SC - Renaissance (and other) Cooks

[TG]

<< I'm still looking for around for books that can give me some
biographical information on various cooking people in the Renaissance.
I've been thinking hard and the only person I can come up with would be
the wife in Le Menagier du Paris. >>

I am not sure if she is supposed to cook herself; the beginning of
section II iv of the Menagier suggests, that rather she is supposed to
supervise, to order, to arrange and to plan, what a certain "maistre
Jehan" is to fulfill ("De la deuxiesme Distinction la quart article qui
vous doit aprendre que vous, comme souverain maistre de vostre hostel,
sachiez commander et diviser a maistre Jehan disners et souppers et
deviser mes et assiectes"; ed. Brereton/Ferrier p. 170).

<< 1. In my own collection I only have excerpts from Le Menagier.  What
book(s) do I want to request from Inter Library Loan that either give
full text of Le Menagier or give text and commentary? >>

There are two standard editions (both usable):
- -- Brereton, G.E./ Ferrier, J.M.: Le Menagier de Paris. Oxford 1981.    
- -- Pichon, J. (éd.): Le Ménagier de Paris. Traité de morale et
d'économie domestique, composé vers 1393 par un Bourgeois parisien. Deux
volumes. Paris 1846. Reprint Genf o.J.

<< 2.  Can anyone name any other cooks I may wish to consider doing
biographical research on? >>

- -- Maistre Chiquart
(see Scully's edition in Vallesia, and his Engl. transl.; see also the
appendix in Scully's 'Early French cookery': the fictional 'A day in the
Life of mater Chiquart Amiczo, Chef of the Duke of Savoy (1416 A.D.', p.
333ff.)

- -- Taillevent (14th century)
(much biographical data in the Pichon/Vicaire edition: Pichon, J./
Vicaire, G. (Hg.): Le viandier de Guillaume Tirel dit Taillevent
(1326-1395). Paris 1892. Nachdruck der Ausgabe von 1892, erweitert um
das 1953 erstmals veröffentlichte Manuskript von Sion. Luzarches
(Morcrette) o.J.; see also Scully's new edition.)

- -- Maestro Martino ("the guy that Platina got his recipes from")
(see books and articles of Milham, Benporat, Bertoluzza, Scully: Cuoco
Nap.)

- -- Maister Hanns, des von Wirtemberg Koch (his cookbook 1460)
(see the Ehlert edition)

- -- Scappi, his Opera 1570
(see the reprint of his 'Opera', 1981, for a short note and some
references, e.g. A. Willan, I maestri cucinieri da Taillevent a
Escoffier, Milano 1977, 32-45))

There are many less famous cooks, who wrote no cookbooks (e.g. Peter aus
Gernsheim, cook for the Bishop of Speyer, ca. 1470) or whose cookbooks
are not yet edited (e.g. Ulrich Schwartz, inn keeper at Augsburg around
1510)

Thomas