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…
sugar
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…
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…
Medieval Arab Candy
Straight to the recipe A thirteenth-century recipe Nearly everyone agrees that sugar is poison. However, it is only considereda poison because it is used in excess. We all love sweet dishes, and the food industry uses it as a flavour enhancer as well. But a long time ago sugar was actually welcomed by physicians and…
Sponge cake for trifle
Straight to the recipe Mrs Beeton’s recipe Trifle is built on a layer of sponge cake. Since I have used Mrs Beeton‘s recipe for trifle from the Book of Household Management (1861, it was logical to use her recipe for sponge cake too. She even states explicitly that ‘leftover’ sponge cake can be used for trifle and pudding. The cake…
Dutch speculaas with almond paste
Speculaasjes are good, speculaas with almond paste is better. The version bought in Dutch shops is often a little on the dry side, but maybe that is just me. The recipe on this page is enough for almost 4 pounds of very rich (=fat) stuffed speculaas. It is easy to make the half amount, however, even…
Smoking bishop
Straight to the recipe With Seville oranges Today many people have lost all feeling for what food is seasonaland what is not. Everything is available throughout the year. The bitter or Seville orange is one of the few exceptions. Its season is short, from mid-December to February, and even then this fruit is hard to find…
Quince jelly
In the Dutch language quinces are called quince apple or or quince pear. According to the sixteenth-century recipe for quince pie, quince apples must cooked and quince pears baked. I am not sure why, the form of a quince makes no difference in the preparation. The recipe on this page is for quince jelly from…
Sluberkens
Straight to the recipe Medieval pasties with bone marrow In 2006 I acquired the book Bones by Australian chef de cuisine Jennifer McLagan. The front cover has a splendid picture of roasted marrow bones. This led to my browsing through the editions of medieval cook books on my bookshelves to see whether anything interesting was done with marrow…
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…
Almond paste
Rich and sweet Almond paste has been around since medieval times. Hardly anyone makes it at home nowadays. It is for sale in stores, sometimes with substitutes as beans or apricot kernels instead of almonds. There is nothing wrong with that, but the original paste is with almonds, so here is a recipe with them….
Just a little something for Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s day is not a well known feast in The Netherlands, but it is being increasingly commercially exploited by florists and confectioners. Who would blame them. However, at the beginning of February I am still recovering from the commercial violence of the December month and would rather not be forced into following the suggestions of…
Stuffed oranges
Straight to the recipe A feast for the eye This recipe is from the great Antonin Carême, the Frenchman who started as street urchin on the streets of Paris and became a cook for kings, czars and other great persons. More information on Carême is on the page with the recipe for soufflé. And like the…
Chinese tomato soup
The secret ingredient in this soup is apple sauce. This soup is sold in many Chinese restaurants in the Netherlands. The recipe is very popular with children (no doubt because of the apple sauce), and very simple to make. How simple exactly depends on the stock you use. It is not necessary to make Chinese stock for…
To make a trifle
Straight to the recipe Mrs Beeton’s calorie bomb Our Christmas dinner from 2011 was themed Austen and Dickens. The recipe on this page was the dessert: trifle. An enjoyable dish to prepare, but a veritable mountain of sugar and liquor at the close of the meal. The dish can be prepared almost completely in advance;…