Med-Cook-rev-art - 9/29/99 ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with seperate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the orignator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: Stefan li Rous RSVE60@email.sps.mot.com ************************************************************************ From: pat@lalaw.lib.CA.US (Pat Lammerts) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Book Review Request Date: 19 Jun 1996 23:07:17 -0400 al Thaalibi wrote: Greetings to all. I'm planning on adding to my library, and have my choices narrowed down. What I would like is for any who have had first hand experience with these titles to advise as to whether they are a waste of my resources or not. The titles follow: _The Medieval Cookbook_ by Maggie Black Here is my book review, which was originally printed in the wonderful cooking newsletter, "Serve it Forth". Black, Maggie. The medieval cookbook / Maggie Black. -- London : British Museum Press, c1992. 143 p. : ill. ; 22 X 22 cm. ISBN 0714105562 Ms. Black writes in a light, breezy style. Her book, "The Medieval Cookbook" is an easy, pleasant read, and beautifully illustrated, but not particularly scholarly in tone. In my opinion, she appears to write this book for the average cook who knows nothing about medieval cookery, and in a sense of irony, redacts her recipes in such a way that I would not want to recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about medieval cookery. While her text seems to be essentially correct, it is not well documented. This is a "theme" cookbook. Using mostly 15th century sources, she tries to illustrate what food was eaten from William the Conquerer through Richard II, using English and French sources. Chapter 1 looks at the Bayeux Tapestry and gives six recipes that she thinks approximates the pictures on the tapestry. Chapter 2 looks at Chaucer and gives six recipes that might have been used by some of Chaucer's characters. Chapter 3 looks at life in a cloister and gives seven recipes that could have been used therein. Chapter 4 looks at the Goodman of Paris and gives six recipes, but only one of them is from the Goodman of Paris manuscript. Chapter 5 looks at "The Babees Book" by John Russell and, very briefly, discussed how children of good birth were educated. It gives six recipes that I suppose are to represent the foods that they were given to eat. Chapter 6 looks at the Court of Richard II and gives six recipes. Chapter 7 looks at courtly and Christmas feasting and gives seven recipes. Chapter 8 looks at herbal cures and give five untested "recipes" for varying ailments. In her recipes, Ms. Black does give the original recipe and then her redaction. At first she starts to explain any changes she made from the original, but very quickly ceases to do so. Occasionally, she will explain an unusual term, but is just as likely to ignore others or be inconsistant as to its substitution. She changes verjuice to Seville orange juice, to lemon juice, to cider vinegar and to white wine vinegar. She does not explain powder fort or powder douce and what she uses in their place varies from recipe to recipe. (Yes I know that this is a quibble, but it would be confusing to someone not knowledgeable with these terms.) She does not explain saunders, substituting red food coloring in one recipe and juniper berries or bay leaf in another. My biggest concern is when she wants to add a thickener not called for in the recipe she usually adds "rice flour or cornflour". While I have no problem with using rice flour, I wonder why she wishes to add cornflour and give the impression that it is a period substance. She never says, "I found this to be rather thin, so you might want to add a thickener, even though the recipe does not call for one." In her "Piment" recipe, which is a version of hypocras, she drops three ingredients from the recipe because they "are virtually unobtainable today", i.e.: long pepper, grains of paradise and spikenard. She offered no explanation of what they are and no substitutions. Two of her bread recipes are not from any period source, although she does mention this herself. I just wonder why she added them to the book. I do not know that I would recommend this book to a beginner. It is not a bad book, just one that has enough problems that could trip someone up who would not be able to recognize them. It is definitely for a journeyman-type cook and up. _____________________ I hope that you find this helpful. Yours, +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + Mistress Huette Aliza von und zu Ahrens und Mechthildberg + + Ars non gratia artis, sed gratia pecuniae + + Kingdom of Caid + + Barony of the Angels, Canton of the Canyons + + (pat@lalaw.lib.ca.us) + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ <the end> Mark S. Harris Med-Cook-rev-art