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Thursday, 29 July 2010

The Gifts of Comus

Today's recipe comes from Le Dons de Comus, ou l'Art de la Cuisine, Reduit en Pratique, Nouvelle Edition:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1108709.r=cuisine.langEN.

I do not even know if this was an important or popular cookbook (which is difficult to ascertain anyway with historic books- sometimes importance is rather a result of contemporary scholars' preference than that of our forebears). I do know it was published in several editions, of which this is not the first (hence "nouvelle edition"). In 1753 it sold for 7 livres and 10 sols, quite a price but not inaccessible.

The titlepage opens with a lovely illustration of the gods relevant to cooking (Ceres, Bacchus, Pomona, etc.) in celebration, and a note that unless Comus seasons them, all their gifts of food are superfluous! I bet Gordon Ramsey thinks this about himself.

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