Med-Cook-rev-art - 9/29/99************************************************************************NOTICE -This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme thatI  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Somemessages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  withseperate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimesextraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  wereremoved to save space and remove clutter.The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. Imake  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by theindividual authors.Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  thesemessages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at thistime. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please givecredit 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.scaSubject: Book Review RequestDate: 19 Jun 1996 23:07:17 -0400al 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 BlackHere is my book review, which was originally printed in thewonderful 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 0714105562Ms. Black writes in a light, breezy style.  Her book, "The MedievalCookbook" is an easy, pleasant read, and beautifully illustrated,but not particularly scholarly in tone.  In my opinion, she appearsto write this book for the average cook who knows nothing aboutmedieval cookery, and in a sense of irony, redacts her recipes insuch 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 theConquerer through Richard II, using English and French sources.Chapter 1 looks at the Bayeux Tapestry and gives six recipes thatshe thinks approximates the pictures on the tapestry.  Chapter 2looks at Chaucer and gives six recipes that might have been usedby some of Chaucer's characters.  Chapter 3 looks at life in acloister and gives seven recipes that could have been used therein.Chapter 4 looks at the Goodman of Paris and gives six recipes, butonly one of them is from the Goodman of Paris manuscript.  Chapter5 looks at "The Babees Book" by John Russell and, very briefly,discussed how children of good birth were educated.  It gives sixrecipes that I suppose are to represent the foods that they weregiven to eat.  Chapter 6 looks at the Court of Richard II andgives six recipes.  Chapter 7 looks at courtly and Christmasfeasting and gives seven recipes.  Chapter 8 looks at herbalcures and give five untested "recipes" for varying ailments.In her recipes, Ms. Black does give the original recipe and thenher redaction.  At first she starts to explain any changesshe made from the original, but very quickly ceases to do so.Occasionally, she will explain an unusual term, but is just as likelyto ignore others or be inconsistant as to its substitution.  Shechanges verjuice to Seville orange juice, to lemon juice, to cidervinegar and to white wine vinegar.  She does not explain powderfort or powder douce and what she uses in their place varies fromrecipe to recipe.  (Yes I know that this is a quibble, but it wouldbe confusing to someone not knowledgeable with these terms.)She does not explain saunders, substituting red food coloringin one recipe and juniper berries or bay leaf in another.  My biggest concern is when she wants to add a thickener not calledfor in the recipe she usually adds "rice flour or cornflour".While I have no problem with using rice flour,  I wonder whyshe wishes to add cornflour and give the impression that it isa period substance.  She never says, "I found this to be rather thin, so you might want to add a thickener, even though therecipe 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, althoughshe does mention this herself.  I just wonder why she addedthem 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 thatcould 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