[Sca-cooks] Best cookbook for new SCA cooks

[edoard at medievalcookery.com]

> -------- Original Message --------
> From: "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse at one.net>
> 
> Which books would you recommend to cooks new to SCA cooking?  I am thinking
> that maximizing foods that were fairly easy to get in the cook's area, and
> recipes that could be translated into modern English(or their preferred
> language) with the help of a good dictionary would be easiest for starters.
> On the other hand there is something to be said for going with the book that
> matches their persona's culture as that type of food might interest them the
> most?
> 
> Which books do you find intrigue your new cooks the most?

I hope you weren't looking for a short answer.  ;-)


For a good introduction to medieval cooking in general, I'd recommend
any of the following.

The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages
Terence Scully
Boydell Press
ISBN: 0-85115-430-1

Cooking & Dining in Medieval England
Peter Brears
Prospect Books
ISBN: 1903018552

Cooking in Europe, 1250-1650
Ken Albala
Greenwood Press
ISBN: 0313330964

Early French Cookery
D. Eleanor Scully, Terrence Scully
University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0-472-088777 

Living and Dining in Medieval Paris
Nicole Crossley-Holland
University Of Wales Press
ISBN: 0-7083-1647-6

The Neapolitan Recipe Collection: Cuoco Napoletano
Terence Scully (trans.)
University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0-472-10972-3



Here's a list of primary sources I'd recommend as starting points.


Denmark

The socalled Harpestreng cookbook [~1300]

Free online version (Danish - Codex K):
http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/harp-kkr.htm

Free online version (English translation - Codex Q):
http://www.notaker.com/onlitxts/molbech.htm


-=-=-

England

Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books [~1450]

Faulke Watling (ed.), Thomas Austin (ed.)
Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0-85991-849-1

Free online version (Middle English):
http://www.hti.umich.edu:80/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cme;cc=cme;rgn=main;view=text;idno=CookBk

-=-=-

France

Le Viandier de Taillevent [~1350]

Terence Scully (trans.)
University of Ottawa Press
ISBN: 0-7766-0174-1

Free online version (French):
http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/vi-vat.htm

Free online version (English translation):
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/prescotj/data/viandier/viandier1.html

-=-=-

Germany

Das Buch von guter Speise [1354]

Free online version (German):
http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/bvgs.htm

Free online version (English translation):
http://cs-people.bu.edu/akatlas/Buch/recipes.html

-=-=-

Italy

Libro di cucina / Libro per cuoco [~1400]

Free online version (Italian):
http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/frati.htm

Free online version (English translation):
http://www.geocities.com/helewyse/libro.html

-=-=-

Netherlands

Keukenboek (Wel ende edelike spijse) [~1484]

Free online version (Middle Dutch):
http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/serrure.htm

Free online version (English translation):
http://www.coquinaria.nl/kooktekst/Edelikespijse0.htm


- Doc