Llibre del Coch

The Llibre del Coch, or Llibre de doctrina per a ben servir, de tallar y del art de coch cs (ço es) de qualsevol manera, potatges y salses compost per lo diligent mestre Robert coch del Serenissimo senyor Don Ferrando Rey de Napols, is a Catalan recipe book written around 1490 by Master Robert de Nola. Its earliest preserved printed edition is from 1520, published in Catalan in Barcelona.[1] It includes mainly recipes from the Catalan cuisine of the time, some of them inherited from the Llibre de Sent Soví, and some from neighboring countries, such as the Occitan cuisine and the Italian cuisine, including traditions from different areas dominated by the Crown of Aragon, which at that time was spread to the northeastern Mediterranean, Southern Italy, Corsica and Sicily. Despite not including Castilian recipes,[2] was also very successful in Castile, was translated into Spanish in 1525 and republished in this language several times. It is considered of great value for acquiring a good knowledge about the gastronomy of the Renaissance.

Llibre del Coch (1520)

This book should not be confused with another lesser known work, which also deals about Catalan cuisine and is called Llibre del Coch o del Ventre de la Canonja de Tarragona,[3] written in 1331 by Guillem Clergue, butler of Guerau de Rocabertí .[4]

First editions

Llibre del Coch was the first cookbook published in Catalan using Gutenberg press. It is also previous to any cookbook printed in Spanish.[2] A printed edition, printed on November 15, 1520, is preserved in the Biblioteca Nacional de Catalunya in Barcelona, being the oldest known copy extant. In the time of King Charles I it was requested its translation into Spanish [5] and it was first published in this language in 1529 [5] (or 1525 [6] ) in Toledo .[5] The same year, much of the text was plagiarised by Diego Granado in his book Arte de Cocina. Throughout the century at least another five editions were printed in Catalan and seven in Spanish,  [2]

There are clues for the printed book of 1520 being a copy of an older text:[2] It is dedicated to King Ferdinand I of Naples, who was king of Naples between 1458 and 1494, and also, and above all, maintains the proportions of Lent preceding 1491.[2] There is no mention at all of the foods forbidden by the Church during Lent, which from 1491 allowed the catholic people the consumption of dairy products (such as milk and cheese, for example) and eggs.[2] In addition, the original ms. should have been written before Europe's contact with America in 1492, because it does not mention any products from the new continent.[7]

Content

The book consists of more than two hundred chapters, and most of them (two hundred and thirty-six) [8] correspond to recipes but, as its full title indicates, begins with chapters devoted to how to cut meat and they are followed by others teaching how to serve different people at the table, such as sharpening, serving water, acting as a butler, waiter, room teacher, cloakroom attendant, and so on. The last chapter, under the title "Table" contains an index.

In this book there is no recipe with mushrooms, so present and prized in today's Catalan cuisine. For some authors, this fact, could be explained as a prevention against possible poisonings.[9] On the other hand, and as a novelty with respect to the Llibre de Sent Soví, there are already two recipes for rice, rice with meat broth [10] and rice in a casserole in the oven,[11] which could be the predecessors of rice in the casserole and the current rice and crust, representing the first rice dishes, as we now understand the rice dishes and paellas, described in writing about Catalan cuisine.[12] There are eight recipes aimed specifically at patients.[8] One of the Arabic recipes with an Arabic name, the alburnia, could be an ancient fig bread today, but with rose water, an ingredient, also of oriental influence, very common in this recipe [5] and in the medieval cuisine of the Sent Soví. It includes two recipes explicitly titled "a la morisca" [13] and others with a name that also specifies a foreign way of cooking, such as, for example: bona salsa francesa, torta a la genouesa xinxanelles a la veneciana or sopes a la lombarda, Only three recipes are specifying "a la catalana" (the Catalan way),[14] perhaps due to a lack of awareness that the other recipes are also Catalan or because these recipes were known elsewhere with this qualifier. No recipe from Sent Soví has this label, although they are all Catalan.

In general, the Catalan cuisine before the introduction of the American aliments was not excessively different from the Roman cuisine. The ingredients used they were reduced, the mixes as well, prioritising the most esteemed and deleting some aliments and mixtures that today would seem us "a bit akward [sic]"; instead the amount of species was increased.[7] The cooking and the table service got refined, showing the bases to serve to table, as it shows this book and others of the same period, for example the handwritten Com tayllaràs devant un senyor.[7]

Author

We know, because it is written under the title of the printed book, that the author was called "mestre (master) Robert" and that he was the cook of "King Ferdinand of Naples", but do not know whether he was born in Nola (now part of Naples) or elsewhere, "anybody knows who was this character", "native of Catalonia".[15][16][17]

The chapter “De offici de mestre de Estable” (which describes some obligations of the charge: "Stablemaster"), says very clearly:“E de aquesta materia nom curaré més de parlar-ne ara perquè en lo Llibre de Menescalia ja molt largament n'he parlat:...”(“.. about this matter I will be careful not to speak now because in the Llibre de Menescalia I have already spoken of it very lengthily...”),[18] therefore it is obvious to suppose that the author of the Llibre del Coch and the author of the Libre of Menescalia[19] are the same person: mossen Manuel Dieç, butler of King Alfons the Magnanimous; at a later date, Master Robert de Nola (if he ever existed, for the name could be invented) would have copied the lost original manuscript written by Manuel Dieç. (See folio VIIIr or in Wikitexts: Page: Llibre del Coch (1520) .djvu / 9 )[18]

Comparison with the Llivre de Sent Soví

The llibre de Sent Soví is a famous 14th-century Catalan recipe book, handwritten rather than printed, with extant copies from that century. The author is unknown, since--unlike the author of the Llibre del Coch--the author did not sign the book. The differences in the type of cooking are not important. It seems certain that Robert of Nola was familiar with the Llibre de Sent Soví as he uses some elements and recipes from it.[2] As an innovation, for example, Master Robert proposes sheep's milk in addition to the goat's milk in any recipe. Regarding spices, in general the Llibre de Sent Soví uses less than the Book of the Coch.[20] The Llibre de Sent Soví contains only Catalan recipes whereas the Llibre del Coch includes recipes of neighbouring cultures such as Italy, France and the Arab countries,[2] but neither book contains any Castilian recipe. Despite this, the Llibre del Coch was soon translated into Spanish.[2] In 1491 the Church decided that the Catholics could eat eggs and milk for Lent, but Robert of Nola was not aware of this so these ingredients are absent from the Lenten recipes in both books. The style of the Llibre del Coch is more literary.[2] The Llibre de Sent Soví was not known to the public until the 20th century, whereas the Llibre del Coch was, in the words of Josep Pla, "a true bestseller", being translated very quickly to several languages and considered "the book of Renaissance cookery".[2]

Notes and references
  1. Rupert de Nola (1568). Libre del coch. en la estampa de Pau Cortey y Pedro Malo.
  2. Cuina medieval catalana, pàg. 51, Eliana Thibaut i Comalada,
  3. Llibre del Coch o del Ventre de la Canonja de Tarragona, edició a càrrec del Mossen Joan Serra i Vilaró, Tip. l'Acadèmia, a Barcelona, l'any 1.935
  4. Acta historica et archaeologica mediaevalia, pàg. 201. Edicions Universitat Barcelona, 1994. ISBN 8447504549
  5. Conquista y comida: consecuencias del encuentro de dos mundos, pàg. 23. Janet Long, Ed. UNAM, 2003. ISBN 9703208525 (in Spanish)
  6. Food in medieval times, pàg. 122, Melitta Weiss Adamson, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 9780313321474 (in English)
  7. El romesco: història, tècniques i receptes, pàg. 15. David Solé i Torné, David Solé. Cossetània Edicions, 2003. ISBN 8496035719
  8. Instrucció breu i útil per los cuiners principiants , Francesc del Santíssim Sagrament, M. Mercè Gras i Agustí Borrell. Edita L'Abadia de Montserrat, 2004. ISBN 8484156370
  9. Mujeres:los trabajos y los dias, pàg. 189, Editor Ciesas (in Spanish)
  10. "Arros ab brou de carn: Lo arros pendras e fer las rentar ab aygua freda per tres o quatre vegades o ab aygua tebida: e com sia ben rentat met lo a exugar sobre vn tallador de fust al sol e si no fa sol met lo prop lo foch: e quant sia exut denegal be de les pedres e de la sutzetat e apres pren vna olla neta per que coga dit arros e met hi bon brou de carn que sia gras e que sia bo de sal e posal al foch: e quant començara a bullir lo brou met lo arros en la olla: e quant lo arros sia mes de mig cuyt met hi let de cabres o de ouelles si no met ni de ametles e met ho en la olla e coga fins que tot sia cuyt: e apres leuau del foch e met dins vn cabaç de sego ben cubert e fes que repose aqui vna hora o al manco mija: e apres pren rouells de ous e debat los be: e com volras fer escudelles met los en la olla donant hi vnes quantes voltes per ques mescle tot ensemps: e apres fes escudelles e met damunt cada vna sucre e canyella. Mas nota vna cosa com la que te he dita en lo capitol de la semola: que en neguna cuyna de aquesta asi com ara: arros semola fideus farro co es cuyt ab brou de carn noy fa molta fretura metrey neguna condicio delet que noy es menester empero tot sta en lo apetit dels homes quel menjen: e com hauras fetes escudelles noy cal metre sucre damunt elles que al meu parer ab coses de carn noy diu molt be lo sucre. Empero com diu exemple vulgar may sucre affolla neguna vianda. E vet aci que esta la primor que cascu fa segons es lo seu gust: e vet ja fet."
  11. "Arros en cassola al forn: Hauras lo arros e fer las net de les pedres e de la sutzetat e apres rentar las ab dos o tres aygues fredes e apres ab aygua calda aximateix: e com lo hauras rentat be metlo a exugar en vn tallador de fust al sol o dauant lo foch: e com sia exut tornal a denejar de manera que sia be net: e apres pren vna cassola que sia neta e met hi lo brou de la carn que sia molt gras e met lo al foch a bullir met hi dos o tres brots de çaffra molt de manera que lo dit brou torn molt groch e com lo brou sera bem groch metras hi lo arros apoch apoch menant ab vna menadora de fust: e com lo arros sera dins la cassola metras hi tanta quantita de brou com conegues que lo dit arros haja menester solament per ques coga empero que sia bon desal e ben gras e vaja al forn a coure: e vn poch abans que no sia cuyt trauras lo del forn e metras hi rouells de ous frechs e sencers damunt lo arros: e com hi sien torna la cassola al forn: e quant sia acabat de coure veuras que lo arros haura feta vna crosta la qual és molt bona: e apres fes escudelles e a cada vna metras vn rouell de aquells ous. E si per ventura notenies axi auinent lo forn metras la cassola sobre vn foch de carbo e damunt met vna cuberta de ferro carregada be de foch per que en tal manera exira de alli com si era stada cuyta al forn y encara millor perque faent ho en aquesta manera pots la tenir mes a prop que no faries si estaua al forn. E vet aci bona e gentil manera de Arros."
  12. La cuina de l'arròs de Pals, pàgs. 14-15, Pep Nogué i Puigvert, Cossetània Edicions, 2003. ISBN 8496035298
  13. alberginies a la morisca i carabasses a la morisca
  14. de robiols a la catalana, dabroscat a la catalana i de garbies a la catalana
  15. Cuina medieval catalana, pàg. 52, Eliana Thibaut i Comalada
  16. Cuina medieval catalana, pàg. 16, Eliana Thibaut i Comalada
  17. Conquista y comida: consecuencias del encuentro de dos mundos, pàg. 24. Janet Long, Ed. UNAM, 2003. ISBN 9703208525 (in Spanish)
  18. Rupert de Nola (1568). Libre del coch. en la estampa de Pau Cortey y Pedro Malo. pp. 7–.
  19. Manuel Díez (1518). Libro de albeytería nuevamente corregido y emendado [e] añadidas en el sesente y nueve preguntas. Jorge Coci.
  20. Regional cuisines of medieval Europe: a book of essays, pàg. 74, Melitta Weiss Adamson, Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0415929946 (in English)

Bibliography
  • Catalan medieval cuisine , Eliana Thibaut i Comalada, Cossetània Edicions, 2006 . ISBN 84-9791-216-0 (Catalan)
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