A 12th-century nun, mystic, prophet, and healer, Saint Hildegarde of Bingen was born in 1088 A.D. to a family linked to the free lower nobility, the Count Meginhard of Sponheim. Sick from birth, St. Hildegard stated often that from a very young age, she experienced visions. Not surprising then, from an early age, her parents—whether to gain political benefits or to support her visionary experiences—offered her as an oblate to the Benedictine monastery, Disibodenberg.
Committed to a hermitage from the age of eight, St. Hildegard rose to prominence because of her divine visions. As an adult, she became a German Benedictine abbess, and writer of numerous papers and books. She founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165. She also led an abbey, communed with God, advised royalty, and chastised emperors.
According to historians, St. Hildegard noted that she envisioned life in the “light of God” through her five senses. Her experience helping and overseeing the monastery’s herbal garden and infirmary shaped her writing about food as a medicine for her and a way to help others. As it turned out, her books included recipes inspired by divine wisdom that were supposedly able to cure a vast array of illnesses, from “leprosy to lung disease to the common cold.”
As it turned out, besides writing about the virtues of food, St. Hildegard became a dedicated cook and was quoted as saying “People should eat and drink in moderation and find the right rhythm for work and rest.”
One of her favorite ingredients is a grain known as spelt. Spelt is a type of wheat with a nutty taste and a high protein count. Apparently, spelt has been used as a food since the Neolithic period. The ingredient favorites of St. Hildegard were chestnuts, fennel, read beets, beans, and lettuce plus a variety of herbs and spices.
St. Hildegard was quoted as saying this about spelt:
Oily and powerful and easier to digest than all other grains. It provides the person who eats it with good flesh and gives him good blood. It makes the soul of man happy and full of cheerfulness. And however it is prepared, whether as bread or as other food, it is good and sweet ( Hildegard von Bingen, c. 1151-1158).
St. Hildegard passed away in 1179 and was canonized in 2012 and named a Doctor of the Church for her holiness.
RECIPES
Hildegard von Bingen’s Cookies of Joy
Historian and culinary devotee, Max Miller posted on his website https://www.tastinghistory.com, this beloved recipe He also introduced the recipe with St. Hildegard’s devotion to these cookies. “Take some nutmeg and an equal weight of cinnamon and a bit of cloves, and pulverize them. Then make small cakes with this and fine whole wheat flour and water. Eat them often. It will calm all bitterness of the heart and mind, open your heart and impaired senses, and make your mind cheerful. It purifies your senses and diminishes all harmful humors in you. It gives good liquid to your blood, and makes you strong.”
Ingredients:
1 cup (150 g) whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (237 ml) water
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.
In a bowl, add the nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves to the flour and whisk everything together.
Pour in the water and mix with a spoon or spatula. You’re looking for the consistency of a thick pancake batter, so you might need to add a bit more water. If you do, add it just a tablespoon or so at a time.
Drop the batter onto the lined baking sheet a tablespoon at a time, smoothing each portion out into a thin round.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they get nice and crisp. Serve them forth with Hildegard von Bingen’s Violet Wine, as you’ll need something with which to wash them down.
Homemade Spelt Bread
This recipe was posted by Iwona Kilmecki on this website:
https://hildegardspeltandspices.com/ Hildegard Spelt and Spices, LLC
Ingredients (makes 2 loaves):
2.2 lb. (1000 g) of spelt flour (you can use white or whole spelt flour or mix both) – add to cart here
50g fresh yeast
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
(it gives the bread a “sourdough-like” taste)
50 ml to 1liter lukewarm water.
Preparation:
- Mix dry ingredients: Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
- Activate yeast: Dissolve the fresh yeast in warm water with the vinegar. Add this to the dry ingredients. Mix everything together until the dough comes together. You don’t need a mixer — a spoon works just fine. If the dough is sticky, that means the bread will have larger holes. If you prefer a denser bread with smaller holes, use less water.
- Let the dough rise: Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise for 20 minutes in a warm place.
- Shape the dough: After the initial rise, mix the dough again (just with a spoon), then divide it into two parts. Grease two loaf pans (about 25 cm x 11.5 cm) with fat and lightly flour them or use parchment paper. Shape the dough into the pans, smoothing the top with a wet spoon. Let the dough rise again for another 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven: While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 420 F
- Bake: Before putting the loaves in the oven, spray them with water. Place the pans on the second rack from the bottom and bake for about 50 minutes (this time may vary depending on your oven, so keep an eye on the bread). Do not open the oven during baking!
- Finishing: After 50 minutes, turn off the oven and let the loaves rest for 5 minutes before opening the door. Then, immediately remove the loaves from the pans (if greased, they come out easily) and place them on a wire rack to cool. This helps keep the crust crispy, as it won’t steam from the bottom.
