Rye Bread and Aged Cheese from the Provinces
A slice of aged cheese from the Provinces of the Netherlands, firm and flavorful, with dense rye bread that keeps well. Robust, salty, slightly fermented: the no-fuss food of long stages.
A slice of aged cheese from the Provinces of the Netherlands, firm and flavorful, with dense rye bread that keeps well. Robust, salty, slightly fermented: the no-fuss food of long stages.
Do not think, reader, that I have spent my life at fine tables: half has been worn out in the saddle and on river boats, from Basel to Louvain, from London to Venice. On the road, no capon or hippocras bag — a hunk of dark bread that does not mold and a good cheese from our Provinces, that is all my traveler's fare. The belly gets along with it, and the mind, freed from the worry of food, can ruminate on Seneca at the trot of the mount. Sobriety, you see, is also a travel companion.
- •Aged cheese from the Netherlands — a good piece (centerpiece, rich in flavor)
- •Rye bread — a dense loaf (preservative starch)
- •Butter — a little (fat (optional))
Rye Bread and Aged Cheese from the Provinces
A slice of aged cheese from the Provinces of the Netherlands, firm and flavorful, with dense rye bread that keeps well. Robust, salty, slightly fermented: the no-fuss food of long stages.
Why this dish? Erasmus's whole life was a journey: Rotterdam, Louvain, Basel, Venice, London, Cambridge, by road and river. On the way, one did not eat blancmanges but solid provisions: dark bread that keeps and cheese from the Netherlands, already famous in his time. This is the itinerant scholar's snack.
Do not think, reader, that I have spent my life at fine tables: half has been worn out in the saddle and on river boats, from Basel to Louvain, from London to Venice. On the road, no capon or hippocras bag — a hunk of dark bread that does not mold and a good cheese from our Provinces, that is all my traveler's fare. The belly gets along with it, and the mind, freed from the worry of food, can ruminate on Seneca at the trot of the mount. Sobriety, you see, is also a travel companion.
Ingredients (period version)
- Aged cheese from the Netherlands — a good piece (centerpiece, rich in flavor)
- Rye bread — a dense loaf (preservative starch)
- Butter — a little (fat (optional))
Ingredients
- Aged gouda (or old edam) — 150 g (umami centerpiece)
- Sourdough rye bread — 4 slices (preservative starch)
- Cultured butter — to taste (fat)
- Cumin or caraway seeds — 1 pinch (flavor, digestive aid (optional))
Method
- Choose a well-aged cheese, firm and crystalline, and slice it thickly or cut into cubes.
- Slice the rye bread, butter lightly if desired.
- Optionally sprinkle with a pinch of cumin, a spice prized in the Provinces.
- Wrap bread and cheese in a clean cloth: the provisions keep for several days without spoiling.
- At rest stop, simply eat by hand, accompanied by a sip of wine cut with water.
How it was made : From the 15th century onward, the Netherlands exported their aged cheeses (ancestors of gouda and edam), prized precisely because they traveled well. Rye bread, dense and sour, kept much better than white wheat bread reserved for wealthy tables. For the traveler — merchant, pilgrim, or humanist — bread and cheese formed the quintessential road meal.
The contemporary twist : Presented on a travel board: chunks of aged gouda, rye bread, quince paste (r4), and walnuts — the scholar's nomadic lunch box.
Erasmus · Charactorium