A compendium on practically all aspects of the art of cooking and dining... Because of the author's familiarity with all aspects of the subject weare offered this rara avis: a book which interests the specialist and the general reader; which allies common sense with scholarship; and whichpresents the theory and practice of medieval cooking for the scholar and the practitioner... has its place on the shelves of the practical cook as well as on those of the scholar: both can feed on it! HISTORYThe master cook who worked in the noble kitchens of the fourteenth and fifteenth centurieshad to be both practical andknowledgeable. His apprenticeship acquainted him with a range of culinary skills and a wide repertoire of seasonaldishes, but he was also required to understand the inherent qualities of the foodstuffs he handled, as determined by contemporary medical theories, and to know the lean-day strictures of the Church. Research in original manuscript sources makes this a fascinating and authoritative study where littlehard fact had previously existed.