Medieval Culinary Texts (500-1500)
from https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/carlin/www/#MEDIEVAL%20CULINARY%20TEXTS%20%28500-1500%29
Martha Carlin, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Anthimus, De observatione ciborum (Latin, 6th cent.) Treatise on food and diet in the form of a letter addressed to Theuderic [I], king of the Franks, by a Greek physician resident at the court of Theodoric the Ostrogoth.
Hugh of St. Victor, Didascalicon, Book II, chap. 25, "On Hunting" (Latin, 1120s) Although ostensibly on hunting, this brief chapter in Hugh of St. Victor's encyclopedic survey includes a more general essay on the various classifications of food. In Latin.
Regimen sanitatis Salerni (Latin, ?12th-13th cent.) Health and diet regimen, in verse. Click here for an English translation by Thomas Paynel (1535) . Click here for Sir John Harington's translation, The Englishmans Doctor (English, 1608) . His full title reads: The Englishmans Doctor, Or,The School of Salerne,Or, Physical observations for the perfect Preserving of the body of Man in continual health. Click here for a modern English translation from Patricia Willett Cummins, A Critical Edition of Le Regime Tresutile et tresproufitable pour Conserver et Garder la Santé du Corps Humain (1976). James L. Matterer supplies a useful introduction to the online translation.
De flore dietarum (Latin, early 13th cent.) Salernitan treatise on the humoral properties of various foods and drinks, compiled at the beginning of the 13th century, and originally attributed to Constantinus Africanus. Edited by Piero Cantalupo (1992).
Libellus de arte coquinaria ("The Harpestreng cookbook," Codex K, Latin and Danish, 13th cent.) The oldest known medieval Western recipe collection, originally written in Latin or French, probably in the late 12th or early 13th century, and later translated from Middle Low German into Danish, possibly by the royal physician Henrik Harpestraeng (d. 1244). Codex K (Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek, Ny kgl. Samling, nr. 66, 8v°, ff. 140r-146v), with 25 recipes, dates from c. 1300; it was edited by M. Kristensen (1908-20). Click here for photographs of Codex K. Click here for Codex Q (Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek, Ny kgl. Samling, nr. 70 R, 8v°, 5ff.), another Danish translation, with 31 recipes, dating from c. 1350. It was edited by C. Molbech in Historisk Tidsskrift, vol. 5 (København, 1844), pp. 540 - 546. A German version of this recipe collection is embedded in the 15th-century Mittelniederdeutsches Kochbuch (see below).
"Anonymous Andalusian cookbook": Kitab al-tabikh fi al-Maghrib wal-Andalus (Arabic, early 13th cent.) A collection of 543 recipes, translated here into English by Charles Perry, from the edition by Ambrosio Huici Miranda (La Cocina Hispano-Magrebi en la Epoca Almohade, 1965). Click here for another copy of Perry's English translation; click here for a searchable index of this collection.
Abu l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abí l-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abí Bakr ibn Razin al-Tuyibi al-Andalusí, Fedalat Al-Jiwan fi tayyibat al-ta'am wa-l-alwan (Arabic, c. 1228-1243) Extracts, in a modern Spanish translation, from a collection of 441 recipes written in Andalusia. From a doctoral thesis by Fernando de la Granja Santamaría, "La cocina arabigoandaluza según un manuscrito inédito" (Madrid, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, 1960).
Aldobrandino da Siena (Aldebrandin de Sienne): Two chapters from La flours et la rose de toute medicine et fisisque, later known as Le Régime du corps (French, end of 13th - beginning of 14th cent.) The first two chapters of Part III: De totes manieres de blé, et du pain c'on en fait, and De totes manieres de buverages. From the edition by Louis Landouzy and Roger Pépin (1911). Click here for a photograph of an early manuscript (Paris, BnF, Arsenal, manuscrit 2510, fol. 49v), and here for another manuscript (Paris, BnF, Département des manuscrits, Français 12323, fol. 128v).
Viandier (French, second half of 13th cent.) This website contains discussions, transcriptions, and translations (into modern French) of all four extant medieval manuscripts of this celebrated French recipe collection. The earliest manuscript (Bibliothèque cantonale du Valais, Sion, S 108) was written c. 1300 on a parchment roll and contains 133 recipes. Click here to see the edition of the Sion MS by Paul Aebischer (1953) and original text with a facing translation in modern French. The text was revised in the late 1300s and attributed to the royal cook Guillaume Tirel, known as "Taillevent" (c. 1315-95). Three manuscript versions survive: one with 145 recipes, in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (MS fonds français 19,791; before 1392; c. 1380, according to Jérôme Pichon); one with 156 recipes in the Vatican Library (MS Regina 776 [formerly 233 and 2159], fols. 48r-85r; c. 1400-50); one with 141 recipes in the Bibliothèque Mazarine, Paris (MS 3636, formerly MS 1253, folios 219r-228r; 15th cent.). A fourth manuscript (Saint-Lô, Archives de la Manche, Série E, Archives de la baronnie de la Haye-du-Puits, fols. 39v-46r; 15th cent.) was destroyed in a fire on D-Day (6 June 1944). Click here for the text of the Bibliothèque Nationale manuscript, with a facing translation in modern French; Click here for the text of the Vatican manuscript, from the edition of Jérôme Pichon and Georges Vicaire (1892), pp. 73-136; with an English translation by James Prescott. Click here for a searchable index to Prescott's translation. Click here for the text of the Vatican manuscript with facing translation in modern French. Click here for the text of the Mazarine manuscript, with a facing translation in modern French. Click here for a transcript of the printed edition of c. 1485/90, which contains a large collection of 15th-century recipes grafted onto a selection of the earlier Viandier recipes (221 recipes in all), together with some menus dating from 1455. This transcript is taken from Jérôme Pichon and Georges Vicaire, eds., Le Viandier de Guillaume Tirel dit Taillevent (Paris, 1892; reprint Geneva: Slatkine, 1967, and Luzarches: Daniel Morcrette, n.d.), pp. 141-199 ("Le Viandier de Taillevent -- Édition du XVe siècle"). Click here to see the title page of that(?) printed edition.
Enseignements qui enseingnent a apareillier toutes manieres de viandes (French, 1304-14) Contains 46 recipes. From the edition by Grégoire Lozinski in La bataille de caresme et de charnage (1933), pp. 181-187. Click here for a photograph of the original manuscript (Paris, BNF, Manuscrit Latin 7131, fol. 99v). Click here for another copy of the same photograph . Click here for a modern English translation by Daniel Myers. Click here for a searchable index of Myers' translation. Click here for the original text with facing modern French translation.
Tractatus de modo preparandi et condiendi omnia cibaria (Latin, beginning of 14th cent.) Contains about 80 recipes. From the edition of Marianne Mulon, "Deux traités inédits d'art culinaire médiéval," in Bulletin philologique et historique (jusqu'à 1610) du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Année 1968: Actes du 93e Congrès national des Sociétés savantes tenu à Tours. Volume 1: Les problèmes de l'alimentation (Paris, 1971, pp. 369-435; Tractatus, pp. 380-395.) Click here for a photograph of the manuscript (Paris, BnF, Département des manuscrits, Latin 9328, fols. 129r-133v).Liber de coquina, ubi diuersitates ciborum docentur (Latin, beginning of 14th cent.) Contains 172 recipes. From the edition of Marianne Mulon, "Deux traités inédits d'art culinaire médiéval," in Bulletin philologique et historique (jusqu'à 1610) du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Année 1968: Actes du 93e Congrès national des Sociétés savantes tenu à Tours. Volume 1: Les problèmes de l'alimentation (Paris, 1971, pp. 369-435; Liber de coquina, pp. 396-420.)
"Anonimo Veneziano," Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco (Italian, c. 1300-1350) An incomplete collection of 135 recipes by an anonymous Venetian of the fourteenth century, edited from a late fifteenth-century manuscript by Ludovico Frati in Libro di cucina del secolo XIV (1899). 22 of the recipes can also be found in the "Anonimo Toscano" collection (see below). Click here for a another copy of the original text, and for a modern English translation by Louise Smithson. Click here for a searchable index to this collection.
Magninus Mediolanensis, Regimen sanitatis (Latin, c. early 1330s) Treatise on health and diet, by Maino de' Maineri of Milan, lecturer at the medical school at Paris. Scanned pages of the Strassburg edition of 1503.
Magninus Mediolanensis, Opusculum de saporibus (Latin, c. early 1330s) A collection of sauce recipes by Maino de' Maineri of Milan, lecturer at the medical school at Paris, which forms part of the author's dietetic treatise, Regimen sanitatis. Edited by Lynn Thorndike (1934) from Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, MS VIII. D. 35, ff. 52rb-53va.
Das buch von guter spise (Daz buoch von guoter spise) (German, 1345-54) Collection of 96 recipes ("The Book of Good Food"), from a household manual compiled by Michael de Leone, proto-notary of the archbishop of Wurzburg. There are two extant MSS: (A) the original Würzburg MS (1345 x 1354), now München Universitãtsbibliothek, *2º Cod. MS 731 (Cim. 4), ff. 156ra-165vb, and (B) the later Dessau MS (c. 1400 x 1450), Anhaltische Landesbücherei, MS Georg. 278.2o, ff. 123v-132v. This is the text from the Würzburg-Münchener MS , edited by Hans Hajek (1958). Click here for an earlier (1844) edition of the text with an uneven English translation by Alia Atlas. Click here for a searchable index of Atlas's translation. Click here for a photograph of the Würzburg-Münchener manuscript with a modern German translation of the recipe for "Rheingauer Hühner." The two manuscripts are compared in Melitta Weiss Adamson's Daz buoch von guoter spise (The Book of Good Food). A Study, Edition, and English Translation of the Oldest German Cookbook, Medium Aevum Quotidianum, Sonderband IX (Krems, 2000).
The Forme of Cury (English, c. 1390s) and Ancient Cookery (English, c. 1381) A facsimile of Samuel Pegge's edition of these recipe collections (1780), taken, respectively, from British Library, Additional MS 5016 (roll), and Bodleian Library, MS Douce 257, ff. 86r-96v (under the title "Diuersa servicia"). Click here for a typescript version of Pegge's edition, by Project Gutenberg (flawed by scanning errors, e.g., "f" for tall "s" and "a" for "æ"). Click here for a searchable index of The Forme of Cury , and for an index to the original recipes with modern adaptations.
Menus for feasts, 1397 and 1443 (English) Banquet given by John of Gaunt for Richard II at Durham Place, London (the text dates this to 1387, but the correct date is 1397); and installation banquet of John Stafford, archbishop of Canterbury. From the edition of Thomas Austin (1888).
Le ménagier de Paris (French, c. 1393) From the edition of Jérôme Pichon (1846), pp. 80-210 (chapter on food and cookery). (Click here for a mirror of the same site .) Click here for two photographs of a 15th-cent. manuscript (BN, 12477, fol. 1r) (mislabeled: the top and bottom photos are from the Ménagier MS; the middle photo is from a manuscript of Boccaccio's Decameron). Click here for an English translation by Janet Hinson. Click here for a searchable index of the English translation. (For an authoritative English translation of the entire work, see The Good Wife's Guide (Le Menagier de Paris): A Medieval Household Book, trans. Gina L. Greco and Christine M. Rose (Cornell University Press, 2009).
Two royal banquet menus (English, c. 1390s) Menus for a feast given for Richard II by "Lord Spenser" (Thomas le Despenser, created earl of Gloucester 29 Sept. 1397), and for a feast at the king's court. From the edition of Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler (1985), with added translation into modern English.
"Anonymous Southerner," Book A: "Limonia" (Italian, late 14th-early 15th cent.) See also recipes for kid pie and hare stew . Click here for a brief description of this recipe collection .
Illustrations from the Tacuinum sanitatis (Latin, late 14th-early 15th cent.) These images illustrate passages in the text concerning the humoral properties and effects on health of various foods.
Chiquart Amiczo, Du fait de cuisine (French, 1420) Master Chiquart was chief cook to the duke of Savoy. English translation by Elizabeth Cook. Click here for the table of contents. Click here for a searchable index of this collection. Click here for an extract describing the supplies needed for a grand feast . Click here for a photograph of the manuscript (f. 70r) , with a transcription and a modern French translation. Click here for selections from the original text with facing modern French translation.
Vivendier (French, c. 1425 or mid 15th cent.) With facing translation in modern French. From the edition by Bruno Laurioux in Le Règne de Taillevent. Livres et pratiques culinaires à la fin du Moyen Âge. Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1997. The sole manuscript, containing 66 recipes, is Kassel, Gesamthochschulbibliothek, 4° MS med. 1, folios 154r-164v. Terence Scully, in his edition of this manuscript (The Vivendier, Prospect Books, 1997), writes that it probably originated in northern -- most likely, northeastern -- France around the middle of the fifteenth century.
Johannes de Bockenheim, Registrum coquine (Latin, 1431-1435) Photograph of a folio from one of the two extant manuscripts, showing recipes 28 (Easter lamb) and 29 (tortas pro nobilibus). Paris, BNF, Département des manuscrits, Latin 7054. Bockenheim was cook to Pope Martin V. Click here for a discussion (in French) of Bockenheim and his collection of 74 recipes, including a transcription of Recipe 5 (boiled beef, "good for Germans"). See also Bockenheim's recipe for hemp-seed soup , and a brief biography of him.
Two Fifteenth-Century Cookbooks (English, c. 1430 and 1450) British Library, MSS. Harley 279 (c. 1430) and Harley 4016 (c. 1450), with extracts from Bodleian Library, MSS Ashmole 1439, Laud 553, and Douce 55. Edited by Thomas Austin (1888, rpt 1964). Click here for a searchable index of the recipes. Click here for a searchable index to this collection. Click here for an translation (with modernized recipes) of a dinner menu for the feast of the Holy Trinity from Harley 279.
Rheinfränkisches Kochbuch (German, c. 1445) Sample folio, with transcription and modern German translation, of Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Ms. germ. fol. 244 (folio 285r). From the edition by Thomas Gloning (1998). Click here for two other photographs of the MS ( folios 290v and 293r), showing recipes for "Rheingauer Hühner" with modern German translations (scroll down page to recipes beginning "Willst du Pasteten machen" and "Nimm Wein und Honig").
Liber cure cocorum (English, c. temp. Henry VI) Cookbook in doggerel verse, from British Library, MS. Sloane 1986, ff. 27r-56v, edited by Richard Morris (1862). Click here for another copy, and for a parallel transcription and modern translation , with notes, by Cindy Renfrow. Click here for a searchable index of the recipes.
Martino Rossi (or da Como; "Maestro Martino"), Libro de arte coquinaria (Italian, c. late 1450s) Edited by Emilio Faccioli (1966). Click here for another copy of the original text. See also English translations of Master Martino's recipes for cheese pie with herbs, rice with almond milk , sturgeon , and eggnog . Click here for a brief biography of Master Martino .
Ein alemannisches Büchlein von guter Speise (German, 15th cent.) From the edition by Anton Birlinger (1865). Click here for two photographs of the manuscript (Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek, Cgm 284, folios 103v-104r), containing a recipe for "Rheingauer Hühner", with a modern German translation. (Scroll down to recipe beginning "Willst du eine Pastete machen," followed by snippet beginning "Und backe es in einem Ofen.")
Ein mittelniederdeutsches Kochbuch (German, 15th cent.) Edited by Hans Wiswe (1956). Recipes 56-71 duplicate those of the 13th-century "Harpestreng" cookbook (see above).
Libre de totes maneres de confits (Catalan, 15th cent.) Recipes for preserves, edited by Luis Faraudo de Saint-Germain (1946).
Aus der Küche der deutschen Ordensritter (German, c. 1450-1500) The earliest known cookbook from East Prussia (Königsberg), edited by H. Gollub in Prussia, 31 (1935), 118-24, from a manuscript in Berlin (Geh. Staatsarchiv Preuß. Kulturbesitz, XX. HA OBA 18384). See also R. G. Päsler, "Deutschsprachige Sachliteratur im Preußenland bis 1500. Untersuchungen zu ihrer Überlieferung." (Diss. phil., Oldenburg, 1999).
Le Recueil de Riom (French, c. 1466?) Collection of 48 recipes from a manuscript originally written in Riom (now Paris, Bibl. nat. lat. 6707, fols. 184-188). Original text, from the edition by Carole Lambert, with a somewhat uneven English translation by Jennifer Soucy. Click here for a searchable index to this collection.
Gentyll manly Cokere (English, later 15th cent.) Facsimiles of culinary recipes from Magdalene College, Cambridge, MS Pepys 1047, originally published in a flawed edition by Gerald Hodgett as Stere Htt Welle (1972). New transcriptions are provided here by James L. Matterer, who also intends to supply modern English translations and adaptations for the modern cook. In progress.
Basel, Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität (ÖUB), Cod. D II 30, fols. 300r-310v (German, c. 1475-1500, or beg. 16th cent.) Thomas Gloning's transciption. Click here for a description of the manuscript. See also Alessandra Sorbello Staub, Die Basler Rezeptsammlung. Studien zu spätmittelalterlichen deutschen Kochbüchern. Erstausgabe mit Kommentar und Fachglossar der Handschriften Basel, ÖUB D II 30, Bl. 300ra-310va und Heidelberg, UB cpg. 551, Bl. 186r-196v und 197r-204r. Würzburg, 2002. [Diss. 1998]. Click here for a discussion in English of the recipe for a giant egg on fol. 307v.
A Noble boke off cookry ffor a prynce houssolde or eny other estately houssolde (English, late 15th cent.) The text of Holkham Hall, MS 674, in an unfortunately flawed edition by Mrs. Alexander [Robina] Napier (London, 1882). Click here for a searchable index to this collection.
A concordance to the Middle English culinary recipes in MS Harley 5401 (English, late 15th cent.) Concordance to Constance Hieatt's edition (Medium Ævum 65 [1996], 54-71) of a late-fifteenth-century collection of 96 culinary recipes, attributed to "dominus Thomas Awkbarow," and deriving partly from the fourteenth-century collections known as Diversa servicia and The Forme of Cury. Click here for a searchable index to this collection. See also Five recipes from British Library, Harleian MS. 5401 From F. J. Furnivall's collection, The babees book [etc.] (Early English Text Society, 1868). For the entire collection, see above under household and conduct texts.
Graz, University Library (UBG), MS 1609 (German, late 15th cent.) Two sample fast-day recipes, one for making imitation eggs out of pike and ginger, and the other for a walnut sauce for fish, with modern adaptations. In German (PDF file).
Alte Kockrezepte aus dem bayrischen Inntal (German, 15th-16th cent.) Edited by Berthilde Danner (1970). Click here for an English translation by Volker Bach.
Livro de Cozinha da Infanta D. Maria (Portuguese, late 15th- early 16th cent.) Extracts from the edition by Giacinto Manuppela (Lisbon, 1986) of MS I. E 33 in the Biblioteca Nazionale, Naples. The Infanta Maria of Portugal (1538-77) married Alessandro Farnese in 1565, and this manuscript, which contains 73 folios and includes some Farnese texts, probably belonged to her. The collection of 67 culinary recipes is untitled and undated, and written in a variety of hands of c. 1480 - c.1510. Click here for a description of the manuscript in French and another description in Portuguese (with bibliographic references), and for a photo of Recipe I and a photo of Recipe LXVI. The collection called Um tratado da cozinha portuguesa do século XV appears to be a modern Portuguese adaptation of this recipe collection, with measures given in liters, grams, and kilos, by Antonio Gomes Filho (1963). Click here (select HTML or PDF) for a modern English translation by "Faerisa" [?Jane L. Crowley] of the latter. Click here for a searchable index to this translation.
Hermolaus Barbarus (Ermolao Barbaro), description of an Italian wedding banquet (Latin, 1488) This description was translated into French by Michel Nostradamus and published in 1555.
Robert de Nola, Libre de doctrina per a ben servir, de tallar y del art de coch (Catalan, late 15th - early 16th cent.) Recipe collection and description of servants' duties by Master Robert, cook to Ferrando (Ferrante or Ferdinand), King of Naples. The earliest printed culinary text in Catalan (Barcelona, 1520). Click here for photographs of the original edition. For an English translation by Robin Carroll-Mann of a later Spanish edition of de Nola's book (Logrono, 1529), click here for Part One; click here for Part Two . Click here for a searchable index of this collection.
Early Modern Culinary Texts (1500-1700)
Kuchenmeisterey (German, 16th cent.) Scanned images of a manuscript copy (Universitätsbibliothek Innsbruck, UB-HB-S Cod. 671, 104 folios) of a cookery text first printed in the late 15th century.
Wel ende edelike spijse (Dutch, c. 1500) Edited in 1872 by C. A. Serrure under the title Keukenboek, uitgegeven naar een handschrift der vijftiende eeuw. Click here for a modern English translation (in progress) by Christianne Muusers, who also provides a translation into modern Dutch. The text begins: "Desen bouc leert wel ende edelike spijse te bereedene tetene also als hier naer volcht" ("This book teaches [one] to prepare good and noble food to be eaten, as follows"). Click here for a searchable index to this translation.
Le Platine en francoys (French, 1505) Scanned photographs of the early French version of the Latin De honesta voluptate, compiled by Bartolomeo Sacchi ("Battista Platina") about 1470, and first printed at Rome in 1473. Sacchi took most of his recipes from the Libro de arte coquinaria (c. late 1450s), by the celebrated chef Martino Rossi ("Maestro Martino;" see above).
The Boke of Kervynge (English, 1508) Treatise, printed by Wynkyn de Worde, on carving and serving food, with recipes for hippocras and sauces, seasonçal menus, and the duties of various servants.
Een notabel boecxken van cokeryen (Dutch, c. 1514) The first printed cookbook in Dutch, published in Brussels by Thomas vander Noot (c. 1475-1525), and reprinted in a facsimile edition in 1925. A partial English translation is provided. Click here for another copy, in Dutch only, made available by Marleen van der Molen-Willebrands from the edition that she and Ria Jansen-Sieben published in 1994.
Von Speisen, natuerlichen und kreuter Wein, aller verstand (German, 1531) English translation by Alia Atlas, from the edition printed in the Reihe Klassische Kochkunst, vol. 7 (1984).A Propre new booke of Cokery, 1545 (English, 1545). The complete title is: A PROPRE new booke of Cokery / declaryng what maner of meates bee best in ceason for all tymes of þe yere and how thei ought to bee dressed and serued at the table bothe for flessh daies and fisshe daies with a newe addicion / veri necessarye for all them that delighteth in cokery (London:Richard Lant and Richarde Bankes, 1545). There is a copy of this edition in the Hunterian Library at the University of Glasgow. See below for the edition of 1557-8.
Das Kochbuch der Philippine Welser (German, 1545) The earliest cookbook known to have been written by a woman? Photograph of one of the 245 recipes copied by the 18-year-old daughter of a patrician Augsburg family, perhaps as an educational exercise or as a gift for her mother. Philippine Welser (1527-80) subsequently married the Archduke Ferdinand II of Bavaria. (Scroll down to photograph of MS, which is just above a contemporary portrait of Philippine Welser.) From the edition by Gerold Hayer (1983).
Das Kochbuch von Sabina Welserin (German, 1553) English translation by Valoise Armstrong (1998). Click here for the original German text from the edition of Hugo Stopp (1980). Click here for a searchable index of this collection.
Augspurger Kochbuoch (German, c. 1554) Edition published in Augsburg in 1886 of a recipe collection described as belonging to "Junckfraw Maria Stenglerin" in 1554.
Hans Dernschwam, Description of food and foodways in Turkey (German, 1553-5) From the diary kept by Dernschwam (1494-1568), a Bohemian scholar and agent of the Fuggers in Transylvania, of a trip to Constantinople and Asia Minor. Edited by Franz Babinger in Studien zur Fugger-Geschichte, 7 (München/Leipzig, 1923), 123-131.
Michel Nostradamus, "La façon & maniere de faire toutes confitures" (French, 1555) Scanned photographs of the second part of a volume of recipes attributed to the celebrated physician and astrologer. The volume itself is titled Excellent & moult utile Opuscule à touts necessaire, qui desirent auoir cognoissance de plusieurs exquises Receptes, diuisé en deux parties. (The first part of the volume, not scanned here, contains cosmetic recipes.)
A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye (English, c. 1557-8) Early English printed cookbook that discusses seasonal foods and provides suggested menus and recipes. Edited by Catherine Frances Frere (1913), from a unique copy in the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, printed in London by John Kynge and Thomas Marche (undated, but probably c. 1557-8). See above for an earlier edition of 1545. Click here for a searchable index to this collection.
Koch vnd Kellermeisterey (German, 1566) Edited from the early printed text by Christian Heuer and Thomas Gloning.Bartolomeo Scappi, Opera (Italian, 1570) Scappi was privy cook to Pope Pius V. This is a scanned version of Scappi's cookbook, from the Getty Research Institute. Click here for a banquet menu from Scappi's work, taken from L’arte della cucina in Italia, ed. Emilio Faccioli (1987). Click here for another scanned version of the edition of 1570, and for editions of 1605, 1610, and 1622.
William Harrison, Description of England (English, 1577): "Of the food and diet of the English" Harrison describes the food, drink, and meals of his day.
Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch (German, 1581) Transcription and English translation by M. Grasse. Click here for selections from the original German text.
Manual de mujeres en el cual se contienen muchas y diversas recetas muy buenas (Spanish, 16th cent.) Contains both culinary and household recipes. Click here for an English translation (in progress).
A.W., A Book of Cookrye (English, 1591) Originally published in 1584, "now newlye enlarged with the serving in of the Table." Transcribed by Mark and Jane Waks from STC 24897 -- Early English Text microfilms, reel 1613:9.
Carolus Battus (or Carel Baten), Cocboeck (Dutch, 1593) The first edition, by a physician of Dordrecht, and transcribed here by Marleen van der Molen-Willebrands. The full title reads: Eenen seer schoonen, ende excellenten Cocboeck, inhoudende alderleye wel gheëxperimenteerde cokagien van ghebraedt, ghesoden, pasteyen, taerten, toerten, vlaeyen, saussen, sopen ende diergelijcke. Oock diversche confeytueren ende drancken, etc. An important source for De verstandige kock (1669; see below for link).
Thomas Dawson, The Good Huswifes Jewell (English, 1596) Extracts from the third edition of Dawson's book, transcribed by Kirrily Robert. The full title reads: The Good Huswifes Jewell. Wherein is to be found most excellent and rare Devises for conceites in Cookery, found out by the practise of Thomas Dawson. Whereunto is adjoyned sundry approved receits for many soveraine oyles, and the way to distill many precious waters, with divers approved medicines for many diseases. Also certain approved points of husbandry, very necessary for all Husbandmen to know. Newly set foorth with additions. 1596. Imprinted at London for Edward White dwelling at the little North doore of Paules at the signe of the Gun. Click here for a searchable index of this collection.
Fons Grewe (Italian, Latin, French, English, Spanish, and Dutch, 16th-18th cent.) Rudolf Grewe's collection of 38 early modern printed cookbooks and related texts, scanned by the Biblioteca de la Universitat de Barcelona. (The instructions are in Catalan. To page through a volume, enter the desired page number and click on anar_a. To go forward one page, click on endavant. To go back one page, click on enrera. To go to the beginning of the volume, click on inici.)
Lancelot de Casteau, Ouverture de Cuisine (French, 1604) Casteau, who served as master cook to three successive prince-bishops of Liège, included recipes attributed to the style of Hungary, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Catalonia, Lombardy, Italy, Rome, Bologna, Cremona, England, and Ireland. From the facsimile edition of Herman Liebaers, Léo Moulin, and Jacques Kother (1983). Click here for a modern English translation by Daniel Myers. Click here for a searchable index to this collection.
Relatione d'alcune cose della Nuova Spagna (1529?/ Italian, 1606) Description of the food and drink of Mexico, by an anonymous gentleman who had served with Cortez. From G.B. Ramusio, Delle Navigationi et Viaggi, volume terzo (Venetia, 1606).
Domingo Hernandez de Maceras, Libro de Cozina (Spanish, 1607) The author describes himself as cook (cozinero) in the Collegio Mayor de Orviedo in the city of Salamanca, where this volume was published. Front matter plus 21 pages of text are available in scanned images from a copy of this early printed book at the University of Chicago's Regenstein Library.
Hugh Plat, Delightes for Ladies (English, 1609) Miscellaneous excerpts from Plat's collection of culinary and household recipes, especially for preserves, pastry, sweetmeats, and toiletries, transcribed by Kirrily Robert. Click here for a searchable index of this collection.
John Murrell, A New Booke of Cookerie; London Cookerie (English, 1615) The full title reads: A Nevv Booke of Cookerie. VVherein is set forth the newest and most commendable Fashion for Dressing or Sowcing, eyther Flesh, Fish, or Fowle. Together with making of all sorts of Iellyes, and other made-Dishes for seruice; both to beautifie and adorne eyther Nobleman or Gentlemans Table. Hereunto also is added the most exquisite London Cookerie. All set forth according to the now, new, English and French fashion. Set forth by the obseruation of a Traueller. Click here for a searchable index to this collection.
Koge-Bog: Indeholdendis et hundrede fornødene stycker [etc.] (Danish, 1616) The earliest printed Scandinavian cookbook, containing 100 recipes. The full title reads: Koge Bog: Indeholdendis et hundrede fornødene stycker Som ere om Brygning Bagning Kogen Brændevijn oc Miød at berede saare nytteligt vdi Husz holdning &c. Click here for the same text with an accompanying modern English translation by Maggie Forest.
John Taylor, anecdote on recipe-collecting, from Taylor's Feast (English, 1638) Humorous account of a lawyer who so enjoyed a dish (a "fool") at supper that he requested the recipe, "that his Wife might put it in her booke of Cookery."
Ambigu (table spread with a cold buffet, English, 1698?) Photograph of a reconstruction of an Ambigu, a cold buffet containing a mixture of savory and sweet dishes and fruits, popular in 17th-century France and England.
Sir Kenelm Digby, The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt Opened (English, 1669) The complete title reads: The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt Opened: Whereby is Discovered Several ways for making of Metheglin, Sider, Cherry-Wine, &c. together with Excellent Directions for Cookery: As also for Preserving, Conserving, Candying, &c. Excerpts from Digby's collection of recipes for various drinks.
De verstandige kock of sorghvuldige huyshoudster (Dutch, 1669) The only cookbook published in Dutch in the Netherlands (Amsterdam: Marcus Doornick) during the 17th century, transcribed here by Marleen van der Molen-Willebrands.
Gervase Markham, The English Housewife (English, 1683) Excerpts from the ninth edition of Markham's book (first published in 1615), transcribed by Kirrily Robert .
Hannah Woolley, The Gentlewoman's Companion: or, A Guide to the Female Sex (English, 1675) Begins with chapters on the education and deportment of women, and follows with culinary recipes, medicinal recipes, advice to servants, model letters, and witty dialogues.
Ein Koch- Und Artzney-Buch (German, 1686) Austria's earliest printed cookbook; 118 pages.
Dorothy Petre, manuscript cookbook (English, 1705) Photographs of the MS and its recipe pages, from the University of Pennsylvania Library.
