Sallets, Humbles & Shrewsbery Cakes: A Collection of Elizabethan Recipes Adapted for the Modern Kitchen [Paperback]

Ruth Anne Beebe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

A review of cluttered cookbook shelves reveals a surfeit of fetchingly illustrated, full-color books of contemporary cuisine, and a shocking lack of titles dealing with the real history of gastronomy. This compendium of Elizabethan recipes, gathered and annotated (and, we might add, carefully tested) by Ruth Anne Beebe is not only historically accurate (and in places downright fun) but also usable. In addition to a rich selection of the transcribed original Elizabethan recipes, Beebe has provided modern formulations, including ingredients and measurements. There is much more to this cuisine than the expected meat and Shepherd's pie; here is fascinating advice on how herbs were used to flavor and preserve, how ale was brewed, and how to "fry an egg as round as a ball." In addition to the recipes, the book offers sample menus, a glossary, an index, and a host of elegant and wonderfully evocative period woodcuts all printed in red.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567921817
• ISBN-13: 978-1567921816
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #637,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Less adaptation than imagination, October 17, 2002

By 

manthra "aramanthra" (SCA, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sallets, Humbles & Shrewsbery Cakes: A Collection of Elizabethan Recipes Adapted for the Modern Kitchen (Paperback)

While the author of this work seems as if she means to be sincere, sincerity is not enough when your purported goal is to "adapt Elizabethan recipes for modern kitchens". More attention to accuracy in the redactions (conversion to modern recipes) and authenticity of the results would have been a better goal. The individual recipes quote "originals" with no notation as to where the original source came from (which book?), leaving no idea as to whether they have been quoted accurately. The adapted recipes not only jump to some pretty wild conclusions as to what the finished dish was intended to be, but in some cases contain wildly different ingredients than were quoted in the original recipe, with no explanation. There are also giant leaps from a baked dish (in the original) to a boiled one (in the adaptation), or vice versa. This might pass muster as a "popular" book for those who have no serious interest in authenticity in historical recreation of recipes, if it were not for the author's repeated claims as to scholarship and accuracy. Not recommended for the serious food history buff or re-enactor. I might give this to someone with a mild interest in the subject, but only with a warning about lack of historical accuracy. She even manages to perpetuate the tired, old myth of spices being used "to cover up the taste of bad meat". Nothing could be further from the truth.

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooks of Elizabethan Rejoice, September 9, 2010

By 

S. Bryan "History Buff" (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sallets, Humbles & Shrewsbery Cakes: A Collection of Elizabethan Recipes Adapted for the Modern Kitchen (Paperback)

I have made several of the recipes in this book for competitions and for feasts! In fact using some of the herbs in salads I found I use them in my everyday menus.

I think you will enjoy this book and it's recipes.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Food for the soul, February 22, 2002

By 

DP (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sallets, Humbles & Shrewsbery Cakes: A Collection of Elizabethan Recipes Adapted for the Modern Kitchen (Hardcover)

This book is very good it gives explict detail and very easy direction.