Monthly Archives: September 2025

Freezing and Salting Pork

Posted on 30 September 2025 by carlton_bach

No, I’m not talking about the industrial revolution. Sometimes, you just find things in old recipe books that make you do a double take. This is one of those, from Balthasar Staindl in 1547. Since I wont be able to … Continue reading →

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Flaming Pig Heads and Textual Transmission

Posted on 29 September 2025 by carlton_bach

As I got deeper into the ‘meat’ section of Balthasar Staindl’s 1547 cookbook, I came across a funny little party trick. A pig’s head is set on fire with ginger-scented brandy: Pig heads clvi) If you want to prepare a … Continue reading →

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A Plum Leather Experiment

Posted on 28 September 2025 by carlton_bach

A few years ago, I posted a translated recipe from Johannes Coler’s Oeconomia: […] In Silesia, there are many small plums almost like sloes except that they grow on properly tall trees and taste almost like plums. They are tapered … Continue reading →

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Sugar-Preserved Quinces

Posted on 24 September 2025 by carlton_bach

I had a very bad few days, but going out, feeling the sun, meeting dragonflies and exploring our local public fruit trees made me feel much better. I was able to pick some beautifully fuzzy quinces and started looking for … Continue reading →

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Another Lenten Fladen

Posted on 21 September 2025 by carlton_bach

I’m just back from a trip to the Netherlands preparing a historic Burgundian-themed feast, and the deplorable state of the German railway network made the trip an adventure. I have thus only a short and already familiar recipe today. From … Continue reading →

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Stockfish according to Balthasar Staindl

Posted on 15 September 2025 by carlton_bach

In celebration of the quick and trouble-free issuance of temporary ID papers, I can manage another post today. Balthasar Staindl had a way with stockfish. Several, in fact: To cook stockfish cxxviii) You must bleüwen (soak in lye?) stockfish and … Continue reading →

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A Pike Blancmanger Pastry

Posted on 14 September 2025 by carlton_bach

I’m sorry, today’s post is going to be quite short and there may not be another until mid-week. I had my wallet stolen and am very busy getting all the banks and documents sorted out. This is from Balthasar Staindl … Continue reading →

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Rumpolt’s Imaginary Peasant Feasts

Posted on 11 September 2025 by carlton_bach

In his magisterial New Kochbuch of 1581, Marx Rumpolt, probably the most renowned cook of his era in Germany, provides bills of fare for a number of banquets he considers appropriate to the various levels of society, from emperors, kings, … Continue reading →

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Fish baked in a pastry

Posted on 7 September 2025 by carlton_bach

To mark the end of my brief excursion into cannibalism, I am back on safe ground with a fish recipe from Balthasar Staindl: Pastries of fish cxxvii)Take a large fish, and not too large. Cut it open and remove the … Continue reading →

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Medical Cannibalism – A Long German Tradition

Posted on 7 September 2025 by carlton_bach

CW: violence and cannibalism Around 1720, an elderly man recalled events of his warrior youth: … They tried to escape across the ditches, but it was impossible. The deep pits caused men and horses to fall head first, and they … Continue reading →

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