Banquet or How to Cook

Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Late Renaissance Europe

Author: Ken Albala

The importance of the banquet in the late Renaissance is impossible to overlook. Banquets showcased a host’s wealth and power, provided an occasion for nobles from distant places to gather together, and even served as a form of political propaganda. But what was it really like to cater to the tastes and habits of high society at the banquets of nobles, royalty, and popes? What did they eat and how did they eat it?

In The Banquet, Ken Albala covers the transitional period between the heavily spiced and colored cuisine of the Middle Ages and classical French haut cuisine. This development involved increasing use dairy products, a move toward lighter meats such as veal and chicken, increasing identification of national food customs, more sweetness and aromatics, and a refined aesthetic sense, surprisingly in line with the late Renaissance styles found in other arts.

Interesting book: The Signers or Fleeced

How to Cook: An Easy and Imaginative Guide for the Beginner

Author: Raymond Sokolov

A fully revised and updated edition of the classic kitchen primer, filled with 150 simple, sophisticated recipes, easy-to-learn techniques, and indispensable advice.

How to Cook does not assume any prior cooking instruction or skills but, rather, guides the reader through the entire cooking process with simple explanations in ordinary language. In this sophistication of even adamant noncooks in today's food-obsessed climate while he sticks to an unfussy, straightforward approach that made the original such a hit. Home cooks will learn everything they need to know for years' worth of fabulous meals, from how to decipher recipe measurements to how to fry an egg or steam a lobster. Written with Sokolov's trademark wit and wisdom. How to Cook is an invaluable kitchen classic you'll turn to again and again.

The New York Times - Dwight Garner

First published in 1986 and long out of print, Sokolov's book has finally been revised and reissued … Buy this for the young and clueless person in your life.