Fooles and Fricassees: Food in Shakespeare's England (Paperback)

~ Joan Thirsk (Author, Editor), Mary Anne Caton (Editor), Folger Shakespeare Library (Corporate Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

People today assume that the diet of Shakespeare and his contemporaries was limited and rather dull. This book demonstrates, however, that 16th-century Englishmen were familiar with a wide range of foodstuffs and seasonings and had strong opinions about the flavour and quality of what they ate. "Fooles and Fricassees" provides a glimpse into gardens, kitchens, butteries, and cellars of the past. It contains a fascinating array of manuscript and printed materials documenting not only what people ate but where the food came from, how it was grown, preserved, seasoned, and served, and what people believed about various foods' benefits to their health. Included in full is a transcription of Sarah Longe's "Receipt Booke" compiled around 1610. Mary Anne Caton is curator of Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York City. Until her retirement, Joan Thirsk was reader in economic history at the University of Oxford and professorial fellow of St. Hilda's College.

About the Author

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295979267
• ISBN-13: 978-0295979267
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,770,698 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Review of Fooles & Fricassees, May 22, 2000

By A Customer

This is a catalogue that was prepared to accompany an exhibition of books and manuscripts that was shown at the Folger Shakespeare Library from September - December 1999. This is not a history of Tudor/Elizabethan food, nor is it a comprehensive bibliography of Tudor/Elizabethan cookbooks. It very much reflects what the Folger owns. The essay by Joan Thirsk is quite good, and it does contain a literal transcription of a c1610 manuscript belonging to a Mrs. Sarah Longe. If you like exhibition catalogues, it's quite a nice one, but certainly not as essential to food history as say C. Anne Wilson's Food and Drink in Britain.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An overly broad view of Shakespeare's England, May 23, 2002

By A Customer

A catalogue from an exhibition held at the Folger Library. Despite its name, many of the subjects are post-Bard: he died in 1616, and quite a few items are dated 1650 to 1700. The exhibition was very broadly focused - everything from plates and cups, recipe books, paintings of diners, and so forth. There are lots of good pictures. The appendix transcribes "Mrs. Sarah Longe her Receipt Booke", published around 1610. It combines recipes ("To make rice-puddings") and dubious medicinal tips ("To stop the bleeding of a wound: Take a peece of an Old hatt, and burne it in the fire to a Cole then grind it to powser, and straw it into the wound."

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for fools, July 9, 2008

By	Julia Lupton "design-your-life.org" (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a lovely catalogue, filled with excellent commentary and beautiful illustrations from the collection of the Folger Library. There is much to cherish here for Shakespeare lovers as well as Shakespeare scholars -- and for anyone interested in the history of food and hospitality. It is not compendious -- keep in mind that it is a catalogue for an exhibition -- but it is well-designed and thoughtfully assembled.