SC - Byzantine cuisine--sources?

[LYN M PARKINSON]

Archestratus, The Life of Luxury.  330 B.C.  Translation and commentary,
John Wilkins & Shaun Hill, Prospect Books, Devon, UK, 1994.	I
think I got mine from Poison Pen Press.

He mentions Byzantium.  He also mentions other cities around the
Mediterranean Sea.  He may be too early, but it wouldn't hurt to look. 
There are comments along with the fragments of poem by Archestratus,
listing various ideas as to what a particular fish may have been, etc.

Fragment 24. [Athenaeus 104f]  Archestratus in his much feted poem: But
leave aside a lot of the fancy nonsense and buy yourself a lobster
[astakos] which has long and heavy hands but small feet, and advances
only slowly over the land.  They are most numerous and the best of all
for quality in the Lipari islands.  The Hellespont also gathers many
together. p. 63.


The comment for this fragment lists other writers describing lobsters.  


I've spent some lovely hours looking at my Byz. costume books, art books,
etc.  There seem to be little except religeous examples, because art
historians don't seem to regard other art as 'significant'.  Four
examples may have food:

1. The birth of Mary, as St. Anne is offered food to restore her
strength. (In one example, it's too blurred to be sure if she's being
handed a swadled baby or a leg of lamb)

2. The Marriage at Cana; first of the miracles, you sometimes see food on
the table.

3. Salome dances before Herod at the banquet.

4. Peter's Mum-in-law gets up from her sick bed after being healed, and
fixes dinner.

Basically, the only examples are whole chicken and/or whole fish.  These
are things a poor artist, or one working with a difficult medium or tiny
size, as in manuscripts, can make realistic enough in outline to be
recognizeable.


Since I do some Byz costume, I'd be interested in what you might find on
the food.  I like a complete theme for an event; it's nice to know a good
bit about multiple areas of what you are doing.  Please let us know how
it goes.


Regards,

Allison
allilyn at juno.com, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Pittsburgh, PA
Kingdom of Aethelmearc

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