SC - Recipes in the Known World Handbook

[Bronwynmgn at aol.com]

In a message dated 98-08-17 14:56:07 EDT, you write:

<< Cariadoc, I am not trying to disrespect you or question your opinion
 but I do have a question. If the recipes are not period in the Known World
 Handbook then why are they there?  >>

First, remember that the Known World Handbook was first printed in AS XIV and
has had minimal updating since.  It's been reprinted twice, in AS XX and AS
XXVI, but little has actually been changed.  The recipes are in an article
dated 1985; perhaps this was state of the art period cookery thirteen years
ago?

Looking through the recipes, I see that no original recipes or sources are
given.  From my own work on period cookery, I recognize the sausage hedgehogs
(Yrchouns), the cherry bread pudding (Chirseye), leeks and mushrooms (Funges),
and pears in red wine (Wardons in Syrup) as redactions of period recipes.  How
accurate the redactions are I can't say without tracking down the originals,
but they look pretty close.  One of the sources listed in the bibliography is
Hieatt and Butler's _Pleyn Delit_, which is quite good; another is a
translation of Apecius, and they do mention to avoid Vehling's translation as
being full of errors.  But no sources are given for the original recipes, not
even which book they came out of, if any.  I'm very suspicious of the Finnish
Berry Pudding, which involves Cream of Wheat, and for "dessert squares" they
recommend trying a modern gingerbread recipe or Honey Cake Cockaigne from _Joy
of Cooking_!  So at best it appears to be a mixture of redactions of period
recipes without originals, modern recipes, and possibly some ethnic ones.

Brangwayna
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