SC - Cookbook Advice {long}

[Ann & Les Shelton]

I will be sliding over the hill to age 40 in 2 weeks {proof you can grow
old without growing up}.  Since there's really nothing I desperately
need, I've decided to request additions to my library of cookbooks.
After digging around on a few lists, I've identified the following
potential candidates.  Any comments the list may have on any of these
would be appreciated {I couldn't find any comments in the Florilegium}:
 
John le Burguillun


1)  Mennell, Stephen.  "All Manners of Food:  Eating and Taste in
England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present,"  $15.16, ISBN
No. 02520664909.  Couldn't tell from the description how much related to
our time period of interest.
 
2)  Dembinska, Maria.  "Food and Drink in Medieval Poland:
Rediscovering a Cuisine of the Past," $20.97, ISBN No. 0812232240.
Looked interesting, not too expensive, an area of Europe I don't have
any information on currently.  Is this based on period documentation or
just on "traditional" folk recipes?
 
3)  Baber, Phillus Pray.  "Art, Culture and Cuisine:  Ancient and
Medieval Gastronomy," $50.00, ISBN No. 0226062538.   Somewhat pricey,
don't know how much of it is foodstuffs versus pretty pictures versus
culture, got great on-line reviews {for what little that's worth!}.
 
4)  Wright, Clifford.  "A Mediterranean Feast:  The Story of the Birth
of the Celebrated Cuisines of the Mediterranean from the Merchants of
Venice to the Barbary Corsairs, with more than 500 recipes."  $24.50,
ISBN No. 0688153054.  A cook I respect swears by Clifford Wright, but
this book got a blistering review, to wit "A pretentious and extremely
poorly organized book which purports to be both history and a cook
book.  The history sections are, in many instances, superficial and/or
pure speculation and the recipes are mostly regurgitations of recipes in
other (and better) cook books."  I've developed an interest in this
region {Platina, Santich, etc.} and this book appeals to me, but this is
a pretty rough review to overcome.
 
5)  Scully, Terence.  "The Neopolitan Recipe Collection: (New York,
Pierpoint Morgan Library, MS Buhler 19): A Critical Edition and English
Translation," $47.50, ISBN No. 0472109723.  My first choice; a little
expensive, but Scully's fairly reliable.  I have library access to
"Early French Cookery" and "Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages," so I've
never bothered to buy either, although they're certainly other options.
 
6)  Dalby, Andrew and Sally Granger.  "The Classical Cookbook," $17.47,
ISBN No. 0892363940.  Covers ancient cuisine {Rome, Greece, etc}; don't
know anything about these authors, so it could be great or it could be
another "Fabulous Feasts."

Just FYI: all the prices listed came from amazon.com.  You can probably
find better prices elsewhere.