A Hermit's Cookbook : Monks, Food and Fasting in the Middle Ages.

Intro -- Beginnings - who were the first monks? -- Desert fathers, pillar-saints and fasting -- The 'hermit craze' of the Middle Ages -- Herbs and health -- From field to table - the medieval monastic experience -- Medieval diets - the food landscape -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Chapter One -- Beginnings - who were the first monks? -- A brief history of monastic origins -- Sources of evidence: how do we know? -- Chapter Two -- Desert fathers, pillar-­saints and fasting -- Grazing -- The principles of abstinence and self-­mortification -- Kinds of Food -- Chapter Three -- The 'hermit craze' of the Middle Ages -- Western monasticism and the rediscovery of 'the desert' -- St Bernard, Cluny and Food -- Monastic Menus -- Lenten food, and other fasts -- Olives -- Beans -- Fish -- Cheese and dairies -- Medieval hermits and solitaries -- Chapter Four -- Herbs and health -- Plant lore in the Middle Ages -- Food values and humours -- Wild food -- Some Monastic Herbs -- Chapter Five -- From field to table - the medieval monastic experience -- Food growing -- Monastic gardens and orchards -- The cellarer -- The refectory -- Drinking -- Uses and abuses of the Rule: Benedictine eating in the later Middle Ages -- Alms and the poor -- Chapter Six -- Medieval diets - the food landscape -- Typical medieval diets -- Europe, trade and the food economy -- Spices and cooking -- Medieval recipes -- Monasteries and medieval cuisine -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Further Reading -- Index.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.