[Sca-cooks] Spirit of the Earth by Beverly Cox

[otsisto]

-----Original Message-----
You're thinking of the Mayan codices of which there are three legible that
are known to exist.  There is a fourth which may be a good forgery.

De: I may also be thinking Aztec but I remember manuscript(s) that were
either in Mayan or Aztec that the more I think about it, I think it was on
medicine. I know it isn't the codex or the forgery thing.

< Most of what we know about native cuisine comes from European texts
written in 16th Century.

De: I agree, Most, probably in the ball park of 90% is from European
writing.

<Sopie Coe's work in culinary historical anthropology mixes historical
description, archeological information, and anthropological study of region
to produce a very rational and thorough examination of the culinary
practices of the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Incans.  She was a professor of
anthropology and a translator (from Russian) of at least one text on the
Mayan language.  Her husband Michael is an eminent archeologist of
Pre-Columbian societies.  Her book, America's First Cuisines, is a superior
example of the work you are describing.

De: Probably if I hadn't gotten burn out with NA stuff I would have heard
about her and have gotten her book.

<I think I'll go with Coe rather than Cox for pre-Columbian historical
cooking.>

De: In historical cuisine, from the sound of it I would go with Coe. From
what I have picked up about Cox is that being historically accurate is not
top of her list when creating a cookbook, maybe, possibly in the top 20
somewhere.