Subject: Re: Menagier de Paris

From: [email-masked] (Sam Waring)
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1993 15:42:06 -0800

Organization: Fidonet

 LE> If anybody is still interested in medieval recipes, 'The goodman of 
 LE> Paris,' a fascinating book written originally 1393, contains a number 
 LE> of recipes and is a very interesting book written by an old man who 
 LE> married a very young girl.  This 'childwife' asked her husband to 
 LE> assist her in becoming a good wife.  The book has a great chapter 
 LE> on 'How to prepare viands.'  I only bought a copy recently
 
In the US, the Menagier was republished in 1991 by HarperCollins pub-
lishers, under the title 'A Medieval Home Companion.' 
 
The man himself was in his mid-50s, if I remember correctly, and his wife 
was 14 or 15 (not an uncommon arrangement in those days; men tended to 
wear out wives pretty quickly, so they'd start in early on them).  His 
book is excellent source material on running a household in the Middle 
Ages; not only does he talk about food, but about almost every aspect of 
housekeeping.

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*  Sam Waring                          *  Disclaimer:  *I* don't know   *
*  [email-masked] *  what I said, much less my     *
*                                      *  said, much less my sysop.     *
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