How would you like to cook a meal fit for a king (literally)? The University of Manchester in the U.K. is in the process of digitzing many of its rare collections, and one of the books that will appear online soon is a cookbook used in the kitchens of the palace of King Richard II in the 14th Century (King Richard II is best known to us today through Shakespeare, who portrayed him as a madman).
If you don’t speak Middle English, you might have a hard time with the recipes, but I’m sure it won’t take long for some medievalist somewhere to come up with a Modern English translation. Then the difficulty will be the cultural differences between what was thought of as “tasty” in 1390 and today. Contrary to what you might have poicked up from attending ren fairs and watching Bugs Bunny cartoons, most of the food of Richard II’s day was not giant roasted turkey legs and “ye olde clam chowdere in a boule”. They did eat game, but the internal organs were the preferred sections, with the heart naturally going to the highest-ranked person at the table. Things were spiced to within an inch of their lives because there was no refrigeration, and the heavy spicing covered up the taste of spoilage. Bread was probably the safest thing to eat, and vegetables were strictly for the peasants.
They washed it all down with beer anyway, just to kill the taste (and the germs), so after the first half-dozen tankards, they probably didn’t care how it tasted anyway.
I do, I do speak and read Middle English! At least, I did as an undergrad. I was an English major and took a course in Chaucer, which we read without translation. I would love to see that cookbook and even, God help my family, try some of the recipes.
I will look to you, then, for the translations, but I guarantee you won’t like the food.