Libellus De Arte Coquinaria: An Early Northern Cookery Book (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies) [Hardcover]

Rudolf Grewe (Editor), Constance B. Hieatt (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 158 pages
• Publisher: Mrts (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0866982647
• ISBN-13: 978-0866982641
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,026,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #63 in Books > History > Europe > Iceland
  • #75 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Scandinavian
  • #85 in Books > History > Europe > Denmark

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent New Text by Grewe and Hieatt, July 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Libellus De Arte Coquinaria: An Early Northern Cookery Book (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies) (Hardcover)

Regarding the LIBELLUS DE ARTE COQUINARIA AN EARLY NORTHERN COOKBOOK, I can report as to exactly what this volume is all about. The LIBELLUS is among the oldest of culinary recipe collections & dates from the early thirteenth century. It survives in 4 versions in three languages... Danish, Icelandic, & Low German. It is thought to date back to possibly even the 12th century. It's a small collection of only 35 recipes and was published as part of the Collection included in AN OLD ICELANDIC MEDICAL MISCELLANY [Ms. Royal Irish Academy 23D 43.]in 1931 by Henning Larsen.

What this new 158 page book does is to bring together the four versions, translate them, add textual notes, commentary indices, glossaries, and bibliographies. As such, it offers a rare glimpse into the world of early culinary manuscripts in Northern Europe. I should mention that it's the work of the late Rudolf Grewe (who provided us with the LIBRE DE SENT SOVI in 1979) and Constance B. Hieatt who is of course the scholar behind PLEYN DELIT, CURYE ON INGLYSCH, and AN ORDINANCE OF POTTAGE. The scholarship is as expected excellent.

So, if you collect medieval culinary texts, this is one for your shelves. Unlike PLEYN DELIT, it does not contain modernized versions of the medieval recipes, but the composite translations offer many details and much commentary for any cook wishing to create their own working versions of these early recipes.