On 15 Dec 2004 23:40:24 GMT, (bogus address)
wrote:

>
>According to Desmond Seward in _The Monks of War_ (Penguin 1995),
>Enrique de Villena, who became Master of the Order of Calatrava
>in 1404 and died in retirement in 1434, "...compiled the first
>Spanish cookery book, the _Arte Cisoria_. So bizarre are the
>latter's recipes that some historians believe they hastened his
>early demise".
>
>Anyone got some samples?
>

::sigh:: First of all, it's not a cookbook, it's a carving and serving manual.
Page images are online at:
http://www.bib.ub.es/grewe/showbook.pl?gw60

I haven't read it cover to cover, but it doesn't really contain
recipes. I does mention methods of preparation -- cut a chicken like
this if it is to be roasted, but in THATway if it is to be stewed, or
served with a sauce. The carving instructions extend to non-animal
foods. De Villena tells us how to cut up a roasted carrot, and how to
cut it if it is to be eaten raw.

The only thing that might be considered bizarre is his list of foods
which have been eaten in Spain over the centuries by various people,
such as the Phoenecians, Greeks, Romans, Goths, Moors, and others.
Some of the foods might be considered bizarre by some modern
standards, and perhaps by de Villena's standards, too (Iizard, horse,
etc.). There's no indication that he's eaten all these foods -- the
whole passage seem to serve the point of indicating the diverse
history of Spanish cuisine.

Most of the book is detailed descriptions of how to cut up all kinds
of food, from sheep to ducks to melons. Another chapter is a treatise
on the necessary knives and their care. And then there are several
chapters lamenting that the art of carving is being forgotten, and
young men of good families should learn about it so that they can
serve their lords at table, and perhaps even the king.

p.s. There's no indication that paella was eaten in Spain at that time
period.


Robin Carroll-Mann
"Mostly Harmless" -- Douglas Adams
To email me, remove the fish