Just an example of the type of recipes you will be able to recreate with the help of my upcoming book, A Hastiness of Cooks. Recipe reconstructed and recreated from archaic language. An example of what’s in my upcoming book, “A Hastiness of Cooks.” Chicken in a saffron-infused sauce, flavored with Poudre Forte, or “Strong Powder.” … More Capouns In Councys, from The Forme of Cury (1390)
In his timely Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798-1831 (2011), Ian Coller writes of the Arab families associated with Ya’qub Hanna, an Egyptian, a Copt and first non-French general who’d served with Napoleon Bonaparte in his military campaigns in Egypt. The cover, I believe, was chosen to highlight the idea of … More The Lost Arabs of Marseille: Food, Family, and France
I find the following books enlightening, soothing, and motivating. My plan is to create/design a medieval/monastic herb garden over the upcoming winter and plant it starting next spring.* Monastic Gardens, by Mick Hales (2000) Private worlds glimpsed by a privileged few, monasteries have long maintained an aura of mystery. Outsiders imagine the silent seclusion, the … More The Random Herbalist: Books About Monastic and Medieval Gardens
From the back cover of Herrick Kimball’s book, Anyone Can Build a Whizbang Chicken Scalder: Every small-farm and backyard poultry producer needs a good scalder to quickly and efficiently scald their homegrown poultry prior to plucking. Precise scalding translates to fast, complete, and easy plucking of feathers. But high-performance ready-made scalding equipment is much too … More Anyone Can Build a Whizbang Chicken Scalder (Even You!)
Réunion is a country. About 800 kms. east of Madagascar. Off the coast of Africa. A former fueling/supply station for ships on their way to Asia for spices. A bit “out there,” yes. But the food there … tastes and flavors marry each in ways only possible when people from different cultures meet each other … More Chicken Curry, From Réunion (the Country)
One of the most spectacular “finds” related to English medieval history, The Household Book of Dame Alice de Bryene (1931 edition) provides a detailed glimpse into the daily life of an English gentry household over the period 1412 – 1413, down to the exact food purchases and the price paid. It tells of widowed Dame … More Dame Alice de Bryene’s Household Book: Easter 1413
Writing about 3-star French chef Marc Meneau is, in a way, like trying to write about Leonardo Da Vinci. Geniuses really need geniuses to write about them, to interpret them, to salute them, like buck privates in the presence of 5-star generals. It’s a little bit like meeting God – you’re afraid to look at … More Can a 3-Star French Chef Be a Regular Guy? Marc Meneau Tries
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 
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