Department stores were different when I was a child, they always carried different books, now they seem to be diminishing. Even book stores seem to be few and far between.
I still have my first cookbook purchased from a department store in Perth, Western Australia when I was only about 8 years old. 'The World Book of Meat Dishes' by Nina Froud. It was first published in 1965 in Great Britain and again in 1970. A medium sized book of about 140 pages, I spent all my pocket money on it!
There are many books I have collected over the years and often refer to them.
The oldest book in my collection is 'The American Woman's Cook Book' edited by Ruth Berolzheimer published by Consolidated Book Publishers, Chicago in 1944.
After some research, I found two interesting stories.
One on an old book written 600 years ago by chefs employed by King Richard II.
Experts from Manchester University's John Rylands Library, who discovered the manuscript, have translated a handful of its 150 recipes, which are written in Middle English and date back to 1390.
The recipes include frumenty, a porridge-type dish made of bulghar wheat. Saffron and payn puff as well as a dish of boiled fruits wrapped in pastry.
The unusual cookbook, called the 'Forme of Cury', is believed to have contained dishes to feed servants and the royal family alike. It gives a fascinating insight into the delicacies of the time, including dishes of swan and peacock. After translating the recipes, historians wanted to try the dishes themselves. However, with no ingredient quantities or instructions, making the dishes proved tricky. John Hodgson, who looks after the library's manuscripts and archives, said: "One of the difficulties was that a lot of the recipes were very vague."
Another book, 'Apicius' dates
back to the 9th century and is owned by The New York Academy of Medicine. It is
the only surviving Roman cookbook, a 9th century copy of the original 2nd
century cookery manual. Only two copies of this cookbook, formally entitled 'De
Re Coquinaria' are known to exist. The other 9th century copy is believed to
reside in the Vatican library, which is older by a few years. The Apicius is regarded by culinary historians and those involved with cookery with an almost religious adoration. The name 'Apicius' had long been associated with excessively refined love of food, from the habits of an early bearer of the name, Marcus Gavius Apisius a Roman gourmet and lover of refined luxury who lived sometime in the first century AD, during the reign of Tiberius.
This 57-leaf document is written in Latin and contains recipes used by the Romans.
The book had been rebound in the 18th century by a French book dealer in mottled calf with gilt edges. A book dealer had removed the 9th century binding to separate the Apicius from a text by Hippocrates, the two had been bound together. ("The Hippocrates" now resides in a collection in Geneva, Switzerland, and is bound in the same 18th century mottled calf as formerly on the Academy's Apicius manuscript). Some years ago, the worn 18th century binding was removed, and the 1,200-year-old manuscript needed to be rebound. The Academy hired Deborah Evetts, the now-retired Head of Rare Book Conservation at the Pierpont Morgan Library, to restore the Apicius using a generous donation from the Culinary Trust. That donation was underwritten by The Brown-Forman Corporation and Kitchen Aid. Evetts cleaned and repaired the 9th century manuscripts parchment leaves, added new vellum end sheets for protection, and hand-sewed through original sewing holes.
They say the cookbook is a fascinating document that offers a glimpse of life in ancient Rome. It contains many recipes and uses the secrets of ancient Roman and classical Greek cuisine. They ate the same green vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood as called for in these recipes and most of the same spices. The herbs used by Romans were Oregano, Sage, Coriander, Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme.
The history of the Academy's copy is interesting. The Apicius passed through different hands over the centuries and eventually ended up at the Paris bookseller's shop. The cookbook was purchased by an English aristocrat and book collector. After his death, it was sold at auction and was purchased by Dr. Margaret Barclay Wilson, who eventually gave it to the Academy.
This may have been cooked in the old days and under a different name but today I call it.....
Ingredients4 large Chicken Maryland pieces with skin on
40 grams of butter
2 Green Apples peeled, cored and sliced
10 small pearl onions
2 Bay leaves
1 teaspoon of thyme
Salt and ground black pepper
6 tablespoons of Brandy
120 mls chicken stock
120 mls of crème fraîche
Half a lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons of parsley, finely chopped
Method
Melt half the butter in a saucepan over high heat, add apples and sauté, stirring carefully with a spoon until golden brown and tender. Transfer to a bowl.
Melt the remaining butter in the pan over medium heat and fry the onions, bay leaves and thyme for 2-3 minutes.
Add chicken, skin-side down and cook for 5 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and cook for another 5 minutes. Season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Add the brandy, turning the heat up high to burn off the alcohol, and cook for 3-5 minutes.
Lower heat to medium, add chicken stock and when stock comes to boil, lower heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is tender.
Stir in crème fraîche and add apples, raising the heat again to allow some of the cooking liquid to evaporate and the sauce to thicken.
Finally add lemon juice and parsley.
Serve with mashed potatoes.
Enjoy!
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