SC - Medieval Portuguese cookbooks?

[Bonne of Traquair]

>From: Thomas Gloning <Thomas.Gloning at germanistik.uni-giessen.de>
>Subject: SC - Medieval Portuguese cookbooks?
>Date: Thu, 01 Jul 1999 16:23:37 +0200
>
>Hello Jessica/Jehanne,
>
>"Foi serodia e escassa a producao de livros impressos portugueses de
>cozinha" (The production of printed Portuguese cookbooks was late and
>scarce). This is the first sentence in "Livros portugueses de cozinha",
>a bibliography on portuguese cookbooks, published Lisbon 1988
>[Biblioteca Nacional, Catálogo 29].
>
>The only 15th/16th century text extant seems to be the cookbook in the
>Codex I.E.33 of the National Library in Naples, a manuscript that seems
>to have belonged to Infanta D. Maria of Portugal. This text has been
>edited for several times:
>
>
>-- Newman, E.: A critical edition of an Early Portuguese cook book.
>Diss. (Univ. of North Carolina) Chapel Hill 1964.


At last, I made it down to Davis Library here at UNC and reviewed the copy 
of this dissertation in the microforms section.  The original seems to have 
disappeared.  I haven't had much time to go over it, but here are the basics 
of what is contained in the dissertation.

- -Introduction describing the manuscript in Naples and quotations (in 
Portuguese and Spanish) of earlier references to it. It is mostly in one 
hand, with additions and notations in three other hands, one completely 
illegible.  There are large numbers of pages missing, 24 recipes in the 
remaining pages.

- -definition of abbreviations apppearing in the manuscript.

- -comparison with the recipes in "Two 15th Century Cookbooks", (Thomas 
Austin, 1888) and "The Goodman of Paris",(Eileen Edna Power, 1928) 
(Conclusion, not too similar or repetitive, the Portuguese ate differently 
than the English and French of the middle ages.) (but then again, there's 
all those missing pages to consider--Bonne)

- -ennumeration of the sorts of dishes ("...partidges are used twice, young 
cocks twice and doves once.")

- -discussion/definition of ingredients.

- -discussesion/definition of utensils.

- -discussesion/definition of measurements.

- -index of the recipes which begins with a translation of the title and list 
of ingredients, but along the way she begins adding more and more bits of 
description, nearly giving instructions for the last few.

- -discussion of the text from a linguistic standpoint: Description of 
editorial liscense she has used in her transcribing.

- -Transcribed but not translated recipes.

- -More linguistic discussion (the dissertation was for a Ph.D. in Romance 
Languages)

- -Glossary

- -Bibliography.

I printed out everything except the linguistic discussion and transcribed 
recipes, this made up about half the pages of the dissertation.  I'l be 
reading it over and posting more if it seems useful. I'll probably go back 
and get the recipes and all anyway, with her description and a good 
portugues/english dictionary, even I might be able to come up with  passable 
translation of some of the recipes.

I can fax these 50 or so pages if anyone wants to see them.  I am 
considering scanning and posting, but am not sure about UNC's views on 
copyright for this.  I'll check.  (in the meantime, let's not open THAT 
discussion here and now!)


Bonne de Traquair



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