Call Number:

Ms. Codex 2164

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume(s)

Language:

Dutch; Flemish

Preferred Citation:

Maria Catharina Neuwieller cookbook, circa 1830s, Ms. Codex 2164, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

circa 1830s (inclusive)

Creator:

Neuwieller, Maria Catharina, active 1830s

Form:

Cookbooks

Abstract:

This volume contains 302 culinary recipes and was written and compiled by Maria Catharina Neuwieller possibly in British Guyana and the Netherlands in the 1830s.

Maria Catharina Neuwieller was born around the beginning of the 19th century in Dutch colonial Surinam. In 1817, she was married to Louis Breda with the consent of her mother, Mrs. S. A. J. Vermeer, as she was a minor at that time.

Louis Breda was born in the Province of Vriesland and, at the time of his marriage to Neuwieller, there is evidence that he enslaved workers in British Guiana.

At some point in the late 1830s, the couple moved to the Netherlands and Breda died in Oosterwyk, Holland in 1839. Sources:

"BANNS of MATRIMONY." Royal Gazette, 1817 January 25, www.vc.id.au/edg/18170125rg.html. Accessed 24 Jan. 2024.

"B." British Guiana Colonists Index, www.vc.id.au/tb/bgcolonistsB.html. Accessed 24 Jan. 2024.

"Louis Breda." Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slavery, www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/9378. Accessed 24 Jan. 2024.

This volume contains 302 culinary recipes and was written and compiled by Maria Catharina Neuwieller possibly in British Guyana and the Netherlands in the 1830s.

It is bound in half leather on brown paper boards. There is biographical information on the title page (p. i) and an index (p. I-XVII). There is a dominant hand, likely Neuwieller's (p. 1-65), in addition to at least three other hands (p. 65-98, 98-103, 103-149) in this volume. The recipes in this volume are numbered 1 to 303, but the creator skipped over number 72, meaning there are 302 total recipes total. The latter half of the pages are blank (p. 150-254).

This volume is written mostly in Dutch, but contains some consistently incorrect spellings. For example, there are numerous recipes for "chelei" and "cheleij" that appear to be for jellies, or "gelei" in Dutch. There are also a few French culinary terms used, including boeuf (p. 44) and mange (p. 51).

Examples of recipes in this volume include meloenschiller in 't zuur [pickled melon peels] (p. 4), kaneel wafelljes [cinnamon wafers] (p. 8), aardappel taart [potato cake] (p. 10), paaschbrood [easter bread] (p. 13), socijse de Bologne [Bologna sausage] (p. 17), broodpudding [bread pudding] (p. 21), rietsperen confijten [cane spears preserves] (p. 23), duivelspot [devil spot or beef and mushroom stew] (p. 24), amandel koekjes [almond cookies] (p. 26), ansjovis saus [anchovy sauce] (p. 30), geconfijte kersen [candied cherries] (p. 32), frambose azijn [raspberry vinegar] (p. 36), zwampudding [mushroom pudding] (p. 37), komkommers in't zuur [pickled cucumbers] (p. 40), um schilpadsoep van kalfskop te maken [mock turtle soup] (p. 48), een runderhaas met ragout [beef tenderloin with ragout] (p. 52), um appelkoekjes te bakken [to bake apple cookies] (p. 53).