A Boke of Gode Cookery, Volume 1

We are proud to announce the publication of our first cookbook!

A Boke of Gode Cookery, Volume 1 by James L. Matterer; edited by Tammy Crawford 100 authentic medieval & Renaissance recipes from Gode Cookery, many newly adapted & revised especially for this publication. Each recipe contains the original documented receipt accompanied by our translation and a modern redaction, along with notes and cooking tips. A Boke of Gode Cookery, Volume 1 also features additional authentic recipes from members of the Gode Cookery Catering Company - þe Companie of Gode Cooks. 140 pp., spiral-bound, laminated cover. Priced at $25.00. Available by mail order through the Gode Cookery website.

A Boke of Gode Cookery, Vol. 1

For complete information, please contact:

Gode Cookery Recipe Collection
c/o PO Box 414
Clinton, PA 15026
Email

A SCA review of A Boke of Gode Cookery, Vol. 1, from the Pennsic Independent, Wed. Aug. 17, 2005:


By Baroness TSivia bas Tamara v'Amberview

Too often do SCA cooks lament when they overhear the comment "I don't eat at feasts. I don't like that weird food." There is this erroneous assumption among some in the SCA that period foods were oddly spiced, badly presented, and unpalatable. It's an incorrect assumption however, and one new SCA focused cookbook is working on changing that.

Master Huen Damebrigge is well known both within the SCA and in mundania for his excellent work on making period recipes accessible to modern kitchens and cooks, and has run the Godecookery website since 1997. In his alternate persona as James L. Matterer he has twice been on the Food Network's show "The Secret Life of", as well as holding numerous SCA and mundane awards for his cooking.

Master Huen has put out an excellent new cookbook entitled, A Boke of Gode Cookery, Vol. 1, available onsite at Pennsic. Despite the reservations of those with conservative palates, the cookbook has excellent recipes for dishes such as pork and cheese pie, stewed chicken, sweet and sour fish, and bread pudding. Once the reader gets past the the names of the dishes (e.g., "A Douce Agre" for the fish dish, or "Henne in Bokenade" for the chicken stew), the dishes are fit for a King, Viscount, or armiger.

A Boke is well researched and gives the original recipe (and its source), then a variant of the recipe which translates some of the period terms into more modern language (e.g., "farced" in the original manuscript is translated into "stuffed"). Master Huen then offers his interpretation of the dish for the modern kitchen.

There are recipes for meats, desserts, beverages, and more in A Boke of Gode Cookery, as well as a metric conversion table (for those of us from Ealdomere, Drachenwald, Lochac, and other places) and a glossary of terms common to period cooking manuscripts. The collection is a worthy one for any SCA cook's bookshelf, and can be purchased on site through Poison Pen Press in Bookseller's Row, or from Master Huen himself. The webpage for Master Huen's work is godecookery.com.

Baroness TSivia is herself a cookbook author, having penned "The Compleat Dagger-Licking Good" approximately 20 years ago, and recognizes Master Huen's new cookbook as substantially better than her own was.

(The Pennsic Independent is the newspaper published during the two-week long SCA event known as the Pennsic War.)