Preservare
@preservare.bsky.social
Exploring the history of early modern food conservation in the Low Countries.
Visit our website (preservare.eu), find us on LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter (preservare.substack.com) to stay updated.
ERC Consolidator Grant
Visit our website (preservare.eu), find us on LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter (preservare.substack.com) to stay updated.
ERC Consolidator Grant
📸 Some snapshots from today’s hands-on (!) ink and pigments workshop organized by @jessiewhchen.bsky.social. Thank you!
November 27, 2025 at 12:58 PM
📸 Some snapshots from today’s hands-on (!) ink and pigments workshop organized by @jessiewhchen.bsky.social. Thank you!
The new PRESERVARE newsletter is out now. Find out more about our first publications and recent activities: substack.com/home/post/p-...
November 17, 2025 at 10:05 AM
The new PRESERVARE newsletter is out now. Find out more about our first publications and recent activities: substack.com/home/post/p-...
Today we had the pleasure of a guided tour through the exhibition At Home in the 17th Century by one of its curators, @marijnstolk.bsky.social. It offered a window into everyday life in the 17th C — including this pantry, used to store food and keep it fresh for as long as possible.
November 13, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Today we had the pleasure of a guided tour through the exhibition At Home in the 17th Century by one of its curators, @marijnstolk.bsky.social. It offered a window into everyday life in the 17th C — including this pantry, used to store food and keep it fresh for as long as possible.
17:42 (18:42 Amsterdam time) I’m in Belfast! Unpacking and then dinner with my host, @leoniehannan.bsky.social. I’m signing off for today. Hope you enjoyed this #ADayInTheLife!
June 26, 2025 at 4:44 PM
17:42 (18:42 Amsterdam time) I’m in Belfast! Unpacking and then dinner with my host, @leoniehannan.bsky.social. I’m signing off for today. Hope you enjoyed this #ADayInTheLife!
16:11 About to leave. I don’t like flying, but taking trains and boats to Belfast would have turned this into a week-long trip. Would have been nice, but I didn’t have time for that unfortunately. Luckily I have a journal article to peer review to distract me during the flight.
June 26, 2025 at 2:13 PM
16:11 About to leave. I don’t like flying, but taking trains and boats to Belfast would have turned this into a week-long trip. Would have been nice, but I didn’t have time for that unfortunately. Luckily I have a journal article to peer review to distract me during the flight.
15:05 Time to answer emails and do some admin while waiting to board. On my desktop is a photo of the view from my apartment in Cassis, where I was a fellow at the Camargo Foundation for 3 months in 2023. I still miss it sometimes.
June 26, 2025 at 1:11 PM
15:05 Time to answer emails and do some admin while waiting to board. On my desktop is a photo of the view from my apartment in Cassis, where I was a fellow at the Camargo Foundation for 3 months in 2023. I still miss it sometimes.
Tomorrow, I will talk about the history of this form of food substitution, the reconstruction I made of it, and of course we will taste it!
June 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Tomorrow, I will talk about the history of this form of food substitution, the reconstruction I made of it, and of course we will taste it!
Soy sauce is normally made of soy beans of course, but those were rare in Europe and the fermentation process was not well understood. So they made h a substitute that has little to do with soy sauce, although it does look and taste a bit like it. Made with dark German beer: Braunschweiger Mumme
June 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Soy sauce is normally made of soy beans of course, but those were rare in Europe and the fermentation process was not well understood. So they made h a substitute that has little to do with soy sauce, although it does look and taste a bit like it. Made with dark German beer: Braunschweiger Mumme
12:30 Quick lunch while I prep a meeting for a new project. Can’t say much about it yet but it is about a strange object we found in a book. Stranger even than that book with the frog in it - for a great article on that, see iris.unive.it/retrieve/e42...
June 26, 2025 at 10:37 AM
12:30 Quick lunch while I prep a meeting for a new project. Can’t say much about it yet but it is about a strange object we found in a book. Stranger even than that book with the frog in it - for a great article on that, see iris.unive.it/retrieve/e42...
11:17 In transit, and working on a draft chapter on regimens and remedies for an edited volume on the History of Medicine. Food was an important part of maintaining and restoring health in the early modern period (ca 1500-1800).
June 26, 2025 at 9:26 AM
11:17 In transit, and working on a draft chapter on regimens and remedies for an edited volume on the History of Medicine. Food was an important part of maintaining and restoring health in the early modern period (ca 1500-1800).
10:00 @huygensknaw.bsky.social staff meeting. I always try to attend these in person, not least because some colleagues bring homemade cakes. Unfortunately I have to attend online today because of my trip, and I am missing this amazing rhubarb cake by Maria Eskevich.
June 26, 2025 at 8:04 AM
10:00 @huygensknaw.bsky.social staff meeting. I always try to attend these in person, not least because some colleagues bring homemade cakes. Unfortunately I have to attend online today because of my trip, and I am missing this amazing rhubarb cake by Maria Eskevich.
08:25 I have just finished packing my trusty suitcase for Belfast. This little suitcase has accompanied me on at least 30 conferences and work trips since 2016. My sweet cat wanted to help - or does she want to come along?
June 26, 2025 at 6:28 AM
08:25 I have just finished packing my trusty suitcase for Belfast. This little suitcase has accompanied me on at least 30 conferences and work trips since 2016. My sweet cat wanted to help - or does she want to come along?
Good morning! My name is @mariekehendriksen.bsky.social and I am taking over the @preservare.bsky.social account today. I am the PI (Principal Investigator) of the PRESERVARE project, which means I came up with the idea for the project, acquired the funding, and now lead the team.
June 26, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Good morning! My name is @mariekehendriksen.bsky.social and I am taking over the @preservare.bsky.social account today. I am the PI (Principal Investigator) of the PRESERVARE project, which means I came up with the idea for the project, acquired the funding, and now lead the team.
A new PRESERVARE newsletter is out now! substack.com/home/post/p-...
June 23, 2025 at 12:38 PM
A new PRESERVARE newsletter is out now! substack.com/home/post/p-...
On Thursday, @mariekehendriksen.bsky.social takes over the PRESERVARE Bluesky account. Make sure to follow her #ADayInTheLife!
June 23, 2025 at 12:31 PM
On Thursday, @mariekehendriksen.bsky.social takes over the PRESERVARE Bluesky account. Make sure to follow her #ADayInTheLife!
The day ended with a festive dinner at the Restaurant Ateneo across the Town Hall. We thanked the organisers for their efforts. It was a long but inspiring day!
June 12, 2025 at 9:11 PM
The day ended with a festive dinner at the Restaurant Ateneo across the Town Hall. We thanked the organisers for their efforts. It was a long but inspiring day!
Hjalmar Fors @hjalmarfors.bsky.social discussed the shift in focus from sensory experience and sensory-derived, embodied knowledge, towards an approach that prioritised the kinds of knowledge derived from analytical chemistry. Embodied knowledge is crucial for Preservare as well. #14ichc
June 12, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Hjalmar Fors @hjalmarfors.bsky.social discussed the shift in focus from sensory experience and sensory-derived, embodied knowledge, towards an approach that prioritised the kinds of knowledge derived from analytical chemistry. Embodied knowledge is crucial for Preservare as well. #14ichc
Beyond the roundtable, several other presenters addressed topics relevant for food preservation, cooking, or food and medicine. Thijs Hagendijk addresses fire management as an eminently chemical craft, but also a "scientia", linking theory with practice.
June 12, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Beyond the roundtable, several other presenters addressed topics relevant for food preservation, cooking, or food and medicine. Thijs Hagendijk addresses fire management as an eminently chemical craft, but also a "scientia", linking theory with practice.
Now it's PRESERVARE's turn! I present our project, our team members and their current work, and describe how we use both computational and experimental methods to explore early modern food preservation technologies. #14ichc
June 12, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Now it's PRESERVARE's turn! I present our project, our team members and their current work, and describe how we use both computational and experimental methods to explore early modern food preservation technologies. #14ichc
Peter Oakley relates about the challenges and satisfactions of reconstructing early modern furnaces. Like food preservation, fire and its management presupposed much embodied knowledge that is now lost. #14ichc
June 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Peter Oakley relates about the challenges and satisfactions of reconstructing early modern furnaces. Like food preservation, fire and its management presupposed much embodied knowledge that is now lost. #14ichc
Lucia Raggetti explores the hermeneutic feedback loop between philological study of primary sources on one hand, and replication on the other.
June 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Lucia Raggetti explores the hermeneutic feedback loop between philological study of primary sources on one hand, and replication on the other.
Guillermo Restrepo has a background in mathematics and applies computational methods to detect large-scale patterns in scientific discoveries. His quantitative approach tests accepted historical narratives in the social history of science. #14ichc
June 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Guillermo Restrepo has a background in mathematics and applies computational methods to detect large-scale patterns in scientific discoveries. His quantitative approach tests accepted historical narratives in the social history of science. #14ichc
Petr Pavlas (PI), Jo Hedesan, and Czech colleagues present the TOME project: tome.flu.cas.cz/tome-project... and the tool EMLAP for searching through a curated Latin alchemical corpus. This can be helpful for exploring intersections of concepts in alchemy and food handling and preservation.
June 12, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Petr Pavlas (PI), Jo Hedesan, and Czech colleagues present the TOME project: tome.flu.cas.cz/tome-project... and the tool EMLAP for searching through a curated Latin alchemical corpus. This can be helpful for exploring intersections of concepts in alchemy and food handling and preservation.
Our roundtable has begun! We will present our projects and their innovative aspects as regards computational and experimental methods. With Jo Hedesan (organiser), Thijs Hagendijk, Farzad Mahootian, Peter Oakley, Petr Pavlas, Lucia Raggetti, Guillermo Restrepo and Carmen Schmechel.
June 12, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Our roundtable has begun! We will present our projects and their innovative aspects as regards computational and experimental methods. With Jo Hedesan (organiser), Thijs Hagendijk, Farzad Mahootian, Peter Oakley, Petr Pavlas, Lucia Raggetti, Guillermo Restrepo and Carmen Schmechel.