Vázlat az udvari karrierekről a Rákócziak udvarából
Careers in the Court of the Rákóczis’

The Chef and the Staff of the Kitchen

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is to examine a relatively small, yet important group of the princely court, namely the kitchen staff. Their responsibility was to provide food for certain members of the princely household: the family of the prince, the young men of the court, a part of the “familiars” (a specific type of vassals in Hungarian feudalism), and occasionally the envoys and their escorts. The kitchen personnel of the travelling household was smaller (around 20-40 persons) in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár), than in Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár), the seat town of the Principality. The chefs (konyhamester) were responsible for the activity of the whole kitchen staff, and it was their duty, to provide the personnel and the necessary tools to the family of the prince at any time. In this respect, the role of Mihály Mikó, Gergely Aradi and especially of Gergely Ghillányi was of great importance during the time of the Rákóczis. They controlled the work of the stewards (konyhasáfár), of the chef (főszakács), of around 10 other cooks, of the pie maker (tésztamíves), as well as that of the apprentices of the kitchen. The bakers, the doorkeepers of the kitchen (konyhai ajtónállók), the outriders, the dishwashers, the kitchen carters and those guarding the carts also belonged to the staff of the kitchen.

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