[Sca-cooks] Period German Mustard Recipes (long)

[Fred Schwohl]

Am 21.01.2005 21:15 Uhr schrieb "Irmgart" unter <irmgart at gmail.com>:

Hello from Germany

(being a native German speaker and interested in medieval cooking and
collecting all those fancy books comes quite handy here :o)  )

> And here are mustard recipes that *aren't* translated, at least
> anywhere I can find them, and my rather pathetic attempts to translate
> using online sources:
> 
>> From Koch vnd Kellermeisterey 1566
> (http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning/kochkell.htm)
> 
> Senff zu machen.
> Süssen Senff mal mit der Würtz/ vnd wann er wol gemahlen ist/ so gib
> jm ein wall in einer Pfannen auff einem Fewr/ rür jn wol mit wenig
> Saltz/ behalt jn/ vnd mehre jn mit deren Würtzen gesotten/ vermach jn
> gar wol. Wiltu den zu essen machen/ so seud einen guten Honigwein/ vnd
> temperier den darmit/ saltz jn/ vnd würtz jn/ kom zu prüffen/ so ist
> er gute
> 
> Sweet mustard time with the sausage/ and when it is well ground/ so
> give at a wall(bank/parapet/rampart?) in a pan from the fire/ [rür] in
> good with a little salt/ keep in/ and more in with their sausage hard
> boiled/ to give in well cooked. You will then make to eat/ also [seud]
> a good Honeywine/ and temper the stomach/ salt in/ and sausage in/
> [kom] close testing/ so is it good.

To make a sweet mustard ground it with spices/broth ("Würtz" is derived from
"Würze" which means normally seasoning, or spices, in the given context it
has to be the liquid something is boiled in or a simple meatbroth, and it
has nothing at all to do with sausages, which would be "Würste". The Term
"wort" used in beer brewing is the english term for that.)/and when it is
well ground/so give him some heat ("Wall" from the German "wallen,
aufwallen, aufwellen" which means to cook until the liquid is agitated
through heat convection)/stir it well with a little salt/keep it/ and add
("mehre" = "vermehre" = add some other liquid) some more broth (see
above)/store in a well closed container ("vermache" is an old expression
related to "einmachen" which means storing, the raw mustard is first cooked
and only prepared for eating when needed). If you want to prepare it for
eating/cook a good mead (or Honeywine, im not absolutely shure which of the
many recipes for mead is used here)/and temper it (the honeywine) with the
prepared mustard (this term "temperier" is related to the Humoral Theorie of
Galenius where every ingredient has ist own temper and a meal or dish has to
be well balanced to be healthy)/and salt it/ and season it/ and taste it
("prüfen" is "to prove" the taste)/ so it is good

> 
> Ein ander behende weiß.
> Temperier Honig wol mit Essig/ Wein oder Fleischbrüh/ vnd rür den Senff
> darein. 
> 
> One other agile white. (Another easy white?)
> Temper honey well with vinegar/ wine or meat both/ and [rür] the mustard
> therin.

Another fast way ("behende weis" means in modern German "Behende Weise,
behende Art" = a fast way to do things)/temper (see comment above on humoral
theorie) Honey with vinegar/wine or meatbroth/ and stir ("rür" means
"rühren" = to stir) the mustard in

> 
> Rosin vnd Feigen gesotten mit Wein oder Wasser/ damit Senff temperiret
> ist/ oder Rosenwasser/ vnd gestossen Zimetrinden darein gethan/
> subtilen Leuten.
> 
> Rasins and figs hardboiled with wine or water/ so that mustard is
> tempered/ or rosewater/ and hardboil [zimetrinden - something
> crusts... possibly cinnamon? Zimt is cinnamon] therein [gethan -
> possibly getan (done)]/ subtle people.

Rasins and figs boiled in wine or water /this used to temper (see again
comment on Humoral theorie above) the mustard/ or rosewater (in exchange to
the figs and raisins)/ and add ground (actually "gestossen" is referring to
the way cinnamon is ground in a mortar) cinnamon rind ("Zimmetrinden" is
rind of cinnamon)/... The "subtle people" makes no sense for me at all, I
can see it in the original Text on Thomas´page but it makes no sense in any
context for mustard or sauce. It is possible the the complete part should
read "das ist von subtilen Leuten" meaning this is something
extraordinary,not for common usage (due to the cinnamon of course), but this
is sheer speculation.

> 
> OK, so none of these really makes sense, I think Ruhr might mean
> stir... Ruhr means dysentary in modern German, so I don't think that's
> right. But stir would make sense in context.
> 
> So, 1) can anyone help me make my translations less mangled?

One is glad to be of Service!

> 2) does anyone know of other period German mustards?

I have to check in my Book collection and there should be many others
available, as German cooks seemed to be a bit possessed about mustard,
nearly as possessed as French cooks and Courts with their strange titles
like "Monsieur le Maitré Moutardier de Roi du France" was a very well paid
title with the rank of a Baronet or even Duke at the french court in 14 & 15
century.

> I'm going to be fairly cosmopolitan and not get region/decade specific
> with this feast, even though I really kind of want to, just because
> I'm afraid I'll get *too* bogged down in it.

You might consider using some of the sweet varieties, exchange at least one
of them with the Cherry sauce ("weichselmuss") mentioned earlier and add
some more stringent or spicier mustards.

> 
> Also, does anyone have a period reference to smoked trout *anywhere*?
> 
> Thanks bunches!!!
> 
> -Irmgart

Best wishes
Fred

Riding the waves of the Internet from Munich, Germany