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…
cinnamon
Zabaglione
Straight to the recipe Unchanged through the centuries There was no country called Italy in the Middle Ages. There was a peninsula, divided into small counties and duchies, and the Vatican of course. But the Italian (regional) kitchen had already those characteristics it still has today. Elsewhere on this site you’ll find recipes for sixteenth-century…
Excellent cookies
This is a recipe for small but rich cookies. High tea is not customary in the Netherlands, but we do serve a biscuit or cookie with a cup of coffee or tea, in the morning as well as in the afternoon. At what time of the day would these cookies have been served in the eighteenth…
Red mustard the Roman way
Straight to the recipe This is not the first recipe for mustard on Coquinaria. The first mustard-recipe, from the fourteenth-century cookbook Le Ménagier de Paris, was published fifteen years ago. Mustard in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times is comparable to tomato ketchup or soy sauce in some restaurants: there is a bottle on…
Clareit
Straight to the recipe Spiced wine for warm summer evenings and cold winter nights Mulled wine is most often red wine with spices, served warm at Christmas. In the Netherlands we drink Bisschopswijn (‘bishop’s wine’), also a warm, spiced red wine, on Saint Nicholas Eve (5 December), and in Spain you can drink Sangria, cold red wine with…
Dutch muffins with speculaas spices
There are two kinds of muffins, English ones, and American muffins. Muffins originate from England, but are also very popular in the United States. They were first mentioned in the eighteenth century.The English muffin is made from a yeast-dough that is baked on a griddle on the stove instead of in the oven. After baking…
Pyke in Galentyne
Straight to the recipe A medieval feast for nose, eyes and palate Sauces are an important part of the medieval kitchen. Not just because they taste good, but it was the best way to prepare the main ingredient of a dish in such a way that it was as healthy as possible according to the…
Tasty hedgehogs
Straigh to the recipe A medieval subtlety There really are recipes for preparing hedgehog, but fear not: the recipe on this page is without hedgehog meat, it only looks like a hedgehog. The dish is a medieval one, for a savoury ‘hedgehog’ with pork. The extra recipe is from the eighteenth century, a sweet version with marzipan….
Tortelli in brodo
Straight to the recipe An Italian recipe from the sixteenth century This is a real classic from the Italian kitchen: stuffed pasta in broth. The sixteenth century recipe prescribes the use of meat broth. If you replace this by a good vegetable broth, the result is a very tasty vegetarian dish. It is best not…
Refreshing almond lemonade
Straight to the recipe This is a recipe with a short introduction, belonging to the series of recipes for the group stage of the WC Soccer 2019 for women. Each day I published a recipe from a country that was playing on that day, and the Netherlands played their first game on Tuesday 11 June….
Feuerzangenbowle, playing with fire
In October 2018 I gave a guest-talk for an international group of ex-pats in The Hague on spiced wines through the ages. It was a great evening, especially because these people, from all over the world, quite liked the experience. One of the people present was Thomas, a German. He asked me whether I had…