I encountered real heroism today, and I am still a bit shaken by it. It’s also been a long workday, so today it’s a short fritter recipe rather than the complex jelly I had planned. From the Kuenstlichs und Fuertrefflich Kochbuch:
68 Fritters of Eggs
Take two eggs, boil them hard, remove the yolks and chop them small. Pour in a little milk and stir them to pieces in a bowl. Take two egg yolks and three spoonfuls of milk. Break one egg yolk into it or (and?) beat the yolk well so that no lump remains in it. Salt it. You may also cut almonds into it. Place it on a plate, turn it over (welgern) a little in flour, but do not work the dough too hard, like that for gewolne kuechlein, as little as you can, thus they are thick. This will make about eight fritters, each as big and long as a finger. Fry them floury (rein melbig) and give them a good heat at the end. Thus they will be quite crisp and good.
This recipe is a bit much even for Renaissance Germany, but it makes sense in a tradition that believed there was no such thing as too much animal protein. Boiled egg yolk worked into a dough with raw egg yolk and fried sounds viable, but I am not sure I will ever try it.
The short Kuenstlichs und Fuertrefflichs Kochbuch was first printed in Augsburg in 1559 and reprinted in Nuremberg in 1560 and subsequently. Despite its brevity, it is interesting especially as it contains many recipes for küchlein, baked or deep-fried confections, that apparently played a significant role in displaying status. We do not know who the famous cook referenced in the title may have been or if he ever existed.