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Das Mittelalter-Kochbuch
We don’t usually think of haute cuisine when we think of the Middle Ages. But while the poor did eat a lot of vegetables, porridge, and bread, the medieval palette was far more diverse than commonly assumed. Meat, including beef, mutton, deer, and rabbit, turned on spits over crackling fires, and the rich showed off their prosperity by serving peacock and wild boar at banquets. Fish was consumed in abundance, especially during religious periods such as Lent, and the air was redolent with exotic spices like cinnamon and pepper that came all the way from the Far East.In this richly illustrated history, Hannele Klemettilä corrects common misconceptions about the food of the Middle Ages, acquainting the reader not only with the food culture but also the customs and ideologies associated with eating in medieval times. Fish, meat, fruit, and vegetables traveled great distances to appear on dinner tables across Europe, and Klemettillä takes us into the medieval kitchens of Western Europe and Scandinavia to describe the methods and utensils used to prepare and preserve this well-traveled food. The Medieval Kitchen also contains more than sixty original recipes for enticing fare like roasted veal paupiettes with bacon and herbs, rose pudding, and spiced wine.Evoking the dining rooms and kitchens of Europe some six hundred years ago, The Medieval Kitchen will tempt anyone with a taste for the food, customs, and folklore of times long past.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Hannele Klemettilä
13 books5 followersFT Hannele Klemettilä on myöhäiskeskiaikaan erikoistunut tietokirjailija ja tutkija. Aiemmin häneltä on julkaistu muun muassa kiitetty ja komeasti kuvitettu kirja Keskiajan pyövelit (2004).
~~
Hannele Klemettilä (Hannele Klemettilä-McHale; born 1966 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish historian, medievalist, and author [1] living in Manhattan, New York, and the medieval village of Sonning-on-Thames in the county of Berkshire. She studied cultural history at the University of Turku, earned a Ph.D. in medieval history from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, and was a Postdoctoral Researcher of the Academy of Finland in 2008-2010. She is an Adjunct Professor of cultural history at the University of Turku, and a Life Member at the Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. She published Epitomes of Evil (Brepols 2006),[2] and other books on late medieval cultural history. Her research interests include late medieval penal culture, representations of the executioner, Gilles de Rais, cooking and cookery books, conceptions of cruelty, medieval symbolism, attitudes to animals and nature.
~~
Hannele Klemettilä (Hannele Klemettilä-McHale; born 1966 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish historian, medievalist, and author [1] living in Manhattan, New York, and the medieval village of Sonning-on-Thames in the county of Berkshire. She studied cultural history at the University of Turku, earned a Ph.D. in medieval history from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, and was a Postdoctoral Researcher of the Academy of Finland in 2008-2010. She is an Adjunct Professor of cultural history at the University of Turku, and a Life Member at the Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. She published Epitomes of Evil (Brepols 2006),[2] and other books on late medieval cultural history. Her research interests include late medieval penal culture, representations of the executioner, Gilles de Rais, cooking and cookery books, conceptions of cruelty, medieval symbolism, attitudes to animals and nature.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews
December 22, 2014
Tean ka mina seda, et "keskajal kasutati vürtse, et riknema läinud toidu maitset varjata" ning olen väga tänulik, et see raamat tolle müüdi ümber lükkas. Tavaliselt ma kokaraamatuid äraloetuks ei märgi, ent seal oli tohutult palju ka muud teksti, ning pigem siis näpuotsaga retsepte. Ja retseptid iseenesest olid väga lihtsad - kindlasti tahan ma mõnda neist proovida! Igaljuhul avardas see raamat mu maailmapilti ning tutvustas keskaega hoopis uue külje pealt.
October 29, 2019
Interesting history of food in the Middle Ages, with chapters on the various different not kinds of food available - meat, fish, vegetables and fruit, sauces, dairy produce etc, describing the different varieties available, how they were produced, the different dishes they were used in etc. There is much interesting information, for example, in the chapter on drink we learn that wine was the most popular drink in France, Italy and Spain, and that townsfolk drank a litre a day each, while peasants and labourers got through one and a half to two litres a day. And in the chapter on sauces we learn that ready made sauces could be purchased in towns, and that in France they had their own exclusive company of sauce makers. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout and there is a section of recipes using modern cooking methods, times etc, if you want to try out medieval cooking yourself. The only thing I disliked was that certain sections of the book were inexplicably printed in white lettering on a coloured background, I hate that. Apart from that, the book is very enjoyable.
October 10, 2014
There are some really good features of this book. The best is the illustrations. I'm not sure how they got permission (assuming they did get permission) to reproduce all those period depictions of cooking and eating, but the book is worth it just for those gorgeous color reproductions. Another useful section is a two page spread on the chronology of some sources from the period. Furthermore, the author's Finnish origin and her use of non-English texts leads to the inclusion of information from Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish documents that are just not available in other sources.
However, the biggest flaw in this volume is the lack of source citation. While the author makes in-text references to where a recipe may be found, there are no notes indicating the sources of many of the descriptive comments. This is especially troubling when one is dealing with areas where the author disagrees with the general run of scholars, for instance asserting that radishes were now known in Europe until the 16th century. Some of these may simply be typos in translation-- the author appears to claim that brewing in Scandinavia, *unlike* in other European countries, was done in the home by women... but most modern brewing history seems to claim that in most other European countries, the majority of beer brewing *was* done in the home, by women. That could be a simple mistranslation.
The section of recipes-- one might even say 'recipe file'-- at the back is somewhat problematic. In some cases, the author includes the original text of a recipe from the period, but almost always untranslated, thus making it difficult for the English-only reader to determine whether the version presented reflects the original accurately. In many cases, however, the author only says her version of recipe "was developed in reference to" a primary or secondary source. There are at least two references of this sort likely to freeze the blood of a knowledgeable medieval cuisinier: one to "with reference to Madeline Pelner Cosman," the author of Fabulous Feasts, a text whose descriptive material is reasonably regarded but whose recipes are overly reliant on 1970s fashions; another is 'with reference to James Matterer's website Gode Cookery" a site that includes both medieval and Renaissance texts with cooking versions and "Modern Recipes for Beginners." The sources for the recipes section, in particular, are omitted from the book's bibliography as well, unless cited somewhere else in the text.
The result is the level of scholarship that we would accept, possibly with some reluctance, in the SCA publication "Compleat Anachronist," where anything that sounds wrong should be verified with other sources. I still want to know how medieval pies were easily baked at home, without an oven, for instance. But the author omits the biggest sins of discussing medieval-and-Renaissance cookery (for instance, complaining about the amount of spices). But I expected better of someone with a doctorate in Medieval History-- compare it to Bridget Ann Henisch's Medieval Cook or Redon and Serventi's Medieval Kitchen; at best it's more like Maggie Black's Medieval Cookbook (a text that drives me insane by the way it uses recipes-- Le Menagier recipes for instance are ONLY in the section not devoted to Le Menagier. A little originality in the title would be good.
In sum: worth it for the pictures. Double-check anything you read in here in texts that cite their sources.
However, the biggest flaw in this volume is the lack of source citation. While the author makes in-text references to where a recipe may be found, there are no notes indicating the sources of many of the descriptive comments. This is especially troubling when one is dealing with areas where the author disagrees with the general run of scholars, for instance asserting that radishes were now known in Europe until the 16th century. Some of these may simply be typos in translation-- the author appears to claim that brewing in Scandinavia, *unlike* in other European countries, was done in the home by women... but most modern brewing history seems to claim that in most other European countries, the majority of beer brewing *was* done in the home, by women. That could be a simple mistranslation.
The section of recipes-- one might even say 'recipe file'-- at the back is somewhat problematic. In some cases, the author includes the original text of a recipe from the period, but almost always untranslated, thus making it difficult for the English-only reader to determine whether the version presented reflects the original accurately. In many cases, however, the author only says her version of recipe "was developed in reference to" a primary or secondary source. There are at least two references of this sort likely to freeze the blood of a knowledgeable medieval cuisinier: one to "with reference to Madeline Pelner Cosman," the author of Fabulous Feasts, a text whose descriptive material is reasonably regarded but whose recipes are overly reliant on 1970s fashions; another is 'with reference to James Matterer's website Gode Cookery" a site that includes both medieval and Renaissance texts with cooking versions and "Modern Recipes for Beginners." The sources for the recipes section, in particular, are omitted from the book's bibliography as well, unless cited somewhere else in the text.
The result is the level of scholarship that we would accept, possibly with some reluctance, in the SCA publication "Compleat Anachronist," where anything that sounds wrong should be verified with other sources. I still want to know how medieval pies were easily baked at home, without an oven, for instance. But the author omits the biggest sins of discussing medieval-and-Renaissance cookery (for instance, complaining about the amount of spices). But I expected better of someone with a doctorate in Medieval History-- compare it to Bridget Ann Henisch's Medieval Cook or Redon and Serventi's Medieval Kitchen; at best it's more like Maggie Black's Medieval Cookbook (a text that drives me insane by the way it uses recipes-- Le Menagier recipes for instance are ONLY in the section not devoted to Le Menagier. A little originality in the title would be good.
In sum: worth it for the pictures. Double-check anything you read in here in texts that cite their sources.
May 8, 2017
Goede achtergrond info, leuke recepten. Goed bruikbaar
September 13, 2017
Great book. Beautiful, informative and interesting.
August 10, 2022
THE book about the medieval kitchen, based on research.
March 4, 2024
🤤 but not satisfying.
January 22, 2016
Pros: comprehensive, lots of great sidebars with extra information, mentions numerous sources, lots of illustrations, recipes to try
Cons: text is dry
This is a well organized book on what people in the (predominantly later) Middle Ages ate. The author presents information from a number of sources, including cookbooks, archaeological finds, artwork, health guides, and manner guides. Chapters detail bread, vegetables, meat, fish, spices, milk/egg/cheese dishes, desserts (including fruits and berries), and drinks. She’s careful to remind readers of foods that were unavailable at the time as well as mentioning where certain foods and spices originated (when they were obtained through trade - like the fact that peach trees originated in Persia). The author also points out differences in menu and preference between regions - due to what’s able to be produced there, costs involved in importing goods, and other factors.
While I found the text somewhat dry, the information was interesting. The side bars, where a lot of the social information was relayed, were particularly interesting (with segments on food in fantasy literature, candles, ergotism, vegetarianism, etc.). I also found the segment on medieval drinks interesting (and I think it’s cool that the book has recipes for making hippocras, claret and mead).
While I haven’t tried any of the recipes - yet - some of the over 60 recipes sound very appealing while others… less so. It’s very true that tastes have changed. Some ingredients will be harder to acquire than others, especially depending on your geographical location.
The book is beautifully illustrated with over 100 images from manuscripts, paintings and illustrations.
If you’re interested in medieval food, this is a great reference guide, with a good variety of information and recipes to try your hand at.
Cons: text is dry
This is a well organized book on what people in the (predominantly later) Middle Ages ate. The author presents information from a number of sources, including cookbooks, archaeological finds, artwork, health guides, and manner guides. Chapters detail bread, vegetables, meat, fish, spices, milk/egg/cheese dishes, desserts (including fruits and berries), and drinks. She’s careful to remind readers of foods that were unavailable at the time as well as mentioning where certain foods and spices originated (when they were obtained through trade - like the fact that peach trees originated in Persia). The author also points out differences in menu and preference between regions - due to what’s able to be produced there, costs involved in importing goods, and other factors.
While I found the text somewhat dry, the information was interesting. The side bars, where a lot of the social information was relayed, were particularly interesting (with segments on food in fantasy literature, candles, ergotism, vegetarianism, etc.). I also found the segment on medieval drinks interesting (and I think it’s cool that the book has recipes for making hippocras, claret and mead).
While I haven’t tried any of the recipes - yet - some of the over 60 recipes sound very appealing while others… less so. It’s very true that tastes have changed. Some ingredients will be harder to acquire than others, especially depending on your geographical location.
The book is beautifully illustrated with over 100 images from manuscripts, paintings and illustrations.
If you’re interested in medieval food, this is a great reference guide, with a good variety of information and recipes to try your hand at.
June 12, 2015
Tämä kirja oli todella mielenkiintoinen. Keskiaika on mielenkiintoinen aikakausi. Kirja oli kirjoitettu hyvin ja jaettu hyvin eri osioihin.
Haluaisin todellakin kokeilla joitain kirjan reseptejä. Monet niistä vaikuttivat erittäin helpoilta ja ainesosat ovat myös helppoja (ja halpoja) hankkia.
Kirja todella avasi mieleni keskiajan ruoan suhteen. Minulla oli myös väärä käsitys keskiaikaisesta ruoasta, mutta mitä luultavammin se oli kuitenkin maukasta, helppoa ja tuoretta, ainakin rikkailla. Kirja myöntää, että köyhien syömisistä on vaikeampi saada tietoa koska köyhillä ei ollut tilikirjoja tai muuta tallennetta ainesosista ja reseptikirjatkin olivat tarkoitettu vain rikkaiden kokeille. Arkeologia on ainut tapa jolla saadaan johtolankoja siitä mitä ja miten köyhät söivät.
Oli myös hämmentävää lukea miten paljon ruokaa ihmiset tekivät yhdelle päivälliselle. Ruoan ja ruokalajien määrä oli järetön varsinkin häissä. En pysty ajattelemaan sellaista määrää edes nykyään. Mistä kaikki ainesosat saatiin? Ja keittiössä oli varmasti aikamoinen kuhina. Ehkä he tekivät pieniä annoksia. Ja koska pöydät olivat niin isoja niin sitä pystyi vain syömään ruokia jotka olivat lähellä. Kuten kirjassakin sanottiin, oli myös eri ruokia eri sosiaali statuksille ja ei ollut myöskään kohteliasta kurkotella ruokia joten sitä piti tyytyä ruokiin jotka olivat lähellä ja syödä vain niitä. Joten, vaikka ruokia oli paljon niin kaikkien ei ollut kuitenkaan tarkoituskaan syödä kaikkia.
Pidin tästä kirjasta paljon ja luin sen nopeasti. Teksti ei ollut tylsää kuten monissa muissa tietokirjoissa usein käy.
Haluaisin todellakin kokeilla joitain kirjan reseptejä. Monet niistä vaikuttivat erittäin helpoilta ja ainesosat ovat myös helppoja (ja halpoja) hankkia.
Kirja todella avasi mieleni keskiajan ruoan suhteen. Minulla oli myös väärä käsitys keskiaikaisesta ruoasta, mutta mitä luultavammin se oli kuitenkin maukasta, helppoa ja tuoretta, ainakin rikkailla. Kirja myöntää, että köyhien syömisistä on vaikeampi saada tietoa koska köyhillä ei ollut tilikirjoja tai muuta tallennetta ainesosista ja reseptikirjatkin olivat tarkoitettu vain rikkaiden kokeille. Arkeologia on ainut tapa jolla saadaan johtolankoja siitä mitä ja miten köyhät söivät.
Oli myös hämmentävää lukea miten paljon ruokaa ihmiset tekivät yhdelle päivälliselle. Ruoan ja ruokalajien määrä oli järetön varsinkin häissä. En pysty ajattelemaan sellaista määrää edes nykyään. Mistä kaikki ainesosat saatiin? Ja keittiössä oli varmasti aikamoinen kuhina. Ehkä he tekivät pieniä annoksia. Ja koska pöydät olivat niin isoja niin sitä pystyi vain syömään ruokia jotka olivat lähellä. Kuten kirjassakin sanottiin, oli myös eri ruokia eri sosiaali statuksille ja ei ollut myöskään kohteliasta kurkotella ruokia joten sitä piti tyytyä ruokiin jotka olivat lähellä ja syödä vain niitä. Joten, vaikka ruokia oli paljon niin kaikkien ei ollut kuitenkaan tarkoituskaan syödä kaikkia.
Pidin tästä kirjasta paljon ja luin sen nopeasti. Teksti ei ollut tylsää kuten monissa muissa tietokirjoissa usein käy.
January 25, 2016
An entertaining, as well as critical, look into medieval culinary life. Klemettilä takes into account not only the dishes served at the nobleman's table, but also those at the lay-person's. This book gives the reader an excellent overview, not only of the food of the period, but also of the considerable role that food played in differing social classes and groups. Notably, the recipes, insofar as I have tried them, are quite workable and palatable.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews