Hildegard of Bingen Recipes

Everything about Hildegard of Bingen recipes

Her monastic medicine brought Hildegard of Bingen great recognition during her lifetime. Based on her knowledge of herbs and their healing effects, she wrote several treatises. These contain very detailed recipes from Hildegard of Bingen on how to treat various diseases. The abbess also advocated a balanced diet. Her writings therefore also contain numerous Hildegard of Bingen recipes describing the preparation of dishes that the universal scholar deemed good. The basis of the recipes was mostly medicinal plants and herbs, and for nutrition, Hildegard of Bingen mainly relied on the ancient grain spelt for her recipes.

This Hildegard medicine is still known to us today. Recognition for her life and work only came many centuries after her death, when the Catholic Church canonized her in 2012. Many Hildegard of Bingen recipes have been preserved to the present day, so the knowledge of herbalists is still available. To illustrate the diversity, we present two of Hildegard of Bingen's recipes here as examples.

Dental care and treatment: Hildegard of Bingen recipe for gum inflammation

Preparation:

Cook wormwood and verbena in equal parts in a pot with wine

strain the cooked wine through a cloth, refine with a little sugar, and drink

This recipe from Hildegard of Bingen dates back to the Middle Ages. Today we know that wormwood is harmful in large doses. Therefore, use a pharmacy blend containing verbena and wormwood for the recipe. For the wine against gum inflammation, four teaspoons per 500 milliliters of white wine are recommended.

For a good start to the day: Hildegard of Bingen recipe for Swabian oat mush

As the first meal of the day, Hildegard of Bingen recommended warming oat mush.

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 cup spelt groats or flakes

1 apple, chopped small

a little galant and lovage

2 teaspoons honey

Cinnamon

Preparation:

Stir the spelt groats into cold water.
Bring the porridge to a boil, stirring constantly.
Now add the apple, bertram, galangal, and honey.
Let the Habermus according to Hildegard von Bingen soak for about ten minutes and sprinkle it with cinnamon.
Serve warm and enjoy!

The cure for your immune system: Chestnut honey according to Hildegard von Bingen

A truly delicious recipe from the holy abbess is her chestnut honey. The tradition of the first recipe is almost 1000 years old. Chestnut honey is preferably eaten in autumn to prepare the immune system for the cold winter. Hildegard von Bingen herself recommended the honey when the liver needs healing and support. Please make sure to use sweet chestnuts and not horse chestnuts.

Ingredients:

200 g honey
80 g (homemade) chestnut flour

Preparation

Warm the honey slowly in a pot. Important: The temperature must stay below 40° C, otherwise valuable ingredients in the honey are lost and the flavor becomes less intense.

Stir chestnut flour into the honey through a sieve. Very slowly and carefully to avoid lumps.

Fill chestnut honey into (sterile or boiled) jars and let cool. Seal cold chestnut honey.

Store in a dark, cool, and dry place. Usually, chestnut honey in sterile jars is good for up to 6 months.

For intestinal health: Spelt flour soup according to Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard von Bingen recommended a spelt flour soup to support vitality in the intestines. So if you are experiencing a phase of stomach pain or discomfort, this dish could help you.

Ingredients:

1 onion
Butter
1 L water
4 tbsp spelt flour
Salt
Nutmeg
Parsley
Galangal
Bertram powder

Preparation

Chop the onion finely and sauté it in butter.

Pour water over.

Stir the spelt flour into the cold water.

Season to taste with salt, nutmeg, parsley, galangal, and bertram powder.

Bring the soup to a boil, stirring thoroughly from time to time.

Hildegard von Bingen recipe against migraine: Bearwort-pear honey cure

This recipe is used for homemade detox cures. Hildegard von Bingen described the detox properties of bearwort-pear honey (“Hildegard Gold”) in her works. In the original text, Hildegard writes that this remedy is supposed to provide relief for migraines.

Ingredients:

1 kg fresh pears (the fresher, the better)

6 - 8 tablespoons honey

Up to 80 g bear's wort-pear honey mixed powder

Preparation

Cut the pears into small pieces and remove the cores.
Now cook the pear pieces in water until soft.
When the pears are soft, remove the water and mash the pears finely.
When the pear puree is ready, add honey and the bear's wort-pear honey mixed powder and stir it into the mixture.
Bring the puree briefly to a boil.
Fill the puree into sterile and preferably boiled jars and store it in the refrigerator.
Take at the onset of migraine or as part of a cure.

Nutrition according to Hildegard von Bingen: Ginger cookie recipe

Ginger shots and other preparations based on ginger are becoming increasingly popular. Hildegard von Bingen already knew nearly 1000 years ago how beneficial ginger can be for our health.

Ingredients:

1 - 2 teaspoons fresh ginger
75 g butter
125 g sugar (or sugar substitute or licorice shavings)
1 packet vanilla sugar
2 tablespoons milk
300 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

If desired, nutmeg, galangal, ground cloves, and cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180° C.

Cut the ginger into fine sticks or grind it (optionally with a mortar and pestle or mixer).

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, egg, and milk until frothy.

Fold in the ginger sticks.

Mix flour and baking powder together and stir it into the dough mixture.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Then cut out your cookie shapes.

Bake cookies for about 10 minutes.

Hildegard von Bingen recipes: Motherwort soup for women's complaints

The motherwort soup was created by Hildegard von Bingen for all women. According to the holy abbess, it is meant to help with women's complaints such as menstrual pain, cramps, or intestinal colic.

Ingredients:

Motherwort leaves
Butter
¼ liter water
2 tablespoons spelt flour
Salt
½ teaspoon lovage

Preparation

Chop motherwort leaves finely.
Boil in water with a little butter for 3 minutes.
Add spelt flour, salt, and lovage and bring to a boil.
If the soup is creamy, it is ready to eat.

About the author Henrik Aulbach

Henrik Aulbach is an experienced health editor with over 10 years of experience, an expert in herbal active ingredients and cultivation, co-founder, book author, and freelance specialist writer in healthcare since 2020.

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