[Sca-cooks] Newest PPC Issue

[Elise Fleming]

The latest issue of Petits Propos Culinaires (PPC 70) published by
Prospect books has several articles of interest to our period.  The
frontispiece is a stone mould for funeral biscuits, time unstated,
but probably in the 1600s.

Constance Hieatt has a fascinating article entitled "Editing Recipes
as Comparative Literature".  The texts cited are all in period and
show how some of the recipes came to vary from their earlier
counterparts.  The "scribal errors" might show some of us what was
really meant in that puzzling recipe.

"Fish Bones and Food History" by Alison Locker (an
archaeozoologist!) delves into the types of fish commonly
eaten/found in the Roman, Saxon, medieval, and early modern periods.
Some of the data from what is left of the fish seem to
contraindicate what has been commonly believed regarding fish
consumption.

"Comments on the Interpretation of Plagiarism" by Henry Notaker
investigates the role of the publisher as the impetus for plagiarism
rather than the author.  Two lines were especially interesting to
me: "This research 'into the affiliation of recipes from cookery
book to cookery book' shows us that among all the 96 different
titles before 1700, only 59 are originals, the rest are acknowledged
translations or plagiarisms.  During the earliest years, until the
1540s, there are in fact only six or seven original texts."

The Book Review section is extensive this issue and includes a
review of Nanna's book _Icelandic Food and Cookery_.  Other
"period-ish" books reviewed include _Of household stuff. The 1601
inventories of Bess of Hardwick_, published by The National Trust;
Melitta Weiss Adamson's edition of _Das buch von guter spise_;
Harold Fox's _The Evolution of the Fishing Village: Landscape and
Society along the South Devon Coast, 1086-1550_; and _Regional
Cuisines of Medieval Europe_ edited by Melitta Weiss Adamson.  This
latter one is pricey at $85, but sure is fascinating.  (I have a
copy if anyone wants to journey to Cleveland to read it some
weekend!)

And, OOP, but for those of you who like salt-rising bread, there is
an article by Reinald S. Nielsen entitled "Salt-Rising Bread: A
Continuing Conundrum" where he details his search for a workable
recipe and for just what agent causes the bread to rise (Clostridium
perfringens, the active agent in gas gangrene, etc.!).

I'm off to bed to read this fascinating issue before it's time for
"lights out".

Alys Katharine