[Sca-cooks] Re: (Period cookery questions)

[johnna holloway]

It depends on the accounts and the period of
interest. There are large differences in what
was recorded and in also what has been published.
There are some accounts that detail what was transferred
from the country estates for use in the townhouses in London.
These can be quite detailed or just a mention that so
much food of a certain value was sent along.
I have been wondering what the estate accounts look
like for the Medici estates. There were those gorgeous
artworks that depict all the various varieties of
pears and lemons; what do the written accounts say with
regard to which estate grew which fruits/varieties.
I shall have to see if the National Gallery of Art has
restocked that catalogue yet for the Medici exhibit.


Johnna Holloway  Johnnae llyn Lewis

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> These household accounts often did not mention items that
> were grown or made on the premises. So you sometimes have
> to be careful of this. Each type of source material has
> its bad and good points.>
> However, that likely would not apply to imported spices. It
> might for herbs though.