Customer Reviews

The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages (Studies in Anglo-Saxon History)

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"The Art of Cookery" is a substantive book. It is wide-ranging, lucidly written and is both erudite and appropriate for a general reader. This is not a cookbook. It is, however, an essential book to read for anyone who is interested in cooking food from the middle ages, as well as anyone interested in the history of the European diet. If you are looking for recipes then you should consider Terence Scully's "The Neapolitan Recipe Collection." It is a scholarly presentation of a late 15th century manuscript at the Pierpont Morgan Library. Mr. Scully's commentary, like the text of the "The Art of Cookery," is lucid and fabulously informative.

This book has so much information it can be alittle daunting at first but keep going. It has no recipes per say but it will tell you about table manners, syrups, regional differences and so much more. This is must for the library, not just if you like to cook but are also interested in the culture of the period.

As with her many other books Scully, has produced a book that is rich in detail with the culture and locals of the middle ages. This book has one draw back, you won't be preparing anything from it. I have mainly used this book for a historical perspective, while gathering ideas for potential menus that I wish to make. So often I have wondered what would have been period or what would have gone with a particular recipe that I was trying. This book will aide you in this.

it had tons of information on how they ate and i found that intreging. unfortunetely it did not tell you substitutions on the meals for today. it would be so much fun to actually eat the things they had back then.