SC - "Ren Recipes" by G Riley

[Olwen the Odd]

On Fri, 1 Sep 2000, Adler, Chris wrote: 
> Hello,
> The name of the book is "Renaissance Recipes (Painters & Food) " by Gillian
> Riley. It's out of print, according to Amazon. I got the book as a prize
> from an A&S competition, and also don't recommend the redacted recipes since
> they're very modernized (and there's no original recipes cited). 

The text and recipes are not referenced and the bibliography/references
are not helpful.

> The artwork is quite beautiful and yes, the forward talks at length about
> various famous cooks - it's interesting, but I don't know enough yet to know
> if it's very accurate. Can anyone comment on the veracity of this book's
> text material?

The pictures of the kitchens and the costuming make it worth having the
book.  

I have made some of the recipes in the book.   They are tasty and the
measurements seem to be correct.  My favorite is Michelangelo's fennel
dish.  I don't know if it was found in his notes, but it is good hot as a
side dish.  Even my son ate it -- and he is not fond of green, healthy
things.

If I remember correctly, the last dish, a pudding type of dessert, is
supposedly from Martha Washington's recipe book.  Not having Martha's
book, I can not compare Ms. Riley's redaction to the original.  Such a
comparison could shed some light on the veracity of the book in general.

HTH

Ariann