[Sca-cooks] Greetings

[a5foil]

The Honorable Lord Stefan asked:
> Are you concentrating on a particular time period in Spain?

My work right now is focused on the period from around 1324 to about 1450,
but I would like trace the lineage of some of the Catalan receipts back to
their Muslim roots in the earlier Hispano-Magreb cuisine.

>
> For those less than versed in these kinds of things, what/where is
> "Catalunya"?

Catalunya is in the northeastern region of Spain, centered around Barcelona.
In the period I am researching, it was a principality aligned with the
Kingdom of Aragon. The Catalan influence on medieval European history is
often understated, but the Aragonese/Catalan empire included (at one point)
all of the northeast quarter of Spain, the Balearic islands, Sardinia, all
of Italy from just south of Rome southward, Sicily, and part of Greece. They
had the largest mercenary force in the Med.

>
> Wonderful. Please let us know when it is available on either the web or
> in print form.

Most of the redactions are complete and the recipes are about to go out to
beta test. Once the results are back, the booklet goes to press -- hopefully
this summer or fall, depending on how fast folks turn in their evaluation
sheets. The recipes all have the original, a pseudo-literal translation
(important for comparison to other medieval cuisines) and a modern redaction
for tables of 8. Folk who have attended by classes and demos have tasted a
few of these dishes, already.

Thanks for the info. The Florilegium has been an important on-line source
for me for some years, now.

Regards,
Thomas