Leipziger Lerche (court)
A formerly known dish made from skylarks , which were caught every autumn in the region around Leipzig, was called Leipziger Lerchen . Most of the time the larks were fried whole, only the stomach was removed beforehand. Sometimes they were also prepared as a pate . It was also common to chop the lark's entrails into small pieces, to season it and to eat this mass on white bread , similar to snipe droppings .
The songbird catch was common in Europe since the Middle Ages and was also practiced in Germany for food production. The larks caught near Leipzig were considered particularly well-nourished and tasty and were sent abroad. In the Brockhaus from 1838 it says: “Also around Wittenberg , Halle , Colditz , Grimma , Weimar , where there are large oat fields , many are caught and sent as Leipziger, but the latter surpass the delicacy of taste. The reason given for this is that they particularly feed on field garlic , which is common around Leipzig. "
In the Kingdom of Saxony the Lerch catch was officially banned 1876th Even so, larks were still eaten. "The agreement between Austria and Italy of November 5, 1875 and the German Reich Bird Protection Act of March 22, 1888 only prohibit the use of traps placed on the ground and large beating nets , but not the catch of larks in general." According to Wiener Appetit- Lexicon , larks were still exported from the Leipzig region at the end of the 19th century.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erich Urban: The alphabet of the kitchen , Berlin 1929, entry Leipziger Lerchen
- ↑ Brockhaus Bilder-Conversations-Lexikon, Volume 2. Leipzig 1838, Article Lerche
- ^ Robert Habs / Leopold Rosner, Appetit-Lexikon, Badenweiler 1997 (reprint of the original edition Vienna 1898); In fact, the law that came into effect in July 1888 , concerning the protection of birds, contained further bans, for example in § 3 for the period from 5.3. until 15.9. a general ban on catching, killing and marketing - including "dead birds", i.e. meat