[Sca-cooks] Anna Wecker and sauteed potatoes

[Volker Bach]

Am Dienstag, 31. Januar 2006 04:00 schrieb Terry Decker:
> I decided to waste a little time chasing the elusive "Rosti" recipe of Anna
> Wecker as presented by Esther B. Aresty in The Delectible Past.  So I went
> to Aresty to examine the evidence.
>
> 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..."

Anything to get out of grading papers just now :-)

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.  


> This says to me that Aresty is prone to overstatement and error.  Anna
> Wecker did not complete the first cookbook written by a woman, although she
> is probably the first to have a cookbook published and distributed by a
> commercial printer.  The original publication was in 1597.  And "a close
> resemblence" is an unscholarly excuse to segue to a modern recipe.  Of
> interest to me, was the fact that Wecker does not appear in the list of
> Aresty's collection as presented in The Delectible Past, therefore, we have
> no idea which edition was being quoted.

Most likely the 1598, as it is AFAIK the only one that was reprinted in 
facsimile. 

> If Notaker's publication history of Wecker is accurate, and I have no
> reason to believe it is not, it is possible that the recipe for potatoes
> referenced by Aresty is actually an early 17th Century artifact from
> Deckhardt rather than Wecker.

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


	

	
		
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