Fabulous Feasts

Foods are cultural insignia. Few indicators define a people so well as its foodlore. Food taboos and food celebrations are important to a culture s notions of sacrament 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 servitors. The 'art' of the kitchen is explored and the all important ingredients are scrutinised. The book concludes with over 100 recipes from medieval manuscripts.