Straight to the recipe A recipe from the Hunger Winter ’44/’45 I have deliberated for a long time whether to publish this recipe. For some Dutch people this dish raises memories to a traumatic period in their lives. It was a means of survival during the infamous hunger winter of 1944/1945. More recently, tulip bulb…
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Chicken with redcurrant sauce
Straight to the recipe A bright summer-sauce from the sixteenth century Blackbirds, thrushes, finches – who doesn’t enjoy hearing these beautifully singing birds? Except of course if you happen to grow currants in your garden. Then suddenly these birds turn into voracious monsters that plunder the bushes before you’ve had the chance to harvest a…
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 apple sauce
Disgustingly healthy! Apple sauce is a medieval relic. It was a popular dish, considering the many recipes for apple sauce that can be found in medieval cookbooks all over Europe. Some of those recipes are rather unusual, like the following recipe for apple sauce with … fish liver! The recipe’s title is ‘appelmoes in de vastene’ (apple…
Real Dutch ‘Slavink’
A very special meatball This meat dish is typically Dutch. I have not been able to find an exact translation of the name slavink, which derives from slagvink, a singing finch. Some Dutch/English dictionaries translate it with kromeski, but since that is dipped in batter and deep-fried, it is not the same dish. If you want to know how…
Capon with caper-sauce
Straight to the recipe Prepared ‘à la braise’ A delicious dish from the nineteenth century that is easy to prepare. How delicious exactly, depends on the poultry (a real capon -mouthwatering but expensive-, a good poularde -very tasty as well-, or the watery pale poor industrial chicken -bleh-) and the stock you use (homemade chicken stock or a…
Herb soup with potato dumplings
Straight to the recipe A delicate herald of Spring The text for this recipe is from a cookbook from the nineteenth century, but in fact the recipe is older. In Le cuisinier from Pierre de Lune (1656) there is a ‘potage the santé’ with sorrel, purslane, chervil and herbs, and no doubt there are other comparable recipes. Two…
Delicious custard recipes
A Dutch orginal dessert Vla ( ), a kind of custard, is the favourite dessert for most Dutch people. It is ready-bought at supermarkets, and seldom prepared at home. In the past, custard was prepared with just eggs and milk (see this recipe for Custard with macaroons), but custard powder is also an excellent way…
Barley porridge for the ill
Straight to the recipe Who is still eating porridge nowadays? For my grandfather, born in 1904, it was breakfast. Often from oats, but sometimes it was ‘lammetjespap’ (‘lamb porridge’, with milk and flour). We, grandchildren used to breakfast with bread, thought this an exotic habit. But now, I love to start the day with hot…
Cherry custard from the sixteenth century
This recipe is from The Excellent Cookbook from Carolus Battus, published in 1593. Marleen Willbrands and I (Christianne Muusers) have published an edition of this cookbook, with a facsimile and translation in modern Dutch and introduction on the life and works of the author, sixteenth-century views on haelth and diet, kitchenware and cuisine of the…
Medieval Easter Eggs
Straight to the recipe Playing with colours During Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday before Easter, eggs were banned from the table. But as the days started to grow longer again after the winter solstice, hens began laying their eggs again! So you can bet that on Easter Sunday, when…
Pickled anchovies
For the third course of the menu with adapted recipes in the edition of Het excellente kookboek (The Excellent Cookbook) we decided to put some anchovies on the table as well. There is a still life by the German painter Sebastian Stoskopff (1597-1657) with a dish filled with anchovies as centre piece. It looks like…
Medieval pea soup
Very simple The recipe is taken from ms KANTL Gent 15, second part. Edition: W.L. Braekman, Een nieuw zuidnederlands kookboek uit de vijftiende eeuw. Scripta 17, Brussel, 1986, recipe nr 92 (edition p.53). About this manuscript. The erweijten (peas) in this recipe can mean either green peas or marrow fat (or field) peas. The liquid in which peas were…
Chestnut Pie
Straight to the recipe Chestnut are a symbol of autumn, whether they are the toxic horse chestnuts that are so much fun for children to play with (it’s safe, as long as you don’t eat them), or delicious sweet chestnuts. This is not the first recipe with chestnuts (Castanea sativa) on Coquinaria, but this is…
Melon pie from the eighteenth century
Straight to the recipe Deze meloentaart is heerlijk bij koffie of thee, maar in de achttiende eeuw werd hij tegelijk met de tweede gang met vlees- en groentegerechten geserveerd. Het recept komt uit het Hollands of Neederlands kookboek (HNK) uit 1724. Ondanks de patriottische titel heeft dit kookboek vooral uit Franse bronnen geput, met name…