The Transmission of Taste, c.1200-c.1450

Abstract

This study examines medieval English culinary recipes through an experimental, collaborative methodology, combining traditional archival and historical research with recipe development with the chefs at Blackfriars Restaurant in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to gain a deeper understanding of their taste balance and functionality.
English recipes c. 1200-c.1450 are first contextualised within the broader European sphere to explore how English cuisine is framed by other European recipes, and the distinct ways flowers and blossoms are used in English recipes to emphasise their floral tastes and aromas are analysed. Then the use of pistachio in an Anglo-Norman recipe is posited as possible evidence for the Islamicate connection with Anglo-Norman cuisine, as is argued by Anna Martellotti, although caution is still encouraged due to the limited additional evidence for such connections elsewhere in the culinary evidence.
Measuring Taste examines the quantification of recipes and what kinds of taste knowledge imprecise and precise measurements transmit. Taste and judgement measures require the use of the cook’s taste judgement and knowledge to truly understand their meaning, whereas precise measures help to indicate the quantities required without preparation, and may have been useful to staff organising meals and purchasing ingredients, not simply useful for cooks. Constructing Taste explores the techniques of cookery, beginning with a literary historical analysis that highlights the duality of the medieval cook, a figure that was prone to destructive behaviour but that was otherwise defined by their ability to create skilful dishes. Developing recipes at Blackfriars highlights the way the skill of the cook is transmitted through recipes, especially with the ways dough is creatively adapted for different purposes, how fat is used to emulsify and enrich custards, and the use of seasonings to create layered and complex flavours.
Performing Taste draws together the strands explored throughout by bringing the tastes of recipes to the table, where their consumption in literary contexts reveals the performativity of the cuisine represented in recipes, and the reality that it was not just what was eaten but how it was eaten that was important to its gastronomic identity.