The third great French cookbook dates from 1420 and actually
comes from a region that is now part of Italy, the dukedom of
Savoy. Duke Amadeus VIII got his personal chef, Master Chiquart
Amiczo, to write down all of his best recipes and how to throw a
banquet, obviously to make the chef and his patron famous. It is
actually written in French and is titled Du Fait de Cuisine (“On
Doing Cookery”). It is also written for professionals and has been
called the fi rst true cookbook of the Middles Ages.
Interestingly, the most common thickening agent was bread—fi nely
pounded or grated stale bread. This is a very good idea because you
don’t waste anything, and it does break down and become thick.
In medieval times, sauces almost always contrast with the main
dish. They are sour or sweet (or both) and spicy. Most of the time,
they are used as dipping sauces, or they are ground up and baked
within a pie.
In terms of cooking procedures, they still did a good deal of
roasting and still enjoyed game, but there is also heavy emphasis on
domestic meats. They usually roasted meats that were considered
humorally moist, such as pork or lamb, and that would dry the meat
out and make it more balanced and healthy. They boiled meats
Vegetable-Cheese Tart
from Le Ménagier de Paris
(a kind of quiche)To make a tart, take four handfuls of chard, two handfuls of parsley,
a handful of chervil, a sprig of fennel, and two handfuls of spinach;
trim them and wash in cold water; then chop very fi ne. Then, crush
two kinds of cheese, soft and medium, and mix in eggs, yolks and
whites, and beat into the cheese. Then, put the herbs in a mortar and
pound everything together, and put in some fi ne powder (spices) ...
Take it to the oven, have a tart made, and eat it hot.