The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread to discuss and add books, etc. related to Medieval Cuisine.



"Medieval cuisine includes the foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, a period roughly dating from the 5th to the 15th century. During this period, diets and cooking changed less across Europe than they did in the briefer early modern period that followed, when those changes helped lay the foundations for modern European cuisine. Cereals remained the most important staples during the early Middle Ages as rice was a late introduction to Europe and the potato was only introduced in 1536, with a much later date for widespread usage. Barley, oat and rye among the poor, and wheat for the governing classes, were eaten as bread, porridge, gruel and pasta by all members of society. Fava beans and vegetables were important supplements to the cereal-based diet of the lower orders. (Phaseolus beans, today the "common bean," were of New World origin and were introduced after the Columbian Exchange in the 16th century.)

Meat was more expensive and therefore more prestigious and in the form of game was common only on the tables of the nobility. The most prevalent butcher's meats were pork, chicken and other domestic fowl; beef, which required greater investment in land, was less common. Cod and herring were mainstays among the northern populations; dried, smoked or salted they made their way far inland, but a wide variety of other saltwater and freshwater fish was also eaten.

Slow transportation and food preservation techniques (based exclusively on drying, salting, smoking and pickling) made long-distance trade of many foods very expensive. Because of this, the food of the nobility was more prone to foreign influence than the cuisine of the poor; it was dependent on exotic spices and expensive imports. As each level of society imitated the one above it, innovations from international trade and foreign wars from the 12th century onwards gradually disseminated through the upper middle class of medieval cities. Aside from economic unavailability of luxuries such as spices, decrees outlawed consumption of certain foods among certain social classes and sumptuary laws limited conspicuous consumption among the nouveau riche. Social norms also dictated that the food of the working class be less refined, since it was believed there was a natural resemblance between one's labor and one's food; manual labor required coarser, cheaper food.

A type of refined cooking developed in the late Middle Ages that set the standard among the nobility all over Europe. Common seasonings in the highly spiced sweet-sour repertory typical of upper-class medieval food included verjuice, wine and vinegar in combination with spices such as black pepper, saffron and ginger. These, along with the widespread use of sugar or honey, gave many dishes a sweet-sour flavor. Almonds were very popular as a thickener in soups, stews, and sauces, particularly as almond milk.

Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval...

Topics Include but not restricted to:

* Dietary Norms
* The Church and its Influence on Dietary Habits
* Class Constraints on Diet
* Dietetics and the Influence of Medieval Science
* Caloric Structure of the Medieval Diet
* Regional Specialties and Types of Meals
* Cuisine Etiquette during Medieval Times
* Food Preparation (Medieval Kitchen, Use of Preservation, Professional Cooking)
* Cereals in Medieval Time
* Fruits and Vegetables common during Medieval times
* Dairy Products common during Medieval times
* Meats consumed during Medieval times
* Fish and Seafood
* Drink during Medieval Times (Wine, Beer, Distillates)
* Herbs, Spices and Condiments Used during Medieval Times
* Sweets and Desserts during Medieval Times
* Historiography and sources (Medieval Foodways)
* Medieval Cookbooks

A matron shows how to treat wine and conserve it properly. British Library, London.

Please make sure when adding books that you are recommending that you add both the book's cover and the photo or link to the author. This helps populate the site properly.

Food in Change: Eating Habits from the Middle Ages to the Present Day

(no image) Food in change: eating habits from the Middle Ages to the present day by Alexander Fenton (no photo)

Synopsis:

Published July 12th 1986 by J. Donald Publishers in association with the National Museums of Scotland

Regional Cuisines in Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays

by Melitta Weiss Adamson (no photo)

Synopsis:

Expert food historians provide detailed histories of the creation and development of particular delicacies in six regions of medieval Europe-Britain, France, Italy, Sicily, Spain, and the Low Countries.

Food in Medieval Times

by Melitta Weiss Adamson (no photo)

Synopsis:

Students and other readers will learn about the common foodstuffs available, how and what they cooked, ate, and drank, what the regional cuisines were like, how the different classes entertained and celebrated, and what restrictions they followed for health and faith reasons. Fascinating information is provided, such as on imitation food, kitchen humor, and medical ideas. Many period recipes and quotations flesh out the narrative.

The book draws on a variety of period sources, including as literature, account books, cookbooks, religious texts, archaeology, and art. Food was a status symbol then, and sumptuary laws defined what a person of a certain class could eat—the ingredients and preparation of a dish and how it was eaten depended on a person's status, and most information is available on the upper crust rather than the masses. Equalizing factors might have been religious strictures and such diseases as the bubonic plague, all of which are detailed here.

Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony

by Madeleine Pelner Cosman (no photo)

Synopsis:

Foods are cultural insifnia. Few indicators define people so well as its foodlore. Food taboos and food celebrations are important to a culture's notions od sacrement and sin, praise and punishment, deprivation and indulgence, vigilant discipline and sustained extravagance. Medieval England's courtly appetites for splendour are evident in cookery books, courtesy manuals, household and court documents, legal records, medieval texts, and in surprising profusion, in works of art ranging from marginalia of prayer books through literary romances. This culinary excursion will introduce the English banquet hall, its furnishings, its table adornments, and its noble seritors. The 'art' of the kitchen is explored and the all important ingrdients are scrutinised. The book concludes with over 100 recipes from medieval manuscripts.

Coffee and Coffeehouses: The Origins of a Social Beverage in the Medieval Near East

by Ralph S. Hattox (no photo)

Synopsis:

Drawing on the accounts of early European travelers, original Arabic sources on jurisprudence and etiquette, and treatises on coffee from the period, the author recounts the colorful early history of the spread of coffee and the influence of coffeehouses in the medieval Near East. Detailed descriptions of the design, atmosphere, management, and patrons of early coffeehouses make fascinating reading for anyone interested in the history of coffee and the unique institution of the coffeehouse in urban Muslim society.

Tastes of Byzantium: The Cuisine of a Legendary Empire

by Andrew Dalby

Synopsis:

For centuries the food and culinary delights of the Byzantine empire -- centred on Constantinople -- have captivated the west, although it appeared that very little information had been passed down to us. Andrew Dalby's Tastes of Byzantium now reveals in astonishing detail, for the first time, what was eaten in the court of the Eastern Roman Empire -- and how it was cooked. Fusing the spices of the Romans with the seafood and simple local food of the Aegean and Greek world, the cuisine of the Byzantines was unique and a precursor to much of the food of modern Turkey and Greece. Bringing this vanished cuisine to life in vivid and sensual detail, Dalby describes the sights and smells of Constantinople and its marketplaces, relates travellers' tales and paints a comprehensive picture of the recipes and customs of the empire and their relationship to health and the seasons, love and medicine. For food-lovers and historians alike, Tastes of Byzantium is both essential and riveting -- an extraordinary illumination of everyday life in the Byzantine world.

Jerome, my goodness - thanks for your help and the adds.

The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy

by Odile Redon (no photo)

Synopsis:

The Medieval Kitchen is a delightful work in which historians Odile Redon, Françoise Sabban, and Silvano Serventi rescue from dark obscurity the glorious cuisine of the Middle Ages. Medieval gastronomy turns out to have been superb—a wonderful mélange of flavor, aroma, and color. Expertly reconstructed from fourteenth- and fifteenth-century sources and carefully adapted to suit the modern kitchen, these recipes present a veritable feast. The Medieval Kitchen vividly depicts the context and tradition of authentic medieval cookery.

"This book is a delight. It is not often that one has the privilege of working from a text this detailed and easy to use. It is living history, able to be practiced by novice and master alike, practical history which can be carried out in our own homes by those of us living in modern times."—Wanda Oram Miles, The Medieval Review

"The Medieval Kitchen, like other classic cookbooks, makes compulsive reading as well as providing a practical collection of recipes."—Heather O'Donoghue, Times Literary Supplement

I think that stews and gravy/sauces came into being during this time period to cover the taste of spoiled meat. Without refrigeration, meat didn't stay fresh for very long but wasn't thrown away......just cover it with spices and sauce and eat it. In England, "high game", which consisted of birds past their sell date, was considered a delicacy. I would imagine that botulism was rampant!

Probably worse (smile)

The Taste of Medieval Food

By Analida Breger



When speaking of medieval foods, most people think of one or two things: drab, tasteless foods, or the historically inaccurate meals served at medieval reenactments where patrons eat sans utensils while watching some sort of entertaining reenactment. Both conceptions couldn’t be further from the truth.

For starters, medieval foods as this article will explain were anything but drab and tasteless. The homes of the well-to-do were a constant display of numerous dishes, heavily spiced and often presented in visually exciting ways. Although utensils were not all that common, knives were widely used. Hosts were not required to provide knives for their guests so guests brought their own. These knives were quite different from the dinner table knives of today. Medieval knives served two purposes: eating and fighting. Yes they had a pointed tip! Spoons were used to a certain extent and forks seldom, but they did make the occasional appearance at the dinner table. The notion that utensils were completely absent from the medieval dinner table is erroneous because among the aristocracy manners and cleanliness were de riguer.

The belief that medieval diners were akin to savages ripping apart meat with their teeth or bare hands, could not be more inaccurate. Dining customs were carefully observed and followed during medieval times. At the banquet table your station in life dictated where you got to sit. Washing was required and mandated either at a washing station in or near the banquet hall. Sometimes, aquamaniles, special containers with pour spouts were provided. Washing apart from being a sign of civility, and good upbringing was a health concern as well.

The medieval palate craved flavor; it became accustomed to foods heavily accented with exotic spices. This culinary preference was the result of the lucrative spice trade that came to dominate Europe during the Middle Ages, and the status symbol associated with them. This elevated status was often attributed to the long voyage spices made from their place of provenance to Europe. Another factor was the often embellished tales surrounding the native habitat of the spices as well as what had to be done to procure them. Because of their status symbol, spices were often publicly displayed. Salt cellars (often called nefs) in the form of ships were present at the dinner table of the well-to-do, as well as ornate spice containers. Given the astronomical cost of most spices, this display was most certainly an outward and ostentatious show of wealth. The major spices during the Middle Ages were: black pepper, cinnamon, ginger and saffron. Another common spice, galangal which is akin to ginger was also widely used. Today galangal has all but disappeared from the European spice vocabulary. We do find galangal in Thai cooking however. Cloves were also highly valued, but due to their exorbitant cost were not as liberally used as the other aforementioned spices. Account books of manors detail the enormous amount of spices that were purchased during any given year. Herbs such as rosemary and parsley were also widely used in cooking, however, they were a local product, they were not given much importance, and considered “too local” to be given much prominence.

Read the remainder of the article here: The Taste of Medieval Food

The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval Recipes for Today

by Barbara Santich (no photo)

Synopsis:

Re-creates the bold, robust flavors of the middle ages before potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers arrived in Europe from the New World. A cook's book as much as a cookbook, this contains 70 authentic recipes adapted for today's kitchen.

Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes

by Lilia Zaouali (no photo)

Synopsis:

Vinegar and sugar, dried fruit, rose water, spices from India and China, sweet wine made from raisins and dates—these are the flavors of the golden age of Arab cuisine. This book, a delightful culinary adventure that is part history and part cookbook, surveys the gastronomical art that developed at the Caliph's sumptuous palaces in ninth-and tenth-century Baghdad, drew inspiration from Persian, Greco-Roman, and Turkish cooking, and rapidly spread across the Mediterranean. In a charming narrative, Lilia Zaouali brings to life Islam's vibrant culinary heritage.

The second half of the book gathers an extensive selection of original recipes drawn from medieval culinary sources along with thirty-one contemporary recipes that evoke the flavors of the Middle Ages. Featuring dishes such as Chicken with Walnuts and Pomegranate, Beef with Pistachios, Bazergan Couscous, Lamb Stew with Fresh Apricots, Tuna and Eggplant Purée with Vinegar and Caraway, and Stuffed Dates, the book also discusses topics such as cookware, utensils, aromatic substances, and condiments, making it both an entertaining read and an informative resource for anyone who enjoys the fine art of cooking.

Food and Drink in Medieval Poland: Rediscovering a Cuisine of the Past

by Maria Dembinska (no photo)

Synopsis:

Lavender vinegar, saffron wafers, chicken baked with prunes, pears stewed with cucumbers and figs . . . there is something wonderfully inviting about the unusual and exotic flavors that came to the medieval Polish table. By turns robust and refined, and capturing all the richness and complexity of Poland in the Middle Ages, this is cookery that flourished at the crossroads of Western and Oriental foodways.This is the first book of its kind in English to explore the fascinating culinary history of medieval Poland. It represents the fruits of a twenty-year collaboration between two distinguished food historians, William Woys Weaver and the late Maria Dembinska. Freely adapted from a pioneering work first published by Dembinska in 1963, this new edition explores the subject of Polish medieval cuisine through archaeology, material culture, and ethnography, along with other perspectives and techniques. Topics examined include not just the personal eating habits of kings, queens, and nobles but also those of the peasants, monks, and other social groups not generally considered in medieval food studies.To appreciate the tastes and textures of medieval Polish cookery, there is simply no better way than to experience the food firsthand. Weaver has included thirty-five carefully reconstructed recipes, from courtier's pottage, a one-pot dinner popular with rich peasants and petty nobles, to game stewed with sauerkraut, to a court dish of baked fruit, to Polish hydromel, an easily made drink flavored with honey and fennel. With ingredients such as rosewater, cucumbers, saffron, and honey, these recipes will intrigue anyone who loves the art of cooking.

Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women

by Caroline Walker Bynum (no photo)

Synopsis:

In the period between 1200 and 1500 in western Europe, a number of religious women gained widespread veneration and even canonization as saints for their extraordinary devotion to the Christian eucharist, supernatural multiplications of food and drink, and miracles of bodily manipulation, including stigmata and inedia (living without eating). The occurrence of such phenomena sheds much light on the nature of medieval society and medieval religion. It also forms a chapter in the history of women.

Previous scholars have occasionally noted the various phenomena in isolation from each other and have sometimes applied modern medical or psychological theories to them. Using materials based on saints' lives and the religious and mystical writings of medieval women and men, Caroline Walker Bynum uncovers the pattern lying behind these aspects of women's religiosity and behind the fascination men and women felt for such miracles and devotional practices. She argues that food lies at the heart of much of women's piety. Women renounced ordinary food through fasting in order to prepare for receiving extraordinary food in the eucharist. They also offered themselves as food in miracles of feeding and bodily manipulation.

Providing both functionalist and phenomenological explanations, Bynum explores the ways in which food practices enabled women to exert control within the family and to define their religious vocations. She also describes what women meant by seeing their own bodies and God's body as food and what men meant when they too associated women with food and flesh. The author's interpretation of women's piety offers a new view of the nature of medieval asceticism and, drawing upon both anthropology and feminist theory, she illuminates the distinctive features of women's use of symbols. Rejecting presentist interpretations of women as exploited or masochistic, she shows the power and creativity of women's writing and women's lives.

Thank you Katie

Food And Feast In Medieval England

by P.W. Hammond (no photo)

Synopsis:

This fully illustrated book describes the extraordinary range of food which found its way on to the tables of medieval English society, its production and distribution. Although bread, ale, meat and fish were the staple diet, fish often came from as far away as Iceland, and as early as 1480 over 100,000 oranges were being imported to augment the diet. The book covers a wide range of medieval food, from hunting, fish breeding, brewing, baking, food hygiene and storage.

I'm not sure if I could get through a medieval meal. I read somewhere that stew and gravy were created to cover the taste of rotten or "high" game. But I'm sure there were some good foods but "high game" doesn't appeal to me much!!!

I know, I remember reading that as well! It always made me laugh, because I believe that meat (at least certain kinds) was a status symbol. I always imagine a bunch of nobles sitting around a table decked-out with rotten meat and being terribly proud of themselves.

I know they used to hang pheasants and other birds outside for several days before preparing them.....so that they would be "high". I'm surprised they all didn't die of food poisoning.

But I wonder to what point that's true, because as Jill mentioned the odds of food poisoning would be terribly higher in the higher classes and yet their average lifespan was actually bigger than those of peasants (even if the difference wasn't too big). You know, a story which sounds too true is rarely so.

It's mentioned so often that I'd imagine there's some truth to it. The meat probably wouldn't have been entirely rotten - there were preservation techniques, even if imperfect. Maybe it would have been kinda disgusting to a modern palate, but not enough to do lasting harm back then?

Rotten is probably the wrong word......the British use the word "high" which means that the meat has been hanging for some time. Let's put it this way......it isn't fresh and had to have a very unusual taste!!! Maybe "ripe" better explains it.

This sounds dreadful - all the more reason to be vegan if you lived then.

Food & Eating In Medieval Europe

by Martha Carlin (no photo)

Synopsis:

Eating and drinking are essential to life and therefore of great interest to the historian. As well as having a real fascination in their own right, both activities are an integral part of the both social and economic history. Yet food and drink, especially in the middle ages, have received less than their proper share of attention. The essays in this volume approach their subject from a variety of angles: from the reality of starvation and the reliance on 'fast food' of those without cooking facilities, to the consumption of an English lady's household and the career of a cook in the French royal household.

Beef and Pork in the Middle Ages



The books – Beef: A Global History, by Lorna Piatti-Farnell, and Pork: A Global History, by Katharine Rogers – examine how these two meats became popular foods and how they are served throughout the world. Both authors even note how they were thought of during the Middle Ages. Here are some medieval morsels of information you can learn about beef and pork from these two books:

Link: Medievalists.net

by Katharine M. Rogers (no photo)

by Lorna Piatti-Farnell (no photo)

Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination

by Paul Freedman (no photo)

Synopsis:

The demand for spices in medieval Europe was extravagant and was reflected in the pursuit of fashion, the formation of taste, and the growth of luxury trade. It inspired geographical and commercial exploration ,as traders pursued such common spices as pepper and cinnamon and rarer aromatic products, including ambergris and musk. Ultimately, the spice quest led to imperial missions that were to change world history.

This engaging book explores the demand for spices: why were they so popular, and why so expensive? Paul Freedman surveys the history, geography, economics, and culinary tastes of the Middle Ages to uncover the surprisingly varied ways that spices were put to use--in elaborate medieval cuisine, in the treatment of disease, for the promotion of well-being, and to perfume important ceremonies of the Church. Spices became symbols of beauty, affluence, taste, and grace, Freedman shows, and their expense and fragrance drove the engines of commerce and conquest at the dawn of the modern era.

Thank you Jose

Food and Foodways of Medieval Cairenes

by Paulina B. Lewicka (no photo)

Synopsis:

This is a pioneering study which analyzes the food cultures of medieval Cairenes on the basis of a large corpus of historical texts in Arabic. Individual chapters discuss what, why, and how the inhabitants of medieval Cairo ate what they did, and in which ways food shaped their everyday lives. Given the complex nature of food and foodways as areas of research, the book covers such diverse subjects as the genesis of the culinary culture of Egypt's capital and various practices related to food and eating. This monograph also considers several relevant social, political and economic circumstances in medieval Cairo, studying food culture in its broader context.

The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages

by Terence Scully (no photo)

Synopsis:

The cookery of the late middle ages has been unjustly neglected. Numerous references exist showing what food was customarily eaten across Europe by the aristocracy of the time, but it is only recently that scholarly research has extracted a number of recipes from manuscript sources and made them generally available. The recipes which survive indicate how rich and varied a choice of dishes the wealthy could enjoy. In this fascinating study, Dr Scully examines both the theory and practice of medieval cooking, demonstrating their complex interdependence.

Regional Cuisines in Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays

by Melitta Weiss Adamson (no photo)

Synopsis:

Expert food historians provide detailed histories of the creation and development of particular delicacies in six regions of medieval Europe-Britain, France, Italy, Sicily, Spain, and the Low Countries.

Oh no! Another incredibly great History Book Cub thread that I simply must follow!

Glad you like it Hana - Jose has posted some interesting adds

He certainly finds some interesting books....always something a little different and intriguing.

He does indeed! Jose Luis had added more than a few books to my already massive TBR pile.

A compliment Jose

Thanks, everyone! Feel free to check the medieval and ancient threads - I have tried to add some very interesting material here. :)

Flavours of Byzantium

by Andrew Dalby

Synopsis:

This is a study of the food that was eaten at the court of the Eastern Roman Empire at Constantinople in the Middle Ages. For centuries it has tempted and fascinated the West, yet very little has been written in English about the foods they ate or the recipes they cooked from. Dalby gives an entertaining account of the dining customs of the Emperors as witnessed by the Greeks and by foreign visitors. He tells of the medical theories that underlay their diet; of their opinions of the raw materials available; and stretches in a calendar of the seasons and how they affected the food on the table. This is underpinned by new translations from the Greek of important medieval treatises on diet, flavors, raw materials and cookery. Andrew Dalby is a classical scholar, food historian and student of languages.

Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks

by Constance B. Hieatt no photo)

Synopsis:

This is a completely revised edition of the classic cookbook that makes genuine medieval meals available to modern cooks. Using the best recipes from the first edition as a base, Constance Hieatt and Brenda Hosington have added many new recipes from more countries to add depth and flavour to our understanding of medieval cookery. All recipes have been carefully adapted for use in modern kitchens, thoroughly tested, and represent a wide range of foods, from appetizers and soups, to desserts and spice wine. They come largely from English and French manuscripts, but some recipes are from sources in Arabia, Catalonia and Italy. The recipes will appeal to cordon-bleus and less experienced cooks, and feature dishes for both bold and timourous palates.

The approach to cooking is entirely practical. The emphasis of the book is on making medieval cookery accessible by enabling today's cooks to produce authentic medieval dishes with as much fidelity as possible. All the ingredients are readily available; where some might prove difficult to find, suitable substitutes are suggested. While modern ingredients which did not exist in the Middle Ages have been excluded (corn starch, for example), modern time and energy saving appliances have not. Authenticity of composition, taste, and appearance are the book's main concern.

Unlike any other published book of medieval recipes, Pleyn Delit is based on manuscript readings verified by the authors. When this was not possible, as in the case of the Arabic recipes, the best available scholarly editions were used. The introduction provides a clear explanation of the medieval menu and related matters to bring the latest medieval scholarship to the kitchen of any home. Pleyn Delit is a recipe book dedicated to pure delight - a delight in cooking and good food.

The Medieval Cookbook: 50 authentic recipes, translated and adapted for the modern cook

by Maggie Black

Synopsis:

The Medieval Cookbook draws on the cuisine of the Middle Ages, from the fall of the Roman Empire to Henry VIII's break with Rome in the 1530s. Exploring the relationship between food and religion and the differing diets of the poor and the rich, this classic and ever popular book provides a diverse collection of medieval recipes that have been adapted for the modern cook and contemporary kitchen.

Beautifully illustrated throughout with delightful scenes of feasting, cooking and ingredients from the superb collections of the British Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum and beyond, this selection of mouth-watering recipes captures the essence of dining in medieval times, and is a must-have for anyone who is excited by food, cooking or medieval history.

Thanks, Yunna, for the add! :)

Could you please correct your link to follow our format? Thanks in advance! It should be something like this:

by Maggie Black (no photo)

José Luís wrote: "Thanks, Yunna, for the add! :)

Could you please correct your link to follow our format? Thanks in advance! It should be something like this:

by [author:..."

My apologies for this recurrent error :)

No problem. :)

Thank you Jose for helping Yunna.

Food in Medieval England: Diet and Nutrition

by C.M. Woolgar (no photo)

Synopsis:

Food and diet are central to understanding daily life in the middle ages. In the last two decades, the potential for the study of diet in medieval England has changed markedly: historians have addressed sources in new ways; material from a wide range of sites has been processed by zooarchaeologists and archaeobotanists; and scientific techniques, newly applied to the medieval period, are opening up possibilities for understanding the cumulative effects of diet on the skeleton. In a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject, this volume, written by leading experts in different fields, unites analysis of the historical, archaeological, and scientific record to provide an up-to-date synthesis. The volume covers the whole of the middle ages from the early Saxon period up to c .1540, and while the focus is on England wider European developments are not ignored.
The first aim of the book is to establish how much more is now known about patterns of diet, nutrition, and the use of food in display and social competition; its second is to promote interchange between the methodological approaches of historians and archaeologists. The text brings together much original research, marrying historical and archaeological approaches with analysis from a range of archaeological disciplines, including archaeobotany, archaeozoology, osteoarchaeology, and isotopic studies.

Medieval Food and Customs

by Stuart A. Kallen (no photo)

Synopsis:

From lords and ladies to merchants and serfs, medieval society was a rich tapestry centered on food, drink, feasts, and social gatherings. This book explores daily life in the medieval era through its appetites and customs focusing on country life, city living, weddings, and celebrations.

I know this is on here already, but this is the revised edition.

The Medieval Cookbook: Revised Edition

by Maggie Black (no photo)

Synopsis:

This book takes the reader on a gastronomic journey through the Middle Ages, offering not only a collection of medieval recipes, but a social history of the time. The eighty recipes, drawn from the earliest English cookbooks of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, are presented in two formats: the original middle English version and one adapted and tested for the modern cook.

In a fascinating introduction, the author describes the range of available ingredients in medieval times and the meals that could be prepared from them—from simple daily snacks to celebratory feasts—as well as the preparation of the table, prescribed dining etiquette, and the various entertainments that accompanied elite banquets. Each chapter presents a series of recipes inspired by a historical event, a piece of literature, or a social occasion. Here we find descriptions of the grilled meats consumed by William the Conqueror’s invading forces; the pies and puddings enjoyed by the pilgrims in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales; and the more sumptuous fare served at royal feasts and Christmas celebrations. The author ends with a discussion of herbal recipes for various ailments.
Beautifully illustrated with lively dining scenes from illuminated manuscripts and tapestries, this book serves up a delightful literary and visual repast for anyone interested in the history of food and dining.

Thank you, Michele! :)

Michele, I forgot to tell you, and if you already know this, just ignore :); on the right side of the page there is a list of all the book that have already been mentioned in the topic. You can check that list and see if the book you want to add is already here. Much easier than going through the thread from the beginning.