I picked up a new (used) book last week: “Fabulous Feasts, Medieval Cookery and Ceremony” by Madeleine Pelner Cosman. Originally written in 1976, this book not only contains a wealth of information on medieval feasting, but also numerous pictures from historic manuscripts and over one hundred medieval recipes. As if that’s not enough, it reads like a juicy novel. I found myself not only unable to put it down, but wishing to read faster in order to arrive at the next chapter sooner.
Cosman starts the book with a chapter giving an overview of medieval feasting. She gives several examples of feasts from period literature, along with a number of sample menus. As though painting a picture, she describes the feast hall layout and decor along with the accompanying serving vessels and other accoutrements in vivid detail. She then brings the hall to life by discussing the entertainments performed at the medieval feast, the ceremony, etiquette, and manner of serving and the cultural attitude toward feasting.
In the following chapters, she discusses the vast ingredients used in medieval cookery, some of which are quite exotic to the modern mind. She then moves on to sauces, spices, baked goods, potables and subtleties. Next, she enhances the readers image of medieval food by discussing the markets, merchants, legal rules and regulations pertaining to the sale of foods, systems of weights and measures, water systems within the city and laws pertaining to pollution.
Finally, the last section of the book provides some ideas for recreating your own medieval feast along with the hundred or so recipes. This is the one section that I believe could be improved in future editions. The recipes, while quite interesting and well organized, only show the author’s redaction of these recipes without providing the text from the original manuscript. As a curious reader, this would not be particularly detrimental, however, the serious historical cook will prefer to see the recipes in their original state in order to interpret the descriptions themselves. (Many historic recipes do not provide exact measurements of ingredients, therefore different cooks may interpret the same recipe in different manners, resulting in quite unique dishes.)
All in all, I’m quite pleased with the new addition to my library and look forward to trying out the recipes, then sitting down to nibble, possibly while reading one of the texts from the extensive bibliography.
