[Sca-cooks] Questions about cookbooks for "novice/intermediate" cooks

[Stefan li Rous]

Auria of Golias commented and asked:
<<< I've been cooking "ethnic" feasts for several years, but am now starting to
cook more period recipes.  Bear once told me "If you can cook middle
eastern, you can cook period" As I read through the Florilegium, and
through posts on here, I see several period authors cited, but I don't know
what the titles of the books are or if they are in print. >>>

I hope that you are finding the Florilegium useful.

Have you found the FOOD-BOOKS section? In there are a number of reviews, including these on Middle Eastern books:
Md-Cu-Islmc-Wd-rev (6K) 1/31/09 A review by Urtatim of "Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 recipes" by Lilia Zaouali.


Md-Cu-Islmc-Wd-msg (12K) 2/25/12 Reviews and comments on "Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes".


<<< This leads me to a list of questions.  If someone was going to buy "period"
cookbooks, what would you recommend they buy?   What out of print books
would you recommend they keep an eye out for?  What period cookbooks are
available online? >>>

In that same section of the Florilegium:
cookbooks-bib (44K) 2/15/04 Cookbook bib. by Mistress Jaelle of Armida.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BOOKS/cookbooks-bib.html

A large bibliography, but more important, she indicates which ones are worth looking at, and which ones aren't.

There are also reviews of individual cookbooks, for instance:
Fabulous-Fsts-msg (26K) 4/12/08 Reviews and comments on Madeleine Pelner Cosman's "Fabulous Feasts".
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BOOKS/Fabulous-Fsts-msg.html

Good for its background info, but not for the second half, which is recipes. From uncertain sources, sometimes made-up ones, and the results just don't taste good, according to many reviewers.

online-ckbks-lst (12K) 12/18/06 A list of online medieval cookbooks and food manuscripts by Thomas Grozier.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BOOKS/online-ckbks-lst.html
   (Oops. not in on index page. Use the above link)

online-ckbks-msg (68K) 6/27/13 Online versions of period cookbooks.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BOOKS/online-ckbks-msg.html

The number of online manuscripts and cookbooks is rising at a fast rate. So this is probably not complete, but it is a place to start.

Which sources are best for you will largely depend upon whether you want the original text (Can you translate from Middle English? Old French of various versions, Latin?), or do you want modern translations? Or do you want author's interpretation of the original recipe, translated to modern measurements and ingredient names?

I do, in fact, have examples of all of these in various parts of the Florilegium.

If it is translations you seek of the original recipes, then you might also wish to look at the Florilegium, FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS section.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****