Book Review: Du Fait du Cuisine / On Cookery, by Master Chiquart
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Du Fait du Cuisine, On Cookery, by Master Chiquart, is one of just a handful of medieval cookbooks that still exist. Written in 1420 at the court of Duke Amadeus VII of Savoy, who would later become Pope Felix V, the book details the food that would be prepared for a two-day banquet.
Chiquart provides detailed advice on how to prepare 78 recipes, ranging from fish broths to shoulder of mutton to applesauce. The descriptions are not as precise as you would expect from modern day recipes, but are easy to follow and offer practical advice that would make it useful for the cook of both the 15th and 21st century.
Terence Scully's edition includes the edited text, a complete translation, and a strong amount of footnotes. Those interested in this book would include medieval historians who want to know more about food or court culture in the later Middle Ages, and those who might want to recreate their own medieval meal.
To learn more about this book, please vist http://www.medievalists.net/2011/06/24/du-fait-de-cuisine-on-cookery-of-master-chiquart-1420/