[Sca-cooks] Anna Wecker and sauteed potatoes

[Terry Decker]

>> Aresty states, "...and in 1598 one Swiss cook--Anna Weckerin--completed 
>> the
>> first cookbook ever written by a woman.  A recipe in it bore a close
>> resemblence to Rosti..."
>
> Does she give a page reference or name? I have a reprint of the 1598 
> edition
> here, and I can't find anything that would suggest pan-fried potatoes or 
> root
> vegetables. De Rontzier (roughly the same timeframe) has a recipe for 
> these
> (we are not entirely sure which ones. He calls them 'Erdnuess' - earth 
> nuts -
> which led modern interpreters to read peanuts), but they don't involve 
> eggs
> or bacon, but sugar and orange juice.

What you see is what you get.  Aresty does not give accurate bibliographic 
references, decent footnotes, original recipes or accurate adaptations.

Erdnuess could as easily be an American groundnut (Apios americana) as 
peanuts, and the groundnut would grow better in Germany.  Without a careful 
linguistic analysis, I'd be hesitant to declare them peanuts, groundnuts or 
whatever.  I have some reservations about how quickly peanuts spread in 
Europe.

> It may as well be a misunderstanding. Many German dialects at the time 
> used
> words like 'Erdäpfel' (earth apples) and Erdnüsse (earth nuts) for various
> roots or tubers of uncertain species. Today, these words denote potatoes 
> and
> peanuts, respectively, but at the time of their introduction, they did 
> not,
> or at least not exclusively. A mid-18th century north German cookbook 
> still
> distringuishes between 'Bataten' (prob. sweet potatoes, though these may 
> be
> regular potatoes) and 'Erdaepfel' (probably potatoes, though this may 
> still
> be a reference to some old world roots).
>
> Giano

At least one German linguist ties Erdapfel to "melopepones," a round, ribbed 
cucurbit, which at the time the Latin noun was coined, would have been a 
melon.  At the end of the 16th Century in Germany, Erdapfel could have 
easily been a New World squash.  By the 18th Century, the name could have 
been transferred to white potatoes.  I too would suspect "Bataten" to be 
sweet potatoes.

There is a late 16th Century letter exchange between the rulers of Saxony 
and Hesse (IIRC the states), where the preparation of potatoes is discussed 
and the reference is to Tartoffelen (sic?).

Bear