[Sca-cooks] Surviving medieval sauces?

[James Prescott]

That particular one I have not heard of, though it makes sense.  At some 
big feasts (see Chiquart) those of the guests with particular dietary 
requirements or restrictions had their own cooks, who would cook for 
their tastes/allergies/humours.

On the other hand, many cookbooks (e.g. Curye, Viandier, Menagier, 
Ouverture) show no direct sign of awareness of humours, other than, in 
some cases, having "dishes for invalids".

I would be interested if anyone has studied when active dietary 
adjustment for humours was a) very common b) occasional c) absent.  Did 
cooks like Taillevent [c. 1395] respond to a physician coming and saying 
"For Pierre we need hot and dry"?  Did Taillevent always cook a 
'complete' range of choices?  Did Taillevent add special dishes for 
specific guests?  Did Pierre's cook show up and use a secondary kitchen 
to prepare some dishes?  Did Pierre know which foods to eat and which to 
avoid, and make his own choices?  Did Pierre bring a couple of private 
dishes for that purpose?  Did Pierre's physician show up and vet the 
dishes?  Did Pierre and his physician ignore all of that at other 
people's feasts, unless Pierre was actually ill?  And when did Pierre 
and his physician stop paying attention to humours, whether for general 
diet or for specific diseases?


Thorvald


On 2014-02-18 13:57, Susan Lin wrote:
> I seem to recall that a meal was made to the humor of the ranking male
> (either The Lord of the home or an honored guest) and then sauces were used
> to "fix" it for other members of the party bringing it into the right humor
> for each of them.
>
> I do not have a source, I recall this from a discussion of the four humors
> at Known World Cooks and Bards in the Outlands a year or two ago.
>
> Shoshanah