Monthly Archives: January 2026

Feeding the Revolution: Mashed Peas and Pork

Posted on 31 January 2026 by carlton_bach

I like to keep the content here fairly strictly food history related, but recent events have impressed me very deeply, and I think it is time to address the slide into authoritarianism and the people who put their lives on … Continue reading →

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Another Sourdough Recipe – Gayßlitz of Oats

Posted on 29 January 2026 by carlton_bach

Staindl’s cookbook includes another recipe using sourdough starter, and I’m baffled. To prepare Gayßlitz cclxix) Have oats milled, but they must not be milled too finely. Then take sourdough (urhab) and soak it as though to make bread, (the quantity) … Continue reading →

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Sourdough Soup

Posted on 28 January 2026 by carlton_bach

This is a very interesting recipe from Balthasar Staindl’s cookbook. His name for it translates as ‘dust soup’: Staub soup cclxvii) Take three egg yolks to a table (auff ain tisch). Salt them and beat them well. Then take the … Continue reading →

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Fruit Paste Sweets

Posted on 25 January 2026 by carlton_bach

Here are two more interesting and potentially delicious recipes from Balthasar Staindl. They look a bit like the ancestry of pate de fruits: Perni (?) sauce ccxxxviii) These are red berries that you plant in gardens. Also break them off … Continue reading →

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Lebkuchen Marzipan Pastries

Posted on 23 January 2026 by carlton_bach

This may be the most decadent cookie I have yet come across, and I really want to try it one day. Last November, I posted two lebkuchen recipes from Balthasar Staindl. He also includes one piece of instruction what else … Continue reading →

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Wheat Starch and Starch Pudding

Posted on 21 January 2026 by carlton_bach

It’s late and I’m tired, but here is another interesting thing I found in Balthasar Staindl: How you can make starch (Umerdumb) ccliiii) Take good, pure winter wheat that is picked over carefully and pour fresh water on it. Drain … Continue reading →

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Cowberry (and Elderberry) Sauce

Posted on 20 January 2026 by carlton_bach

This is the companion piece to yesterday’s cowberry preserve, a sauce that is clearly culinary: Sauce of Elderberries ccxxxvi) Make it this way: Take good, ripe elderberries that are quite black, break them off the stalks, and put them into … Continue reading →

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Preserving Cowberries

Posted on 19 January 2026 by carlton_bach

Just a quick one today: Staindl uses cowberries (aka lingonberries, Vaccinium vitis-idaea) in a preserve and a sauce. This is the preserve: To preserve cowberries (Paysselbeer, Vaccinium vitis-idaea) ccxxvii) Break the berries off the stalks and pull off the khondel … Continue reading →

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Golden Water – Spice Liquor

Posted on 18 January 2026 by carlton_bach

A short recipe today, and one not strictly culinary. Staindl gives instructions how to distill a spice-flavoured schnaps he calls Güldin wasser: Golden water ccxlviii) Item take one kandel of Malmasier (malmsey wine) or muscatel wine and one quarter more … Continue reading →

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Species and Triget – Spice Mixes

Posted on 17 January 2026 by carlton_bach

I regret the long hiatus since the last post. Neither my health nor my life currently seem to cooperate with a regular schedule of updates, and I am not sure when I can resume that. For today, I have two … Continue reading →

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