Anna Margaretha Gessner-Kitt
Anna Margaretha Gessner-Kitt (1652–1701) was a Swiss bourgeois woman from Zurich who wrote a large manuscript cookbook. Born on October 8, 1652, into a wealthy Zurich family, she was one of 19 children, though only four survived to adulthood. In 1676 she married the merchant Johann Heinrich Gessner, and the couple lived in Zurich in a house called Konstanzerhaus. They did not have children.
In 1699 Anna Margaretha wrote a comprehensive cookbook with 470 recipes for meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, and side dishes. The manuscript also offered basic instructions for turning turnips and preserving berries, and included recipes for the sick and for women in childbirth. Many recipes used spices and sugar from colonies, showing the family’s access to luxury imports. The book contains refined dishes, such as game and an almond pudding with a golden glaze, while simpler fare like oatmeal porridge is notably absent.
Her collection provides a glimpse into the eating habits and dietary tastes of Zurich’s upper middle class at the end of the 17th century, a social group that displayed its wealth through table manners and elaborate meals. The manuscript remained unstained and was likely never used in a kitchen; it is not certain whether Anna Margaretha intended it for publication. She died in Zurich on November 27, 1701, at the age of 49.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:53 (CET).