culina vetus (Volker Bach)
culinavetus.bsky.social
culina vetus (Volker Bach)
@culinavetus.bsky.social
Food history enthusiast and translator of old recipes
My stuff is on culina-vetus.de and in a number of books
Old school leftist - I like food so much I think everyone should have it.
Winter has come. I finished a cloak, got a beautiful new hat, and translated two 16th-century #gingerbread recipes.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/11/23/l...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #medievalsky #historicdress #hat
November 23, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Today's #sixteenthcentury recipe is for cold shoulder, but that is probably not where the expression comes from. It's actually pretty good.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/11/21/t...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #proverb
November 21, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Today, two recipes for the same ox tongue pastry from different sources, both from Augsburg c. 1550. We have few other places with that much material to work from.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/11/19/t...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #Welser
November 19, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Today, just briefly, recipes for veal and mutton pies from Staindl's 1547 cookbook. Attractively modern. I'll be talking about pies and tarts at the West Coast Culinary Symposium later tonight.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/11/16/v...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern
November 16, 2025 at 7:20 PM
From Balthasar Staindl's 1547 cookbook, how to put various birds in pastries. It has eggs, lemons, onions, and bacon, what more could you want?

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/11/12/p...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #pastries
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
A quick note from a 1547 cookbook to remind us how much food processing happened in the home and how seasonal it was: Smoking pork in March

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/11/09/s...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #smokingmeat #preservation
November 9, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Today, it is four recipes for fresh (i.e. not preserved) #sausages from 1547. Liver, lungs, blood, but also cream, fine meat, and spices.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/11/06/s...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #medievalsky
November 6, 2025 at 8:04 PM
I have more on my plate than usual, hence the #historicrecipes are becoming rarer. Today, venison pastry from Staindl's 1547 cookbook and a fifteenth century parallel.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/11/02/v...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #medievalsky
November 2, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Is anyone else already getting into the holiday spirit? I love the cookies.
Blessed #Halloween season to all.
October 27, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Ausflug mit dem historischen Schienenbus der #BleckederKleinbahn. Sehr schöne alte Technologie mit Transportvorrichtung für Milchkannen. #Eisenbahnfan
October 27, 2025 at 2:13 PM
As promised, here is my attempt at recreating a chicken soup from 1547. It is really quite good.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/25/m...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #experimentalcooking
October 25, 2025 at 8:13 PM
A while ago, I posted a recipe from 1547 for chicken soup. I tried it out today and it was very satisfactory indeed. Details to follow.
#foodhistory #soup #earlymodern
October 25, 2025 at 10:07 AM
How #sixteenth-century German cooks faked Italian hams to be served boiled as cold cuts. It's not what I expected to find.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/21/i...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #fakefood #smoking
October 21, 2025 at 6:10 PM
I'm still dizzy after an amazing visit to Paris. Today, just a short and familiar recipe. I have no idea why German recipe writers were so bad with names.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/20/y...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #medievalsky #foodnames
October 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM
#Soup recipes are rare, and this creamy, thick chicken soup from 1547 looks good enough I want to test it out.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/16/a...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #chickensoup
October 16, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Wrapping chicken bones in meat dumpling mince to make them look like drumsticks? Why, yes, #sixteenth-century German cooks did.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/14/r...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #medievalsky #illusionfood
October 14, 2025 at 7:16 PM
This weekend, I was able to try out a recipe from Johannes Coler's Oeconomia (c. 1600) for reduced pear juice. It is good.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/12/t...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #sweetener #substitutefoods
October 12, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Today, an odd recipe for salting beef tongues in a vessel with cooked beetroot to produce - something tasty, I guess.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/10/t...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #fermentation
October 10, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Last weekend, I visited a friend to cook a #Burgundian -inspired modern #medieval feast. It was pretty good.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/09/a...

#medievalsky #foodhistory #recreationalmedievalism #culinaryhistory #decadent
October 9, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I'm just back from an awesome Burgundian Valois-themed party and ready to crash. Just a short recipe today: Capon ravioli from 1574

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/10/05/c...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #dumplings
October 5, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Some #oldrecipes make you go "mmmmh.", some elicit a "eeew!". Sometimes it's "WTF?"
Someone was freezing meat in 1547 to keep it fresh.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/09/30/f...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #salting
September 30, 2025 at 6:35 PM
The same recipe for a booby-trapped flaming pig's head from two separate sources about a century apart. Proof practical jokes don't get old.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/09/29/f...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #medievalsky #flambè
September 29, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Making plum fruit leather as described in the c. 1600 Oeconomia ruralis et domestica, a #peasantfood from Silesia. I'd serve it with millet porridge.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/09/28/a...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern
September 28, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Today's recipe from 1547 is for spiced quinces preserved in sugar or honey. #earlymodern cooking doesn't get much more decadent. I picked quinces from #publictrees to try it out.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/09/24/s...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #medievalsky #ediblecity
September 24, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Today, a recipe for #Lent: Balthasar Staindl describes a fladen topped with fish roe, liver, and raisins. This dates to 1547, similar recipes survive from the 1460s.

www.culina-vetus.de/2025/09/21/a...

#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #earlymodern #medievalsky
September 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM