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Summary: A Restoration of the Renaissance Table
Review: The author approaches each recipe with both passion and care, as if she were restoring an antique. Much more than a cook book, Shakespeare's Kitchen is both insightful and innovative. It is such a treat to discover something new by journeying back four hundred years.
Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Contribution to Culinary History
Review: When I opened this book, I did not expect I would have any interest in actually preparing any dishes from it. Rather, I was looking for some insight into the history of cuisine in England around 1600. I was pleasantly surprised to find things which are really interesting to cook.The book does not strictly cover meals mentioned in Shakespeare's plays, however, it is liberally seasoned with quotes from the Bard's plays making reference to foodstuff and spirits. The recipes are taken from cookbooks of the period which are enumerated in the very good bibliography. The volumes of this period were published from between 1560 through 1650 and all but one (Italian) are written in English and appear to be directed to the English housewife rather than the court of Elizabeth or James. The biggest surprise is the prevalence of sweet ingredients in almost all savory dishes. If not sugar itself, then sweetness from fresh or dried fruit. The book even states that the English of the period had a serious sweet tooth. The complement to this tendency is the appearance of savory ingredients such as spinach in sweet desserts. Another common theme in the cuisine of the period was the use of pastry crusts. They used it with just about everything. The remnants of this method can be found in dishes such as beef Wellington, savory pies, and cooking fish in a pastry crust. The method of making pastry crust may be a little unusual to the casual baker, but it is in fact based on a French technique used today for incorporating butter. Instead of cutting in the butter with forks or a pastry cutter, it is 'smeared' into the dough with a kneading type of motion using, of course, very cold butter. It would be interesting to know how butter was kept cold in summer. It is not surprising that the most pervasive foreign influence was not French, but Italian. Note, for example, that one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, 'The Taming of the Shrew' was based on a 17th century Italian style of comedy. Tomatoes and chili peppers are totally absent, as they had not even been adapted in Italy yet, but artichokes, cardoons, asparagus, capers, mint, peas, parmesan cheese, and flat leaf parsley are all common. Citrus fruits, both local and from the Mediterranean are very popular. The fact that relations between England and France were probably very cool at this time, and the fact that England was rapidly developing a world wide trading network, especially with the Mediterranean and the Levant explains the popularity of food from that region. It is also likely that French cuisine had not yet achieved the preeminant position it has today and the cuisines and products of Italy, Portugul, and Spain were probably a common trade for English products. One of the more interesting historical aspects was the fact that many vegetables popular in this cuisine were brought to England by the colonists and soldiers of the Roman Empire. Carrots, turnips, and onions head the list in this category. It may be surprising to find shellfish, especially lobster and crab in the cuisine of the people, until one remembers that these animals were literally considered trash by boats fishing for cod or other fin fish. These must have been very, very cheap. The only puzzle was how they got to London and still be fresh enough to eat. It is no surprise that most of the blurbs on the dust jacket plugging the value of the book are from theater people rather than from culinarians. The audience for this book is as likely to come from lovers of the theater as it is from foodies. The author caters to exactly this audience by presenting a chapter of suggestions on how to organize and cater to a dinner party patterned after this Elizabethan cuisine. This is one of the first books I have found where I was willing to open it purely for the pleasure of the read, however, I was delighted to find interesting recipes, although it is likely I will stick with modern methods for preparing pastry crusts and stocks. One of my few gripes with the book is that contrary to the promise by the author, not every original recipe text was included. It was entertaining to see how the author translated the slim instructions with no amounts specified into a modern recipe with all the expected teaspoons and tablespoons and the like. A worthy, if somewhat pricy volume.
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