INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

DE HONESTA VOLUPATE ET VALETUDINE (OF HONEST VOLUPTUSNESS AND HEALTH)
OR VIRTUOUS ENJOYMENT AND GOOD HEALTH) BY BARTHOLOMAEUS DE PLATINA
Printed in roman Type in Venice 13 June 1475 THE title of Platina's
work, as is true of many books of the period, appears in various
forms. One variant, De obsoniis ac  honesta voluptate, can be freely
translated as: "On meat dishes and their virtuous enjoyment." Platina
stresses that his recipes do not lead to the sin of gluttony. So you
can enjoy your three-inch charcoal-broiled steaks and still feel
virtuous. This book is important not only as the first printed  cookery
text, but also as an excellent source of knowledge of daily  life in
the mid-fifteenth century, and particularly for insights into  dietary
customs of the time. Platina, I discovered, was not a cook.  He is
recorded first as a soldier and later as a distinguished  scholar. In
1474 he presented the handwritten manuscript of his now  famous Lives
of the Popes to Pope Sixtus IV. The original is still in  the Vatican
Library. His reward was an appointment to the extremely  important post
of Librarian to the Vatican. How did this scholar come  to write a
cookbook? The clue may be found in the book itself, where  he mentions
his "good friend Martino" the chef of one of the  Chamberlains to the
Pope. They must have become acquainted at the  Vati- can. A manuscript
treatise on food and cookery written by  Martino is in the Library of
Congress. It is quite evident that  Martino's manuscript formed the
basis for Platina's book, for he says  of his friend in Chapter VI,
"which cook, by the immortals, could  compare with my companion Martino
of Como, by whom these things I  write have for the most part been
considered? You will call him  another Carneades if you hear him
discussing extemporaneously the  things put forth here." Platina's book
is rather casual in its  approach to actual cooking, and the entries in
the long table of  contents may not guide the reader to any hint of a
recipe. For  instance, the chapter on edible birds deals with swans and
storks,  but only relates their living habits. It must be remembered,
however,  that in the fifteenth century the common people could neither
read  nor write. Books were commissioned by rich patrons who collected
handwritten books with elaborate hand-painted illuminations. Any
cookery manuscript would have been a carefully guarded secret,
available only to professionals. I suppose the student apprentices  who
had to pay for their training were sworn to secrecy and learned  not by
reading but by working with their masters, who probably  couldn't write
out directions anyway. But Platina, a trained scholar  and experienced
writer, turned out a well-written book by the  standards of his time,
even though the recipes lack specific  information. What fascinates me
is that so many of the same foods we  use today were being used then in
practically the same way. Platina  refers to eggs, pastry, bread and
grains, cheese, all the vegetables,  practically all the fruits,
including cherries, grapes and eggs,  chicken, frogs, salted meat,
squid, octopus and all our modern  spices. And his chapters of advice
concerning healthful habits seem  amazingly timely today, when exercise
and recreation are considered  of vital importance for good health. All
of Platina's recipes are  frustrating, for no quantities are given and
no definite cooking  directions appear. You were just supposed to be a
"born cook" in  those days. Have a look at these old recipes, but, for
goodness  sakes, don't try them unless you are the gambling type. Use
the  modern versions--I can guarantee them, for we have eaten them one
and  all. Source: Pepperidge Farm Cookbook, by Margaret Rudkin

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