The recipes in these indices can be found in four ways: by source (only historical recipes), on their place in the menu, by origin and by food preference. You can also click on a category in the sidebar for a view with pictures and descriptions. Straight to Vegetarian – Pescetarian Vegetarian Aubergines in aubergine sauce. (hist) Barley Soup from…
Meat nor fish (vegetarian)
Mille-feuille the Dutch way
Straight to the recipe Tompouce is the Dutch version of mille-feuille. It is popular throughout the year, but on some days, it is almost traditional to eat this pastry. And on those days, the tompouce is not decorated with the customary pink glaze, but with orange glaze to emphasize the connection to our royal family…
An old family recipe
I have good memories of this salad. My grandmother (on the right, with me on her lap) prepared it during long vacations during the summer in Maastricht, the Southern-most city of the Netherlands, when it was very hot. My mother also had it on her repertoire as an easy meal during heatwaves. So this is…
Medieval onion stew
Straight to the recipe The recipe for this nourishing dish has survived in several medieval English manuscripts. Although it is not stated explicitly, the dish is typically meant for Lent. It contains olive oil and almond milk, and lacks any meat or dairy products. The main ingredient are onions. In the picture a man and…
Cheese biscuits
Straight to the recipe The first recipes for 2019 both concern hot, mulled wine. To accompany these wines, I have added this recipe for cheese biscuits from a French cookery book that we used for our Christmas dinner 2018: La cuisine de monsieur Momo, célibataire. This was originally published in 1930. These biscuits were served…
Braised Belgian Endives
Straight to the recipe Belgian endives are not widely appreciated. It does not look very attractive once it is cooked, with its grey and slimy exterior. That is why generally speaking, today this vegetable is eaten raw as salad, or only slightly cooked. Imagine my horrified surprise when I read the recipe for Belgian endives…
Broccoli in the ‘Opera’
Straight to the recipe The Opera from this recipe has nothing to do with music, and everything with the opus magnus of Italian cook Bartolomeo Scappi, which appeared in print in 1570. Opera means ‘the work’ (in Italian, in Latin it would have been ‘the works’). Nowadays the cookbook is mainly known for its magnificent engravings which illustrate all kinds of…
Quince pie
Straight to the recipe A very special pie from the sixteenth century There is a growing interest for vegetables and fruit from the past. Compared to, say the seventeenth century, the variety in apples, pears and plumbs has become less and less. Nowadays it is mainly those varieties that are easy to grow, have a high…
Tourte de fonges
Straight to the recipe Mushroom pie from Lancelot de Casteau This mushroom pie from 1604 is much more modern than the Ménagier’s from the fourteenth century. No spices and sugar, but herbs to bring the stuffing to taste. The recipe comes from the Ouverture de cuisine, published in 1604 by Lancelot de Casteau. He was, according…
Rice Pudding for Lent
Straight to the recipe This fourteenth-century recipe is especially for Lent, the period between carnival and Easter. Meat and dairy products were banned from the table (see the recipe for Fake Fish), and inventive cooks would create delicate dishes within these limitations, even though meals during Lent should be sober occasions. This sweet almond-rice pudding with raisins…
Sup with prunes and raisins
Straight to the recipe A dish for Lent This recipe for a ‘sup’ from the middle of the eighteenth century demonstrates the original meaning of the word soep (soup in English). The (toasted) bread at the bottom of the dish soaks in the juices of the dish, and adds filling carbohydrates to it. Often the…
Fritters from vine leaves
Grape vines do not just yield grapes. During the summer the leaves can be picked and pickled or used straight away. The best-known use of vine leaves is the Greek dolma, where they are used to wrap around rice. However, in this eighteenth-century recipe the vine leaves themselves are the main ingredient. Just in case…
Jacobin sops for Good Friday
In the introduction to the recipe for Pomegranate Salad I mentioned the only day that the (catholic) French alle ate vegetarian. That is really something special, because ordering a vegetarian dish in an average French restaurant usually results in raised eyebrows and a rather plain meatless dish. The recipe on this page and the recipe…
Escoffier’s Salsify Fritters
Straight to the recipe The picture shows the garden terrace of the Ritz Hotel in Paris, which openend its doors in 1898. This is one of the legendary hotels that were run by César Ritz (1850-1918) and Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935). I have spend many hours searching for a nineteenth-century painting with black salsify, but alas,…
Scappi’s Macaroni
Straight to the recipe A lot of work, but also a lot of fun The previous historical recipe on Coquinaria consisted of three parts: two recipes for macaroni from World War One, and a page on the production of industrial pressed macaroni. There is also a page with part two of the history of making macaroni and other…