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James L. Matterer, founder of Gode Cookery

Monica Gaudio, editor and manager of Gode Cookery



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Gode Cookery is an award-winning medieval history website dedicated to the food & feasts of the Middle Ages & Renaissance. Here you will find information on medieval cooking, instructions for preparing authentic feasts, hundreds of recipes, image collections, a medieval cooking discussion group, graphics, photographs, and history resources. http://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/godeboke.htm

James Matterer's collection of period receipts redacted for use in the modern kitchen, including soups, sauces, pies, roasts, vegetables, fruits, and sweets. Each dish contains the original period recipe, followed by James' translation and his modern redaction, along with notes, bibliography, and a link to metric, celsius, & gas mark equivalencies for measurements & temperatures. http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/goderec.htm

Geoffrey Chaucer, the great English poet and author of The Canterbury Tales, used food as a literary device to enrich the personalities of his characters. A Chaucerian Cookery examines the references to food and medieval dishes in all of Chaucer's writings, studies the dietary habits of his characters, and gives a complete list of all foods Chaucer refers to. Included is A Chaucerian Feast, which presents an authentic medieval feast based on the writings of Chaucer and 14 corresponding 14th c. recipes, as well as detailing the presentation and courses of a standard medieval feast. http://www.godecookery.com/chaucer/ccookery.htm

A medieval & Renaissance food & feast image collection, with period illustrations of food & cookery arranged in various galleries, all suitable for downloading. http://www.godecookery.com/afeast/afeast.htm

Recipes & additional text from the 16th century culinary manuscript, A Propre new booke of Cokery (1545). Included with the 49 original receipts are our translations & contemporary redactions.

Redactions of two English apple pie recipes and a discussion of how they changed over time.

http://www.godecookery.com/twotarts/twotarts.html

The latest updates and additions to A Boke of Gode Cookery. http://www.godecookery.com/aword/aword.htm

The menus for the Alabama Renaissance Faire Feasts, catered by Gode Cookery, with complete recipes and notes, along with photographs. http://www.godecookery.com/alabama/al2001.html

All of the recipes in the Gode Cookery website, in a complete listing arranged alphabetically by category. Over 500 recipes in 10 categories. http://www.godecookery.com/allrec/allrec.htm

An excerpt from a 16th century French-English conversation manual, depicting an English family at dinner. http://www.godecookery.com/eldin/eldin.html

Seven recreated recipes based on ancient sources and traditional Greek cooking, along with a brief overview of Byzantine foods, written by Rebecca and David Wendelken. Originally from a now out-of-print publication called Early Period, issue #5. http://www.godecookery.com/byznrec/byznrec.htm

The history of and detailed instructions for preparing that most delectable of Medieval beasts, the noble Cockentrice, part capon and part suckling pig. With photographs of a real Cockentrice. http://www.godecookery.com/cocken/cocken.htm

A 14th c. French recipe from Le Viandier de Taillevent, in which a pig becomes a horse and a chicken takes to the saddle! With photographs of a recently prepared Helmeted Cock. http://www.godecookery.com/helmeted/helmeted.htm

The fantastic and incredible fish of the Middle Ages, both real & imagined. Excerpts from a Medieval manuscript are generously accompanied by authentic illustrations of strange & exotic fish, sea monsters, and beasts. http://www.godecookery.com/ffissh/ffissh.htm

Menus from various presented SCA feasts with links to corresponding recipes. http://www.godecookery.com/scafeast/scafeast.htm

An original translation by James Matterer of the culinary recipes found in Manuscript Pepys 1047 'Miscell. of Receipt's/M.S.S. Temp. R. Ed. 4', a late 15th century collection of recipes and remedies found in the library of Samuel Pepys. http://www.godecookery.com/pepys/pepys.htm

A glossary of medieval cooking terms as found in period manuscripts, with Middle English words and phrases followed by modern English translations. http://www.godecookery.com/glossary/glossary.htm

Our recommendations and awards, along with various site reviews of A Boke of Gode Cookery. http://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/wallfame/wallfame.htm

In association with Amazon.com, The Gode Cookery Bookshop presents for sale some of the finest medieval & Renaissance cookery & food books that are in print today. http://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/bookshop/bookshop.htm

The Gode Cookery Discussion Group is open to anyone with a desire and willingness to communicate and share information with others interested in Medieval & Renaissance cookery. Members may either receive individual letters or a digest. The list is moderated and SPAM, rudeness, offensive language, and intolerance are not acceptable.

Members of the Gode Cookery Discussion group have access to recipes, food information, and articles on historical cooking not made available anywhere else at Gode Cookery. The Gode Cookery Discussion Group has moved to Facebook!

Information on Gode Cookery's latest feasts & dinners. http://www.godecookery.com/latest/latest.htm

Gode Cookery Photo Gallery

Photographs & videos of Gode Cookery feasts, dinners, events - even the cooks themselves!

http://www/godecookery.com/pics/galleries.html



Gode Cookery Ring A quick, easy, and fun way to tour A Boke of Gode Cookery. Simply click on the image of the ring wherever it appears and you will be taken to one of the many medieval & Renaissance cooking sites that comprise A Boke of Gode Cookery. Start your tour here at the Gode Boke Ring homepage. http://www.godecookery.com/godering/godering.htm Gode Cookery Selected Site of the Month

Each month, A Boke of Gode Cookery selects an outstanding historical website for its Gode Cookery Award. At this page you'll find information on and a link to the current selected site, and a list of the previous awardees. http://www.godecookery.com/ssite/ssite.htm

A complete listing of all the all the sites within A Boke of Gode Cookery. http://www.godecookery.com/gcooktoc/gcooktoc.htm

A contributory site for historical cooks to share their recipes and research, with over 100 recreated dishes along with articles on historical cooking subjects. In addition to the recipe and notes, each page also contains a link to metric, celsius, & gas mark equivalencies for measurements & temperatures. http://www.godecookery.com/friends/friends.htm

An explanation of what foods were available in the Middle Ages & Renaissance and the cooking methods employed at that time. This site is designed specifically to help those who wish to re-create Medieval recipes & meals as authentically as possible, and contains lists of what foods were available, how they were cooked, and which foods should never be used by today's Medieval cooks. http://www.godecookery.com/how2cook/how2cook.htm

A companion site to Incredible foods, Solteties, & Entremets. Authentic recipes from period sources, detailing dishes that emulate other foods or objects. http://www.godecookery.com/illusion/illusion.html

In the Middle Ages, deer were a primary source of food, resources, and inspiration, and the Medieval table was often laden with a variety of venison. This article examines the popularity of deer as an object of the hunt and as an important source of protein in the Medieval diet. http://www.godecookery.com/venison/venison.htm

Fantastic foods and fabulous presentations for medieval feasts, all from period cooking sources. Not all of the recipes are suitable for eating; however, all are enjoyable to read and wonderfully amazing. http://www.godecookery.com/incrd/incrd.htm

A collection of humorous tales of cooks, kitchens, food, dining & eating, from both period & secondary sources. http://www.godecookery.com/mirth/mirth.html

Gingerbread in the Middle Ages was nothing at all like its modern descendant. Not only was it not a bread or a cake, some medieval versions didn't even contain ginger! http://www.godecookery.com/ginger/ginger.htm

Supernatural and fantastic imagery from the Middle Ages - devils, demons, monsters, witches, and death. Five galleries with 150 pictures, along with the Hans Holbein Alphabet of Death and the Hans Holbein Dance of Death. http://www.godecookery.com/macabre/macabre.htm

Recipes from several Medieval English manuscripts and collections, each in its original language and accompanied with a literal translation, and followed by a modern interpretation of the recipe and its cooking procedures. These recipes do not contain specific measurements and quantities, but are sufficiently explained that any competant cook will be able to prepare them.

http://www.godecookery.com/mtrans/mtrans.htm

A collection of clipart derived from medieval woodcuts and compiled in 8 sections: Animals, Creatures, & Beasts; Biblical Scenes & Figures; Birds; Decorative Borders; Decorative Initials; Miscellaneous Images; People & Human Figures; and Plants & Flora. http://www.godecookery.com/clipart/clart.htm

Sources for medieval items, products, and books. A member of The League of Renaissance Merchants. http://www.godecookery.com/merchant/merchant.htm

A brief explanation of how period cooks categorized food by using the Four Humours philosophy of the Middle Ages, and how to organize the menu of a modern feast according to medieval standards and practices. Ideal for students with school projects, beginners in medieval cookery, or those who wish to prepare a dinner from the Middle Ages for their friends and family. http://www.godecookery.com/feastpre/feastpre.htm

For cooks not quite ready for authentic medieval cookery, or for guests who are hesitant in trying real period food, these recipes may be just the thing. Although not from true medieval sources and not documentable, they are very period in style, flavor, and ingredients, and are perfect for dinners with a medieval theme where authenticity is not a concern. In addition to the recipe and notes, each page also contains a link to metric, celsius, & gas mark equivalencies for measurements & temperatures. http://www.godecookery.com/begrec/begrec.htm

A brief look at some of the amazing plants that were believed in the Middle Ages to exist. Find out why The Apple of Sodom was much feared, what the Biblical Tree of Life was, and where amber really comes from. With period illustrations. An award winning site, recommended by Infoseek. http://www.godecookery.com/mythical/mythical.htm

Although Chaucer's Canterbury Tales pilgrims are fictional characters, the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas á Becket was an actual experience for many medieval folk. This article looks at the lives of Chaucer's pilgrims had they been truly alive and their journey real. http://www.godecookery.com/pilgrims/pilgrims.htm

A Newe Boke of Cokery is a collection of period recipes with modern adaptations by Rudd Rayfield of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rudd is a medieval enthusiast with an academic background in Middle English literature and medieval history. He has been cooking medieval cuisine since 1980 and has been doing his own redactions from primary sources since 1988. Each of Rudd's recipes contain the original documented medieval version followed by his modern adaptation, along with notes, bibliography, and a link to metric, celsius, & gas mark equivalencies for measurements & temperatures. http://www.godecookery.com/nboke/neweboke.htm

A modern English translation of Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, the famous 12th - 13th century Salernitan Regimen of Health, a highly respected and scholarly text in the Middle Ages and an invaluable source today for information on medieval food, diet, & medicine. http://www.godecookery.com/regimen/regimen.htm

A collection of late-16th & 17th century English recipes & receipts presented in their original language, all from documented primary sources. http://www.godecookery.com/engrec/engrec.html

Illuminations and text from medieval health handbooks. http://www.godecookery.com/tacuin/tacuin.htm

True stories, fables, and anecdotes from the Middle Ages, with illustrations. http://www.godecookery.com/mtales/mtales.htm