British Museum Cookbook

by Michelle Berriedale-Johnson

Have you ever imagined feasting with a pharaoh or dining with a Renaissance prince? In this original cookbook the author recreates over 100 tempting recipes from as wide a field as Ancient Egypt, Medieval Europe and Imperial China.

Now you can entertain your friends to a full-scale Roman Banquet or transform a simple supper with the exotic 'Kukuye Sabsi' from Ancient Persia. From Classical Greece comes 'Honey Cheesecake' and from Georgian England 'Mrs Raffald's Grapes Preserved in Brandy'.

Every dish has been tested by the author and he r straightforward recipes will entice the amateur as well as he experienced cook to try something different and savour a taste of the past.

Genres: Cookbooks, History, Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food and Drink

159 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book put my mouth water while reading. More and more delicious recipes. I would really like to make theme dinner for my friends. We could go to Ancient Egypt, Middel-Age Europe or Emperor China.

Most of the recipes are pretty hard to do or actually the hardest part might be finding the ingredients. And if that isn't hard the price sure is. These delicates aren't desinged for poor unless you raise your own animals to eat or have your own vegetable/herb garden. And of course if you can butcher the animal yourself the more better.

But I'm sure someday I can make some of the whole menus. And some easier and cheaper ones I can taste before that.

It was also very interesting book about history and especially the last pages with list of cooks, cookbooks and other readings gave a lot of tips what to seek from libraby next.

[Siri Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the Danish translation of this book, which substituted two of the chapters in the original book for chapters on Denmark in the 18th century and Europe in the Middle Ages. The idea behind the book, to taste one's way through The British Museum by recreating historical dishes from all over the world, is incredibly creative and very inspiring, the dishes all seem very interesting and appetizing, and the instructions are quite clear and adapted for modern appliances. I will say that it sometimes seems as though the dishes are more "traditional" than "historical", i.e., that dishes from "Ancient Egypt" seem to be traditional Egyptian dishes still being prepared today instead of dishes specifically from the Pharaonic period, but I do understand that many cultures simply did not preserve enough material on culinary arts to accurately recreate dishes that are no longer being made. I would also have liked a bit more information on the historical dishes and/or culinary crafts in various cultures, but again, I do understand that this is a cookbook, not a historical treatise. All in all, a very interesting premise and an appetizing selection of dishes makes The British Museum Cookbook a great combination of history, culinary arts and creativity.

[Justinian]

2019-04 - The British Museum Cookbook: 4,000 Years of International Cuisine. Michelle Berriedale-Johnson (Author) 1992. 159 Pages.



Nicholle picked this up from the library free shelf. She knows I have a love of using cookbooks and food as a way to study a culture, a place, and a time. This book is a tour of place and time through what was eaten. It speaks to available ingredients and cooking methods. Most of what we know of the past is limited to the wealthy. This book acknowledges that and attempts to recover dishes (foodways) from across the class spectrum of a society. When the author has modified the dish for modern tastes or availability that is annotated. For its size this cookbook is exemplary. We found the ancient Greek lamb recipe to be fantastic and the stewed cucumbers from 18th century England to be good. This book will lead to many fun explorations into the tastes of history.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy Shit this is awesome. Everything from Egypt to Georgian England. If you want to eat like a Roman, this is the cookbook for you. This tickles my history bone hard. I should have a Georgian Party complete with cheap gin and hopelessness.

[Kathryn Baron]

I haven't actually tried any of the recipes yet. This has a wider, earlier range of recipes than any of the other historical cookbooks I own.

[Saleris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book due to an interest in Roman cookery. It's not bad, and the few recipes in it I'd cook (I'm a vegetarian) are eatable but it's not something I'd recommend to a historical cookery scholar.