The ''Liber de Coquina'' ("The book of cooking/cookery") is one of the oldest medieval cookbooks. Two codices that contain the work survive from the beginning of the 14th century. Both are preserved at the
Bibliothèque Nationale in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, France.
Description
The text consists of two independent parts, mostly cited as ''Tractatus'' (part 1) and ''Liber de Coquina'' (part 2). The titles are taken from marginal notes by the medieval editor. While the identity of both the authors is unknown, it is believed that the ''Tractatus'' was originally written by a French author and the ''Liber de Coquina'' by an Italian author from the Naples area.
Contents
Tractatus (part 1)
*wine compositions
*poultry and meat
*fish
*dishes for the rich
*
legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...
s, eggs,
leek
The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of '' Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus '' Al ...
s and gravy
Liber de Coquina (part 2)
*vegetables
*poultry
*pastry
*fish
*compositions of many ingredients
Text
Manuscripts
Latin manuscript 7131 fol. 94r-99v, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (ca. 1304-1314)
Latin manuscript 9328 fol. 129r-139v, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (14th century)
Text edition
*Marianne Mulon: ''"Deux traités inédits d'art culinaire médiéval"'', Bull. philol. et hist. année 1968, vol 1, p. 369-435
Digital versions
The two parts are available at Thomas Gloning's site (archived on the WayBack Machine):
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110718001233/http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/mul2-lib.htm
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110718001233/http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/mul1-tra.htm
Translations
Complete Latin-German edition:
*
Italian translation of the ''Tractatus'':
*Enrico Carnevale Schianca (ed.): ''"Tractatus de modo preparandi et condiendi omnia cibaria"'', Appunti di Gastronomia n. 26, Condeco s.r.l. Editore, Milano 1998
See also
*
Medieval cuisine
Medieval cuisine includes foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, which lasted from the fifth to the fifteenth century. During this period, diets and cooking changed less than they did in t ...
*''
Le Viandier'' – a recipe collection generally credited to Guillaume Tirel, c 1300
* ''
The Forme of Cury
''The Forme of Cury'' (''The Method of Cooking'', from Middle French : 'to cook') is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes. Although the original manuscript is lost, the text appears in nine manuscripts, the most fa ...
'' – a royal collection of medieval English recipes of the 14th century, influenced by the Liber de Coquina
* ''
Apicius
''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking'') is a collection of Roman cookery recipes. It is thought to have been compiled in the fifth century AD. Its language is in many ways closer ...
'' – a collection of Roman cookery recipes
References
Medieval cookbooks
13th-century Latin books
14th-century Latin books
Treatises
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