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WELCOME
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57
P
hilippine, daughter of the wealthy Augsburg patrician Franz
Welser, spent her peaceful youth in prosperity. At the Diet of
Augsburg in 1551, she fell in love with the young Archduke
Ferdinand II. It was on a visit to her aunt’s castle in Bohemia, where
she met him again. Their love story was strongly beautified and em-
bellished. Fact is that they married in secret – the Archduke Ferdinand,
son of an emperor and Philippine, a commoner. In 1565, after having
lived together for a while in Bohemia, where Ferdinand was governor
and where their children were born, Ferdinand inherited Tyrol and the
Swabian territories. So he came to Innsbruck in 1567, where he had
already given the order to turn the medieval castle Ambras into a ho-
mely renaissance castle for him and his family. Philippine wasn’t al-
lowed in the Imperial palace, seat of the Tyrolean sovereigns, as her
status wasn’t acceptable. As a result, she spent most of her time in
Ambras, where she became a popular host.
16th century cooking style
The book “De re coquinaria”, a handwritten cookbook with 245 recipes
from the year 1545, reveals insights into the eating habits of the 16th
century. It is believed that it belonged to Philippine Welser, but no one
is sure who wrote the book, as it is written in different handwritings.
Only a couple of entries in the very beginning and at the end of the
LITERATUR:KHM,DATENSYSTEM,KOCHBUCHPHILIPPINEWELSER /TLM,FB56511TRANSKRIPTIONDESKOCHBUCHESDERPHILIPPINEWELSER /GUNTERBAKAY,PHILIPPINEWELSER,EINEGEHEIMNISVOLLEFRAUUND IHREZEIT,2013
REZEPT FÜR GESCHMORTES HÜHNCHEN
„... Wilt du ain henlin oder sunst ain fleysch Ain machen jn ainer weysen prie:
Nimm ein Hühnchen und zerschneide es in vier Teile. Tu’s in ein heffalin, gieß eine gute Fleischbrühe dran;
auch zwei Petersilienwurzeln und ein wenig Muskatblüte und ymber stup (Ingwerpulver); auch ein wenig
eine Zwiebel. Setze es zum Feuer und vir fams sauber (schäume es immer wieder sauber ab). Und wenn es
ungefähr halb gesotten ist, so nimm die schmollen von einer weißen Semmel, die zuvor in frischem Wasser
eingeweicht wurde, (und) tu so viel hinein, wie dick du die Brühe haben willst. Du kannst auch einen Wein
hinein tun, die Brühe wird umso kräftiger und besser. Und wenn du’s anrichten willst, tu eine frische Butter
hinein. Und lass es nur eine Stunde tun (kochen) und richt’s an."
THE RECIPE FOR STEWED CHICKEN
(literal translation from the original old German version)
“Take a chicken and cut it into four pieces. Put it in a pot, pour some tasty meat stock over it; also add two
parsley roots, a bit of mace and ginger powder; and a little bit onion. Put it on the fire and every now and
then clean it from the foam. When it is about half boiled, take some water-soaked crumbs and put as much
in as you need to make the stock thick. If you want, you can also add wine, it will make the stock even tas-
tier. And before serving it, add a (!) fresh butter. And only do (cook) it for an hour and then serve it.”
book can be identified and it appears that Philippine wrote them her-
self. Probably her mother, Anna Welser, had given the order to wri-
te a cookbook for her marriageable daughter. The 245 recipes were
created as some sort of dowry for the then 18-year-old girl. The last
entries prove that Philippine must have really made use of it. The re-
cipes clearly reveal the Augsburg burghers’ love for greasy and hearty
food. A lot of meals were either boiled or canned, tarts and pastries
had to be part of every meal and fat and lard were the preferred ingre-
dients for pretty much everything.
Another fascinating fact is that on festive occasions they used a mo-
dest amount of 40 eggs for one cake. This special cake had a ho-
le inside, in which the court dwarf was hidden. Suddenly, to the be-
at of drums and to everyone’s surprise the dwarf jumped out of the
desert! The gardens of Ambras offered almost everything for the daily
consumption: Game, poultry, pheasants, fish, birds, a huge variety
of fruits like pears, apples, apricots and even south tropical fruits li-
ke lemons, oranges and figs. Selected groceries were delivered from
the Lake Garda and other provinces to pep up the menu. And can you
believe that Marmots were considered a special delicacy… Philippine,
who had an extraordinary knowledge of medicinal herbs, must have
had a huge influence on the selection of meals. What would have be-
en her favourite dish?
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Das Kochbuch der Philippine Welser //
Philippine Welser’s cookbook
©KHM (2)