A few years ago, someone published a medieval English cookbook,

I think I have that. Or rather, the one I have covers seven centuries with original recipes and then transalations and explanations.

I think I have that. Or rather, the one I have covers seven centuries with original recipes and then transalations and explanations.

Oooooh. That sounds awesome.

I think I'm going to make chorizo first, since I have all the ingredients for it, and then I can cut it up and use it in other recipes during the week. This book relies pretty heavily on fake meats, but they're mostly homemade rather than the store-bought heavily-processed stuff.

This is the book. I don't think I've ever made anything out of it (though there are some that look awesome) but it's a great read. [link]

I have Roman Cookery: Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchens. Not in Latin, though, and I haven't actually made anything out of it, but the recipes are adapted from classical sources.

I have a 1912 cookbook that was a promotional item distributed by Weidemann's Beer and a 1943 edition of The Joy of Cooking that has an insert providing substitution suggestions for wartime rationing.

Plus several 1950s/60s eras cookbooks from various companies that are absolutely fascinating reading with respect to the growing fascination with international travel coupled with the growing availability of packaged products, that made creating facsimiles easier for the American housewife.

But one of my favorites has to be the Treasury of Great Recipes by Vincent Price.

I've got a whole bunch of vintage cookbooks, but almost nothing from before the twentieth century. One from the thirties says that, even if you don't normally have servants, you simply must hire a few people when you're having a party, because it's just absurd for one woman to fill the three jobs of cook, server, and hostess. I've also got a vegetarian cookbook from about 1914 -- it seems there were two kinds of fake meat on the market then, both canned. One was made with peanuts.

I've also got a nifty Mexican cookbook from the fifties when it was clearly considered (to the target audience anyway) kind of scary and exotic.

Both resale shop finds. I need to get back into that.

Arepas!

I've also got a nifty Mexican cookbook from the fifties when it was clearly considered (to the target audience anyway) kind of scary and exotic.

In the vegetarian cookbook from 1914, there are a ton of recipes where there's one basic recipe for something, and then a "Mexican" version which is the exact same thing except with added tomatoes and onions. Sometimes there was also a "Spanish" version, which I think had tomatoes but no onions.

I've also got a nifty Mexican cookbook from the fifties when it was clearly considered (to the target audience anyway) kind of scary and exotic.

That's what I love about my 50s/60s cookbooks-- the idea of bringing the exotic home. One of the biggest fascinations was with Hawaii and the Far East-- roasting a pig was clearly too much work and really, who needed to be digging a hole in their yard-- what would the neighbors think? So just add some canned pineapple, so yummy!-- to your ham steak and voila! Easy Hawaiian flavor!