Gusti del Medioevo. I prodotti, la cucina, la tavola

Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History

by Massimo Montanari

Siamo seduti a tavola e il cibo viene servito in una successione uguale per tutti. Oggi accade normalmente e ci pare ovvio: ma è stato sempre così? Non nel Medioevo. La tavola medievale segue un altro modello, simile a quello che troviamo ancora praticato in Cina e in Giappone: i cibi sono serviti simultaneamente e spetta a ciascun convitato sceglierli e ordinarli secondo il proprio gusto. Ancora: la cucina contemporanea tende a rispettare i sapori 'naturali' e a riservare a ciascuno di essi uno spazio distinto, nei singoli piatti come nell'ordine del menù. Ma queste regole non sono un archetipo universale. La cucina medievale preferiva mescolare i sapori ed esaltava l'idea dell'artificio, che modifica la natura. Sia la preparazione delle singole vivande, sia la loro dislocazione all'interno del pasto rispondevano a una logica sintetica: tenere insieme più che separare.
Ma se le differenze di gusto fra noi e il Medioevo sono importanti, altrettanto forti sono le continuità. Alcune preparazioni costituiscono tuttora un segno forte dell'identità alimentare: la pasta, la polenta, il pane, le torte, una molteplicità di piatti a base di carne, pesce, formaggio, verdure che hanno garantito nei secoli la sopravvivenza e il piacere degli individui.
Il viaggio a cui ci introduce Montanari nelle pagine di questo libro ci fa conoscere un territorio doppiamente affascinante, perché vicino e, al tempo stesso, lontano.

Genres: History, Food, Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Medieval, Food History, Cooking

279 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Professor of medieval history at Bologna University who has written widely on food history.

Reviews

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

If you're hoping mostly for recipes, walk on by - this is scholarly writing about the history of food. (If you are looking for recipes with some history of medieval food, The Medieval Kitchen by Odile Redon is pretty good.)

Note: translated from the Italian, but I suspect it's as dry in its native language as it is in English. (I'm OK with dry, but many aren't.)

[verbava · Rating 4 out of 5]

багато відгуків на цю книжку (несподівано, але не завжди негативних) розпочинаються з уточнення, що до тексту взялися, сподіваючись рецептів середньовічної їжі. отак, щоб відтворити в домашніх умовах, накрити правильний середньовічний стіл, скликати гостей на тематичну вечірку.
треба бути сильною людиною, щоб із такими очікуваннями не покинути дослідження монтанарі після вступу, де він трохи аж бере на кпини сучасних шанувальників «традиційної» кухні, які вважають, що прив'язати до їжі тисячолітню історію означає довести її правильність і корисність. бо, по-перше, ідея корисності в середні віки трохи відрізнялася від сучасної; по-друге, відтворити тих смаків сьогодні все одно не вдасться, чи через еволюцію продуктів, чи через цілковито інше середовище, в якому виховане наше сприйняття; а по-третє, і це основне, величезній більшості європейців ішлося не про те, чого б такого з'їсти для здоров'я душі й тіла, а про те, чого б з'їсти. два кілограми каштанів у денному раціоні – це не тому, що каштани збіса добре впливають на організм. (але навіть ті, хто належав до нечисленних щасливців і ніби міг дозволити собі які завгодно страви, керувалися іншими міркуваннями, ніж користь: наприклад, карл великий мучився від подагри, але все одно мусив кілограмами їсти м'ясо, бо статусно).
якщо ж хотіти саме дослідження середньовічних смаків, то монтанарі мало що можна закинути. він, звісно, розглядає насамперед італійські реалії, але налаштований на вихід за межі середземномор'я (і переважно цієї настанови тримається). починає з базових складників: хліба, м'яса, вина, води – і поступово переходить до суспільних умовностей і ситуацій споживання їжі. воно таке густе, наукове, а по дорозі – пречудові історії про те, як, приміром, в одному монастирі вирішили не пити вина, і за кілька тижнів монахи колективно злягли від гастроентерологічних проблем, тож довелося трохи переосмислити підхід до аскези.

[Booknut 101 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Medieval Tastes is like Vegemite. It's an acquired taste.

Some people will really, really like it. Some people will tolerate it. And some people will not be able to get through the first 'mouthful' of detailed descriptions and archaic terms.

As a lover of ancient history, I admit that the sight of this book on Netgalley piqued my curiosity. Its 18 chapters are a mix of surprising facts and hard-to-pronounce names. I enjoyed the chapter Medieval Cookbooks - as well as a rather intriguing chapter titled The Table as a Representation of the World - but found it hard to even read one page of the chapters The Grammar of Food and The Flavor of Water (yes, there is a chapter on water...13 pages in length!).

Overall, I definitely learned a lot from reading Medieval Tastes, and am impressed by the author's vast knowledge on the subject.

[Theut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ottimo studio sull'alimentazione nel Medioevo, davvero interessante e ricco di rimandi (come tutti i volumi di Montanari del resto).

[Please Pass the Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll admit that I initially selected Medieval Tastes thinking it would be a recipe book. Having recently relocated to England and slowly making my way through museum after museum, I have become somewhat obsessed with all things medieval. When I opened the book, my disappointment at it not containing page after page of recipes was quickly squashed. What it did contain was an absolute treasure trove of information about all things culinary during this fascinating time period.

Well researched and incredibly thorough, Montanari's Medieval Tastes is essential to anyone with an interest in gastronomy, the origins of most modern food, and all things medieval.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Net Galley and the publisher Columbia University Press.

[Sara Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

My dislike of this book is more my own fault that the authors. What I wanted was an experience. I wanted something light with recipes and a peek into life during the medieval times. I wanted before bed reading.
What I got was more a textbook than fun reading. While it's broken up into categories that are quite specific and delves into its history, I just wasn't in the mood. I didn't want a lecture. I didn't want philosophical debate.
Knowing this, I can't give a great review of this book. It just didn't work for me. I don't have the time to get that involved with a book.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series of essays on food preferences in various medieval areas and times. I found it a helpful read--there are a lot of "medieval" cookbooks around and it can be difficult to understand from reading those how people actually ate--monks versus royalty versus normal people, early versus middle versus late. The essays also help add some perspective on the reasons people ate as they did (e.g. religious motivations, health concerns, taste and gastronomy as it was perceived at the time). New World versus Old World food was also covered from a somewhat unusual perspective--rather than discussing how amazing and revolutionary the potato was, for instance, this book concentrates on the quite similar foods which the potato gradually replaced, and why. So that was all pretty cool. All that said, the book is super dry reading, and it isn't really organized very cohesively. I would say it's a good supplement to understanding European cookery from about a thousand years ago, to help you identify what's silly or made-up or inaccurate in more "fun" types of books on the topic.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful look at food culture. Aspires to cover western Europe throughout the Midfle Ages, but very Italian-centered and mainly later Middle Ages. Author's own research centers on Italian cookbooks, which are the best-developed sections of the book.

Translation is competent, but failure to anglicize non-Italian proper names (many of them the names of figures well-known in English-language scholarship and books) is distracting (and potentially confusing when the same name is anglicized in one place but not elsewhere in the book).

[Heideblume · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non una lettura scorrevole, ma comunque affascinante.

[Lisa Spangenberg]

I reviewed this book for SleepingHedgehog.com

There are three things you need to know about Montanari’s Medieval Tastes: Food, Cooking, and the Table; first that this is an academic treatise, that it was translated from the original Italian by Beth Archer Brombert, and that it is a culinary history, rather than a cookbook. That being said, it’s a very interesting and thoughtful cultural history from an expert in the field who is perfectly willing to share his knowledge with the non-expert. Medieval Tastes is a slim book, whose illustrations are limited to woodcuts in the opening of each chapter, and whose endnotes, while sparse, are accurate and quote specific regarding sources, and whose bibliography is wide-ranging and rich in both recent and traditional sources.The author, Massimo Montanari, is a professor of Medieval history and the history of food at the Institute of Paleography and Medieval Studies, University of Bologna.

montanari_medieval_tastesMedieval Tastes consists of eighteen chapters, each an overview to a basic topic, richly supported with citations for those who wish more. The chapters range from a survey of extant medieval cookbooks, and their differences from modern how to manuals, situated as they are between household manuals, recipe collections and medieval medical treatises on diet and digestion. Other chapters cover the preservation and nature of seasonal foods dependent on harvest, chapters on fish, meat, bread, condiments and wine, the differences between rich and poor tables, the monastic diet, and the issues of dining with a fork versus the hands. These are all topics grounded in the specific, in discussions of what actual people ate, set against the socio-cultural backdrop of an era that, technically, covers roughly a thousands years. Since extant sources are better for the thirteenth century through the early fifteenth, those are the eras generally covered, with occasional looks backward at Roman culinary practices.

It is dense with information without being overbearing or pedantic. The discussion of the socio-historical and cultural significance of food is grounded in the specifics, so that, for instance, the role of the humble onion is seen as a mark of both culture, and occasionally, of class, as are the differences in preparation of the same basic ingredients at the tables of the peasant, the merchant and the monk. Montanari refers to modern culinary practices and trends, showing how culinary history is sometimes on a continuum, and sometimes, not. This is a solid overview, with enough documentation to satisfy the academic (the bibliography and the index are thorough) without being boring or burdensome to the curious but not academic. I look forward to reading Massimo Montanari’s previous book, Food Is Culture (CUP 2006).

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[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Advance copy obtained from Netgalley in exchange for a review*

This is a clear and extremely comprehensive text covering the Medieval view of food and cooking.
In this instance, Medieval covers a period of roughly the 8th to the 1th centuries, and so this is, by necessity, a rather high level view. It’s also a view limited to Western Europe (with brief digressions into North Africa), which is a shame – getting a view of the different cultural traditions governing food and cooking of say, the Byzantines would have been fascinating. Still, that would perhaps have left the text spread too thinly – it’s a very broad survey as it is.

The text is really a series of articles, which use different jumping off points to explore Medieval society through the lens of food. Particularly interesting were the discussions of the gradual social stratification of food, and the movement in particular of meat, over the course of the period, from being a ‘common’ food, through to being one with a symbolism tied to the social status of the elite. That said, there’s really a chapter for everyone (assuming you have an interest in Medieval food!) – the chapters on water and bread (the latter a food defined as ‘civilised’ due to the requirement for man to create it) were particularly intriguing.

This is a translated text, and, textually, the translation is rock solid. The ideas of the author come through clearly, and their intent is presented without issue.

Where the text suffers is in breadth, and a certain lack of continuity. The former is simply due to the vast amount of historical time and geography covered. There is rather more of a focus on medieval Italy than elsewhere in the same period, but this may simply be the nature of the sources – and there’s enough discussion of other influences to make this a missed opportunity, rather than an issue in the text. The latter issue is simply due to the format – the set of articles are all interesting, and settle nicely in the theme of food, but due to having been written over a long period, they often hang together a little loosely – it would have been nice to have a conclusion to go alongside the introduction, something to complete the cohesion of the piece as a historical narrative.

Having said that, each article is intriguing on its own, and overall they paint a very informative picture of the changing medieval worldview and practices around food, and the way that food integrated into and impacted that view. If you’re looking for a way to access this particular topic, this text is clear, comprehensive, and well worth reading.

[Apryl Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who enjoys History and eating a great meal as much as I do will discover a feast in this book. It is a venture into today’s trend “To authenticate the present by recalling the past, to legitimize what we are making now by saying that it used to be made long ago,” with an application of a mass of pertinent research that dates back to Roman times.

Not exactly a gripping tale, it requires some fortitude to persevere through every aspect of Medieval food cultivation, preparation, cultural, status and sociological significance. I’ve probably overlooked something; I don’t think that Montanari has. Despite that my concentration wandered occasionally, Medieval Tastes: Art and Traditions of the Table really is quite fascinating. You’d best not attempt to devour it all in one sitting, though. It’s likely to give you a case of literary indigestion if you’re not accustomed to such a solid tome as this.

I recommend Medieval Tastes to those who appreciate fresh, natural ingredients, and simply good food. Through this book I have discovered the forgotten secret of hot buttered pasta, and it is fabulous!

Here’s a peek at the Contents to pique your appetite…
Introduction: Invitation to the Voyage
Chapter i: Medieval near, Medieval Far
Chapter ii: Medieval cookbooks
Chapter iii: The Grammar of Foods
Chapter iv: The Times of Food
Chapter v: The Aroma of Civilization: Bread
Chapter vi: Hunger for Meat
Chapter vii: The Ambiguous Position of Fish
Chapter viii: From Milk to Cheeses
Chapter ix: Condiment/Fundament
Chapter x: The Bread Tree [Chestnut]
Chapter xi: The Flavor of Water
Chapter xii: The Civilization of Wine
Chapter xiii: Rich Food, Poor Food
Chapter xiv: Monastic Cooking
Chapter xv: The Pilgrim’s Food
Chapter xvi: The Table as a Representation of the World
Chapter xvii: The Fork and the hands
Chapter xviii: The Taste of Knowledge
[And taking up the final quarter of the book] Notes; Bibliography; Index

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nonfiction book on food in the Medieval period – mostly in Italy, but with some attention to the rest of Europe as well. This is an academic book on the meaning and symbolism of food, so there's no actual recipes, but that's fine; I'm really interested in the topic of how food can mark various categories of status – class, region, religion – and how these meanings can change over time. Unfortunately, the first few chapters of the book are taken up with much more abstract theorizing (how can historians trust their sources? what does taste or even mean, really? food is sort of like language, in this super-elaborate metaphor that adds nothing to the discussion but needs to be explained in every detail), but once Montanari actually turns to his main subject, the book is fascinating. Food could say a lot about who you were as a person (or, more accurately, who you wanted to be perceived as), and not just the main dish, but little elements like what sort of fat it was cooked in: olive oil, butter, or lard? And even then, what kind of lard: pig? goose? cattle? Each conveyed different aspects of social identities, and that's even before getting into the problem of foods prohibited or stipulated by the Church on Lent and other days. I loved details like how butter went from being considered a very barbaric food by the Romans, who wouldn't even eat it but used it only for ointments, to the basis of the fanciest haute cuisine. Did you know that before tomatoes were introduced into Italy, pasta was typically eaten with butter, grated cheese (so far, so good...), sugar, and cinnamon (ugh!)?

Overall, a great book, once you get past the first three chapters.

I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

[Julie Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Massimo Montanari’s Medieval Tastes: Food, Cooking, and the Table is a detailed, well-researched, and insightful look into the evolution of the culinary arts and how our modern concepts of “Medieval” food are, frankly, hilariously wrong. This is not a cookbook, but rather a historical account of the development of cuisine during the medieval period. Montanari discusses not only how our modern ideas of what foods were eaten during the Medieval era is flawed, but also how the foods items themselves were fundamentally different centuries ago.

Much of our modern thought on medieval cuisine is rooted in entertainment media and the romanticizing of the time period courtesy of medieval festivals and events. Montanari digs deep into the actual historical records to reveal how complex and at times controversial certain culinary movements were during the time period. It is an intriguing look into the day-to-day lives of both commoners and nobles and how food played a role beyond mere sustenance.

The book is weighed down, however, by the academic tendency to over-explain and use cumbersome language and sentence structures to make a point. Casual readers interested in the topic will not find the text easily accessible. Part of this may be the fault of the translator, as sections of the book do in fact read like literal translations instead of conversational ones. Perhaps a more careful attempt to make the work readable for English speakers would have made the text easier to follow. I should also note that my review copy was an unedited proof, and some of this awkwardness may have been rectified in the final, edited version.

[Lili · Rating 1 out of 5]

From Netgalley in exchange for a review:

Oh man, I was so excited to read this book, I absolutely love history and gastronomy, they are two of my favorite subjects to read about. Sadly this book is the result of trying to make a meal out of a thesaurus, it is so bogged down in flowery (and very unnecessary) language and condescension that it made a book I should have enjoyed into punishment for daring to be interested in a subject.

I was also disappointed on how Italy-centric the book was, the little snippet about the book stated it would be about Europe as a whole, but it was dominated by Renaissance Italy.

I dunno, I am sure that someone will love this book, and that my review will seem crazy to them, but this book was definitely not at all for me.

[Glennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this thinking it would have some recipes as well as talking about the food culture during the medieval era. Instead what I got was a very detailed and heavily footnoted book about food and some of the reasons behind what was eaten during that time frame. The book did leave more to the Italian side since it seems the few cookbooks from that time frame were from that area. Every part of food is covered in here along with how some dining customs changed as food changed. An interesting read , but the book is more for someone doing research during that time frame and less for the average foodie. Lots of reference sources listed if you do decide to fall down that rabbit hole.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

[Tiz. T. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading books written by experts, because that is really the only way to learn about a given topic.

Of course, this means I am NOT an expert of that field and the experts writing to laypeople should take it into consideration.

Most do. Some don't. The latters fall into two category: the first is the one who uses complex, in-field terminology or explanation or take for granted knowledge that most people don't have. It is annoying, but it is, usually, done without malice.
Then there are the ones who write to laypeople being condescending to their lack of knowledge. And those? I can't STAND those.

This book starts off the bat by being condescending. It was still condescending two chapters in, so I stopped reading.

Writers? Don't do that.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to really enjoy this book, but sadly it was just a little too much. The subject is fascinating, but it could have been written in a far more relaxed manner. Just because it's written by a professor doesn't mean it needs to be painful. I did glean some interesting historical tidbits out of it so all was not lost.

[Maggie Hesseling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for anyone interested in book history or the history of cooking. I'm not a big fan of the writing, as it's a little archaic, but it's interesting. I epecially found the chapter on cookbooks interesting as I'm studying book history at uni.

[AlexInWonderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dense, but with a little patience you'll reap a bounty of fun facts about Medieval food and cooking. I always wished we delved deeper into cultural topics in my history classes; this is a book that scratches that itch.

[Riley Dawson Hushak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Callista Cassady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information, if you can stomach it. For serious studying, not writing research.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather more scholarly than I really wanted, but interesting nonetheless.

[Jbussen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look through the way back machine. I wouldn't want to try any of the recipes though.

[Katrīna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I cannot give an honest rating: this was one of the first books I read on my e-reader back in 202…1? And I was unaccustomed to non-fiction then, and this did not go down well. I found it way too dense, I tried to remember everything, yet the text was meandering quite a lot, jumping between early, middle and late Medieval periods (considering they were so different, what an undertaking to pin all down in the same book; and how wrong we are in general when we conflate these centuries)
I got through most of it (somehow), but couldn’t finish.

Then, just last week I ran out of books during a journey, and picked this up again. By the end of the day I finished it and found it enjoyable! It really is very informational, more like a collection of sources (every paragraph a reference) than the author’s voice, and there is little in the way of summaries, conclusions. All very fascinating, but too trivialike to keep much in mind after finishing the book.

I would re-read it, but it might take another couple of years.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very much an academic text - dense, dense, dense. Its interesting subject matter but I, myself, really struggled with getting though the text. Also, I felt it was a bit to wide in scope, covering so many centuries and countries made it hard to see what the focus was, if there was one.

[Alessandro Nicolai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molto interessante conoscere l evoluzione della cucina dall epoca romana ad oggi nelle varie parti d italia, come si lega coll evoluzione della cultura e della società, storico ma moderno

[DS25 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saggi di vario spessore ma comunque estremamente interessanti e scritti bene.

[Megan Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on food history in Medieval times.

[Nicola Palumbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il grandissimo Montanari è sempre una garanzia