Alisha Rankin, Tufts University Every time I give an in-class exam, as I did this week, my students complain bitterly about how much their hands ache from all of the writing. In this digital age, they tell me, writing simply is not something they do very often. They’re out of practice. With a keyboard, they … Continue reading Writing Recipes Down→
By Elaine Leong In my last post, I bemoaned the lack of a flexible search engine and information management technologies in the ‘favourites’ recipe box of the Epicurious iPhone app. While still declaring my adoration for the app, I would like to talk a little more about issues of categorization in alphabetical information organization. Now … Continue reading Recipe Organization: It’s not as easy as A, B, C.→
By Helen King If you know anything about food history, you’ll know about the ancient Roman writer, Apicius. His recipe book was reprinted in 2006 and is even available in an English translation; and you can get a pdf of the full text of 64 of the recipes at https://prospectbooks.co.uk/samples/CookingApicius.pdf Elaine Leong’s recent post, http://recipes.hypotheses.org/367, reminded me … Continue reading Roman remedy books?→
What exactly is a ‘recipe collection’? The most obvious answer is something like the example shown below, a formal ‘receptaria’ book of medical receipts and remedies. In the early modern period, and across Europe, these types of collections were fairly common, and especially in wealthier households. These were often carefully constructed documents, containing indices and … Continue reading What is a ‘remedy collection’?: Recording Medical Information in the Seventeenth Century→