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Dining with the Valois: A Taste of 14-16th C France
Dining with the Valois: A Taste of 14-16th C France
Dining with the Valois:
A Taste of 14th Century France
Viscountess Muriel von Schrecken
West Coast Cooking Symposium
February 11, 2012, A.S. XLVI
Table of Contents
This class was inspired by a wine tasting class where the fledgling wine connoisseurs tasted the elements of wine to determine which flavors they appreciated most. So, each wine drinker tasted sugar, alcohol, tannin, and acid in purer forms. After tasting each element, they then tasted a few wines that featured that element in different combination with the other elements. At the end of the class, the wine drinker had a better understanding of the elements and combinations of them that pleased their palates. As a result of being more informed, these fledging connoisseurs could better appreciate various wines by understanding how the elements come together.
This class attempts to answer the question, what does the food of the 14th Century French Kings taste like? What is the quintessential dish of France in the 14th Century? In order to answer these questions we must understand the basic elements of French food of this time.
This class is a journey through flavors. We will begin with a brief introduction to three sources of recipes for this time period. Then we will review the statistics that tell us what ingredients the French used most and in what combinations. We will briefly explore cooking methods. We will then taste the most common of these ingredients individually. You will prepare of blend of spices and a suace that suites your palate. By the end of the class you will have a greater appreciation for what makes French 14th Century food unique.
Guillaume Tirel (1310-1395) wsa the head chef to the line of Valois, Kings of France. He began as a kitchen boy for Queenn Jeanne d'Évreux. Eventually he became head chef for the Duke of Normandy who became Charles V of France, and earned the nickname Taillevent, which is French for “slicewind”. He is considered one of the first truly "professional" master chef and wrote what is considered to be the first professional cookbook. Le Viandier de Taillevent (The Food Provider) was probably written for Charles V between 1373 and 1380. The cookbook contains 18 sections covering everything from foods for invalids to subtleties with sauces, pottages, and roasts in between.
The following statistics were compiled from the Taillevent with supporting evidence from Enseignements. Taillevent contains 201 entries from the Vatican Library manuscript. These entries contained a total of 302 recipes. Enseignements contains 57 entries for a total of 140 recipes. See Appendix A for a discussion on the methods used to collect the data and generate the statistics.
The recipes are grouped by standard categories such as beef, poultry/fowl, fish, fruit, vegetable, etc. The category of ‘Other’ from Taillevent includes Deer, Dairy, Legume, Nuts, Fruit, Vegetables. The category of ‘Meat’ is defined in Taillevent entry 3. Large cuts of boiled meat as Pork, Mutton, or Beef.
A recipe is counted in this category when the meat is not specified or when any combination of Pork, mutton or beef is specified. Figure 1 shows the distribution of recipes by category from Taillevent.
Figure 1. Taillevent Recipe Count by Category
Enseignements contains a similar distribution of recipes with Fish at 39%, Poultry/Fowl at 29%, Seafood at 10%, and Pork/Boar at 6%. From this we conclude that the three most common foods we are likely to see on a table in this time period are Fish, Poultry/Fowl, and Seafood.
Figure 2 breaks out the top three recipe categories in Taillevent by their method of preparation.
Figure 2. Top 5 Cooking Methods in Taillevent
Taillevent prefers a liquid cooking method 3 times more often then pies and 5 times more often then frying. Enseignements contains a similar distribution of Liquid (25%), Roasting (19%), Pie (6%) and Fry (4%) methods. There are recipes that require multiple cooking methods in both Taillevent and Enseignements, however, it is clear that single cooking methods are most common.
Figure 3 shows the preferred methods for cooking the top 3 Recipe Categories.
Figure 3. Top 3 Recipe Categories by top 3 Cooking Methods
From this we see that we are most likely to see Fish and Seafood cooked in liquid, while Roasting is the preferred methods for Poultry and Fowl.
These are rather broad categories. Let’s take a look at the main ingredient in these recipes.
c. Main Ingredients
c. Main Ingredients
Main ingredients are defined as the item making up the majority or base of a recipe. Figure 4 shows the top 20 most common main ingredients in Taillevent.
Figure 4. Top 20 Main Ingredients in Taillevent
This graph combined with the first one tells us that there was no single fish that was more popular than any other and that a variety of fish was available. Shad, Cod, Bream and Salmon are all fish in the top 20 main ingredients from Taillevent. Chicken of the Poultry/Fowl category seems to be the most common along with capon (castrated rooster), Partridge, Gosling, and Geese. Eel, seems to be the most common main ingredient in the Seafood category, followed by Mussels, then Crayfish.
Enseignements shows a similar distribution of main ingredients. Hens at 7%, Pike at 5%, Veal at 3%, and Eel at 3% are the top 4 main ingredients. Given that Taillevent distinguishes chickens from capons, we may assume that Taillevent means ‘hens’ when listing ‘chickens. Therefore, our two sources agree that the most common main ingredient in 14th C French cuisine is chicken in the form of hens. While Taillevent and Enseignments vary on the main ingredients for 2nd and 3rd place, they both also agree that Eel is the 4th most common main ingredient during this time period.
Seasonings are defined as additions to the main ingredient to add flavor. I have broken seasonings into two categories: dry and liquid. Dry seasonings include spices, herbs, fruit, vegetables, and nuts. Liquid seasonings include vinegar, verjuice, oil/fat, and wine.
There are 34 different dry seasonings mentioned in Taillevent and 66% of the recipes in Taillevent have at least one dry seasoning. Figure 5 shows the most common dry seasonings in Roman recipes and whether they are used for cooking, sauces, or garnishing.
Medieval food is spiced or sauced to hide the taste of rotting food.
Possible Source of myth: Taillevent - 50. Peacock, swan. “If it becomes mouldy on top, remove the mould and you will find it white, good and solid underneath.”
How common are the use of sauces in 14th Century Recipe Books?
Taillevent Enseignements Goodman of Paris
Total Preparations 302 140 359
No Sauce 165 (54%) 69 (49%) 241 (67%)
With Sauce 138 (46%) 71 (51%) 118 (33%)
What is the most common sauce in 14th Century French Dishes?
Sauce Taillevent Enseignements Goodman of Paris
Cameline 41 2 17
Green 13 8 7
Mustard 12 21 5
Jance 10 0 5
Green Garlic 9 2 3
Hot pepper 0 13 2
Wine 1 6 0
White Garlic 0 5 1
Sour Pepper 2 5 0
Yellow Pepper 5 0 4
Must 2 0 4
Boars Tail 2 0 4
What are the most common spices in 14th Century French Dishes?
Spices Taillevent Spices Enseignements Goodman of Paris
ginger 85 ginger 20 ginger 133
grains of paradise 63 cinnamon 18 clove 98
cloves 60 pepper 17 cinnamon 83
cassia 37 clove 13 grain* 59
saffron 36 saffron 11 saffron 52
Salt 35 grains of paradise 9 parsley 44
sugar 32 long pepper 8 grains of Paradise 42
cinnamon 25 parsley 7 onion 38
long pepper 19 sugar 5 long pepper 20
onion 19 almonds 4 salt 20
parsley 17 salt 3 almond 14
nutmeg 15 sage 3 nutmeg 14
almond 14 onions 3 sage 14
galingale 13 amidon 3 sugar 15
cassia flowers 11 garlic 3 galingale 11
What is the most common spice blend in 14th Century French Dishes? – see also spice blends used in sauces
Five vegetables are listed in the description of “small pottages” that Taillevant states are not in his book because “… one knows well how they should be eaten.”
In the Goodman of Paris the 5th and 6th most common ingredients were Meat (24) and Offal (17). Fowl, Seafood, and Eel had the same number of recipes at 16. Meat is typically any combination of beef, sheep, and pork.
How would the dishes be finished / garnished and served?
What are the typical spices you would expect to find in a 14th C French Kitchen?
Spice / Herbs Used in Taillevant Order of Taillevant’s List Goodman of Paris
ginger 85 1 20 White powder
cassia 63 Fine powder
cloves 60 4 Columbine ginger
grains of paradise 37 Mesche ginger,
long pepper 19 5 4 Powdered cinnamon
lavender 1 6 Lump sugar
round pepper 7 7 15 Cloves
cassia flowers 11 8 Seed of garlic
saffron 36 9 11 Long pepper
nutmeg 15 10 Galingale
bay 1 11 Mace
galingale 13 12 2 Bay leaves
thyme 1 13
Lores 0 14
cumin 3 15 2
sugar 32 16 5
almond 14 17 5
garlic 8 18
onion 19 19
scallion 0 20
Shallot 0 21
Salt 35
cinnamon 25 18
parsley 17 7
sage 7
alkanet 5
turnsole 5
mace 4
mustard 3
avens 3
hyssop 2 1
azure 1
costmary 1
mint 1
sorrel 1
Taillevant - 158. Spices needed for this viandier are given in a specific order
Goodman of Paris –
Enseignements – spices used that are not mentioned in Taillevant:
Enseignements contains no listing of spices or seasonings to keep on hand.
5.Bibliography
5.Bibliography
Le Viandier, translated by James Prescott: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/prescotj/data/viandier/viandier1.html
"Enseignements qui enseingnent a apareillier toutes manieres de viandes" translated by Daniel Myers http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/lessons.html
Enseignements qui enseingnent a apareillier toutes manieres de viandes (ca. 1300) transcribed by Thomas Gloning http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/1300ens.htm
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