SC - danish recipes from 1300

[Thomas Gloning]

And it came to pass on 20 Jul 99,, that Thomas Gloning wrote:

> There is a now lost original. There are (at least) three manuscripts
> with texts that stem from this original: a (low) German, a Danish, an
> Icelandic version. The nature of the recipes is mediterranean.
[snip]
> I understand from the contributions that the Danish version is in
> Copenhagen, the Icelandic version is in the Arni Magnússon Institute.
> 
> Where is the manuscript with the German version?

I have not been closely following this thread, so forgive me if I repeat 
anything which has already been said.

There is an article on Danish culinary sources in _Du Manuscrit a La 
Table_, which is an anthology of essays on medieval cuisine.  The book 
was edited by Carole Lambert and published in 1992 by the University 
Press of Montreal, and at least half of the contents are in French.  
(ISBN 2-7606-1564-2)

One of the essays in the book is "Sources of Medieval Cuisine in 
Denmark" by Bi Skaarup.  It begins with a brief discussion of this c. 
1300 Danish cookbook (brief, because Rudolf Grewe's paper -- which is 
not included in this book -- had already covered the topic in great detail). 
I have quoted below the parts which seem to address your question.

- - - - begin quoted text - - -
There are two known versions of this cookery book, both of them in the 
Royal Library of Copenhagen, Denmark.  The oldest, known as codex 
K, is part of a manuscript in which herbals and lapidaries predominate.  
These have been attributed to the Danish scholar and physician Henrik 
Harpestreng, who died in 1244.  However, neither the cookery book nor 
the lapidaries have anything to do with the physician Harpestreng.  
Cookery books often appear in medical manuscripts, and usually 
consist of collections taken from various sources; they are rarely the 
work of a single author.  Codex K is dated at circa 1300.

The other version, known as codex Q, was originally kept in the Royal 
Library in Stockholm, Sweden, where it was part of a codex which also 
contained two medieval law texts.... Codex Q is dated fifty years later 
than K, at around 1350.

The two codices are not directly related.  K has undoubtedly been 
translated from a Low German version, while Q apparently has its origin 
in a French text; its language and contents, however, show that the 
Urtext to both must have been a now lost French cookery book.

- - - - end quoted text - - -

I would gather from the above that the Low German version is lost.

Incidently, there is a footnote to the article which says that Rudolf 
Grewe and Constance B. Hieatt are preparing a new edition of these 
manuscripts.  Anyone know if this project is still in the works?

The rest of the article is about two sources of information on actual 
Danish cookery.  One source is the household account books of Queen 
Christine, covering a period of 1496-1521.  The other is a complete 
listing of meals eaten in one year (c. 1520) by a certain Catholic bishop.

Brighid


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
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