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| MATTERS OF TASTE |
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GLOSSARY |
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The Baltic grain trade involved the transport of grain from Danzig and other Baltic ports to Amsterdam, where it was traded on the city’s grain exchange and then re-exported to the rest of Europe. First established during the fourteenth century, the Baltic grain trade—referred to by one Amsterdam merchant as “the soul of trade”—was largely responsible for the prosperity of the Netherlands during the Golden Age.
A banquet piece—a banketje—is a still life painting that features a lavish arrangement of expensive foodstuffs and serving pieces. A typical banquet piece might include such luxury items as lobsters, oysters, exotic fruits, and decorated pies in raised crusts. Banketje translates literally from the Dutch as “little banquet.”
Beverwijck was established in New Netherland in 1630. It was later incorporated into Fort Orange, and this entire settlement was renamed Albany in 1664, when the English took the colony.
A breakfast piece—an ontbijtje—is a still life painting that depicts simple foodstuffs, such as herring, ham or cheese with a bread roll and a glass of beer or wine. Though ontbijtje translates literally from the Dutch as “little breakfast,” paintings categorized as such do not necessarily depict elements of a typical Dutch breakfast. Breakfast pieces were especially popular in the Netherlands during the 1620s and 1630s, and Pieter Claesz., Willem Claesz. Heda, and Osias Beert, among others, are remembered for their production. Burgerlijk is the Dutch word for “burghers.” Though it is notoriously difficult to assign firm class divisions to Golden Age Dutch society, the burgerlijk was a roughly middle class grouping to which Netherlanders of a wide range of professions—from modest artisans to well-to-do regents—belonged.
De Verstandige Kok (The Sensible Cook) was first published in 1667, and would become the most widely read cookbook of the seventeenth century. Geared towards middle- and upper middle-class families, the book advised a regular and balanced diet, including fresh meat at least once a week, frequent servings of bread and cheese, stew, fresh vegetables and salads.
The Dutch East India Company was a trade company chartered in 1602 by the States-General of the Dutch republic. Granted a monopoly on Dutch trade east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Strait of Magellan, the company exercised great power in these regions, subduing local rulers, dominating trade in the Spice Islands, and driving the British and the Portuguese from Indonesia, Malaya and Sri Lanka. Upon its dissolution in 1798, the company’s possessions became part of the Dutch empire in East Asia.
The Dutch West India Company was chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and remained active until 1792. The company had jurisdiction over a wide range of coastal Africa and the Western Hemisphere, and it is responsible for founding the settlements that would become present-day Albany and New York City.
An emblem is an image featured in combination with a proverb, motto or set of verses; Emblems often carry moral lessons, offering guidance on aspects of human behavior, including love, child rearing, commercial activity, social responsibility and Christian ideals. Jacob Cats is among the most celebrated Dutch emblem writers.
Fort Orange was established in 1624 near the site of present-day Albany. It was among the first permanent settlements in New Netherland.A fruit piece—a fruytje—is a still life painting in which fruit is prominently featured. Samples of fruit might be elegantly arranged on a silver platter or more casually placed in a simple basket. Fruytje translates literally from Dutch as “little fruit.”
A game piece depicts an arrangement of poultry, duck, capon, suckling pig, hare, rabbit or—as its title suggests—any other type of game. Because game hunting was reserved for nobility, some historians believe that people of lesser rank purchased these pieces in an effort to associate themselves with the more privileged class.
A genre painting shows scenes from everyday life and surroundings. This type of painting was particularly popular in seventeenth century Netherlands, but the term “genre” was not applied at the time; instead, paintings were delineated into more specific categories, such as ‘merry company’ scenes (conversatie), ‘little fire’ scenes (brandje) or ‘bordello scenes’ (bordeeltje). Adrian van Ostade, Pieter de Hooch, and Jan Steen, among others, devoted much of their careers to genre painting. Note that the term “genre” also refers to the various categories of subject matter on which a painting might be based, such as history, portraiture, landscape, still life, etc.
A guard room scene—a coortegardje—is a type of genre painting that depicts soldiers drinking, resting and gambling. Coortegardje enjoyed their greatest popularity during the 1620s and 1630s, perhaps as a result of Dutch preoccupation with the ongoing war with Spain.
A guild is an economic and social organization for those practicing the same business or craft. Formed for mutual aid and protection, a guild commonly maintained standards, set prices and protected the economic interests of its members.
Haarlem is a city in western Netherlands located near the North Sea. Considered a provincial town during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Haarlem was largely associated with the brewing and weaving industries, although it also possessed wealthy regent class that was able to take advantage of Artists such as Adriaen van Ostade and Frans Hals lived and worked there.
Hammetje translates literally from the Dutch as “little ham.” The term is applied to any still life painting in which a ham of any size is prominently featured. Herenbrood is wheat or “white” bread. Bread was a mainstay of the Dutch diet during the seventeenth century, and regular consumption of herenbrood was a sign of affluence. Less prosperous members of Dutch society depended on semelbrood—rye kernel “black” bread—for sustenance.
Hutsepot—Dutch stew—consists primarily of mutton or beef and assorted vegetables, and can be varied in order to accommodate the seasonal availability of ingredients. Scholar Simon Schama writes that hutsepot represents “the several treasures” of the Dutch trade economy, including dairy products, meat and fresh vegetables from the Netherlands, ginger and other spices from the Indies, citrus fruits from the Levant (present-day Lebanon, Syria and Israel) and wine vinegar from the Mediterranean. Hutsepot was also eaten by Dutch settlers in New Netherland.
Jokmaalen is a feast of inversion during which masters and mistresses waited on their servants. Jokmaalen is only one example of the many feasts a seventeenth-century Netherlander might have celebrated throughout the year; births, marriages, a child’s beginning of school or apprenticeship, the restoration of a church—or even a family’s relocation to a new neighborhood—were all considered worthy occasions for a large and festive meal.
Kandeel. Typically drunk in celebration of a newborn child—perhaps at a kindermaal celebration—kandeel consists of spiced wine mixed with egg yolks.
A kermis is a street fair or carnival. Artists often sold their works at kermis.
Kindermaal is a celebratory feast held in honor of a mother and her newborn child that typically occurred within ten days of the child’s birth. The predominately female party guests presented gifts to the infant and enjoyed sweetened brandies and rum and sweet cakes. Feasting was associated with a variety of events in Dutch life.
Koolsla is cabbage salad dressed with melted butter and vinegar, or oil and vinegar. The English word for this dish—“coleslaw”—comes from the original Dutch.
A krullen is a curl-shaped deep-fried pastry similar to the present-day cruller. Krullen translates literally from the Dutch as “curls.”
Overvloed is a Dutch word meaning “abundance.” Recent interpretations of seventeenth-century Dutch culture suggest that Netherlanders struggled to reconcile the overvloed of the Golden Age with the modesty and thrift advocated by Calvinism.
An olie-koecke—an “oil cake”—is a deep-fried ball of dough studded with raisins, apples, or almonds. A favorite treat among the seventeenth-century Dutch, it is now referred to as olie-bollen—“oil balls”—and still popularly enjoyed in the Netherlands today. Olie-koecken were forerunners of the present-day doughnut.
A patroonship was a large agricultural unit in New Netherland similar to the English manor. Established by the Dutch West India Company in 1629, the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions provided for these large tracts of land to be deeded to private companies or individuals on the condition that they would settle at least fifty people on the land.
A pastey is a savory meat pie. A seventeenth-century Netherlander would most likely have eaten it during the midday meal.
Pronk means “ornately luxurious to the extent of being showy or ostentatious.” A man of fashion in Dutch culture was referred to as a pronker, while still lifes depicting rich finery were referred to as pronkstilleven.
Sappaen (Sapaen) is cornmeal mush made from pounded cornmeal and water. Dutch colonists in New Netherland adapted this Native American dish by adding buttermilk to the recipe. Dutch settlers also altered their own culinary traditions as a result of contact with Native Americans, adding New World pumpkin to Old World pancakes. Native Americans, in turn, showed a fondness for Old World Dutch white bread, cookies, pretzels, and other baked goods.
A stadhouder is a military leader or head of state. Stadhouder translates literally from the Dutch as “holder of the city.”
Semelbrood is “black” bread made from whole-kernel rye. The less affluent depended on semelbrood for sustenance, while the more prosperous enjoyed luxury herenbrood. The term still life—stilleven—comes from a Dutch word meaning “still model.” Paintings of this type usually depict inanimate objects such as food or cookware, although small animals or insects are sometimes included. Breakfast pieces, banquet pieces, game pieces, tobacco pieces and flower pieces are examples of specific categories of still life painting.
The Synod of Dordrecht was an institution based in Dordrecht in the Netherlands. It had authority to make laws governing the Reformed Dutch Church during the seventeenth century, and it adopted Calvinism as the official religion of the Netherlands during meetings held in 1618 and 1622.
A tobacco piece—a tabakje—is a still life that features smokers’ accessories—typically tobacco pipes, smoldering hemp wicks, or braziers of burning coals—along with jugs of beer or glasses of wine. Translated literally from the Dutch, tabakje means “little tobacco.”
The term vanitas—meaning “vanity” in Latin—refers to a type of still-life painting that symbolizes the transience of earthly life and pleasures. The objects depicted in vanitas still lifes typically belong to one of three categories: the accoutrements of mortal life, such as books, tools, purses or deeds; objects that reflect the impermanence of this life, such as skulls or hourglasses; and objects that suggest the promise of salvation and eternal life, such as ears of corn or branches of laurel or ivory.
Wafel is the Dutch word for the confection known as “waffle” in the United States today.
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