Straight out of these 70s. I found these cookbooks at a book sale. Everything Elizabethan was big in the 70s; I sang in a madrigal group and loved learning about this era when I was in high school humanities class. I really love the marvelous black-and-white illustrations throughout from original woodcuts of the period, and an introduction that describes the extravagant preparations involved in a typical medieval feast. The author, Lorna J. Sass, holds a doctorate in medieval literature from Columbia University. She is the author of four historical cookbooks, including these two, plus Dinner with Tom Jones (18th Century), and Christmas Feast from History, which I would also love to have in my collection. I've know her work because she has written the best pressure cooker cookbooks I own....
Can't wait to cook something out of these gems!
I love recipes from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The combinations of sweet and savory that Europeans came up with before they had any of the foods we now take for granted (all the stuff from the Americas, like tomatoes) are really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI did find out more about Ingrid Bartelli, but got sidetracked by other projects. I think the mushroom guide she wrote while working for MSU Extension is still being used.