Das Buoch von guoter Spise (English: The book of good cooking), also called Würzburger Kochbuch (English: The Würzburg cookbook), is the first German-language cookbook in the literature of medieval cuisine.
The recipe book was compiled in the late 1340s by Prothonotary Michael de Leone, born around 1300 in Würzburg. It appears in several manuscripts, notably in the Würzburger Liederhandschrift, in English the "Würzburg Song Manuscript", part of the ("House-Book of Michael de Leone"). The Hausbuch is composed of two volumes, of which only the second is well preserved. In this second volume, a small part (ranging from folios 156<sup>r</sup> to 165<sup>v</sup>), ten sheets out of a total of nearly 300, contains the Buoch von guoter Spîse. There is a second manuscript dating from the first half of the 15th century, now held in the : MS Georg. 278.2<sup>o</sup>, ff. 123<sup>v</sup> to 132<sup>v</sup>.
The text makes it easy to identify the target audience: the minor nobility and the wealthy urban bourgeoisie. The urban economy at that time created a new form of mobility, which led to a transfer of cultural elements and culinary customs. Indeed, at that time, cooking served as a sign of social status. As a result, not only local products are consumed, but also exotic products that are very popular. The meal thus becomes one of the most important symbols of social status. This distinction is also evident in the language; we thus distinguish the common food of the lower classes from the good food of the middle and upper classes. One is composed of broth and bread, the other of roasts, poultry and game. The manual must therefore be seen as a collection of recipes for the more affluent.
The manual contains 96 recipes for bourgeois cuisine. These are mainly easy-to-prepare dishes; milk, butter, and common spices and herbs such as ginger, parsley, lovage, pepper, and sage are often mentioned, while condiments used at court such as salt, cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, and saffron are much less often mentioned. The dishes are therefore suitable for cooks with moderate experience and reasonable financial means. Spices are highly valued everywhere, especially in medieval culinary art; more than 80 percent of all recipes include several spices.
The following recipe appears in Das Buoch von guoter Spise thus:
It has been translated into English by Alia Atlas:
This recipe has been put into a more contemporary form by :