Cooking with Shakespeare (Feasting with Fiction) Review
Here are some of the fascinating facts that you'll find in Cooking with Shakespeare:
In Shakespeare's England, spits of meat were sometimes turned at the fireplace by means of a dog attached to a treadmill.
During Lent, people in Shakespeare's England were supposed to stop eating meat. They could, though, keep eating puffins, because those diving birds were actually considered fish. Stranger still, the tail of a beaver was considered fish, but not the rest of that rodent.
Sugar was so popular among the aristocracy that their teeth were often in advanced state of decay. Queen Elizabeth's teeth were described by a foreign diplomat as having thin lips and black teeth. Sugar was even an ingredient in one of the teeth cleansers of the day.
Shakespeare's plays are full of scenes involving food. Banquets play important roles in many plays, such as The Tempest and The Taming of the Shrew. Titus Andronicus concludes with a banquet in which a mother is served a pie made out of her two sons.
Flowers were often eaten in salads, including carnations, rosebuds, cowslips, and violets.
Characters often use food words insult one another. In Henry IV a nobleman is called "dish of skimmed milk," and in 1 Henry VI Talbot is called a ``weake
and writhled shrimpe." On the other hand, food words are often used as terms of endearment. Prince Henry calls Falstaff "my sweet beef," and Perdita is called "The Queen of Curds and Creame."
Shakespeare may well have written most of his plays while slightly drunk. Beer and wine were safer to drink than much of London's water supply. The average person, whether rich or poor, drank about a gallon of beer a day.
Shakespeare never drank coffee, ate a banana, or indulged in chocolate. Those items weren't introduced into England until after Shakespeare died. Tomatoes were known, but were considered poisonous.
Cooking was a sometimes brutal activity. One recipe instructs the cook to ``take a red Cock that is not too olde, and beate him to death, and when he is dead, flay him and quarter him in small peeces.'' Another one says, "``Take a capon and cut out the brawne of him alive.''
The most common flavouring agent called for by cookbooks was rosewater, found in about 20% of the recipes. The most common spices were pepper, ginger, mace, cinnamon, and cloves. Almonds and raisins are called for in about 10% of the recipes, even in meat dishes.
Some advice from a 1578 book about table manners: "When thou has blowne thy nose, use not to open thy handkerchief, to glare upon thy snot, as if thou hadst pearles and rubies fallen from thy braynes." The cookbooks that were published in Shakespeare's lifetime were intended for the aristocracy and the growing middle class. The lower classes ate very differently. For them, a typical meal was bread, cheese, and pottage made from whatever vegetables happened to be in season.
Table forks were not used in Shakespeare's England. People ate with a spoon, a knife (which they brought to the table), and their fingers. Table manners were perhaps a bit rough and ready. One etiquette book advised readers to avoid rinsing their mouths with wine and then spitting it onto the floor.
Many foods were thought to have special powers that could affect one's health. Raisins, according to one writer, would ``increase motion unto venery, and woorke to the erection of the yeard''-- that is, they enhanced sexual desire and gave men a Viagra-like boost. Another author claimed that an infant with the flu should be put to bed on a layer of cucumbers because ``feverous heate passeth into the cucumbers.''
Dietary experts believed that some foods were better for you in certain months. For example, in October, the wealthy were advised to eat apple tarts because they "greatly comforte the stomache." They were also, however, advised to "washe not the head in this moneth."
Bakers were not allowed to sell fancy breads or spice cakes, except during Christmas and Easter, and for funerals. They were also required to imprint their mark on every loaf of bread they sold, so that its maker could be identified if a loaf turned out to be too light or poorly made.
In most households cooking was done over an iron frame containing wood or coal. Wealthier homes had ovens and fireplaces for cooking. The kitchen at Hampton Court had three fireplaces, each one eighteen feet wide, six feet deep, and seven feet high.
According to one legend, Shakespeare died after drinking too much with his friend Ben Jonson.
Cooking with Shakespeare (Feasting with Fiction) Overview
Feasts, banquets, and everyday meals were central to daily life in Elizabethan England, a world reflected so lavishly in Shakespeare's plays. This book helps students and general readers learn more about Shakespeare's food culture. An introductory essay discusses the culinary customs of Shakespeare's era. This is followed by more than 180 recipes from Elizabethan times. Recipes are grouped in chapters according to types of food and are accompanied by modernized versions for today's chefs. Passages from Shakespeare's plays relate the recipes to his texts and help students use food to gain a greater appreciation of his world and works.
An introductory essay discusses food in Elizabethan society. This is followed by the heart of the book, a collection of more than 180 recipes from Shakespeare's world. Recipes are grouped in chapters on particular types of food, such as fish and seafood, pork, vegetables, beef and veal, and beverages, and are accompanied by modernized versions for contemporary cooks. Passages from the plays relate the recipes to Shakespeare's works and help students understand both his plays and the world in which he lived. The volume closes with a list of hard to find ingredients, a chart of wages and prices from Shakespeare's day, sample menus, a glossary, and a bibliography of period cookbooks, secondary works, and electronic resources.
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A rich, fun survey of early cooking methods - Midwest Book Review - Oregon, WI USA
COOKING WITH SHAKESPEARE is part of the 'Feasting with Fiction' imprint and details recipes, table habits, dining and festivities in Shakespeare's times ala his plays and writings. Chapters are divided by food type - mutton and lamb, fish and seafood, vegetables - and provide tips on old-fashioned cooking from Shakespearean times, from how to make Gallantine to making spice cakes. A rich, fun survey of early cooking methods and recipes evolves for modern readers and libraries interested in culinary history.
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