The Original Mediterranean Cuisine is both culinary history and
cookbook, with 70 recipes from fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Catalan
and Italian manuscripts, adapted for today's kitchens. Starting with the
natural and cultural affinities of Mediterranean Europe, such that a
medieval merchant from Italy could be understood in Marseille and
Barcelona, it demonstrates the culinary similarities that differentiated
this region from northern Europe.
Originally published in 1995, this new edition has been extensively
revised and enlarged by a third and is lavishly illustrated with images
from medieval texts. It includes new sections on the medieval table and
table manners, and discusses the significance of the medieval banquet
through a selection of menus.