Horseradish Sauce from Meister Eberhard

Back to our scheduled programme…

<<R2>> Ein gutte salsen zu machen in der fastenn.

To make a good sauce for Lent.

Take horseradish and pound it in a mortar and take almonds or nuts and pound those, too, and pour some wine to it. Horseradish breaks the stone very strongly if it is eaten with your diet.

This is not a surprising or original recipe, and the medicinal application introduces a theme that comes up repeatedly in this collection. Horseradish was already popular in Germany at this point, and I can see nuts working to counter its sharpness the same way cream is used today.

Meister Eberhard is a recipe collection that belongs into a south German context, most likely associated with the court of Bayern-Landshut during its ascendancy in the first half of the 15th century. We know nothing about the putative author other than that he claims he was part of the kitchen staff there. The text contains an eclectic mix of recipes and dietetic advice heavily cribbed from a variety of sources, including the (unattributed) writings of St Hildegardis Bingensis. The text is published in A. Feyl: Das Kochbuch Meister Eberhards. Diss. Freiburg i.B. 1963 and online on the website of Thomas Gloning.

This entry was posted in Uncategorised and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *