[Sca-cooks] Save Apicius!

[Susan Fox]

>From the mailing list of the Culinary Historians of Southern California:



Help Save Marcus Apicius!

 

Most culinary historians know about the cookery manuscript attributed to
Marcus Apicius, the first century Roman gourmand. Containing five hundred
recipes, the manuscript was assembled and hand copied in the fourth
century.  In the ninth century, monks at the Fulda monastery in Germany
recopied the recipes in a simple manuscript adorned by red letters. This
ninth century manuscript has amazingly survived through twelve hundred years
of wars and natural disasters and is believed to be the earliest copy of
Apicius, the only recipe collection we have from the ancient Mediterranean.

 

During the Reformation, the manuscript was shipped to the Vatican Library,
which also owned another, slightly later, set of Apicius¹s recipes.  The
Vatican sold the Fulda manuscript to a private collector. The manuscript was
sold at auction and eventually was given to the New York Academy of
Medicine.  The 1,200 year-old manuscript is falling apart and needs to be
rebound. The New York Academy of Medicine approached a professional
manuscript restorer; the estimated cost of rebinding is $15,000. 

 

The Culinary Trust, the philanthropic partner of the International
Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) has taken on the task of
raising the necessary funds to restore this manuscript and to promote the
importance of preserving our culinary heritage. All funds collected will go
directly to this restoration project. For more information about the Trust,
go to: The Culinary Trust.com

 

I¹d be delighted to answer any questions­ please email me at
asmith1946 at aol.com

 

Andrew F. Smith

Vice Chair/Chair elect

The Culinary Trust