Medieval Food Preparation
Ronald W. Angerer
Medieval food preparation? I am researching the subject for my course
in medieval literature. I appreciate your help.
Thanks, Ronnie Angerer
email: ange...@wfu.edu
David Friedman
wrote:
> Can anyone point me to information (electronic or otherwise) about
> Medieval food preparation? I am researching the subject for my course
> in medieval literature. I appreciate your help.
Try the recipes at:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html
For in print information, try _Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books_ and
_Curye on Inglysche_, both from the Early English Text Society. For a good
secondary source, see C. Anne Wilson _Food and Drink in Britain_.
David Friedman
M Zoe Holbrooks
Strongly recommend Terence Scully's The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages.
:)
Zoe Holbrooks
M & K
point you to recipes galore, with and without modern adaptations, but
perhaps you are more interested in the how and why. For the latter,
anything by Terence Scully will be useful. If it is recipes you want,
Constance Hieatt has produced a great deal in Middle English. If you want
modern versions, let me know.
Mary-Jo Arn
Bloomsburg Univ.
Lee Carter
>Can anyone point me to information (electronic or otherwise) about
>Medieval food preparation? I am researching the subject for my course
>in medieval literature. I appreciate your help.
>Thanks, Ronnie Angerer
>email: ange...@wfu.edu
Well, first post on rec.sca.org. You will get a lot of stuff. For
the various sources of medieval feast and preparation, first book to
look at is "To the King's Taste" by Lorna J. Sass, published by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. The next is "Pleyn Delit : Medieval
Cookery for Modern Cooks" by Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler
published by University of Toronto Press. "Fast and Feast" by Bridget
Ann Henisch published by The Pennyslvania State University Press. The
last by not least "Fabulous Feasts" by Madeleine Pelner Cosman
published by George Braziller. Also if you are near a good University
Library,,, you may find Sir Kenneth Digby's " The Closet Opened" a
book published about the time of Elizabeth the first. Most
Renaissance receipes originate in Medieval times.
Lee Carter (mo...@well.com)
Judy Gerjuoy
with medieval food/foodways.
It should be updated shortly.
Jaelle
jae...@access.digex.net
If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely
challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn
between a desire to improve the world, and a desire to enjoy the world.
This makes it hard to plan the day. - E. B. White
MEDIEVAL COOKBOOKS - AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
This is an annotated bibliography of books I own that deal with medieval
food or foodways. It does not claim to be a complete listing of all that
it out there, but rather a start.
As a safe rule of thumb, any cookbook which gives modern redactions
but NOT the original is probably not worth much. Even when the
original is giving look at the redaction carefully. Why did the author
make the decisions he did when redacting the recipe.
If anyone has any questions/comments/suggestions/etc feel free to contact me.
Judy Gerjuoy
Jaelle of Armida
Ackerman, Roy, THE CHEF'S APPRENTICE. Headline. 1988. Recipes
from 6 period of times, (Roman through late 19th/early 20th). The
original recipes are NOT given; only modern redactions. Some out of
period ingredients are used. Lots of interesting information about
food/foodways of the time. Still, NOT RECOMMENDED.
Aliki. A MEDIEVAL FEAST. Harper & Row. 1983. Written for
children, this is a fictionalized account of a lord and lady getting ready
for a visitation by the King and Queen and their preparations for the
feast. Nice pictures, lots of fun. RECOMMENDED.
Anderson, John L. editor. A FIFTEENTH CENTURY COOKBOOK.
Charles Scribner's Sons, NY, 1962. A collection of 15th century recipes.
Original recipes only; no modern redactions. RECOMMENDED.
Aresty, EstHer B. THE EXQUISITE TABLE. A History of French
Cuisine. Bobbs- Merrill. 1980. Very little of this books deal with the
pre 1600 era. A few redacted recipes with no originals given. Out of
period ingredients used. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Aresty, Esther B. THE DELECTABLE PAST. Simon & Schuster. 1964.
As one of the earliest books published on food in history - at least in this
century it suffers from most of the flaws of the early books. While the
general information about historical food is not too bad, the recipes are,
at best, inaccurate. The original recipes are not given, and in many cases
the modern redactions contain out of period ingredients. NOT
RECOMMENDED.
Bayard, Tania, translator. A MEDIEVAL HOME COMPANION (Cut
version of THE GOODMAN OF PARIS/Le Menagier de Paris). Harper
Collins. 1991. Not as complete as the Eileen Power version, but better
than nothing. RECOMMENDED only if you can't get the Eileen Power
edition,
Beebe, Ruth Anne. SALLETS, HUMBLES & SHREWSBERY CAKES.
David R. Godine. 1976. Elizabethan era recipes. Contains original and
modern redactions plus some general information on food/foodways of
the period. RECOMMENDED.
Berriedale, Johnson, Michelle. OLDE ENGLISHE RECIPES. Piatkus.
1981. Modern redactions with information about the original recipe, but
without the original recipes in full. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Best, Michael R., editor THE ENGLISH HOUSEWIFE by Gervase
Markham. McGill-Queen's University Press, 1986. Original recipes -
early 17th century. RECOMMENDED.
Black, Maggie. THE MEDIEVAL COOKBOOK. Thames & Hudson.
1992. Original recipes and modern redactions. General information about
food. RECOMMENDED.
Black, Maggie. FOOD AND COOKING IN MEDIEVAL BRITAIN.
English Heritage. 1985. Part of a six part series on British historical
food. Good basic information about food of the time as well. Original
recipes and modern redactions. RECOMMENDED.
Booth, Sally Smith. HUNG, STRUNG & POTTED. A History of Eating
in Colonial America. Clarkson N. Potter. 1971. This book deals with
food in American in the 16, 17th and 18th centuries. Lots of recipes
from original sources; lots of useful pictures. RECOMMENDED FOR
ANYONE INTERESTED IN LATER PERIOD FOOD.
Brears, Peter. FOOD AND COOKING IN 17TH CENTURY BRITAIN.
English Heritage. 1985. Part of a six part series on British historical food.
Good basic information about food of the time as well. Original recipes
and modern redactions. RECOMMENDED.
Brears, Peter. FOOD AND COOKING IN 16TH CENTURY BRITAIN.
English Heritage. 1985. Part of a six part series on British historical food.
Good basic information about food of the time as well. Original recipes
and modern redactions. RECOMMENDED.
Brett, Gerard. DINNER IS SERVED. Rupert Hart Davis. 1968. This
book deals with how food was served, and what is was served with/on.
The text is moderately useful; the pictures are quite useful.
RECOMMENDED.
Buxton, Moria. MEDIEVAL COOKING TODAY. The Kylin Press.
1983. A cookbook full of 14th & 15th century recipes from various sorts
with modern redactions. Some useful information on foodways, and a
number of useful pictures. RECOMMENDED.
Bynum, Caroline Walker. HOLY FEAST AND HOLY FAST The
Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women. University of
California Press. 1987. An interesting book dealing with medieval
women and the role food played in their lives. While not much use, per
say for the average person, it is quite fascinating, and takes medieval
foodways from another vantage point. RECOMMENDED for serious
scholars.
Chang, K.C. (ed) FOOD IN CHINESE CULTURE. Yale University
Press. 1977. A fascinating book on the history of Chinese food, broken
down by dynasties. RECOMMENDED.
Cinqueterr, Berengario delle. THE RENAISSANCE COOKBOOK. The
Dunes Press. 1975. An interesting book all about Renaissance
food/foodways with lots of recipes. Unfortunately only modern
redactions are given, with no original recipes listed. Because of this, I
hate to recommend it, although I do enjoy reading it. NOT
RECOMMENDED.
Cosman Madeleine Pelner. MEDIEVAL HOLIDAYS AND
FESTIVALS. Charles Scribner's & Sons. 1981. This book goes through
the medieval year with holidays and/or celebrations for each month. This
book shares the same flaws as FABULOUS FEASTS in as much as the
only recipes given are modern redactions without the original ones given.
Furthermore, the modern redactions contain out of period ingredients.
NOT RECOMMENDED.
Cosman, Madeliene Pelner. FABULOUS FEASTS. George Brazlier.
1976. A lot of good general information about medieval food/foodways,
redacted recipes without originals. Some of the recipes contain out of
period ingredients. NOT RECOMMENDED.
David, Elizabeth. ENGLISH BREAD AND YEAST COOKERY.
Penguin. 1979. The book on bread, this contains a great deal of historical
information on grain, ovens, shapes of loaves, etc. If you want to try
and recreate medieval bread, this is where you should start. HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED.
Driver, Christopher and Michelle Berriedale-Johnson. PEPYS AT
TABLE. University of California Press. 1984. Quotes from Pepys diary
mentioning food and more or less contemporary recipes with modern
redactions. This book is small and does not contain much, and there are
better books around that cover this time period. Still, there is nothing
wrong with it except for the size. RECOMMENDED.
Drummond & Wilbraham. THE ENGLISHMAN'S FOOD. J. Cape.
1957. An analysis of what the English eat by time period. Breakdown
of amount of calories consumed, vitamins, etc. Not of use to most
people but quite interesting just the same. RECOMMENDED.
Ellwanger, George H. THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE. Doubleday
Page & Co. 1902. While not a bad piece of scholarship for its time, it
has been superseded by modern books. Still, can be interesting to the
completest. But, for the average medieval cook, NOT
RECOMMENDED.
Feret, Barbara L. GASTRONOMICAL AND CULINARY
LITERATURE. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 1979. Not a book on food or
foodways per say, but rather a book about collections of food ways.
Very useful bibliographies of book on/about food in the appendices.
RECOMENDED for completest only.
Freeman, Margaret B. HERBS FOR THE MEDIEVAL HOUSEHOLD.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Information taken from original sources on
how herbs were used. RECOMMENDED.
Guy, Christian. AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF FRENCH CUISINE.
Bramhall House.1962. General information on the history of French
food. Some translations of period recipes. A few good pictures. all in
all not terribly useful. NOT RECOMMENDED for anyone but a
completest.
Hagen, Ann. A SECOND HANDBOOK OF ANGLO-SAXON FOOD
& DRINK: PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION. Anglo-Saxon Books.
1995. An excellent book about the foods available in that time period,
and information on how they were eaten. Not a cookbook, but good
information about the food and foodways. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Hagen, Ann. A HANDBOOK OF ANGLO-SAXON FOOD. Processing
and Consumption. Anglo-Saxon Books, Nisslwawx, England. 1992.
This is not a cookbook per say, but a book about Anglo-Saxon food and
foodways. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Hale, William Harlan & the Editors of Horizon Magazine. THE
HORIZON COOKBOOK and Illustrated History of Eating & Drinking
through the Ages. Doubleday & Co. 1968. This is found as a two
volume slipped case set or a one volume combined set. It is divided into
Illustrated History and recipes. The recipes do not include the originals
and a lot of the ingredients used are at best, suspect. The historical half
is reasonable with a lot of good pictures. However, because the recipes
are so flawed, I hate to recommend this just for the historical
information. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Hammond, P.A. FOOD AND FEAST IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND. Alan
Sutton. 1003. A very good comprehensible book on food and foodways
of the middle ages. Plenty of good pictures. RECOMMENDED.
Hartley, Dorothy. FOOD IN ENGLAND. Macdonald. 1954. A well
written, interesting book about English food that, alas has no dates,
which makes it pretty useless for our purposes. NOT
RECOMMENDED.
Hattox, Ralph S. COFFEE AND COFFEEHOUSE. The origins of a
Social Beverage in the Medieval Near East. University of Washington
Press. 1985. This is not a cookbook, but as the title says, this is a book
about the use of coffee in the Near East. It deals with the history of the
spread and use of coffee in the Near East and how it became socially
acceptable. I find the book very interesting, but it is on a very specialized
subject. RECOMMENDED FOR COMPLETEST ONLY.
Heisch, Bridget Ann. CAKES AND CHARACTERS. An English
Christmas Tradition. Prospect Books. 1984. This book by the author of
the truly excellent "Fast and Feast" deals with the history of the English
Christmas traditions; where they came from and how they evolved. As
such, most of it is after the time period of this discussion, but what is
there is well researched and useful. RECOMMEND FOR SERIOUS
SCHOLARS ONLY.
Henisch, Bridget Ann. FAST AND FEAST. The Pennsylvania State
University Press. 1976. An excellent book dealing with food in England
13-15th centuries. General information, no recipes. HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED.
Herman, Judith & Marguerite Shalett Herman. THE CORNUCOPIA.
Harper & Row. 1973.A collection of recipes dating between 1399 and
1890 from historical cookbooks written in English. They have, in some
instances modernized the spelling/grammar. Still, all in all
RECOMMENDED.
Hess, Karen. MARTHA WASHINGTON'S BOOKE OF COOKERY.
Columbia University Press. 1981. A 17th century cookbook owned, not
written by Martha Washington. Original recipes plus lots of commentary
on food. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Hieatt, Constance & Sharon Butler. CURYE ON INGLYSCH. Oxford
University Press. 1985. 14th century English recipes. Originals only, no
redactions. Good glossary. RECOMMENDED.
Hieatt, Constance B. AN ORDINANCE OF POTTAGE. Prospect Book.
1988. 15th century recipes with both original and redacted recipes.
RECOMMENDED.
Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler. PLEYN DELIT. University of
Toronto Press, Toronto.1979. 14th & 15th century recipes with the
complete original recipe and a modern redaction. Recipes come from
English and French sources; the French have been translated. The type
face that the original recipes are printed in can be difficult to read.
RECOMMENDED.
Hodgett, G. A.J. STERE HTT WELL. Mary Martin Books. (no date). A
facsimile of a 15th century cookbook owned by Samuel Pepys. There
is a modern rendition of the period hand, however it is not a word for
word retyping and is therefore suspect. The facsimile will take some
work to read. RECOMMENDED only for people who are willing to use
the facsimile.
Howe, Robin. MRS GROUNDES-PEACE'S OLD COOKERY
NOTEBOOK. David & Charles. 1971. A fascinating book on English
food/foodways, edited and published from the author's notes after her
death. It is incomplete because of that; but what is left shows what a
monumental work it would have been. Even in its incomplete form it is
still quite useful. RECOMMENDED.
Isitt, Verity. TAKE A BUTTOCK OF BEEFE. Ashford Press. 1987. A
badly flawed book dealing with 17th century food. While there is a lot
of interesting information about the food/foodways of the period, and the
original recipes are given, the modern redactions bear so little
resemblance to the original recipes that the cookbook is extremely
inaccurate. Lots of out of period ingredients are used in the modern
redactions. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Jacobs, Jay. GASTRONOMY. Newsweek Books. 1975. This history of
food is full of good pictures, but has little else to recommend it. It is too
short a book to do justice to its subject. NOT RECOMMENDED.
K.T. Achaya. INDIAN FOOD: A HISTORICAL COMPANION. Oxford
University Press. 1994. An fascinating book about Indian food from
prehistory to the British rule, with dates and pictures. This is not a
cookbook, but a book about food. RECOMMENDED.
Lambert, Carole. DU MANUSCRIT A LA TABLE. Univeriste de
Montreal. 1992. 24 fascinating articles all dealing with medieval
food/foodways. However, about 2/3rds of them are in French.
RECOMMENDED only if you read French.
Layton, T.A. FIVE TO A FEAST. Gerald Duckworth & Co. 1948. The
first part of this book is a fictional account of an actual banquet given in
1363. Appendix II takes some interesting and useful extracts from The
Booke of Nurture, circa 1420. RECOMMENDED FOR THE
COMPLETEST ONLY.
Lorwin, Madge. DINING WITH WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.
Atheneum. 1976. A lot of good, general information on Elizabethan era
food, as well as a number of useful pictures. Original recipes and modern
redactions. Its only flaw in my eyes is that is groups the recipes by
menus instead of by category, so that if you are looking, for instance, for
all the vegetable recipes, if have to keep going back to the index. That
is, however, a small price to pay for this informative book.
RECOMMENDED.
Mckendry, Maxime. SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS OF ENGLISH
COOKING. Exter Books. 1793. NOTE: this has been published under
a number of different names and with at least one other author! Most,
but not all of the recipes include the period source as well as the modern
redaction. Some of the redactions are flawed in as much as they use
non-period ingredients. RECOMMENDED only if you can't find
something better - but be VERY cautious when using the redactions.
Norman, Barbara. TALES OF THE TABLE. Prentice-Hall. 1972.
Mostly a history of food, there are a few original recipes; no modern
redactions and menus from actual medieval feasts in the back. Some
interesting information not readily available elsewhere; some useful
pictures. RECOMMENDED if the better food in history books are not
available.
O'Hara-May, Jane. ELIZABETHAN DYETARY OF HEALTH. Corondo
Press. 1977. Lots of information mostly taken from primary sources
(although obsolete orthographic symbols have been modernized) on the
Elizabethan view of food. While of limited interest to most people, it
can be quite interesting and useful for the serious scholar of this time
period. RECOMMENDED.
Power, Eileen. THE GOODMAN OF PARIS (Le Menagier de Paris).
Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1928. A Translation of late 14th century
treatise written by a man for his young wife to instruction her on running
their household. It contains not only recipes, but instructions on all areas
of domestic life. RECOMMENDED
Quayle, Eric. OLD COOK BOOKS. An Illustrated History. E.P Dutton.
1978. An interesting book about historical cookbooks with some original
recipes included. RECOMMENDED.
Renfrow, Cindy TAKE A THOUSAND EGGS OR MORE, VOLS 1 &
2. Privately printed. Original 15th century recipes plus a lot of modern
redactions. Good information on how to do your own redactions.
RECOMMENDED.
Riley, Gillian. RENAISSANCE RECIPES. Pomegranate Artbooks. 1993.
Pictures involving food and redacted recipes to go along with the picture.
No original recipes are given. Some of the pictures are useful, but I
have some doubts about some of the recipes, although without seeing the
originals it is hard to tell. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Ritchie, Carson I.A. FOOD IN CIVILIZATION. Beauford Books, Inc.,
1981. This book attempts to show how history has been affect by human
tastes. It is, unfortunately, more of a "pop" overview of food history, and
how it interacts with history in general. There are much better books
around. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Roberts, Enid. FOOD OF THE BARDS. Image Publishers, 1982. A
"period Welsh" cookbook, the author took period references to food from
Welsh sources, and found medieval English recipes that were for those
foods. Original recipes and modern redactions. RECOMMENDED.
Rose, Peter G. THE SENSIBLE COOK. Syracuse University Press.
1989. A translation of a 1683 Dutch cookbook that was used in the
America during the 17th century. Translations of original recipes plus
about 24 modern redactions. RECOMMENDED.
Santich, Barbara. THE ORIGINAL MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE.
Prospect Books. 1995. A lovely book on medieval food with the original
recipes, their translations and modern redactions, as well as some good
information about food of that period in general. What is especially nice
is that a lot of the recipes I had never seen translated before. While I
have not had time to make any of the recipes from the book, they do
look good. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Sass, Lora. J. TO THE QUEEN'S TASTE. The Metropolitan Museum
of Art. 1976. One of the earlier decent redacted cookbook, this book
which focus on Elizabethan era food contains both original recipes and
their modern redactions as well as some basic information about food of
the time. RECOMMENDED.
Sass, Lora. J. TO THE KING'S TASTE. The Metropolitan Museum of
Art. 1975. Contains original recipes as well as modern redactions. Focus
on the food/recipes from the time of Richard II, and uses Form of Cury
for the source of the recipes. RECOMMENDED.
Sass, Lorna J. CHRISTMAS FEASTS FROM HISTORY. Irena
Chalmers Cookbooks, Inc. 1981. Five different "Christmas" feasts from
5 different time periods. Original recipes as well as modern redactions.
Some information about food from the period. RECOMMENDED.
Scully, Terence. CHIQUART'S 'ON COOKERY'. Peter Lang. 1986. A
translation of a 15th century Savoy culinary treatise. Original recipes
only, RECOMMENDED.
Scully, Terrence. THE VIANDIER OF TAILLEVENT. University of
Ottawa Press. 1988. An edition of all extant manuscripts (Taillevent
lived in the 14th century), with a complete translation into modern
English. A few redacted recipes and some information on food of the
time. RECOMMENDED.
Simeti, Mary Taylor. POMP & SUSTENANCE: 25 Years of Sicilian
Food. Alfred A. Knopf. 1970. General information about food with
recipes; modern redactions only, no period recipes given. NOT
RECOMMENDED.
Smallzried, Kathleen Ann. THE EVERLASTING PLEASURE.
Influences on american;s Kitchens, Cooks and Cookery from 1565 to the
year 2000. Appleton-Century-Crofts. 1956. While only vaguely in the
period of this bibliography, this book has a lot of interesting things to say
about the development of food/foodways in America. While I frequently
disagree with her conclusions, especially from my vantage point of 40
years later, it is an interesting and informative book. RECOMMENDED
FOR COMPLETEST ONLY.
Soyer, Alexis. THE PANTROPHEON. Paddington Press. 1977. This
book was originally printed in 1853. Alexis Soyer was a renowned
French cook of the time. This book deals primarily with Roman times,
but goes up to the 17th century. Some interesting information comparing
the prices of some foodstuffs throughout the medieval time. All in all,
while amusing and containing some interesting information, this book has
been superseded by more accurate and useful books. NOT
RECOMMENDED.
Spurling, Hilary. ELINOR FETTIPLACE'S RECEIPT BOOK.
Elizabethan Country House Cooking. Viking Penguin, 1986. A
transcription of slightly more than 200 recipes from a book dated 1604
and commentary. RECOMMENDED.
Tannahill, Reay. THE FINE ART OF FOOD. A.S. Barnes & Co. 1968.
A short history of food with some LOVELY illustrations. Some
interesting information; and some of the pictures I have never seen
elsewhere. However, like her FOOD IN HISTORY, it is still pretty much
a "pop" history of the subject. RECOMMENDED FOR THE
PICTURES ONLY.
Tannahill, Reay. FOOD IN HISTORY. Stein and Day.1973. NOTE:
there is a revised edition that came out in the past several years, but this
is what I grabbed from my shelves. In 448 pages she tries to cover food
throughout the world and throughout time. By the very nature of her
subject and the size of the book, it is, at best, a cursory covering of the
subject. OK for a start, but there are much better books out there.
RECOMMENDED only if you can't get anything better.
Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. HISTORY OF FOOD. Blackwell. 1992.
A 800 page history of food originally written in French.
RECOMMENDED.
Vence, Celine & Robert Courtine. THE GRAND MASTERS OF
FRENCH CUISINE. G. P. Putnam & Sons. 1978. Some basic
information about French food, as well as a few good pictures. As a
cookbook, versus a historical cookbook, it is very good with color photos
on how the food should look, as well as many tasty recipes. However,
the original recipes are not given, just the modern redactions. While I
like this book a lot, and have used a few of the modern redactions, after
tracing them back to the original source, I must downgrade it because the
originals aren't given. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Verrill, A. Hyatt. FOODS AMERICA GAVE THE WORLD. L.C. Page.
1937. If you ever wanted to have one book to check if a food source was
old or new world, this will do it. While the histories of the various
foods are not always 100% accurate, it is a useful reference book.
RECOMMENDED.
Waines, David. IN A CALIPH'S KITCHEN. Riad El-Rayyes Books,
London. 1989. This book tells where the original recipe came from, but
does not give it, but instead only gives the modern redaction. A fair bit
of general information on medieval Arabic cooking. Because of the lack
of the original recipe in full, I find it hard to recommend it fully, but it
is very good from a modern viewpoint, with lovely color pictures
showing what the finished product should look like. FAINTLY
RECOMMENDED.
Walker, Harlan. OXFORD SYMPOSIUM ON FOOD & COOKERY
1990 - Feasting & Fasting. Prospect Books. 1991. While most of the
articles do not deal with medieval food/foodways, there are a few articles
on medieval food. Still, all in all RECOMMENDED FOR THE
SERIOUS SCHOLAR ONLY.
Walker, Harlan. OXFORD SYMPOSIUM ON FOOD & COOKERY
1992 - SPICING UP THE TABLE. Prospect Books. 1991. While most
of the articles do not deal with medieval food/foodways, there are a few
articles on medieval food. Still, all in all RECOMMENDED FOR THE
SERIOUS SCHOLAR ONLY.
Watson, Betty. COOKS, GLUTTONS & GOURMETS. Doubleday &
Co. 1962. One of the earliest books on the history of food/foodways.
Very inaccurate, with no original recipes given. NOT
RECOMMENDED.
Wheaton, Barbara Ketcham. SAVORING THE PAST. The French
Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789. University of Pennsylvania Press.
1983. A well written and put together book on French food/foodways.
A small number of original recipes with modern redactions.
RECOMMENDED.
Willan, Anne. GREAT COOKS AND THEIR RECIPES From Taillevent
to Escoffier. Little Brown and Company. 1992. Information about the
food of the time, original recipes and modern redactions. Lots of good
pictures. RECOMMENDED.
Wilson, C. Anne. (ed) BANQUETTING STUFF. Edinburgh University
Press. 1990. A collection of papers on the fare and social background of
the Tudor and Stuart Banquet. RECOMMENDED.
Wilson, C. Anne. (ed) THE APPETITE AND THE EYE. Edinburgh
University Press. 1991. A collection of papers on the visual aspects of
food and its presentation with their historic context. Not all are medieval.
RECOMMENDED.
Wilson, C. Anne. FOOD AND DRINK IN BRITAIN From the Stone
Age to Recent Times. Penguin. 1984. the best history of food that I
know of. It's only drawback is that is it from a British perspective only.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Arthur Cloninger
>
> Can anyone point me to information (electronic or otherwise) about
> Medieval food preparation? I am researching the subject for my course
> in medieval literature. I appreciate your help.
>
> Thanks, Ronnie Angerer
>
> email: ange...@wfu.edu
Hi Ronnie,
Try connecting with http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/historical.html. It has a lot of ancient
recipes, including medieval, ancient roman, and islamic. The Medieval section has recipes in the original
language of the day, as well (in some cases), some modern day translations. Let me know if I have helped any.
Regards,
Art Cloninger
--
Arthur D. Cloninger
Computer Network Supervisor
Fort Gay Middle School
Court and Vancouver Street
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Fort Gay, WV 25514
Phone: 304-648-5404
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Robin Carroll-Mann
>"Ronald W. Angerer" <ange...@wfu.edu> wrote:
>>Can anyone point me to information (electronic or otherwise) about
>>Medieval food preparation? I am researching the subject for my course
>>in medieval literature. I appreciate your help.
>Well, first post on rec.sca.org. You will get a lot of stuff. For
>the various sources of medieval feast and preparation,
Most of the following sources are quite good.
> first book to
>look at is "To the King's Taste" by Lorna J. Sass, published by the
>Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I like it. I believe Ms. Sass has been criticized for an overly heavy
use of spices in her redactions, but she does provide the originals,
so you can judge for yourself.
> The next is "Pleyn Delit : Medieval
>Cookery for Modern Cooks" by Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler
>published by University of Toronto Press.
Great book! I hear the 2nd edition has just been released.
> "Fast and Feast" by Bridget
>Ann Henisch published by The Pennyslvania State University Press. The
>last by not least "Fabulous Feasts" by Madeleine Pelner Cosman
>published by George Braziller.
"Fabulous Feasts" is a mixed blessing. Most of the book contains good
information about medieval food -- ingredients, methods, laws,
folklore, etc., and lots of illustrations. The recipe section is
poorly done. None of the recipes provide the original text, or even
identify the source, and the redactions use non-period ingredients.
> Also if you are near a good University
>Library,,, you may find Sir Kenneth Digby's " The Closet Opened" a
>book published about the time of Elizabeth the first. Most
>Renaissance receipes originate in Medieval times.
Yes, many cookbooks undoubtedly contained recipes that had been around
for quite a while before they were published. However, there are some
noticeable differences between late 16th/early 17th century recipes,
and those of earlier centuries. To get a fuller picture, I suggest
also looking at:
Austin, Thomas, ed., _Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books_, published
by the Early English Text Society.
Power, Eileen, trans., _The Goodman of Paris_ [translation of _Le
Menagier de Paris, a late 14th cent. French household manual, with
recipes]
>Lee Carter (mo...@well.com)
Robin Carroll-Mann
SCA: Brighid ni Chiarain, Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
har...@tribeca.ios.com OR rcm...@delphi.com