SC - Book recommendation/order of service

[H B]

- --- swbro at earthlink.net wrote:
> 
> I have been reading Scully's Medival Food, and would like to read
> more about
> the humors of food.  Does anybody have a favorite book they would
> recommend?
> Scully lists his sources, but none in English that I have seen yet. 
> I would
> like to be able to plan a menu, understanding the medievally logical
> progression of dishes.  Also, to understand which spices and food
> preparations would most complement a particular food.  Thanks in
> advance
> 
> Eleanor d'Aubrecicourt

I have just begun to read the new _The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from
France and Italy_ by Odile Redon et al., and in the first chapter is a
section on "The Order of a Meal" that touches very briefly on this;
they say that while fewer _menus_ from Italy have survived than from
France, what does exist seems to follow the same basic pattern, which I
will quote a bit of here:

"The menu was organized around the pivot point of the roast, which was
preceded by one or two courses and followed by one, two, or three more.
 The progression of foods without doubt reflected dietary principles:
if the stomach is like a stew pot in which the various foods are
'cooked,' the 'mouth' of that organ must be 'opened' with fresh
seasonal fruits such as melon, cherries, strawberries, or grapes, or
with salads dressed as modern ones are with salt, oil, and vinegar: in
other words, with items containing acids.  Now the stomach was ready to
receive dishes with sauce -- known as _potages_ or _brouets_ -- which,
it was thought, required a long 'cooking' time.

"Then came roasted meats accompanied by various sauces.  After the
roasts, the host would have felt obliged to provide a sort of
intermission or entertainment often knowns as an _entremets_.  The
_entremets_ -- a word which in France referred also to a whole range of
sweet and salted preparations served at this point in the meal (and
today designates sweet desserts) -- could be any one of many widely
varied entertainments: music, dancing, acrobatic arts, or mock combats.
 Another element in these interludes could be food in masquerade, such
as pies containing live birds, or poultry covered in golden feathers,
or other roasted birds with their own plumage replaced.

"The meal proper resumed with _desserte_ -- like our modern dessert,
with one or more sweet dishes -- and continued with the _issue de
table_ (literally 'departure from the table'): cheese, candied fruits,
and light cakes, often served with hypocras (a sweet, spiced wine) or
sweet malvoisie or malvasia wines.  All these things, eaten just before
rising from the table, were intended to 'close' the stomach and
activate the process of 'cooking': digestion.  Finally came the
_boute-hors_, which as its name suggests, was eaten in a different
room.  It consisted of _epices de chambre_ -- 'parlor spices' as we
might call them -- such as _dragees_ and candied coriander seed and
gingerroot, chewing which aided the digestion and sweetened the
breath."

The section goes on to discuss variations and other stuff, and the
various sources used, and I'm sure the original sources have more on
the humors aspects; don't know if this book gets to it later yet.  But
for a basic order of service, I thought it most fortuitous that I
happened to be reading this section just today, and thought I'd share a
wee bit.  Looks to be a really fun book; for those of us just
beginning, a lot to think about.  Perhaps those of you with more
expertice would comment on the validity of this simplification?  Or on
the book in general, if you've seen it?

- -- Harriet
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