[Sca-cooks] Recipe Books

[johnna holloway]

Ah, but which country and which time period are you
talking about?

I deal largely with early printed books and that includes
a wide variety of cookbooks from a number of countries in a
number of languages. These reflect what was cooked in much
the same way that modern cookbooks reflect what is cooked now.

There is another entire literature that concerns the dietaries and the
medical books and manuscripts. Those differ from the volumes on
 cookery in many regards and instances. They tell you which foods
should be eaten, not in most cases how one should prepare such foods.

You might want to read Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe by
Adamson for an overview of medieval cuisnes.
Also see Ken Albala's Eating Right in the Renaissance for the latest
information on dietaries and dietary advice.

Johnnae llyn Lewis   Johnna Holloway

Luanne Bartholomew wrote:>
> Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't most of our recipe sources
> actually more like health manuals? How do we know these recipes
> reflect how people really ate? After all, how many of us today are
> vegan? or do food combining? Or eat only raw foods?
> > Opinions, anyone?>
> Irmele