At the monks’ table

08.06 – 30.09.2018.

What do monks have to do with gastronomy? More than you would imagine. Since the early middle ages they have being living according to strict rules and eat so healthily that even a modern fitness guru would be envious, but their rules not only serve their bodily health, but also that of their spirit and soul. They make wine, beer and medicinal liqueurs, and in addition to fruits and vegetables their gardens are also full of a wide variety of herbs and medicinal plants; wonderful foods appear on their tables on special occasions, and at other times, more often, fasting foods. It was with their involvement that a host of plant species, foods and beverage production processes spread from one end of Europe to the other. During the course of history, kitchen brothers cooked not only for monastic communities of various sizes, but also for the sick and the poor in their thousands. Cookbooks, old account books and kitchen books written and used in monasteries are among the rarest and most prized possessions of libraries and records offices.