Savoring the Past

Abstract: A text for cooks, historians, and students of French civilization provides an historical review of the largely uncharted terrain of French culinary history from the end of the 13th century to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. The 12 chapters cover: culinary activities in France during the middle ages; French cookbooks, cooking, festivals, and diners during the 16th century; the development of markets, guilds, ingredients, and new foods; the characteristics of French kitchens and cooks; the development of fine French cookery in the 17th century; the court festivals of Louis XIV; meal descriptions by Massialot toward the end of the 17th century; the spread of French cookery abroad; the development of pastry, baking, confectionary, and table ornamentations; trends and controversies in French cuisine during the mid-18th century; and the development of treatises on gastronomy during the late 18th century. A number of recipes and a cook's index of items covered are appended, and illustrations, engravings, and woodcuts are included throughout the text. (wz).