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Hildegard von Bingen s Small Cakes
Some time ago I found on the web a fictitious I am tempted to say fraudulent recipe entitled
 St. Hildegard's Cookies of Joy. I gather that versions can be found offline as well. It is a
modern spice cookie recipe, including baking powder, sugar, butter and egg.
Page 156
The original on which the recipe claims to be based, from a 12th century book on healing,
consists of two sentences from the entry on  nutmeg. They read as follows:
"Take some nutmeg and an equal weight of cinnamon and a bit of cloves, and pulverise them.
Then make small cakes with this and fine whole wheat flour and water. Eat them often. ..."
As you can see, this not only does not contain baking powder, which had not yet been invented,
it does not contain sugar, butter, or egg either.
The following is an attempt to reconstruct what Hildegard actually intended. The only addition is
salt my justification for that being Platina s comment in his cookbook to the effect that he
doesn t mention salt because everyone knows to add it.
1 t cinnamon 1 t nutmeg 1/2 t cloves
1 c whole wheat flour 1/4 c water 1/4 t salt
Mix the spices with the flour, stir in the water and knead until it smooth. Divide into four equal
portions, roll each into a ball, flatten it a little. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 300° for 30
minutes, turning them over after the first fifteen.
It is clear from context that the cakes are intended mainly for medicinal purposes; as Hildegard
writes:
 It will calm all bitterness of the heart and mind, open your heart and impaired senses, and make
your mind cheerful. It purifies your senses and diminishes all harmful humors.
It doesn t taste bad, either.
Reference
Hildegard von Bingen s Physica, Priscilla Throop tr., Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vt 1998.
How to Make Arrack
Sugarcane is also used for the preparation of intoxicating liquor, but brown sugar is better for
this purpose. There are various ways of preparing it. They pound Babul bark mixing it at the rate
of ten sers to one man of sugarcane, and put three times as much water over it. Then they take
large jars, fill them with the mixture, and put them into the ground, surrounding them with dry
horse dung. From seven to ten days are required to produce fermentation. It is a sign of perfetion,
when it has a sweet, but astringent taste. ... This beverage, when strained, may be used, but it is
mostly employed for the preparation of arrack.
They have several methods of distilling it; first, they put the above liquor into brass vessels, in
the interior of which a cup is put, so as not to shake, nor must the liquid flow into it. The vessels
are then covered with inverted lids which are fastened with clay. After pouring cold water on the
lids, they kindle the fire, changing the water as often as it gets warm. As soon as the vapour
inside reaches the cold lid, it condenses, and falls as arrack into the cup.
The Ain-i-Akbari, 16th c. Indian
Making this is probably illegal in the U.S. The method of distillation is one I first encountered in
a modern survival manual. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]