Sabina Welserin.
Apr. 21st, 2015 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
allison_isI was asked to be one of the chief researchers for PPFN Germany. Doing it! Right now the dates I have to work with are 1525-1575. It will be narrowed down as the date of the event draws near. I'm not a cook (I'm an eater) but it seems that only Sabina Welserin (1553) is in that time frame. Rumpolt (1581) is just out of that frame. Anna Wecker (1597) is super out of that time frame. Every other German source I know of is much earlier (guoter Spise is 1350) and Das Kochbuch des Meisters Eberhard is 15th century. Rheinfraenkisches Kochbuch is 1445, Master Hannsen's is 1460. Do you cooks know of something I'm missing?
So I'm going to use Sabina Welserin's cookbook as my starting point. There's not so much I'll do with translation (but I could if I wanted I guess). I have the Hugo Stopp version, but a brief reading of the forward doesn't provide much information. That tricky Sabina didn't provide any context for her cookbook.
I did find something possibly useful on Google Books, The Power of a Woman's Voice in Medieval and Early Modern Literature which has a chapter titled: Sixteenth Century Cookbooks, Artes Literature, and Female Voices: Anna Weckerin (Keller) and Sabina Welser. But of course I can't read all of it. The UNR library has the book and I will attempt to go to the library and copy it.
I also found a Hans Sachs poem from 1540 which says this about dining:
Listen, you! When you go to the table,
You should have washed your hands.
Long nails are not becoming at all,
Which you should cut in private.
Do not place yourself at the head of the table,
The head of the household will have that himself!
Don’t forget grace!
Begin with God’s name and then eat!
Let the eldest start first!
Then eat quietly!
Don’t snort or slurp swinishly!
Don’t grab for the bread hastily,
Make sure that you don’t knock over any crockery!
Don’t cut the bread against your chest!
Don’t put your hands all over
The cut bread or rolls
And don’t stuff more than you can chew in your mouth
And don’t stretch across others!
Don’t root around in your bowl!
Licking it out is not appropriate.
Don’t overload your spoon!
If you spill on yourself, that’s not seemly.
Also, do not reach for more food
Before your mouth is empty!
Don’t speak with your mouth full! Be moderate!
Don’t eat greedily from the bowl,
The very last person still there at the table!
Cut meat and break fish,
And chew with your mouth closed!
Don’t let your tongue hang out like a dog,
That’s disgusting! Don’t gulp vulgarly!
And wipe your mouth before you drink,
So you don’t make the wine dirty!
Drink politely and don’t splutter in it!
Nor belch or cough!
Don’t throw yourself down in the seat, behave well!
Sit down nicely, without thrashing!
Don’t make others feel ill!
Don’t fill your glass with another’s!
Don’t look at others
As if you’re looking at their food!
Those who sit next to you at the table
Should not be poked by your elbows!
Sit upright, with good posture!
Don’t fidget to and fro on the bench,
And avoid causing a fight!
Don’t kick your feet under the table,
And also avoid all disgraceful
Words, slander, ridicule, actions, laughter!
Be honourable in all things!
Don’t be caught in fornication!
Nor encourage anybody in discord!
Bickering at the table is extremely unpleasant.
Say nothing that would horrify anyone,
And don’t blow your nose at the table,
So other people aren’t repulsed by you!
Don’t go digging around in your nose!
You shouldn’t pick your teeth too much!
Neither should you scratch your head!
Likewise, maidens, girls, and women
Should not fish out any fleas.
Nobody should wipe themselves with the tablecloth.
Nor lean their head in their hand!
Don’t lean back against the wall
Until the meal has come to an end!
Then quietly give praise and thanks to God,
Who has provided you with your meal,
Fed you with his fatherly hand!
Then you should get up from the table,
Wash your hands and once more go
About your business and hard work.
So says Hans Sachs, shoemaker.
I am curious about a few things - if you have to wipe your mouth before you drink the wine so as not to dirty the cup, but you shouldn't fill your glass with the content of someone else's, does that imply cups are shared or not?
Here is the whole image. It's large.
So I'm going to use Sabina Welserin's cookbook as my starting point. There's not so much I'll do with translation (but I could if I wanted I guess). I have the Hugo Stopp version, but a brief reading of the forward doesn't provide much information. That tricky Sabina didn't provide any context for her cookbook.
I did find something possibly useful on Google Books, The Power of a Woman's Voice in Medieval and Early Modern Literature which has a chapter titled: Sixteenth Century Cookbooks, Artes Literature, and Female Voices: Anna Weckerin (Keller) and Sabina Welser. But of course I can't read all of it. The UNR library has the book and I will attempt to go to the library and copy it.
I also found a Hans Sachs poem from 1540 which says this about dining:
Listen, you! When you go to the table,
You should have washed your hands.
Long nails are not becoming at all,
Which you should cut in private.
Do not place yourself at the head of the table,
The head of the household will have that himself!
Don’t forget grace!
Begin with God’s name and then eat!
Let the eldest start first!
Then eat quietly!
Don’t snort or slurp swinishly!
Don’t grab for the bread hastily,
Make sure that you don’t knock over any crockery!
Don’t cut the bread against your chest!
Don’t put your hands all over
The cut bread or rolls
And don’t stuff more than you can chew in your mouth
And don’t stretch across others!
Don’t root around in your bowl!
Licking it out is not appropriate.
Don’t overload your spoon!
If you spill on yourself, that’s not seemly.
Also, do not reach for more food
Before your mouth is empty!
Don’t speak with your mouth full! Be moderate!
Don’t eat greedily from the bowl,
The very last person still there at the table!
Cut meat and break fish,
And chew with your mouth closed!
Don’t let your tongue hang out like a dog,
That’s disgusting! Don’t gulp vulgarly!
And wipe your mouth before you drink,
So you don’t make the wine dirty!
Drink politely and don’t splutter in it!
Nor belch or cough!
Don’t throw yourself down in the seat, behave well!
Sit down nicely, without thrashing!
Don’t make others feel ill!
Don’t fill your glass with another’s!
Don’t look at others
As if you’re looking at their food!
Those who sit next to you at the table
Should not be poked by your elbows!
Sit upright, with good posture!
Don’t fidget to and fro on the bench,
And avoid causing a fight!
Don’t kick your feet under the table,
And also avoid all disgraceful
Words, slander, ridicule, actions, laughter!
Be honourable in all things!
Don’t be caught in fornication!
Nor encourage anybody in discord!
Bickering at the table is extremely unpleasant.
Say nothing that would horrify anyone,
And don’t blow your nose at the table,
So other people aren’t repulsed by you!
Don’t go digging around in your nose!
You shouldn’t pick your teeth too much!
Neither should you scratch your head!
Likewise, maidens, girls, and women
Should not fish out any fleas.
Nobody should wipe themselves with the tablecloth.
Nor lean their head in their hand!
Don’t lean back against the wall
Until the meal has come to an end!
Then quietly give praise and thanks to God,
Who has provided you with your meal,
Fed you with his fatherly hand!
Then you should get up from the table,
Wash your hands and once more go
About your business and hard work.
So says Hans Sachs, shoemaker.
I am curious about a few things - if you have to wipe your mouth before you drink the wine so as not to dirty the cup, but you shouldn't fill your glass with the content of someone else's, does that imply cups are shared or not?
Here is the whole image. It's large.
