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, France.[1]

Liber de Coquina
Liber de Coquina (from Manuscript 7131)
AuthorUnknown
Publication date
13th–14th century

Description

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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.[citation needed]

Contents

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Tractatus (part 1)

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Liber de Coquina (part 2)

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  • vegetables
  • poultry
  • pastry
  • fish
  • compositions of many ingredients

Text

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Manuscripts

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Text edition

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  • Marianne Mulon: "Deux traités inédits d'art culinaire médiéval", Bull. philol. et hist. année 1968, vol 1, p. 369-435[3]

Digital versions

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The two parts are available at Thomas Gloning's site:

Tractatus de modo preparandi et condiendi omnia cibaria

Liber de coquina ubi diuersitates ciborum docentur

Translations

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Complete Latin-German edition:

  • Robert Maier (2005). Liber de Coquina: Das Buch der guten Küche. Friedrich. ISBN 978-3-937446-08-0.

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

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  • Medieval cuisine
  • Le Viandier – a recipe collection generally credited to Guillaume Tirel, c 1300
  • The Forme of Cury – a royal collection of medieval English recipes of the 14th century, influenced by the Liber de Coquina
  • Apicius – a collection of Roman cookery recipes

References

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  1. ^ Alberto Capatti; Massimo Montanari (13 August 2013). Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History. Columbia University Press. pp. 189–. ISBN 978-0-231-50904-6.
  2. ^ Terence Scully (2000). The Neapolitan Recipe Collection: (New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS Bühler, 19) : a Critical Edition and English Translation. University of Michigan Press. pp. 38–. ISBN 0-472-10972-3.
  3. ^ Andreas Speer; Lydia Wegener (1 January 2006). Wissen über Grenzen: Arabisches Wissen und lateinisches Mittelalter (in German). Walter de Gruyter. pp. 365–. ISBN 978-3-11-019431-9.