Die Quellen 2 / The Sources 2

The Forme of Cury

Als zweite Quelle für meine Experimente habe ich mir eine Handschrift aus der mit „The Forme of Cury” betitelten Gruppe britischer Rezeptsammlungen ausgesucht. Der Titel bedeutet übersetzt „Die Art und Weise zu Kochen“ und geht auf eine handschriftliche Pergamentrolle - British Library, Add. MS 5016 - zurück. In über 15-jähriger Recherchearbeit haben Butler und Hieatt etwa 9 Handschriften ausfindig machen können, die mehr oder weniger enge Parallelen aufweisen. Sie unterteilen die Texte in zwei Überlieferungsstränge.  

     Die alpha-Gruppe enthält Rezeptsammlungen, die zwar deutliche Ähnlichkeiten zur namengebenden Handschrift haben, aber weniger umfangreich sind oder zusätzliche Rezepte anderen Ursprungs enthalten. Den Kern der „The Forme of Cury“-Überlieferung stellt jedoch die sogenannte beta-Gruppe dar. Sie besteht aus drei Handschriften - British Library Additional MS 5016 (MS A), Morgan Library Bühler 36 (MS B), Ryland University Library English MS 7 (MS M) -  die im sehr späten 14. und nach dem zweiten Jahrzehnten des 15. Jahrhundert entstanden sind.

     Das Exemplar der Ryland University Library wurde von Hieatt erst nach Veröffentlichung ihrer Quellenedition ausfindig gemacht, stellt aber wohl den ältesten und vollständigsten Vertreter der Überlieferungskette dar. Es besteht aus 195 Rezepten von denen zwei, die auch im Inhaltsverzeichnis fehlen,  nach 1790 auf nachträglich eingebundenen Papierblättern eingefügt wurden und drei, die aus der Parallelüberlieferung rekonstruiert werden können,  durch Seitenverlust verloren gingen. Spezifische Verschreibungen der beiden anderen Handschriften deuten darauf hin, dass English MS 7 an verschiedenen und oft unterschiedlichen Stellen wohl als eine der direkten Vorlagen für beide gedient hat. Der Ursprung aller heute erhaltenen Exemplare dürfte wohl ein verlorengegangener unbekannter Vertreter aus der Zeit um oder knapp vor 1390 sein.

     Die von mir behandelte digital verfügbareVersion der Ryland University Library enthält ein Inhaltsverzeichnis mit den enthaltenen Rezepten und eine Vorrede. In der Vorrede wird die Entstehung der Rezepthandschrift den Meisterköchen König Richards II. von England (regierte von 1377-1399) zugewiesen. Ob dies tatsächlich zutrifft oder nur ein Argument mit verkausfördernder Wirkung sein sollte, lässt sich heute nicht mehr beurteilen. Doch legen die Anmerkung curyous metes for hyзest astates, Komposition der Rezepte und reichlich vorhandene exotische Zutaten und Gewürze einen stark gehobenen Rezipientenkreis nahe. Für keines der Manuskripte lassen sich die ursprünglichen Besitzer fassen. Die Überlieferung setzt hier erst in nachmittelalterlicher Zeit, teils sogar erst im 18. Jahrhundert ein.

As second source for my experiments I chose using a manuscript of the so called “The Forme of Cury” group of british recipe collections. The title, best translated as “The (proper) method of cookery”, comes from a roll of parchment, British Library ADD. MS 5016. In more than 15 years Hieatt and Butler could find 9 manuscripts which share more or less evident parallels. They divided them into two groups.

     The alpha-group consists of recipe collections which have evident resemblance with the name giving manuscript but are less extensive or contain additional recipes from other sources. The core of the “The Forme of Cury”-tradition can be found in the beta-group formed by three collections - British Library Additional MS 5016 (MS A), Morgan Library Bühler 36 (MS B), Ryland University Library English MS 7 (MS M). They were written in the very late 14^th century and after the second decade of the 15^th century.

     The version of the Ryland University Library was discovered by Hieatt only shortly after the edition of the collection of sources. The manusrcipt consists of 195 recipes of which two were added on paper after 1790, but are missing in the table of contents, too, and three dishes missing due to lost pages which can be reconstructed by using the other collections. It seems to be the oldest and best preserved - therefore most complete - specimen. Errors in the other two recipe books show, that it was partly and at different points of the texts one of the original sources for both copies. The origin of the unknown common ancestor can be traced back to the time shortly before or around 1390.

          The digitalized version I used is that of the Ryland University Library. It contains a table of contents naming all recipes  and a prologue. The latter attributes the creation of the collection to the master kitchen chefs of King Richard II. (reigned ca. 1377-1399). If this is the truth or just a matter of advertising can not be verified today. But the reference to curyous metes for hyзest astates, the composition of the recipes and the frequent use of exotic ingredients and spices seem to indicate high class recipients. Neither manuscript can be traced into medieval times and mostly the first identifiable owners are from the 18^th century.



Lit.:

Butler, Sharon/ Hieatt, Constance B.: Curye on Inglysch. English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth Century (Including the Forme of Cury). Early English Text Society, SS. 8. London/ New York/ Toronto 1985.

Hieatt Constance b.: Further Notes on the Forme of cury et al.: Additions and Corrections. Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, Bd. 70/1 (1988). S. 45-52

The Sources 1

Dear readers, I apologize for not having posted anything for a while, but I had to learn for the final exam of an Italian course. So the blog was not top priority for the last week. 

In the category sources I intend to publish bit by bit a selection of sources I am working on for my thesis. I want to give a short impression of the kind, format, origin and history of the material. On the other hand I will show you, how I work with the sources and what intentions I have by doing so.

At the beginning there are, of cause, the recipe collections and cookery books. They naturally give more then all other sources an inview into composition of dishes and cooking methods. An extensive study of all available sources is because of several reasons not possible, therefore I am concentrating on German, French and English manuscripts of the 14th century. This ensures that I have enough but manageable material for my research. In addition I have the possibility for a better comparison of different „national cuisines“ of the same time level.

     The oldest recipe collection in German language is the "buoch von guoter spise" (book of good food/ dishes).[1] It was written around 1350 and was bound together with various texts on different themes in the so called “Hausbuch” (house book) of Michael de Leone, protonotary of two bishops of Würzburg. This compilation originally consisted of two volumes.[2]

     Concerning the remaining index in the second volume, the lost first one contained works on virtues and vices, various didactic poems, e.g. on correct table manners, on the seven Fine Arts, the four elements and a book on grafting fruit trees.

     The second volume contains a collection of liturgical texts, mostly in Latin, Freidanks “Bescheidenheit“ (humility/ modesty), didactical examples, fables of the Stricker, two Latin books on knowledge about the structure of the world and the importance  of liturgy, the above mentioned "buoch von guoter spise", followed by a "Regimen Sanitatis" (health advices), texts of Konrad von Würzburg,  other health advices, courtly love advices, song collections, texts of the “King of the Odenwald” and other poems, partly in Latin. After 1350 different other mostly Latin texts were added, containing prayers, medical works, two tractates on the plague, blood-letting rules and a regimen for the months. Some texts were composed by Michael de Leone himself, too.

     This „Hausbuch“ contains thus a compilation of clerical and worldly texts thought to be useful for everyday live, didactical works, prose, medical guidebooks, love songs and the recipe collection dealt with here.[3] The latter is divided into two parts. Both are structured differently and they seem to be copies of two presumably no longer existing older manuscripts. The first part contains 57 partly numbered and captioned recipes, including two jest recipes. It seems rather unsorted, some times association lines can be traced. The other part consists of 44 unnumbered but also captioned recipes and is roughly divided into dishes for fasting days and Lent and meat dishes. Sometimes the systematics of fasting dishes is broken by associated meat dishes. There can be distinguished some undercategories like fish dishes,  sweet dishes with fruit fillings, fruit and vegetable dishes, egg dishes, fruit dishes, almond and nut dishes, as well as ornamented and sculpted dishes.

     The origin of the cookery book still is unclear, but it seems a cook was involved in the composition, this can be seen in the structure and the concise contents of the individual recipes. The beginning of the text gives “unverrihtige ko<e>che“ as the target group of the book. The meaning of this phrase is uncertain and was discussed many times. Mostly the term “unverrihtig“, which means concerning to Trude Ehlert as much as “unsorted, not fixed by right and law“,[4] is referred to cooks who work for the first time of their live with written recipes or who do not have enough experience yet.[5] In my opinion it could also refer to experienced cooks with knowledge about housekeeping and cooking in other peoples houses, but who had not been trained professionally. The book would therefore act as a means to enable a cooking experienced person to prepare new dishes after higher culinary examples.  If this book ever found its way to the kitchen, may be doubted.  The representative layout and the inconvenient measurements would have prohibited this. Trude Ehlert actually doubts, that contemporary cooks would have been able to read at all.[6] Oral tradition was a very common practice for medieval professional cooks. But for me it seems possible, that Michael de Leone read the desired dishes to the person responsible for cooking and the cook tried to remember the instructions and to implement the recipe.

   For working on the cookery book, I created an excel-file categorized into number of the recipe, original title, kind of the dish, mentioned equipment, mentioned ingredients, measurements and weights,  statements regarding time, notes on striking features, statements on texture, my own transcription, translation, recipe developed by me. I am quite aware, that some of these features have been part of research of other people too and that there are many transcriptions and translations available especially of  the “buoch von guoter spise”. But I made the experience, that by this procedure I get a much better knowledge of the sources and I find many new aspects.

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[1] In this I posts I can only give short remarks on the text collection. Further descriptions can be found in: Brunner, Horst [Hrsg.]: Das Hausbuch des Michael de Leone (Würzburger Liederhandschrift) der Universitätsbibliothek München (2° Cod. ms. 731). Göppingen 1983; Ehlert, Trude: Das Bůch von gůter spîse: kulinarische Bedeutung and kulturhistorischer Wert. Begleitheft zum Faksimile von Tupperware Deutschland. Frankfurt 1993; Hajek, Hans [Hrsg.]: Das bůch von gůter spise. Aus der Würzburg-Münchener Handschrift neu herausgegeben. Berlin 1958; Hayer, Gerold [Hrsg.]: Daz buoch von guoter spîse. Abbildungen zur Überlieferung des ältesten deutschen Kochbuches. Göppingen 1976; Weiss-Adamson, Melitta: Daz bůch von gůter spise. (The Book of Good Food.). A Study, Edition and English Translation of the Oldest German Cookbook. Medium Aevum Quotidianum, Sonderband IX. Krems 2000.

[2] On the house book: Ehlert (1993), 3; Weiss-Adamson (2000), 12-19; on Michael de Leone: Ehlert (1993), 8-10; Weiss-Adamson (2000), 7-11.

[3] On the bůch von gůter spîse: Ehlert (1993), 5-7; Weiss-Adamson (2000), 2-25, 33-54.

[4] Ehlert (1993), 7.

[5] Ehlert (1993), 7f; Weiss-Adamson (2000), 21-22.

[6] Ehlert (1993), 7f.