Becoming Medieval
I’m in a medieval mood, mostly because I’m reading a delightful manuscript by Felicity Pulman. Just wait til it gets published, then you, too, can be in medieval mode. Or… maybe you don’t have to wait. Maybe I can introduce you to a couple of the Medieval cooking sites (not the Medieval-diet-that-is-not-Medieval-at-all site) on the internet. Then from you the medievalishness will spiral out and infect the wider world and ten thousand people will find themselves unexpectly making pomesmoille one day.
Got medieval has very little food history on it but lots of marginalia. This means lots of reproductions of interesting pictures from manuscripts, which are, themselves often food history primary sources (plus a great deal of fun). Which means that I was wrong, Got Medieval has heaps of food history. It simply doesn’t often acknowledge it.
The Old Foodie doesn’t have much Medieval either, but it has lots about food over time and is a really handy source of information about recipes and cookbooks. Janet has recently published a book about pies and one about menus will be out soon.
Plants and gardens and related notions (seasonal food!) can be found at The Medieval Garden Enclosed, the blog of The Cloisters. European gardens in a US museum – it’s interesting stuff.
Then there’s Medieval Cookery itself. Despite the title, the food ranges to quite late in time, with a recent post concerning the seventeenth century. Its main concern is the Middle Ages, and it was the owner of this site who did those great links to A Forme of Cury.
And that’s it for my little list. There are other sites, but that’s enough for one day. Enjoy exploring!
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