SC - Re: Vivendier

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

HI all from Anne-Marie:
we are asked about T. Scully's work:
> Really? I've been laboring under the assumption that there were
> far better sources to use. I admit to knowing little about the
> subject, but I had thought that other members of the list
> believed that Scully was not up to snuff in the arena of
> redacting/translation/creation/whatever due to use of non-period
> ingredients.
> 
> Good grief! Have I been laboring under false assumptions all
> this time and avoiding the Scully books for no reason?
> 

He's a French language/literature prof, who thinks cookbooks are fun. This
means he's sorta the big name in translating French cookbooks, though there
is some discussion (as always) on some of the finer points of translation.

He also is a strong advocate of the concept that humoral theory colored
everything that medieval cooks did. This is the subject of some debate,
some feel that humoral theory was prevalent in the ancient texts, and came
around again in the renaissance, but that the intervening centuries didnt
consider it much in cooking and diet.

As for his reconstructions, they're ok (ie better than the much aligned Fab
Feasts! :)), but he is not so much interested in exact re-creation of the
original as producing something kinda-sorta-close.

I have all his books (just ordered _la vivendier_), but do my own
reconstruction work from the originals he provides, and often will double
check his translation of key words with Cotgrave or some other useful
dictionary. I like his work on Chiquart (he did a great job of footnoting
everything within an inch of its life :)), prefer the James Prescott
translation of Taillevent (and not just cuz he's from here), and recommend
his _Early French Cookery_ as a good starting place for beginners, in spite
of the gooffy illustrations.

Hope this helps!
- --Anne-Marie
Seattle/Wa
Madrone/An Tir
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