Fabulous feasts

Fabulous feasts 

Medieval cookery and Ceremony 

Pelner Cosman, M. 

Paperback. Rijk geïllustreerd in z/w en kleur. George Braziller 2002 

Explores every aspect of medieval life as reflected in the food and the eating habits of the Middle Ages, at peasant's board and King's table, and provides recipes for medieval dishes. 
Foods are cultural insifnia. Few indicators define people so well as its foodlore. Food taboos and food celebrations are important to a culture's notions od sacrement and sin, praise and punishment, deprivation and indulgence, vigilant discipline and sustained extravagance.
Medieval England's courtly appetites for splendour are evident in cookery books, courtesy manuals, household and court documents, legal records, medieval texts, and in surprising profusion, in works of art ranging from marginalia of prayer books through literary romances.

This culinary excursion will introduce the English banquet hall, its furnishings, its table adornments, and its noble seritors. The 'art' of the kitchen is explored and the all important ingrdients are scrutinised. The book concludes with over 100 recipes from medieval manuscripts.