Some medieval flavorings, clockwise from the top: verjuice, grains of paradise, galangal, long pepper, hyssop, and sandalwood. Spices, spices spices! Sour and hot, the two flavor directions of the medieval cuisine, brand the food as distinct...
Bohemian napkin dumplings — a recipe from my Czech grandmother. Good King Wenceslaus looked out, on the Feast of Stephen, when the show lay round about, deep and crisp and even. Now I’m steering my time machine to Bohemia. Dec. 26 is the Feast...
Our boar’s head, bedeck’d with a garland of laurel, rosemary, and sage. The rosemary and sage are fresh from our garden and the laurel came from a neighbor. Thank you, Frau Spies! The boar’s head, as I understandIs the rarest dish...
Time machine by Frank Pfeiffer, Pixabay Medieval food as a time machine? Why not, I thought, when the ad showed up on my newsfeed in November. A Taste of Christmas Past Eatmedieval, a collaboration between Durham University and Blackfriars...
Fanny Workman refused to conform. That refusal developed into what Germans call a “red thread” – the common theme that explained much of her life (1859-1925), and in particular, her record-breaking adventures. As the daughter of a Massachusetts...
It has got to be one of Germany’s best kept secrets. Not just the six-pointed star hanging in front of the house, but the homebrewed beer the star represents. The Zoigl tradition has almost gone extinct in Germany, and if you want to experience it...
June 1912 marks the 107th anniversary of a murder so gruesome it gave rise to urban legend. You’ve probably heard the story. Someone hid in an attic and snuck down to butcher an entire family during the night. It really happened. With an entire...
Agatha Christie — she wrote murder mysteries; we all know that. But this is probably what you didn’t know: Agatha Christie was also a pharmacist and the medical descriptions in her books were so accurate they actually saved lives. They even...
An Interview with Ripperologist Richard Jones Jack the Ripper: What makes the case so fascinating? Some people say it’s the Sherlock Holmes aspect: a riddle and investigation methods everyone can follow. Other people say it offers a window...
Regiswindis: Murder of an Innocent — Deutsche Übersetzung folgt She was only seven years old, so the story goes. Regiswindis, the daughter of Count Ernst in the German town Lauffen am Neckar, grew up in her father’s castle. That’s where...
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