The kitchen

Feast your eyes on this charming seventeenthcentury kitchen. Pay special attention to the Delft tiles depicting 46 scenes of children’s games. Blowing bubbles, flying kites and bows and arrows are still familiar, but there are also amusements that have fallen completely into disuse: bowling, cobs, handjamming and tiptoeing. Each tile is handpainted.

“No meat”, Saint Benedict prescribes. The bishops strictly enforce this rule. And so, on the cookers, mainly vegetarian dishes simmer. These are the heydays of local produce: fruit, vegetables and herbs come from their own orchards and gardens. And yet, more than one abbess sometimes puts fish on the menu. In her memories, ‘kitchen sister’ Agatha describes how, in 1914, she prepared eel with turmeric from her own garden.

Behind this imposing kitchen is a second one from 1926. With this brand new kitchen, the sisters hope to attract young blood. Until 2013, when the last residents leave the convent, the kitchen sisters will be cooking here.

Nice to know

• There was not always an oven in the kitchen. In 1660, a master mason built an oven in the garden.

Most likely to avoid the risk of fire. • On the kitchen table you will find a number of recipe books that give you a glimpse into the cooking pots of the kitchen sisters at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Just ask yourself

• What smells do you detect in this kitchen?

Do they trigger memories? • What does cooking mean to you? Is it a daily task or rather a relaxing moment? • The sisters mainly cook with their own harvest as ingredients. How important is local produce to you?

How do you see the future?

• What would you like to discover about abbey life in the future?