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Apple pie with spices
First cookbook in the Netherlands
“Take apples that break alderbest. Those suldy peel and cut clean. Maer wacht datter gheen carnen [pips] ofte sloechuysen [cores] in en vallen, want die carnen souden dye gheheele taerten bederven.”
In 1514, one of the very first Dutch cookbooks was printed in Brussels. Until then, cooks mainly used Italian and French cookbooks. These books were mainly intended for the rich and better-off within society. A cookbook in the Dutch language with Dutch dishes simply did not yet exist. Until 1514 when “Een notabel boecxken van cokeryen” appeared. In this book we find for the first time a Dutch recipe for apple pie, or perhaps we should say love pie….
Love goes through the stomach
The apple pie as described in the boecxken is quite different from what we imagine an apple pie to be today. First, it was really about the pie’s filling. The crispy crust that we like so much today was only an afterthought back then. Most pies didn’t even have a bottom at all and were baked in thick earthenware bowls or molds.
Second, in addition to apples, the pie filling was composed of many different herbs and spices that possessed aphrodisiac properties. These aphrodisiacs include cinnamon, ginger, cloves, rosemary, thyme, pepper and lavender. Coincidentally, we also find many of these herbs and spices in the 1514 apple pie. On top of that, the large amount of exotic spices made such a pie very expensive at the time, ridiculously expensive even. You had to have a big wallet to get exotic spices in the house. Then again, you did assure yourself and your partner of great love.
Cooking and love are inextricably linked. It was not uncommon to serve cakes as well as cookies, waffles and pancakes in the shape of a heart. In the castle kitchen of the Muiderslot, we find several waffle irons in the shape of a heart, and Venus and Mars in love adorn the spice cabinet.
What do you need.
- 250 grams of flour
- 100 grams of butter (at room temperature)
- 80 ml water, 1 egg, Pinch of salt
- 8 hefty apples
- 60 grams of cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, 1 star anise
- 10 peppercorns, 2 cloves, ½ teaspoon mace
- ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds, 1 sprig of rosemary, 5 sprigs of thyme, 1 bay leaf
Recipe Medieval Apple Pie
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Break the egg and whisk through with a fork. You only need half the egg for the next step. Save the other half for later.
3. Make a smooth dough by mixing the flour with the butter, water, half the egg and salt. Knead it briefly. Then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
4. Pick the sprigs of thyme, chop the rosemary leaves and the bay leaf. Add to all together in a bowl and set aside.
5. Crush the cardamom seeds and remove the grains from the husk. Take a mortar and put in the cloves, cardamom grains, peppercorns, star anise and fennel seeds and grind to a coarse powder. Put into the a bowl and set aside.
6. Peel the apples, remove the core and cut into chunks. Take a large bowl and add the apples, the mortared and remaining spices, herbs, sugar and honey to it and mix together. Grate the zest of the orange and add to the apple mixture.
7. Take a large earthenware pie pan or baking dish and put the apples in it.
8. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured surface into a slice about 1 cm thick. Cover the pie pan with this. The dough acts as a kind of lid. If you have leftover dough, you can use it to make decorations on the top of the cake.
9. Coat the dough with the remaining egg and bake the cake for about 45 to 60 minutes in the oven at 170-180 degrees.
10. After baking, let the pie cool briefly before serving. Tip: You can add almonds, walnuts or a splash of your favorite liquor to the apple filling for an extra kick.
