CautionEurope · Food · № 833
Spelt
Triticum spelta
A grain for bread and porridge; nutritionally similar to wheat.
Hildegard of Bingen
Spelt biscuits with nutmeg ('Nervenkekse')
The best-known recipe of modern Hildegard medicine: spelt biscuits with nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.
Traditional use
- Time
- 1 hour, plus 1 hour chilling
- Makes
- About 50 small biscuits
SpeltHildegard of Bingen praised spelt as the best grain and wrote about the warming power of nutmeg. In the twentieth century German followers turned this into the 'Nervenkekse'. The recipe itself is not in her writings: it is a modern interpretation that invokes her name. It remains a tasty, spicy biscuit.
Ingredients
- 500 g spelt flour
- 125 g cold butter
- 125 g cane sugar
- 2 eggs
10 g grated nutmeg
10 g ground cinnamon
2 g ground cloves- A pinch of salt
Step by step
- Mix the flour, spices, sugar and salt.
- Knead in the cubed butter and the eggs to a firm dough; add a splash of water if needed.
- Let the dough rest in the fridge for an hour.
- Roll out to 5 mm, cut out small biscuits and bake them for 12–15 minutes at 180 °C.
Tips
- Keep them in a tin; they stay good for weeks.
Registry
Herbs in this recipe
Read more about effects and safety on each herb’s page.
- Caution
- Caution
Asia · Herb · № 129
Nutmeg
Myristica fragrans
A spice used in small amounts in Ayurveda and Arabic medicine for diarrhoea, nausea and insomnia. There is no good clinical evidence.
Ayurveda+6Folklore - Caution
Asia · Food · № 38
Cinnamon
Cinnamomum verum
A spice made from inner bark. Research on health effects is preliminary; cinnamon is not a treatment.
Ayurveda+8Folklore - Caution
Asia · Food · № 42
Clove
Syzygium aromaticum
A spice. Clove oil containing eugenol may help with toothache; other claims are unproven.
Ayurveda+5Folklore
Cultures and traditions
Where the herbs come from
The herbs in this recipe also appear in these traditions.