Journal articles on the topic 'De re coquinaria (Apicius)'

Numerous stories are attached to that notorious Roman gourmand Marcus Gavius Apicius: his greed was legendary and so apparently was his skill - but skill in what exactly? This article will attempt to disentangle the evidence for Apicius the man (or men) from the text that bears his name: the recipe collection known as de re coquinaria that we often, almost for convenience sake, attribute to one or other of the Apicii. In doing so we will look at the nature of cooks and cooking in the Roman world, particularly in relation to the food texts. I will argue that the recipe collection was in fact written entirely by slave cooks rather then anyone from the elite and as such is a remarkable survival.

Two issues were raised in the article entitled „Dishes at Nasidien’s feast (Horatius, Saturae II 8) and Apicius’ De re coquinaria”. First, comparison of dishes the description of which Horace included in Saturae II 8 with heir analog­ical recipes for these from Apicius’ De re coquinaria. These comparisons lead to the conclusion that, even in Augustan times, developing the culinary art had its supporters and that the chefs were trying to surprise symposium participants with new ideas, which made them experiment in this area all the time. An example of such efforts, among the others, is the method of making a sauce which was used to put on Nasidien’s moray, or wild pigeons whose croups had been cut off. On the other hand, on the example of De re coquinaria we can observe the evolution of culinary art which attached more and more importance to various kinds of spices used in more and more sophisticated sauces which gave a proper taste to diverse dishes of fish, poultry and game. The other issue, which is still present, is proper understanding and interpretation of these fragments of Horace’s Saturae II 8 where the poet gives us a description of dishes prepared by Nasidien’s chefs. Among the others, attention was drawn to the fact that the notion of faecula Coa (Saturae II. 8. 9) shall not be understood, as assumed before, as dried powdered yeast or wine grounds but rather as a substitute for grape honey described by Isidor (Etymologiae XX 3, 13: „Faecula uva pinguis, decocta usque ad crassitu­dinem mellis, ac refrigata, utilis stomacho”). This understanding of faecula Coa lets us read differently 6-9 verses in Saturae II 8 where the wild boar served by Nasidien was poured over by cheap substitutes, i.e. so called allec sauce (instead of liquamen) and faecula Coa (instead of honey). The Horace’s description, thus, has, in this place an ironic implication. It was also suggested that the 51-53 verses in Saturae II 8, where Nasidien boasts that he was the first one with the idea of boiling eruca sativa (rucola) with inula helenium, should be linked with previous verses which give the description of the sauce used for pouring over moray as eruca sativa boiled with inula helenium did not form a new dish but it was an ingredient of the mentioned sauce. Information about liver of a white goose fed with figs in Saturae II 8, 88 deserves special attention. We cannot find this dish recipe in Apicius’ De re coquinaria. However, we learn from the Plinius’ account that it was Apicius who invented a new method of preparing goose liver (Plinius, Historia naturalis VIII 209: Adhibetur et ars iecori feminarium sicut anserum, inventum M. Apici, fico arida saginatis ac satie necatis repente mulsi potu dato). This method involved feeding those birds with figs before they were killed. This way ensured that goose liver had a right taste and later wine with honey was add­ed to it. However, according to Horace’s information, which cannot be shaken, the custom of feeding geese with figs had been known before Apicius. As, on the basis of preserved records on Apicius’ life, it is difficult to confirm that he lived in Horace’s times it seems necessary to correct the account of Pilnius and to interpret it in the way that the innovation of Apicius involved only serving liver with some wine with honey (muslum), not feeding geese with figs as this practice had been done much earlier.

This article examines the use of culinary terminology in the recipe book De re coquinaria, by tradition attributed to Apicius. From the analysis of the specialized terms, its use and its technical significance are studied, focussed on two conceptual axes: description of practical procedures (verbs) and naming of material results (nouns). Also it shows the resources for the creation of technical language (as loan translations of Greek and diminutive derivatives) as well as its coincidences with Vulgar Latin. It is concluded that the culinary language in the De re coquinaria and the Vulgar Latin have strong morphological coincidences, but with different expressive values and linguistic uses, which highlights the polysemic character of Latin culinary terminology.

Este estudo procura abordar as diversas utilizações dos legumes de vagem no tratado De re coquinaria de Apicius. Após uma breve identificação do seu autor e de uma contextualização da incontornável obra da antiguidade clássica que é este trado de culinária, parte‑se para uma abordagem específica ao Livro V, cuja temática são os legumes de vagem. Os Romanos cultivam uma multiplicidade de legumes ou leguminosas (legumina), isto é, os legumes de vagem, logo, com grãos. O comércio de legumes secos, torrados, inteiros, em pedaços, ou em farinha é praticado com muita intensidade. Identificam‑se os alimentos, as técnicas e receitas. Finaliza‑se com duas sugestões culinárias que representam um exercício de reconstituição arqueológica e de recriação.

Starting from the evidences contained in the work of Deipnosophistae by Athenaeus of Naucratis, the article provides an overview of informations about authors and works of cuisine of the Greek and Roman period and presents comments about some gastronomic papyrus (P. Heidelberg , inv. G 1701, P. Heid. inv. L 1; the ambiguous P. Mich. 7. 449), attempting to include and recognize them in their proper cultural system, coming up to the parallels that can together be found in the pseudo Apicius’ De re coquinaria (IV AD).

Este artículo examina el uso de la terminología culinaria referida por el recetario De re coquinaria, por tradición atribuido a Apicio. A partir del análisis de términos especializados, se estudia su empleo y su significación técnica, centrado en dos ejes conceptuales: descripción de procedimientos prácticos (verbos) y denominación de realizaciones materiales (sustantivos). Además se muestran recursos de creación del lenguaje técnico latino (como calcos y préstamos lingüísticos del griego y derivación en diminutivo), y se presentan semejanzas de la lengua especializada y el latín vulgar. Se concluye que el lenguaje culinario expresado en el De re coquinaria y el latín vulgar evidencian fuertes coincidencias morfológicas, pero tienen valores expresivos y usos lingüísticos distintos, lo cual pone de manifiesto el carácter polisémico de la terminología culinaria latina.

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the production and consumption of meat from domesticated animals in Roman Italy using zooarchaeological and textual evidence. The focus is on the proportions of meat from the three main domesticates (cattle, pig, sheep/goat) and their chronological changes.The most important livestock meat eaten by Romans is traditionally considered to have been pork. Certainly there is much more literary evidence for pork than for beef or mutton/goat meat. Such apparent Roman preference for pork is typically seen in Apicius' De re coquinaria, where the preference for pork (11 references) over mutton (2), goat meat (1) and beef (2) is obvious; likewise, the number of references to meat from young animals is much larger for suckling pig meat (22 references) than for lamb (10), kid meat (7) or veal (4). K. D. White considered that “meat was not a prime article of diet … and beef was less important within this restricted range than pork …”. J. M. Frayn believed sheep were reared primarily for wool, not for meat or cheese, and that lamb was eaten only exceptionally. Beef and mutton/goat meat are thus considered to have been of much less importance than pork in the Roman diet.

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the text of the 12th book of Geoponica for the purpose of identification of vegetable plants, which were described by Cassianus Bassus. The analysis will serve as the first step for further inquiries that will include the reconstruction of recipes that require some of the vegetables presented in the text.The text of Geoponica is a basic source learn about the agriculture but also the culinary art of the Byzantine Empire, even though it is rather hard to read due to the complicated style and quite a large number of technical terms (i.e. botanical, agronomical or astrological to name just a few). As already mentioned, the first part of the analysis is to identify the plants mentioned by Bassus, which will allow me to take further steps, i.e. to reconstruct the culinary recipes, in which the plants mentioned by the Author can be found. Without this precise identification, the reconstruction of the recipes would not be possible at all.In the 12th book of his Geoponica Bassus gave descriptions of several plants that should be taken into consideration while planning the garden, mostly for their medicinal or cooking properties. Amongst them, Author mentioned garlic, artichoke, melon, leek, radish, celery, and cucumbers. Having the rather big number of plants narrowed down will allow to demonstrate in vivo how they were served according to De re coquinaria by Apicius and present the practical usage of vegetables proposed by Bassus for cultivation. As Apicius’ cookbook is the only one preserved from Antiquity, it will remain the major source of the recipes presented in this paper.

Italian humanists’ discoveries of ancient texts and printed editions of such ancient works as Lucretius’ De rerum natura, Plato’s Symposium or Apicius’ De re coquinaria strongly influenced the renewal of the Epicurean category of pleasure (voluptas) and created a new approach to eating. Many Italian humanists began emphasizing bodily needs and stressed their importance. We can find these ideas in the works of Lorenzo Valla (De voluptate, 1431), Marsilio Ficino (De voluptate, 1457) or Bartolomeo Platina (the author of the first printed cookbook De honesta voluptate et valetudine, ca. 1465-68) who recognized that food could be also consumed for pleasure. The phenomenon of the philosophical and literary banquet became common practice among Italian, and later also Polish, humanists. Such associations as the Roman Academy, Florentine Academy, or Polish Sodalitas litteraria Vistulana were the place of humanistic discussion, which was valued more than luxurious food. It is reflected in 16th-century Polish poetry (Filippo Buonaccorsi „Callimachus”, Conrad Celtis; Paweł z Krosna; Jan Dantyszek „Dantiscus” and others) and philosophical treaties such as Mikołaj Rej’s Wizerunek własny, 1558, inspired by Palingenius’ Zodiacus vitae, or Łukasz Górnicki’s Dworzanin polski, 1566, inspired by Baldassare Castiglione’s Il corteggiano. The quoted authors recommend moderation in drinking and criticize Polish and German drunkenness. Dining with friends could also serve as remedy for vanitas or all kinds of sorrow, according to the tradition of Anacreontic and Horatian poetry. We can see it clearly in Foricoenia of Jan Kochanowski (1584), where the joy of drinking wine and singing at the table interweaves with reflection on the human condition and vanishing.

The present study discusses dietetic qualities of rice and culinary recipes pertaining to its preparation as demonstrated in ancient and Byzantine medical treatises compiled between 1st and 7th cent. A.D. (Dioscurides, Galen, Oribasius, Anthimus, Alexander of Tralles, Aetius of Amida and Paul of Aegina). The evidence (in the part touching on gastronomic applications of rice) also includes De re coquinaria attributed to Apicius. The article consists of three parts. The first analyzes sources and modern literature to assess the impact of rice on the Greco-Roman and Byzantine agriculture. The results of the analysis confirm the scholarly opinion that rice was never popular in the Mediterranean in the ancient and early Byzantine periods. A slow and gradual change in its status appeared along with the Arab agricultural revolution. The second chapter of the study is devoted to dietetic characterizations of rice and presents features attributed to the cereal over the ages. The authors come to the conclusion that the most frequent characteristics of the crop which appear in the analyzed sources are its indigestibility, unwholesomeness, astringency (styptic action) as well as the ability to slow down the work of the alimentary tract. The final part of the article tries to retrieve from medical and culinary writings main culinary guidelines according to which rice was prepared as food. The authors conclude that, as a rule, the cereal was not used for bread baking, though it is likely that it was utilized in making cakes. Rice usually was the basis for preparation thick, gruel-like dishes which were normally compared to chondros or poltos, less thick soups which were said to be similar to ptisane, and watery, thin concoctions called chyloi, created by diluting rice stock.

A partir del análisis de diversos textos de autores de la antigüedad clásica, entre ellos De re coquinaria atribuido a Apicio y De abstinentia de Porfirio, este artículo analiza la noción de pureza alimentaria, como condición no sólo para el mantenimiento de la salud mediante una dieta saludable, sino también como una preocupación del individuo que busca ser óptimo en el terreno de la moral. En primer lugar, se estudia el concepto de dieta, como parte de la terapéutica. Para los griegos y romanos de la antigüedad, además de una alimentación saludable, descanso y ejercicios, la dieta incluía baños y purgas, ambos elementos vinculados con la idea de purificación. En segundo lugar, se comparan los términos latinos usados para describir un alimento “puro”: crudus, recens, viridis and purus, en especial referidos al aceite de oliva y a la miel, los cuales son considerados los alimentos puros por antonomasia. Se concluye con una definición de pureza alimentaria, es decir, referida a aquellos alimentos que no requieren ni cocción ni preservación para su consumo, y que pueden ser consumidos sin mezcla ni adición de ningún producto, en donde, además, la intervención del hombre es nula o mínima. En suma, la noción de pureza trasciende los límites de la dietética, cobra un valor metafórico que la proyecta en la dimensión de la moral.

A partir del análisis de diversos textos de autores de la antigüedad clásica, entre ellos De re coquinaria atribuido a Apicio y De abstinentia de Porfirio, este artículo analiza la noción de pureza alimentaria, como condición no sólo para el mantenimiento de la salud mediante una dieta saludable, sino también como una preocupación del individuo que busca ser óptimo en el terreno de la moral. En primer lugar, se estudia el concepto de dieta, como parte de la terapéutica. Para los griegos y romanos de la antigüedad, además de una alimentación saludable, descanso y ejercicios, la dieta incluía baños y purgas, ambos elementos vinculados con la idea de purificación. En segundo lugar, se comparan los términos latinos usados para describir un alimento “puro”: crudus, recens, viridis and purus, en especial referidos al aceite de oliva y a la miel, los cuales son considerados los alimentos puros por antonomasia. Se concluye con una definición de pureza alimentaria, es decir, referida a aquellos alimentos que no requieren ni cocción ni preservación para su consumo, y que pueden ser consumidos sin mezcla ni adición de ningún producto, en donde, además, la intervención del hombre es nula o mínima. En suma, la noción de pureza trasciende los límites de la dietética, cobra un valor metafórico que la proyecta en la dimensión de la moral.

The article is aimed at indicating and analyzing connections existing between De re coquinaria and medicine. It is mostly based on the resources of extant Greek medical treatises written up to the 7th century A.D. As such it refers to the heritage of the Corpus Hippocraticum, Dioscurides, Galen, Oribasius, Anthimus, Aetius of Amida, Paul of Aegina, to name but the most important. The authors of the study have tried to single out from De re coquinaria those recipes which have the tightest connections with medicine. They are: a digestive called oxyporum, two varieties of dressings based on fish sauce, i.e. oxygarum digestibile and oenogarum, herbal salts (sales conditi), spiced wine (conditum paradoxum), honeyed wine (conditum melizomum viatorum), absinthe (absintium Romanum), rosehip wine (rosatum), a soup (or relish) pulmentarium, a pearl barley-based soup termed tisana vel sucus or tisana barrica, an finally nettles. In order to draw their conclusions, the authors of the article projected the data from De re coquinaria upon a wide background of extant information retrieved from medical writings. The conclusions demonstrate that those who contributed to the present form of De re coquinaria, even if they did not possess strictly medical expertise, remained under a heavy influence of Hippocratic and Galenic teachings. As a result, De re coquinaria should be seen as yet another work of antiquity that supports the existence of an indissoluble bond between medical doctrines and culinary practice of the times.

A partir del análisis de los conceptos de “originalidad” e “imitación” en el mundo romano, este artículo estudia los alcances de la literatura científica romana: si puede considerarse como tal su originalidad y su autonomía respecto de los modelos griegos, y sus aportes para la historia y la comunicación de la ciencia en la antigüedad. El artículo se centra en dos obras de carácter técnico-científico escritas en latín: la monumental Historia natural de Plinio y el recetario De re coquinaria . En conclusión, busca establecer similitudes y diferencias entre la literatura técnica y la literatura científica en Roma, y sobre todo discute la originalidad del mensaje científico comunicado por los romanos y el carácter divulgativo de los autores latinos. Palabras clave: Antigua Roma, ciencia, divulgación, literatura técnica, literatura científica, Historia natural, De re coquinaria. Based on the analysis of the concepts of “originality” and “imitation” from the roman world, this article studies the reach of roman scientific literature: if its contribution to the history and communication of science in the ancient times can be considered as such. This article focuses on two works of technical and scientific character, both written in Latin: the monumental Natural History by Plinio and the recipe book De re coquinaria . In sum, it seeks to establish similarities and differences between technical literature and scientific literature in Rome and, above all, it discusses the originality of the scientific message communicated by the Romans and the informative character of the Latin authors. Key words: Ancient Rome, science, divulgation, technical literature, scientific literature, Natural History, De re coquinaria.

The present study discusses the role of salt-cured meat in dietetics, medicine and gastronomy demonstrated mainly in ancient and Byzantine medical (Galen, Oribasius, Aetius of Amida, Anthimus, Alexander of Tralles and Paul of Aegina) and agronomic (Cato, Varro, Columella, Palladius, Geoponica) sources written between 2nd and 10th century A.D. The part dealing with culinary application was also based on De re coquinaria. The article consists of three parts. In the first one, concerning ham, there are presented places in Europe and Asia Minor, were best cured meats were produced. Next, there in an outline of different methods of salting pork, dietetic properties of this kind of food, as well as, the way of using ham in medical treatment. There are also quotations of some recipes for ham that were presented in De re coquinaria. The second, sets forth the importance of bacon in ancient and Byzantine diet and medicine, especially among inhabitants of Gaul. The authors describe also the way it was utilized in by Byzantine physicians in fighting parasites. The last part is devoted to tuccetum – a meat dish, that was only mentioned in few Latin sources and has not yet been researched in detail. Moreover there is a presentation of different ideas for translations of this Latin term given by translators, linguists and historians.

Artykuł poświęcony jest analizie początkowego fragmentu receptury na potrawę z zająca („Leporis vero si novellae…”) zachowanej w bizantyńskim traktacie medycznym De observatione ciborum autorstwa Antimusa (V/VI w. n.e.). We wstępie autorka dowodzi, że dzieło to zostało napisane zgodnie z antyczną tradycją medyczną. Wskazuje też na jego specyfikę zaznaczając, że dotyczy ono pożywienia typowego ludów spoza obszaru basenu Morza Śródziemnego. Nadto zaznacza, że skoro traktat został dedykowany władcy Franków, Teuderykowi, zawiera on przede wszystkim dane na temat diety wyższych warstw społecznych. Jako przykład odzwierciedlający wysoki status społeczny Teuderyka autorka przytacza przepis na danie z zająca. Zasadnicza część studium obejmuje analizę początkowej części wspomnianej receptury. Autorka proponuje rekonstrukcję technologii kulinarnej, która mogła być stosowana podczas przygotowywania mięsa młodego zająca w oparciu o dane zawarte w dziele Antimusa oraz literaturze źródłowej z zakresu ars medica (pisma Galena [II/III w. n.e.], Orybazjusza [IV w. n.e.] i Aecjusza z Amidy [VI w. n.e.]) oraz ars coquinaria (praca Archestratosa z Geli [IV w. p.n.e.], traktat De re coquinaria [IV w. n.e.]). Analiza porównawcza materiału źródłowego wskazuje na kompetencje Antimusa w zakresie dietetyki, a także uwypukla zależność antycznej/bizantyńskiej medycyny i sztuki kulinarnej. Dodatkowo tekst ukazuje wartość traktatów medycznych w badaniach nad historią życia codziennego.

O volume conhecido como Os dez livros de Apício sobre arte culinária é um dos textos mais atípicos da antiguidade clássica, seja por seu caráter singular, seja pela impossibilidade de identificar sua vinculação técnica e temática. Os procedimentos definidos pela semioticista francesa Françoise Bastide são empregados para ler escolhas e operações elementares da cozinha propostas por Apício. Palavras-chave: De re coquinaria. Apicius. Operações elementares. Culinária antiga. Semiótica da cultura.

The present article examines the beginning of the recipe for hare meat (leporis vero si novellae […]) preserved in Chapter 13 of the dietetic treatise De observatione ciborum written in the first half of the 6th cent. by the Byzantine physician Anthimus. In the initial part of the study, the author briefly discusses key events in the doctor’s life, explaining the circumstances which brought him to the royal court of the Frankish ruler, Theuderic. Next, the author analyses Anthimus’ competence in the field of dietetics and proves that he composed his treatise in line with ancient and Byzantine materia medica. The key part of the article scrutinises the most popular methods of preparing hare meat according to ancient gastronomical literature (Ἡδυπάθεια by Archestratus of Gela, De re coquinaria) and compares them with Anthimus’ recommendations. This allows the author to reconstruct the culinary techniques that Anthimus most probably proposed be applied in the preparation of hare meat. The author concludes that Anthimus’ treatise is a clear example of the practical application of both dietetics and materia medica in culinary practices performed in the physician’s lifetime.

RESUMO Alguns dos primeiros manuscritos renascentistas do livro de cozinha atribuído a Apício, produzidos na segunda metade do século XV, foram quase certamente confeccionados para integrar coleções de bibliotecas privadas de poderosos senhores de cidades da Itália do Norte e Central. Entretanto, a história de um deles, o manuscrito laurenziano Plut. 73.20 - transladado da coleção privada dos Médici para a primeira biblioteca pública moderna, a Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana - permite uma reflexão mais ampliada. A partir da observação de aspectos materiais do manuscrito, bem como daqueles referentes à história de seu armazenamento espacial, desenvolve-se uma reflexão acerca de como os conteúdos de Apício foram interpretados e classificados pelos humanistas da época. A hipótese perseguida é que os humanistas, particularmente aqueles interessados em medicina, exerceram um papel importante na transformação do livro de cozinha apiciano, que passa a ser, ao menos durante um certo período de tempo, classificado como médico e não culinário.

Introduction Cookbooks are an exceptional written record of what is largely an oral tradition. They have been described as “magician’s hats” due to their ability to reveal much more than they seem to contain (Wheaton, “Finding”). The first book printed in Germany was the Guttenberg Bible in 1456 but, by 1490, printing was introduced into almost every European country (Tierney). The spread of literacy between 1500 and 1800, and the rise in silent reading, helped to create a new private sphere into which the individual could retreat, seeking refuge from the community (Chartier). This new technology had its effects in the world of cookery as in so many spheres of culture (Mennell, All Manners). Trubek notes that cookbooks are the texts most often used by culinary historians, since they usually contain all the requisite materials for analysing a cuisine: ingredients, method, technique, and presentation. Printed cookbooks, beginning in the early modern period, provide culinary historians with sources of evidence of the culinary past. Historians have argued that social differences can be expressed by the way and type of food we consume. Cookbooks are now widely accepted as valid socio-cultural and historic documents (Folch, Sherman), and indeed the link between literacy levels and the protestant tradition has been expressed through the study of Danish cookbooks (Gold). From Apicius, Taillevent, La Varenne, and Menon to Bradley, Smith, Raffald, Acton, and Beeton, how can both manuscript and printed cookbooks be analysed as historic documents? What is the difference between a manuscript and a printed cookbook? Barbara Ketchum Wheaton, who has been studying cookbooks for over half a century and is honorary curator of the culinary collection in Harvard’s Schlesinger Library, has developed a methodology to read historic cookbooks using a structured approach. For a number of years she has been giving seminars to scholars from multidisciplinary fields on how to read historic cookbooks. This paper draws on the author’s experiences attending Wheaton’s seminar in Harvard, and on supervising the use of this methodology at both Masters and Doctoral level (Cashman; Mac Con Iomaire, and Cashman). Manuscripts versus Printed Cookbooks A fundamental difference exists between manuscript and printed cookbooks in their relationship with the public and private domain. Manuscript cookbooks are by their very essence intimate, relatively unedited and written with an eye to private circulation. Culinary manuscripts follow the diurnal and annual tasks of the household. They contain recipes for cures and restoratives, recipes for cleansing products for the house and the body, as well as the expected recipes for cooking and preserving all manners of food. Whether manuscript or printed cookbook, the recipes contained within often act as a reminder of how laborious the production of food could be in the pre-industrialised world (White). Printed cookbooks draw oxygen from the very fact of being public. They assume a “literate population with sufficient discretionary income to invest in texts that commodify knowledge” (Folch). This process of commoditisation brings knowledge from the private to the public sphere. There exists a subset of cookbooks that straddle this divide, for example, Mrs. Rundell’s A New System of Domestic Cookery (1806), which brought to the public domain her distillation of a lifetime of domestic experience. Originally intended for her daughters alone, Rundell’s book was reprinted regularly during the nineteenth century with the last edition printed in 1893, when Mrs. Beeton had been enormously popular for over thirty years (Mac Con Iomaire, and Cashman). Barbara Ketchum Wheaton’s Structured Approach Cookbooks can be rewarding, surprising and illuminating when read carefully with due effort in understanding them as cultural artefacts. However, Wheaton notes that: “One may read a single old cookbook and find it immensely entertaining. One may read two and begin to find intriguing similarities and differences. When the third cookbook is read, one’s mind begins to blur, and one begins to sense the need for some sort of method in approaching these documents” (“Finding”). Following decades of studying cookbooks from both sides of the Atlantic and writing a seminal text on the French at table from 1300-1789 (Wheaton, Savouring the Past), this combined experience negotiating cookbooks as historical documents was codified, and a structured approach gradually articulated and shared within a week long seminar format. In studying any cookbook, regardless of era or country of origin, the text is broken down into five different groupings, to wit: ingredients; equipment or facilities; the meal; the book as a whole; and, finally, the worldview. A particular strength of Wheaton’s seminars is the multidisciplinary nature of the approaches of students who attend, which throws the study of cookbooks open to wide ranging techniques. Students with a purely scientific training unearth interesting patterns by developing databases of the frequency of ingredients or techniques, and cross referencing them with other books from similar or different timelines or geographical regions. Patterns are displayed in graphs or charts. Linguists offer their own unique lens to study cookbooks, whereas anthropologists and historians ask what these objects can tell us about how our ancestors lived and drew meaning from life. This process is continuously refined, and each grouping is discussed below. Ingredients The geographic origins of the ingredients are of interest, as is the seasonality and the cost of the foodstuffs within the scope of each cookbook, as well as the sensory quality both separately and combined within different recipes. In the medieval period, the use of spices and large joints of butchers meat and game were symbols of wealth and status. However, when the discovery of sea routes to the New World and to the Far East made spices more available and affordable to the middle classes, the upper classes spurned them. Evidence from culinary manuscripts in Georgian Ireland, for example, suggests that galangal was more easily available in Dublin during the eighteenth century than in the mid-twentieth century. A new aesthetic, articulated by La Varenne in his Le Cuisinier Francois (1651), heralded that food should taste of itself, and so exotic ingredients such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger were replaced by the local bouquet garni, and stocks and sauces became the foundations of French haute cuisine (Mac Con Iomaire). Some combinations of flavours and ingredients were based on humoral physiology, a long held belief system based on the writings of Hippocrates and Galen, now discredited by modern scientific understanding. The four humors are blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. It was believed that each of these humors would wax and wane in the body, depending on diet and activity. Galen (131-201 AD) believed that warm food produced yellow bile and that cold food produced phlegm. It is difficult to fathom some combinations of ingredients or the manner of service without comprehending the contemporary context within they were consumeSome ingredients found in Roman cookbooks, such as “garum” or “silphium” are no longer available. It is suggested that the nearest substitute for garum also known as “liquamen”—a fermented fish sauce—would be Naam Plaa, or Thai fish sauce (Grainger). Ingredients such as tea and white bread, moved from the prerogative of the wealthy over time to become the staple of the urban poor. These ingredients, therefore, symbolise radically differing contexts during the seventeenth century than in the early twentieth century. Indeed, there are other ingredients such as hominy (dried maize kernel treated with alkali) or grahams (crackers made from graham flour) found in American cookbooks that require translation to the unacquainted non-American reader. There has been a growing number of food encyclopaedias published in recent years that assist scholars in identifying such commodities (Smith, Katz, Davidson). The Cook’s Workplace, Techniques, and Equipment It is important to be aware of the type of kitchen equipment used, the management of heat and cold within the kitchen, and also the gradual spread of the industrial revolution into the domestic sphere. Visits to historic castles such as Hampton Court Palace where nowadays archaeologists re-enact life below stairs in Tudor times give a glimpse as to how difficult and labour intensive food production was. Meat was spit-roasted in front of huge fires by spit boys. Forcemeats and purees were manually pulped using mortar and pestles. Various technological developments including spit-dogs, and mechanised pulleys, replaced the spit boys, the most up to date being the mechanised rotisserie. The technological advancements of two hundred years can be seen in the Royal Pavilion in Brighton where Marie-Antoinin Carême worked for the Prince Regent in 1816 (Brighton Pavilion), but despite the gleaming copper pans and high ceilings for ventilation, the work was still back breaking. Carême died aged forty-nine, “burnt out by the flame of his genius and the fumes of his ovens” (Ackerman 90). Mennell points out that his fame outlived him, resting on his books: Le Pâtissier Royal Parisien (1815); Le Pâtissier Pittoresque (1815); Le Maître d’Hôtel Français (1822); Le Cuisinier Parisien (1828); and, finally, L’Art de la Cuisine Française au Dix-Neuvième Siècle (1833–5), which was finished posthumously by his student Pluméry (All Manners). Mennell suggests that these books embody the first paradigm of professional French cuisine (in Kuhn’s terminology), pointing out that “no previous work had so comprehensively codified the field nor established its dominance as a point of reference for the whole profession in the way that Carême did” (All Manners 149). The most dramatic technological changes came after the industrial revolution. Although there were built up ovens available in bakeries and in large Norman households, the period of general acceptance of new cooking equipment that enclosed fire (such as the Aga stove) is from c.1860 to 1910, with gas ovens following in c.1910 to the 1920s) and Electricity from c.1930. New food processing techniques dates are as follows: canning (1860s), cooling and freezing (1880s), freeze drying (1950s), and motorised delivery vans with cooking (1920s–1950s) (den Hartog). It must also be noted that the supply of fresh food, and fish particularly, radically improved following the birth, and expansion of, the railways. To understand the context of the cookbook, one needs to be aware of the limits of the technology available to the users of those cookbooks. For many lower to middle class families during the twentieth century, the first cookbook they would possess came with their gas or electrical oven. Meals One can follow cooked dishes from the kitchen to the eating place, observing food presentation, carving, sequencing, and serving of the meal and table etiquette. Meal times and structure changed over time. During the Middle Ages, people usually ate two meals a day: a substantial dinner around noon and a light supper in the evening (Adamson). Some of the most important factors to consider are the manner in which meals were served: either à la française or à la russe. One of the main changes that occurred during the nineteenth century was the slow but gradual transfer from service à la française to service à la russe. From medieval times to the middle of the nineteenth century the structure of a formal meal was not by “courses”—as the term is now understood—but by “services”. Each service could comprise of a choice of dishes—both sweet and savoury—from which each guest could select what appealed to him or her most (Davidson). The philosophy behind this form of service was the forementioned humoral physiology— where each diner chose food based on the four humours of blood, yellow bile, black bile, or phlegm. Also known as le grand couvert, the à la française method made it impossible for the diners to eat anything that was beyond arm’s length (Blake, and Crewe). Smooth service, however, was the key to an effective à la russe dinner since servants controlled the flow of food (Eatwell). The taste and temperature of food took centre stage with the à la russe dinner as each course came in sequence. Many historic cookbooks offer table plans illustrating the suggested arrangement of dishes on a table for the à la française style of service. Many of these dishes might be re-used in later meals, and some dishes such as hashes and rissoles often utilised left over components of previous meals. There is a whole genre of cookbooks informing the middle class cooks how to be frugal and also how to emulate haute cuisine using cheaper or ersatz ingredients. The number dining and the manner in which they dined also changed dramatically over time. From medieval to Tudor times, there might be hundreds dining in large banqueting halls. By the Elizabethan age, a small intimate room where master and family dined alone replaced the old dining hall where master, servants, guests, and travellers had previously dined together (Spencer). Dining tables remained portable until the 1780s when tables with removable leaves were devised. By this time, the bread trencher had been replaced by one made of wood, or plate of pewter or precious metal in wealthier houses. Hosts began providing knives and spoons for their guests by the seventeenth century, with forks also appearing but not fully accepted until the eighteenth century (Mason). These silver utensils were usually marked with the owner’s initials to prevent their theft (Flandrin). Cookbooks as Objects and the World of Publishing A thorough examination of the manuscript or printed cookbook can reveal their physical qualities, including indications of post-publication history, the recipes and other matter in them, as well as the language, organization, and other individual qualities. What can the quality of the paper tell us about the book? Is there a frontispiece? Is the book dedicated to an employer or a patron? Does the author note previous employment history in the introduction? In his Court Cookery, Robert Smith, for example, not only mentions a number of his previous employers, but also outlines that he was eight years working with Patrick Lamb in the Court of King William, before revealing that several dishes published in Lamb’s Royal Cookery (1710) “were never made or practis’d (sic) by him and others are extreme defective and imperfect and made up of dishes unknown to him; and several of them more calculated at the purses than the Gôut of the guests”. Both Lamb and Smith worked for the English monarchy, nobility, and gentry, but produced French cuisine. Not all Britons were enamoured with France, however, with, for example Hannah Glasse asserting “if gentlemen will have French cooks, they must pay for French tricks” (4), and “So much is the blind folly of this age, that they would rather be imposed on by a French Booby, than give encouragement to an good English cook” (ctd. in Trubek 60). Spencer contextualises Glasse’s culinary Francophobia, explaining that whilst she was writing the book, the Jacobite army were only a few days march from London, threatening to cut short the Hanoverian lineage. However, Lehmann points out that whilst Glasse was overtly hostile to French cuisine, she simultaneously plagiarised its receipts. Based on this trickling down of French influences, Mennell argues that “there is really no such thing as a pure-bred English cookery book” (All Manners 98), but that within the assimilation and simplification, a recognisable English style was discernable. Mennell also asserts that Glasse and her fellow women writers had an enormous role in the social history of cooking despite their lack of technical originality (“Plagiarism”). It is also important to consider the place of cookbooks within the history of publishing. Albala provides an overview of the immense outpouring of dietary literature from the printing presses from the 1470s. He divides the Renaissance into three periods: Period I Courtly Dietaries (1470–1530)—targeted at the courtiers with advice to those attending banquets with many courses and lots of wine; Period II The Galenic Revival (1530–1570)—with a deeper appreciation, and sometimes adulation, of Galen, and when scholarship took centre stage over practical use. Finally Period III The Breakdown of Orthodoxy (1570–1650)—when, due to the ambiguities and disagreements within and between authoritative texts, authors were freer to pick the ideas that best suited their own. Nutrition guides were consistent bestsellers, and ranged from small handbooks written in the vernacular for lay audiences, to massive Latin tomes intended for practicing physicians. Albala adds that “anyone with an interest in food appears to have felt qualified to pen his own nutritional guide” (1). Would we have heard about Mrs. Beeton if her husband had not been a publisher? How could a twenty-five year old amass such a wealth of experience in household management? What role has plagiarism played in the history of cookbooks? It is interesting to note that a well worn copy of her book (Beeton) was found in the studio of Francis Bacon and it is suggested that he drew inspiration for a number of his paintings from the colour plates of animal carcasses and butcher’s meat (Dawson). Analysing the post-publication usage of cookbooks is valuable to see the most popular recipes, the annotations left by the owner(s) or user(s), and also if any letters, handwritten recipes, or newspaper clippings are stored within the leaves of the cookbook. The Reader, the Cook, the Eater The physical and inner lives and needs and skills of the individuals who used cookbooks and who ate their meals merit consideration. Books by their nature imply literacy. Who is the book’s audience? Is it the cook or is it the lady of the house who will dictate instructions to the cook? Numeracy and measurement is also important. Where clocks or pocket watches were not widely available, authors such as seventeenth century recipe writer Sir Kenelm Digby would time his cooking by the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. Literacy amongst protestant women to enable them to read the Bible, also enabled them to read cookbooks (Gold). How did the reader or eater’s religion affect the food practices? Were there fast days? Were there substitute foods for fast days? What about special occasions? Do historic cookbooks only tell us about the food of the middle and upper classes? It is widely accepted today that certain cookbook authors appeal to confident cooks, while others appeal to competent cooks, and others still to more cautious cooks (Bilton). This has always been the case, as has the differentiation between the cookbook aimed at the professional cook rather than the amateur. Historically, male cookbook authors such as Patrick Lamb (1650–1709) and Robert Smith targeted the professional cook market and the nobility and gentry, whereas female authors such as Eliza Acton (1799–1859) and Isabella Beeton (1836–1865) often targeted the middle class market that aspired to emulate their superiors’ fashions in food and dining. How about Tavern or Restaurant cooks? When did they start to put pen to paper, and did what they wrote reflect the food they produced in public eateries? Conclusions This paper has offered an overview of Barbara Ketchum Wheaton’s methodology for reading historic cookbooks using a structured approach. It has highlighted some of the questions scholars and researchers might ask when faced with an old cookbook, regardless of era or geographical location. By systematically examining the book under the headings of ingredients; the cook’s workplace, techniques and equipment; the meals; cookbooks as objects and the world of publishing; and reader, cook and eater, the scholar can perform magic and extract much more from the cookbook than seems to be there on first appearance. References Ackerman, Roy. The Chef's Apprentice. London: Headline, 1988. Adamson, Melitta Weiss. Food in Medieval Times. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood P, 2004. Albala, Ken. Eating Right in the Renaissance. Ed. Darra Goldstein. Berkeley: U of California P, 2002. Beeton, Isabella. Beeton's Book of Household Management. London: S. Beeton, 1861. 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