[Sca-cooks] EK Crown Tourney Feast Wrap-Up (Very Long)

[Patrick Levesque]

Well, the dust has settled, I've had some sleep, so I can finally sit down
and tell about it!

I was pretty lucky during the day to have the help of a few devoted helpers
(four of which spent the whole day in the kitchen with me) and a lot of
people who dropped in whenever their duties or schedule allowed (including
Mistress Ardenia and Mistress Micaylah, both of whom I'm always happy to see
in my kitchen!) 

I was also lucky to get a scout camp kitchen, including all the appliances
(Walk-in fridge, 3 microwaves, 2 gas ovens, 1 electric oven, cooking plate,
stoves, electric warmer) and cooking ustensils - this made our life easier
on numerous occasions.

The site, however, had two problems: the gas ovens weren't too effective,
and the tap water was not potable. Seemed they had forgotten to tell us
about this bit. Fortunately, they supplied the kitchen with 18 4-gallons
jars of water. 

All and all, it was a pretty good day. I got up at 5h30 to pick up the
various orders I'd placed and actually managed to make it to the site about
45 minutes ahead of scheduled. This basically allowed me to get all my stuff
out, sort it out according to dishes and courses, and then leave to get a
little poutine to eat (This is a personal thing I do everytime I'm cooking
feast) before getting back into things, at arount 1h30 PM.

The prep work went really well, without major hurdles. I took care to block
the two entrances to the kitchen so as not to be disturbed by the numerous
passer-bys and their just as numerous requests - One of my helpers did have
the common sense of setting up some mint tea and hot water just outside the
kitchens, thus alleviating a lot of the traffic :-)

In fact, we got most of the prep work done with, before court began, and
thus began to slow down a little, expecting the 90 minutes, than 60 minutes
warning I'd asked for to time my stuff.

Warning did not arrive.

I got a little worried.

Then we hear we had actually 40 minutes left, and we started in a hurry with
the preparations we had in store (cooking mushroom, putting lamb roasts in
ovens, etc, etc...)

Then we'd just about finished putting the lamb to roast, and lo, a messenger
arrives... With my 90 minutes warning... It was nearly 6h30 PM... An
insanely long tourney, and long court had filled all of the day, and by the
time court got over, the hall set up, the diners seated, and Royalty back
and ready to eat, it was a quarter to 9.

I had planned for a 2h30 long feast. So we rushed to get the feast done as
fast as we could at this point. The service team that had been assembled did
a terrific job and helped a lot with this.

This is when we realized the problems with the gas oven - the roasts were
just not cooking fast enough in the gas ovens. The were doing fine, however,
in the electric oven. This delayed feast a bit (that, and an unreliable meat
thermometer - mine, actually :-((   ). We skipped the final phase of the
lamb roasts - covering it with a breadcrumb crust - to save some time. The
problems with the oven - which I believed could have been caused by
overloaded ovens, actually re-occurred with the salmon.
By the time dessert went out, however, I believe it was around 11h30, si I'd
actually overshot my schedule by 15 minutes. However, I had to remove the
salmon from the 5th course - we handed it out as leftovers afterwards. They
were fine fresh pieces of salmon too, and it breaks my heart still when I
think about it... (ok, it's not that bad, but it did pis me off seriously,
although I should have realized earlier what was going on with the ovens and
prepared accordingly).

Despite these little problems, I'm actually quite happy with the feast
itself. It's probably one of my most authentic (if somewhat OOP, but see the
documentation below for an explanation) so far, but I'm already planning how
I can make the next ones better.

Also, I' quite pleased by the fact that although I had food for 200, and
about 150 diners (although I'm pretty sure a few offboard attendees helped
themselves as well, but hey, that's ok, there was plenty for all) there was
very little leftovers by the end of the evening. (Except, once again, the
salmon...). Heard nothing but good comments afterwards, but, then again,
they are not likely to tell me if it sucks, so.. :-))

For those of you who are interested by these things, I've copied the menu,
sources, redactions and documentation below. There may be a few footnotes
missing, they don't seem to copy so well in my mail client. I do have PDF
copies available on request.

YIS

Petru

---

Feast Menu and Ingredients:

 

1st course: 

 

Bread

Mushrooms in cream sauce (mushrooms, cream, wine, oranges, onions, vinegar,
spices)

Pureed peas (peas, sorrel, spinach, capers, herbs)

 

2nd course:

 

Duck pie (duck, pie dough, bacon, wine, vinegar, saltt, spices, lemon, eggs,
butter)

Cantaloup slices with sugar

Salad (various greens, vinegar, oil, sugar)

 

3rd course:

 

Lamb roast (Lamb, bread crumbs, parsley, salt, oil or butter)

Sour cherry sauce (sour cherries in syrup, ginger, cinnamon, red wine, red
wine vinegar)

Olives, slices of orange and lemon

 

4th course: 

 

Fritters (apples, pears, cottage cheese, swiss cheese, flour, wine, eggs,
milk)

Preserves (strawberries, sugar)

 

5th course: 

 

Salmon (salmon, cloves, butter)

Shrimps (shrimp, fish stock)

Sauce (butter, fish stock, nutmeg, flour, more butter!!!)

 

 

6th course: 

 

Fruits, cream, sugared almonds and hazelnuts


Some background information on the sources used

 

Most of the recipes for this feast come from Les Délices de la Campagne, a
cookery book published in France in 1654 by Nicolas Bonnefons, and reedited
a number of times afterwards. My working version is a facsimile of the
second edition, which was published in 1655. This facsimile, as well as
numerous other historic French documents, are freely available on the FTP
server of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (http://gallica.bnf.fr
<http://gallica.bnf.fr/> ).

 

There are many reasons why I deliberately and consciously selected as a
principal source a text which is out of our time period. The most important
idea was to illustrate exactly in which regard this is not period food.
Cookery in mid-seventeenth century France underwent a drastic evolution, if
not to say a minor revolution, with the appearances of texts presenting
recipes that differed considerably with the style of the Italian
Renaissance, to this point prevalent in French kitchens. This Italian
influence was caused in part by the arrival of Catherine de Medicis at the
French court in the sixteenth century as well as by the enormous popularity
of Platina¹s De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine , which was translated and
published a number of times throughout the sixteenth century.[1] <#_ftn1>

 

What is apparent in this era, as witnessed in this text, and especially in
Le Cuisinier Francais, published at roughly the same time, is the emphasis
brought to individual foodstuffs.[2] <#_ftn2> Each item is showcased as
unique, and there is a rediscovery of a simpler taste, distanced from the
elaborate and sometimes extravagant confections of the Late Middle Ages and
Renaissance (such as those found in Le Viandier or Chiquart¹s Du Fait de
Cuisine) This revolution in French cuisine later paved the way for Antonin
Carême (1784-1833) who would latter establish the firm bases of French
modern cuisine. 

 

It is important to note, for example, the definite turn towards dairy fats
as thickening agents. Cream and butter act as binder in various sauces  -
this is obvious in the Sauce Tournée, a direct ancestor of Carême¹s .Sauce
au Beurre, where butter is the principal ingredient of the sauce. There is a
drastic change between this work and the earlier Ouverture de Cuisine by
Lancelot de Casteau (1604) where cream is employed only on specific
occasions. Butter and flour are also used consistently as thickening agents,
replacing breadcrumbs. The Renaissance taste for sharpness, and the ubiquity
of vinegar in sauces, is also less obvious here, it is sometimes replaced by
the less sharp verjus, and more often by wines. While spices were used
extravagantly in earlier cuisines, there is a focus on certain, more
important spices, such as pepper, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves ­ mace,
galingale and grains of paradise are rarely mentioned in this treatise, as
well as ambergris and musk. Although Bonnefons acknowledges the necessity
for the wealthy to display their riches by displaying rarer foodstuffs the
impression that one gets from the text is that an appropriate display of
skills from the Maître D¹Hôtel and his staff is just as important, if not
more, to maintain the glory of his patron.[3] <#_ftn3>

 

The order of appearance of the dishes is also explicitly stated by Bonnefons
in his conclusions, where he gives two models for banquets: one for a table
of 30 people, and one for about 12 persons. I have used the first model, and
have taken the dishes from the menu given for meat days, found on pp.373-380
of Les Délices de la Campagne. I haven¹t of course made all the dishes ­ his
instructions involve eight courses - suggested by Bonnefons, but have
selected a few which I believed retained the original spirit of his
description. However he himself was a practical writer, and acknowledged:
³si l¹on veut moins dépencer, on reduira deux services en un, faisant choix
de ce qui y conviendra le mieux; j¹écris pour les hommes raisonnables comme
sont ceux qui s¹ingerent de la conduite des festins...² (³If we want to
spend less, we well present two courses in one, choosing what is more
suitable; I write for reasonable men, as are those who take care of
organizing feasts...²) (p.382).

 

            One note on spices: a spice mix ideal for all dishes is handed
out by Bonnefons on pp.42-43 of Les Délices de la Campagne. I have therefore
used the same spices whenever they are called without mention of a specific
spice. The mix is:

 

3 quarter pound pepper

1 quarter pound ginger

1 ounce each cloves,  nutmeg and cinnamon

5 pounds salt. 

 

 Needless to say I¹ve gone a bit easier on salt. Feel free to add your own
if you wish to. 
Original recipes, translation, redaction and comments

 

(NB: for the French version I have retained the original spelling of the
text. All translations are my own unless indicated otherwise)

 

Puree of Peas

 

ŠPour faire une bonne purée il faut prendre de la première, & y mettre cuire
de l¹ozeille & autres herbes à pottages, des racines de persil, des
raiponces, des capres et du pourpier perce pierre, ou concombre saléŠ(p.152)

ŠTo make a good puree you will take of the first, & add to cook sorrel and
other pot herbs, parsley roots, rampions, capers, and purslane, or salted
cucumberŠ

 

³Take of the first² means the first kind of pureed peas (Bonnefons describes
three ways to make pureed peas on p. 151) I have used spinach and ³herbes de
Provence² for pot herbs, for they fit Bonnefons¹s directions. I have been
unable to find rampions and purslane, and have not added them. Finally,
given the very summary instructions of Bonnefons, I have added butter to the
final mix to make a smoother and more tasteful puree.

 

Redaction (for 200 persons):

 

-6kg of frozen peas

-1,5kg of spinach

-Between 32 and 40 large sorrel leaves

-About 10 chopped parsley roots

-450g capers

-Dry ³herbes de Provence²

-1,5 kg melted butter

 

This is fairly easy to prepare. Boil the peas and chopped parsley roots long
enough that they become easy to puree (about 20 minutes). Towards the end,
add the leafy greens, herbs and capers. (I prepared the puree and froze the
mix at this point). Add melted butter, mix well and serve.

 

Mushrooms in cream sauce

 

ŠPour les apprester, vous les esplucherez bien & les jetterez dans l¹eau
Claire où vous les laisserez tremper, puis vous les ferez parboüillir dans
un peu d¹eau pour leur oster leur plus grande force, d¹où on les tirera &
esgoutera; apres cela on les fera cuire dans un pot ou poëslon avec une
sauce faite de beurre, sel, espiceries, oignon, vinaigre, & quelque morceau
d¹orenge ou citron; Quand ils seront bien cuits, & que toute la sauce en
sera desechée, vous les tirerez, les mettrez dans un plat, les esgoutterez
bien & y respandrez un jus de gigot, [Š] si vous n¹avez du jus de gigot,
vous laisserez un peu de la sauce dans laquelle ils auront cuit [Š] La
cresme douce est aussi excellente pour lier & épaissir la sauce, un peu
auparavant que de les servir sur table. (pp.114-5)

ŠTo prepare them, you will peel them well and throw them in clear water
where you will leave them to soak, then parboil them in a little water to
remove their strong taste, and take them out and drain them; afterwards cook
in a pot or a pan with a sauce made from butter, salt, spices, onion,
vinegar and a piece of orange or lemon; When they are well cooked and that
all the sauce has dried away, you will take them out and put them in a
plate, drain them well and add some meat stock [Š] if you do not have meat
stock leave a little of the sauce in which they have cooked [Š] Sweet cream
is also excellent to thicken the sauce, slightly before serving them on the
table. 

 

Redaction (for 8 persons)

 

1 lb of mushrooms

2 tablespoon butter

1/2 a small onion, chopped

1/2 cup white wine vinegar diluted in white wine

A quarter of a lemon or bitter orange

1/2 cup fresh cream

Salt and spices, to taste

 

In a small pot, melt the butter, lightly fry the onion for a couple of
minutes and add the mushrooms (I skipped the boiling phase). Cook for a few
minutes, then add the vinegar, lemon or bitter orange (or a piece of both),
salt and spices. Cook until the sauce has almost boiled away. Add the fresh
cream, mix well, leave on the fire until it becomes warm enough, and serve.

 

Duck pies

 

On les coupe par morceaux, puis on les fait cuire dans la poësle ou estuvée
avec lard billeté ou beurre, eau, vin, vin-aigre, verjus, el, espiceries, &
quelque morceau de citron; faisant tout consommer la sauce, puis on verse
cette estuvée dans un plat pendant qu¹elle ucit, on fon ou faconnece la
paste, & on y met un lict de beurre ou de lard, puis la viande,  par-dessus
des tranches de lard, avec quelques feuilles de laurier : après on couvre le
pasté, & on le cuit au four pour le servir chaud; si vous y voulez couler
une sauce aux ¦ufs, ainsi que j¹ay dit aux poulets ce sera l¹excellence.
(p.241)

They are cut in pieces, then cooked in the pan or boiled with lard or
butter, water, wine, vinegar, verjuice, salt, spices, and some piece of
lemon; boiling away all the sauce, then you pour this mixture in a plate
while it cooks, you make the dough and add a layer of butter or lard, then
the meat, and on top slices of lard, with some laurel leaves. Afterward
cover the pie, and bake in the oven to serve hot. If you want to add an egg
sauce, as I said when talking about chickens, it will be excellent.

 

Redaction (for 8 persons):

 

1 6 lb duck

5 slightly cooked bacon slices

1/3 cup butter

1 cup red wine

1/4  cup red wine vinegar

(alternately white wine and white wine vinegar could be used)

1/2 a lemon

2 9²  pie crusts (home made or store bought)

2 laurel leaves

1 egg

Salt and spices, to taste

 

Roast the duck until well cooked. (You could quarter it and boil it in the
sauce without roasting, however, with the current health concerns regarding
duck I preferred not to take chances. Duck meat is well cooked at 82 degrees
C.). Remove all the meat from the duck. In a large pot, melt half the
butter. Add the duck meat, then the wine, wine vinegar, salt, spices and
lemon. Boil until the liquid is gone and the meat begins to undo easily (add
more liquid if necessary).

Prepare your dough, cover the bottom of a pie dish, add the remaining butter
on the dough, then the duck mixture, cover with the bacon slices (slightly
cook so they finish cooking nicely in the oven) and laurel leaves. Beat the
egg, add a dash of vinegar, and add to the pie. Cover with the second sheet
of dough, Baste with melted butter, cook 40 minutes in an oven pre-heated at
350 degrees F. 

 

This makes a slightly larger pie than the ones served at feast.

 

Sliced Cantaloup

 

Šordinairement on se contente de sel pour les manger cruds, quelques uns
pourtant se servent de sucre au lieu de sel. (p.119)

Šordinarily salt is enough to eat them raw, some however prefer to use sugar
instead of salt. 

 

I prefer sugar too! Feel free to add salt if you wish.

 

Salad

 

As I¹m writing this I do not yet know what will be added to the salad. It
will depend on market availability on the day of feast. However, according
to Bonnefons the following items can be added to salads:

 

-Broccoli, Cauliflower, beets (roots and leaves), horseradish, rampions,
parsley, skirret, salted cucumbers, lettuce, asparagus, chicory, chervil,
celery leaves, tarragon, cress, purslane.

 

(Note: the feast salad included lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley,
cress, rocket, salted cucumbers, chicory and cervil, and was dressed with
olive oil, white wine vinegar and sugar)

 

Lamb Roast

 

Que l¹on cuit `la broche sans estre lardée, mais seulement on l¹enrose de
beure, & quand on juge qu¹elle approche de sa parfaite quisson, on la poudre
de mie de pain, et & sel menu, luy donnant encore quelques tours de broche
pour faire prendre une couleur rousse au bainŠ(p.292)

It is roasted on a spit without being larded, but basted with butter, and
when it is nearly perfectly cooked, it is sprinkled with breadcrumbs and
fine salt, and give it a few more turns on the spit so that it takes a red
colourŠ

 

Redaction:

 

This is also fairly straightforward. Take a lamb roast. Melt butter in a
pan, and fry the roast on all sides for a minute or two per sides. Warm the
oven to 350 and cook the roast according to its weight. When it is almost
ready, mix breadcrumbs and salt with a little melted butter, and cover the
roast with this mixture. Put it back in the oven and broil for a minute or
two. Remove and serve.

I believe this to be the best approximation of the cooking method, in the
absence of a spit. 

 

(Note ­ we ran out of time and couldn¹t do the breadcrumbs cover at feast)

 

Sour Cherry Sauce

 

³Relish from Grapes. Pound dark grapes in a mortar, together with bread
crumbs, then mix a bit of verjuice or vinegar so that it does not become
sweeter than is enough. Make it boil on the hearth for a half hour, and add
some cinnamon and crushed ginger. When it has cooled, strain and put in
serving dishes.² (Platina, Book VIII, number 9).

 

³Relish with Cherries and Sour Cherries. You will make a relish from
cherries and sour cherries in the same way I have described for grapes. They
will differ, however, in color and flavour with adding more or less of those
things which I have said before could be put in. (Platina, Book VIII, number
11)²

 

Both translations are from Milham, and are found on pages 355-7 of Milham
1998. 

 

Redaction (for 8):

 

-350 g (about 12 ounces) pitted sour cherries

-1/2 cup verjus or vinegar

-1/2 cup wine

-1 tablespoon each ginger and cinnamon.

 

Put all the ingredients in the pot. If not in season, use preserved
cherries. They didn¹t always have fresh cherries in period, but they sure
knew how to preserve them! (Preserved sour cherries were used for the
feast). In this case I have mixed vinegar and wine to have a slightly less
sharp taste to the final mix.[4] <#_ftn4> Boil all the ingredients for 30
minutes. Let cool, serve.

 

 

 

 

 

Fritters

 

La pâte à beignets se fait avec de la farine, de formage mol, de laict, de
vin blanc, des oeufs, & du sel à discretion, que l¹on détrempe bien
ensemble, em consistence de boüillie. Dans cette pâte on trempe des tranches
de pommes, puis on les jette l¹une aprés l¹autre dans la friture de beurre
ou sains-doux [...] au lieu de pmmes, on trempera des petites tranches de
formqge fin que l¹on frira... (p.185-6)

The batter for fritters is made with flour, soft cheese, milk, white wine,
eggs, and salt to taste, which are well mixed together, in a runny
consistency. In this batter are soaked apple slices which are then thrown in
frying butter or lard [...] instead of apples, you will soak small slices of
fine cheese which you will then fry...

 

Redaction (for 24-30 fritters)

 

-1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

-1 pear, peeled, cored and sliced (not in the manuscript, but I add it for
variety)

-A few ounces of Swiss cheese, sliced 1/8 of an inch thick

-Butter

1 cup flour

1/2 cup White wine

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons cottage cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Make a standard pancake batter with the flour, salt, eggs, wine, milk and
cheese. Melt the butter in a hot pan, dip the sliced apples, pears and
cheese in the batter and throw them in the pan. When they are browning on
one side, flip them over, let them brown equally on both sides, then remove
and salt. 

 

Bonnefons leaves open the possibility of sprinkling them with sugar and
rosewater, which I decided not to do.

 
Strawberry Preserves
 

Strawberries were found in the French garden ­ there is a chapter in
L¹agriculture et la Maison Rustique devoted to their care (Book II, chapter
52) and further instructions are found at p. 576 of De Serres¹ Theatre
d¹agriculture et mesnage des champs. There are countless books of
instructions on the making of preserves in Period. Bonnefons himself had a
section on preserves at the ent of Le Jardiner François, (pp.273-314) where
unfortunately there is no mention of strawberries. Bonnefons does mention at
the end of his various chapters on all kinds of preserves, that other fruits
may be preserved to satisfy one¹s curiosity or out of thrift: L¹on pourra
aussi confir beaucoup d¹autres sortes de Fruicts [...] si par curiosité, ou
par excessive despence on vouloit faire voir des Fruicts confits de toutes
sortes..² Bonnefons generally uses sugar syrup to preserve fruits, although
red wine and fennel are sometimes added for flavour. This is also the advice
of an earlier French sources, Excellent & moult utile Opuscule à touts
necessaire, qui desirent avoir cognoissance de plusieurs exquises Receptes,
divisé en deux parties published in 1556 by Michel de Nostre-Dame, better
known today as Nostradamus. Throughout this book Nostradamus mentions three
ways to preserve fruits using either sugar, honey or wine must, sugar being
the preferred option.

Four our purposes I have simply preserved the strawberries in sugar syrup,
without any additional flavouring.

 

 
Grilled Salmon
 

...On couppe le saumon en dales ou roëlles, pour les mettre rôtir sur le
gril, les ayant boeurées & picquées de quelques clouds de girofle, puis
estant cuittes des deux costez on leur fait une sauce tournée... (p.348)

...We cut the salmon in filets or steak to roast them on the gril, having
buttered them and stuck a few cloves in them beforehand, they are then
cooked on both sides, and we make for them a turned sauce...

 

Redaction (for 8 people)

 

2lbs salmon filet

1 or 2 tablespoon butter

a dozen cloves

 

This would normally be cooked on the grill ­ for practical reasons these
were baked in the oven. The preparation is easy : Stick the cloves in the
salmon, pour the melted butter over and grill (or in this case, bake in an
aluminum sheet) until it reaches your favorite level of doneness.

 

 
Boiled Shrimp
 

...Toutes ces sortes de poissons se cuisent dans le bon cour-bouillon, pour
les manger au vin-aigre rosat ou simple avec le poivre. (p.370)

...All these types of fish are cooked in good stock, to be eaten with rose
vinegar or simply with pepper.

 

This recipe stands for all kind of shellfish (lobster, crabs, and other
shellfish). I¹ve used shrimp for it is easy to cook and inexpensive. There
isn¹t much point in handing out a detailed redaction for this recipe: you
boiled shrimp for a minute or two in fish stock and take them out, then
sprinkle some pepper on top.

 

Sauce Tournée (Butter Sauce)

 

...une sauce tournée faite avec un peu de cour-boüillon, du beurre & de la
muscade; quelques-uns pour l¹entretenir toûjours époisse, & afin qu¹en la
chauffant elle ne se clarifie point, y délayent un peu de farine... (p.332)

...a turned sauce made with a little fish stock, some butter and nutmeg.
Some to thicken it and to make sure it doesn¹t clear out when heated, add a
bit of flour...

 

This is very similar to the sauce au beurre of Carême. My redaction is as
follow:

 

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 cup fish stock

1/4 cup or more, butter...

 

Melt the butter and mix with the flour, add the fish stock and make sure it
thickens, then add the remainder of the butter and serve hot.

 

Dragées (Candies) 

 

>From Le Cuisinier François, p.433.

 

Prenés des amandes douces bien entieres, & les netoyés bien de leur
poussiere & ordure, mettez-les dans la bassine, dessechés-kes un peu sur le
feu, mettez du syrop dans l¹entonnoir avec soin de bien remuer la bassine et
faite tourner les dragées dedans, afin qu¹elles prennent toutes du sucre
également, vous les pouvés aussi quelquesfois remuer avec la main, & les
separer l¹une de l¹autre, s¹il y en a qui se tiennent...

Take whole, sweet almonds and clean them well of dust and impurities, put
them in a basin, dry them on the fire, pour sugar on them while carefully
shaking the basin and turn the candies in it, so that they are all equally
covered with sugar, you can also at times stir them with your hand and
separate them from one another, if they stick together...

 

As of writing this, I am unable to offer a redaction as I have not tested
this recipe yet. My intuition tells me to heat sugar syrup to a temperature
of 113-115 C., then to plunge the pan in cold water to stop the sugar from
overcooking. This syrup would then be poured over almonds and hazelnuts
(added on a whim), both of which were lightly heated in a pan beforehand.
We¹ll see if this work out!
Bibliography

 

Primary sources mentioned:

 

BONNEFONS, Nicolas de. Le Jardinier François, Qui enseigne a cultiver les
Arbres, & Herbes Potageres; Avec la maniere de conserver les Fruicts, &
faire toutes sortes de Confitures, Conserves, & Massepans. Paris, Pierre
Des-Hayes, ed. 1651.

 

BONNEFONS, Nicolas de. Les Délices de la Campagne, Suitte du Jardinier
François, ou est enseigné a preoarer pour l¹usage de la vie, tout ce qui
croît sur Terre & dans les Eaux. 2nd edition. Chez Raphael Smith, Ed.,
Amsterdam, 1655. 

 

CASTEAU, Lancelot de. Ouverture de Cuisine. 1604.

 

ESTIENNE, Charles, et Jean LIEBAULT. L¹agriculture et la Maison Rustique.
Jacques Du Puys, ed. Paris, 1572.

 

NOSTREDAME, Michel de. Excellent & moult utile Opuscule à touts necessaire,
qui desirent avoir cognoissance de plusieurs exquises Receptes, divisé en
deux parties. Lyon, Antoine Volant, ed. 1556.

 

PLATINA, On Right Pleasure and Good Health, Ed. And Transl. By Mary Ella
Milham. Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, Tempe, Arizona, 1998.

 

SERRES, Olivier de. Theatre d¹agriculture et mesnage des champs. Paris,
1600. 

 

VARENNE, Fracçois Pierre De La. Le Cuisinier François, ou est enseigné la
maniere d¹apprêter tout sorte de viandes, de faire tout sorte de
Patisseries, & de Confitures. 11th edition, Jacques Canier, ed. Lyon, 1680.
(Original edition: 1651).

 

Other references used:

 

Larousse Gastronomique ­ Texte Intégral. Robuchon, Joël, pres. Éditions
Larousse, Paris, 2000,



[1] <#_ftnref1>  Mary Ella Milham points to fourteen French translation in
her introduction to the translation of Platina¹s opus. A Latin edition was
also published in Paris in 1538. (Milham 1998, p.79)

[2] <#_ftnref2>  Le Cuisinier Français was published in 1651 by François
Pierre La Varenne, and was followed by three other books on the topic, Le
Pâtissier Français, Le Confiturier Français, and L¹École des Ragoûts in
1653, 1664 and 1668 respectively.

[3] <#_ftnref3>  On these matters see especially Bonefons¹ Epistre aux
maistres d¹hostels, on pp.208-216 of Les Délices de la Campagne.

[4] <#_ftnref4>  In my opinion, and reading on the fabrication and
consumption of domestic vinegar, as presented in Bonnefons¹ Délices de la
Campagne (p.73-80) and also in Charles Estienne and Jean Liebault¹s
L¹agriculture et la Maison Rustique, (Book V, chapters 56 and 57) vinegar in
period was less sharp then vinegar today, especially since the reserve of
vinegar was constantly resplenished by left-over wine. It must still retain
a certain sharpness, however, for the readers are always advised not to
over-dilute the original vinegar.