A Medieval and Renaissance German Spice Chest
Spices and Condiments in Several German Cookbooks (14th to 16th centuries)
| Daz büch von güter
spîse before 1355 101 recipes |
Ein alemannisches
Büchlein von guter speise start of 15th C. 69 recipes |
Das Kochbuch Meister
Eberhards before 1450 24 recipes |
Maister Hannsen des von
Wirtenberg Koch before 1460 12 recipes |
Livre de cuisine de Bâle
(Prentki) 1462-1467 64 recipes |
Ein mittelnieder- deutches
Kochbuch 15th C. 103 recipes |
Ein new Kochbuch Max
Rumpolt 1581 2016 recipes |
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
| Cinnamon | 1 |
3.1 |
4.8 |
6.7 |
|||
| Cardamom | 1 |
0.1 |
|||||
| Cloves | 2.1 |
8.3 |
3.1 |
16.5 |
3.2 |
||
| Spices (unspecified) | 32 |
55.1 |
25 |
25 |
32 |
3.9 |
5.1 |
| Galingale | 2.1 |
1 |
|||||
| Ginger | 12.1 |
2.9 |
4.2 |
8.3 |
12.5 |
24.2 |
9 |
| Grains of Paradise | 1 |
||||||
| Nutmeg | 1 |
8.3 |
4.7 |
2.9 |
5.1 |
||
| Pepper | 27.1 |
27.5 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
7.8 |
36.9 |
27 |
| Saffron | 18.7 |
7.2 |
4.2 |
33.3 |
15.6 |
31.1 |
6.9 |
| Zedoary | 1 |
||||||
| Garlic | 4.2 |
4.2 |
1.6 |
1 |
2.8 |
||
| Dill | 0.4 |
||||||
| Anise | 8.3 |
1 |
0.8 |
||||
| Capers | 0.5 |
||||||
| Lime | 9.3 |
||||||
| Coriander | 0.8 |
||||||
| Cumin | 7.3 |
1 |
1.6 |
||||
| Juniper | 2.3 |
||||||
| Herbs (unspecified) | 9.4 |
4.2 |
1.6 |
13.1 |
|||
| Bay leaf | 0.2 |
||||||
| Marjoram | 0.4 |
||||||
| Mustard | 1 |
1.9 |
1.8 |
||||
| Onion | 1 |
9.1 |
|||||
| Parsley | 6.2 |
10.1 |
12.5 |
16.7 |
15.6 |
11.6 |
8.3 |
| Horseradish | 0.9 |
||||||
| Rosemary | 1.6 |
0.1 |
|||||
| Sage | 10.4 |
3.1 |
|||||
| Honey | 21.9* |
21.7 |
4.2 |
8.3 |
14* |
31.1 |
12.8* |
| Sugar | 7.2 |
8.3 |
10.7 |
* The asterisk indicates that we cannot distinguish between honey and sugar in this source.
[This table is adapted and translated from one in Michel Balard, "Épices et condiments dans quelques livres de cuisine allemands (XIVe - XVIe siècles", in Carol Lambert, ed., Du manuscrit à la table: essais sur la cuisine au moyen âge . . . (Montréal: Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1992), pp. 200-201.]
A selection written by a Arab traveler shows the spices available in a German city in the 11th century.
from Howard L. Adelson, Medieval Commerce (Princeton, N.J.: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1962) "Reading No. 32: A Description of Mainz by al-Tartushi, who visited that city in 1083 A.D., quoted by Qazwini in the Thirteenth Century."
"Mainz is a very large city which is in part inhabited and the rest is sown [with crops]. It is situated in the land of the Franks on a river called the Rhine, and it is rich in wheat, barley, spelt, vineyard, and fruit. Dirhems (i.e. Moslem silver coins) from Samarcand of the years 301 A.H. (i.e. 913-914 A.D.) and 302 A.H. (i.e. 913-914 A.D.) are found there with the names of the issuing ruler and the date of issue. Al-Tartushi says, ‘I hold them to be coins of the Samanid Nasr ibn Ahmed (i.e. the ruler of Samarcand in the years 914-943 A.D.).’ On occasion spice, which comes only from the farthest Orient, is also found there, whereas Mainz is situated in the farthest Occident: for example, pepper, ginger, cloves, spikenard, costum (i.e. an Oriental aromatic spice) and galanga, which are imported from India, where they occur in quantity." [pp. 164-165]
Author: David Dendy © 1998-2002
This page was last updated on 17/02/02.
