SC - Apicius

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Gaylin wrote:
> 
> Master A wrote:
> 
> >The trouble with this line of thinking is that there aren't as many
> >direct parallels between the food of the Rome of Apicius and the
> >Rome/Vatican of Platina. There are some very basic similarities, but
> >they're pretty superficial.
> 
> And if I was just looking for the superficial similarities, then I
> might agree with you. However, that is not my main goal. To look
> for the similarities I think is always valuable even if the net
> result is a discovery of dissimilarity. My goal, however, is not
> to do so for that purpose but rather to examine the stemma of
> Platina's work. I want to get into his mind. I can do that by
> looking at Apicius.

Um, how? I confess I haven't been looking for similarities or
differences, I've simply looked at the two works side by side, and noted
similarities (few) and differences (numerous). I suspect the stemma of
Platina's work (or the actual culinary portion thereof) is more closely
related to Martino and his precedents in Spain and Italy, which,
ultimately, are probably as much Celtic and Moorish as they are Roman. 
> 
> I want to see why he tried (and why I believe he failed) to
> adequately use an Apician division to his cookbook. I want to
> see where he took Apician material and added Pliny. I want to see
> where he skipped Apcius in favor of Martino. I want to see if I
> can trace the Arabic traditions back to the Greek medicine in
> the Hippocratic corpus and in the work of Galen. And what about
> the traditions derived from some of the other aspects you
> mentioned? Did, perhaps, Platina look at some of the more
> militaristic manuals in search of information? Did he perhaps
> glance at Vegetius somewhere in his trip down the library
> shelves? I don't know. I doubt it. But I feel compelled to look.

Fair enough. I've never sat and read Platina through, from cover to
cover, at one sitting. Perhaps if I do, I'll notice a significant
Apician contribution that I've previously missed. It's quite clear that
Platina was an extremely well-read man and had many influences, but
given that he includes recipes that he says are bad for people, both
individually and generally, it seems that his culinary advice (again,
mostly taken from Martino) is more subject to medical commentary than
medical guidance.
> 
> Yes, Sir, there is a danger. But it's one I desperately
> want to face.

Okay, so perhaps I got too far ahead of things. I would never discourage
anybody from doing research, and if you've done enough to formulate a
thesis to pursue and defend with further research, more power to you. I
was just concerned about the possibility that you'd come up with this
theory out of whole cloth and were looking for evidence to support it,
which is an eminently practical way of distorting the facts,
intentionally or otherwise. Perhaps I erred on the side of caution; it
wouldn't be the first time, and perhaps it makes up for the
cuskynoles...  
> 
> So again I ask my original question: when people quote Apicius
> typically reference a number like "Apicius 227." If the
> numbers reference recipe numbers, which text are they using?

AFAIK, the only edition that uses such a numbering system is Vehling. Phooey.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com