[Sca-cooks] Free redactions of Roman recipes

[Terry Decker]

Platina was a papal writer from 1462 to 1464, so he would have had access to 
the Vatican Library.  While I haven't found the date of when the Vatican 
took possession of the Tours manuscript of Apicius, the first printed 
edition, taken from the Vatican copy, was in 1497.  The Fulda manuscript 
came to Rome in 1455.  It is possible that had access to either or both 
manuscripts prior to authoring  De honesta voluptate et valetudine .

Bear

-----Original Message----- 

Just a quick note.
Platina seems to have not only referenced the ancients in his work but also 
he included some.
Here is a paragraph (with footnotes) from my article from PPC titled The 
Hidden Recipes of Bartolemo Sacchi.
Eduardo
Also excluded from the overall count of recipes found in the first five 
books, are those that are clearly historical. Ancient references to pepper 
Platina’s text. In the entry titled “De Ficis”[1] Platina tells of figs that 
do not ripen called “grossuli”[2]. He then quotes Macrobius, the ancient 
Roman writer and philosopher, that Brutus “easts grossuli with honey, like a 
fool”. In BK III #17 “De Porro”[3] another historical recipe is found when 
Platina relates the story of the Emperor Nero who ate leeks with oil, 
everyday to preserve his singing voice. Several of the recipes found in De 
Honesta can be cross referenced to the ancient Roman cookery book “Apicius” 
and perhaps to other Ancient Roman or Greek agricultural or social 
commentaries, but such analysis is beyond the scope of this paper.[4]

[1] On Figs – Milham, page 130

[2] Milham, page 131

[3] On Leeks – Milham, page 186

[4] A cursory review of some of the recipes in the first five books to those 
in “Apicius De Re Coquinaria” suggests a relationship between the two books. 
Some of the recipes reviewed are either taken directly (the Latin matches 
almost word for word) or based on (the recipe is similar but not exact) from 
Apicius.

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David Walddon