Mesnagier de Paris BNF Français 12477 f 1r detail miniature

''Le Ménagier de Paris'' (; often abbreviated as ''Le Ménagier''; en, "The Parisian Household Book") is a French

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

guidebook from 1393 on a woman's proper behaviour in marriage and running a household. It includes sexual advice, recipes, and gardening tips. Written in the (fictional) voice of an elderly husband addressing his younger wife, the text offers a rare insight into late medieval ideas of gender, household, and marriage. Important for its language and for its combination of prose and poetry, the book's central theme is wifely obedience. ''Le Ménagier de Paris'' was first edited and published in print form as "traité de morale et d'économie domestique" by Baron

Jérôme Pichon Baron Jérome-Frédéric Pichon (3 December 1812 – 26 August 1896) was a 19th-century French bibliographer and bibliophile. He was one of the most important French art collectors of his time. Biography Jérôme Pichon was the second son of A ...

in 1846. The book was made available in English translation in its entirety only in 2009, translated and edited by Gina L. Greco & Christine M. Rose and published by Cornell University Press; until that publication, the most complete translation in English was

Eileen Power Eileen Edna Le Poer Power (9 January 18898 August 1940) was a British economic historian and medievalist. Early life and education Eileen Power was the eldest daughter of a stockbroker and was born at Altrincham, Cheshire (now part of Greate ...

's 1928 ''The Goodman of Paris''. The fact that the "translation was out of print and permission to photocopy it ... could not be obtained" inspired the 2009 publication. Since earlier translations and editions have focused mainly on the recipes, the book is often incorrectly referred to as a medieval cookbook or an "advice and household hints book," and mined for the history of

medieval cuisine Medieval cuisine includes foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, which lasted from the fifth to the fifteenth century. During this period, diets and cooking changed less than they did in th ...

Format

The book contains three main sections: how to attain the love of God and husband; how to "increase the prosperity of the household"; and how to amuse, socialize, and make conversation. Like many medieval texts, the argument relies heavily on exempla and authoritative texts to make its point; included are selections from and references to such tales and characters as Griselda and the tale of Melibee (known in English from

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

's "

The Clerk's Prologue and Tale "The Clerk's Tale" is the first tale of Group E (Fragment IV) in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales''. It is preceded by The Summoner's Tale and followed by The Merchant's Tale. The Clerk of Oxenford (modern Oxford) is a student of what ...

" and "

The Tale of Melibee "The Tale of Melibee" (also called "The Tale of Melibeus") is one of ''The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer. This is the second tale in the collection told by Chaucer himself. After being interrupted by the host Harry Bailly, Chaucer laun ...

"),

Lucretia According to Roman tradition, Lucretia ( /luːˈkriːʃə/ ''loo-KREE-shə'', Classical Latin: ʊˈkreːtɪ.a died c. 510 BC), anglicized as Lucrece, was a noblewoman in ancient Rome, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin) and subseq ...

, and Susanna. The Cornell University Press edition divides the actual text into 21 sections, starting with "The Good Wife's Guide: The English Text of ''Le Ménagier de Paris''," "Prologue," and "Introductory Note to Articles 1.1-1.3", then followed by the rest of the articles translated from the original source.

Culinary advice

The second section of the book, article five, contains the cookbook. Like most of the original resources on

(that is to say, books and manuscripts actually written in the medieval period), its many recipes include information on ingredients and preparation methods, but are short on quantifying anything; most ingredients are given without specifying amounts, and most cooking methods are listed, without specifying amount of heat and time of cooking. Since this is a standard limitation on references of this type, modern scholars will often attempt extrapolation or trial-and-error experimentation to produce a

redaction Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...

of the recipe. When working with cookbooks, a "redaction" is generally a recipe, using the methods and ingredients of the original, that the modern author/scholar believes will produce a faithful (and, it is to be hoped, edible) reproduction of the product the original cook would have produced.

Remedies

As is common for cookbooks from early

historical period Human history, also called world history, is the narrative of humanity's past. It is understood and studied through anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics. Since the invention of writing, human history has been studied through ...

authors, many of the recipes are provided as remedies for common complaints. This is due to the crossover, in medieval works, between herbalism, medicine, and cooking; at times, there appears to be no real difference between them, as books for cooking will include information on herbalism and medicine, and vice versa, to the point where it is hard to determine, at times, which of the above was the primary purpose of the book.

Recipes

Le Menagier includes a variety of different types of recipes; soups, preparations for meats, eggs, fish, sauces, beverages, pastry, tarts, and so on.

Other important medieval books about European gastronomy

* Llibre de Sent Soví *'' Llibre del Coch'' * Com tayllaràs devant un senyor *''

The Forme of Cury ''The Forme of Cury'' (''The Method of Cooking'', from Middle French : 'to cook') is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes. Although the original manuscript is lost, the text appears in nine manuscripts, the most f ...

'' *'' Du fait de cuisine'' *''

Domostroy ''Domostroy'' ( rus, Домострой, p=dəmɐˈstroj, ''Domestic Order'') is a 16th-century Russian set of household rules, instructions and advice pertaining to various religious, social, domestic, and family matters of the Russian society. ...

Other household guides

In their introduction, Gina L. Greco and Christine M. Rose mention that ''Le Ménagier de Paris'' is "the only surviving medieval book with this amalgamation of instructional materials", and while "other medieval texts of household books, conduct manuals, or hunting treatises resemble this book in some ways, ... none provide just such a comprehensive program of education." This is not entirely true, however, as the Russian household guide, ''

'', (while believed to originate from 16th century, the source can still be traced to the 15th) likewise addresses the topics of family, marriage, servitude, and cooking in a manner that resembles that of ''Le Ménagier''.

References

External links

An excerpt of ''Le Menagier'' in the original French
* ttps://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.166239/ Complete English translation by Eileen Power, 1928 {{DEFAULTSORT:Menagier De Paris Medieval cookbooks 14th-century books French books French cookbooks