Medieval Cookbooks

Article 2182 of rec.food.historic:
From: rcmann@delphi.com (Robin Carroll-Mann)
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic
Subject: Re: Medieval cookbooks
Date: 3 Mar 1994 04:55:33 GMT

Okay, here it is, by popular demand. This list is guaranteed to be incomplete. I am an amateur medieval cook, not an expert. These are simply some titles that I have on my shelf or have heard recommended, and some sources for buying them. Which ones are of interest to you depends on a number of factors. How comfortable are you with archaic English? Can you cook from recipes that give ingredients, but no quantities or cooking times?

If you can read Chaucer in the original (with the help of a glossary), than you can deal with the 14th and 15th century sources. If you can read Shakespeare, you should be ok with the 16th century ones.

Most medieval recipes sound like your grandmother dictated them: "take some of this and a little of that, mix them together and bake until done." (Actually, a common phrase is "until it be enough" which I find amusing.) If you're not comfortable with that kind of unstructured recipe, then you might want to check out the cookbooks which contain redacted recipes in addition to the originals.

Hieatt, Constance and Sharon Butler
Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks
University of Toronto Press, 1976.
Hieatt is a scholar and knows her stuff. The recipes come from various 14th & 15th cent. sources. Each recipe gives the original wording, and a modern redaction with quantities, etc. The ones I've cooked have been pretty tasty.
Hieatt, Constance, and Sharon Butler, editors
Curye on Inglysche: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth Century
Oxford Univ. Press.
Original recipes, extensive notes and glossary.
Renfrow, Cindy
Take a Thousand Eggs or More
2 volumes, privately published
These are transcribed from Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks -- a collection of recipe manuscripts. Vol. 1 contains about 100 recipes: original recipes, modern translation, and redaction provided. Vol. 2 has more recipes and translations, but no redactions. There is a glossary, and intructions for attempting your own redactions.
A BOOK TO AVOID: Cosman, Madeleine Pelner
Fabulous Feasts
The first half of the book has some good info. on food history, laws, folklore and techniques in medieval England, but the recipes are inauthentic redactions without the originals, and do not identify the source.
Scully, Terence, editor
Viander of Taillevent
University of Ottawa Press
Translation of classic 14th century French cookbook. I don't own this one myself, but people I respect say it's good. Some adapted recipes.
The above books and others are available from: 
    Poison Pen Press
    627 East 8th St.
    Brooklyn, NY  11218
Another good source of reprinted historic cookbooks is: 
    Falconwood Press
    193 Colonie St.
    Albany, NY  12210-2501
They have a nice selection of early 17th century English cookbooks, spiral bound and fairly inexpensive. Titles include: I hope this is helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me, though I am *FAR* from being an expert. I am just starting to feel comfortable about adapting recipes myself, rather than using other people's redactions. It's a lot of fun. You should incidently, be able to get most of the above through inter-library loan, though possibly not the Renfrow books.

Good luck! 

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