SpeisekammerHere is a snippet from a poem about farmers with a reference to food storage:


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A few more snippets

This particular poem in Paradeißgärtlein Darinnen die edleste vnnd fürnembste Kräuter nach jhrer Gestalt vnd Eigenschafft abcontrafeytet vnd mit zweyerley Wirckung Leiblich vn[d] Geistlich... Beschrieben sind (1588) about the virtues and uses of cabbage tells us that preserved (eingemacht) cabbage is a staple food for farmers ( Read more... )

I've been trying to document how sauerkraut was preserved in the 16th century.  Common sense says that it may be the same as is done today, but that information hasn't been forthcoming to my searches.  I'm going to start to collect references to its manufacture and storage.  One of the challenges is that the 16th century words may not be the modern ( Read more... )

I was excited to find a cookbook that seems to be based on the Saxon region of Germany! Now I have clothing inventories and a cookbook for my persona. I was most excited to see a recipe for the town next door - Chicken from Zwickau. The oddest things make me happy.  It's called "Allerlei speisen vortreffliches"


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