Magnati and principes, which translate as rich people and princes, are two categories that are rather well represented in the Registrum Coquine, a beautiful cookbook written in the 15th century by the German cook Johannes Bockenheim, who worked in Italy at the court of Pope Martin V. In fact, a distinctive characteristic of this book is that the various recipes are recommended for specific groups of people, populations, or social classes, giving us a complex and colorful vision of the social stratification in late-medieval Italy. Whereas many recipes are for common people (the groups mentioned by Bockenheim include peasants, mercenaries, prostitutes, pimps, and others), some are specifically recommended for the nobles and rich.
Contrary to popular belief, the distinction between recipes for the nobles and the plebeians, as we can read in the primary sources, is not based on the use of meat or spices: these ingredients are common in the recipes for the lower classes. The difference lies in two aspects: the quantity of spices (often only one or two in the recipes for the lower classes) and the types of meat used for the recipes, an aspect that is widely explored in medieval sources on cuisine and dietetics, where we find the idea that some meats are more suitable for strongly built people and workers, others for nobles and delicate people.
The list in the Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria et Potus is very useful to understand the medieval ideas in depth: the foods suitable for the nobles are partridge, pheasant, chicken, capon, hare, roe deer, and rabbit; the food for those who make physical work are beef, mutton, salted pork, deer, peas, fava beans, and rye or barley bread. This does not mean that we do not find these latter ingredients in courtly cookbooks, since they were served on the richest tables: the theory of the correct diet is always challenged by the unhealthy practice, as the physician Michele Savonarola recalls in his book on dietetics.
Not surprisingly, the recipes for the magnati in the Registrum Coquine include ingredients such as chicken, deer, lamb (as opposed to mutton, a meat that was difficult to digest and more suitable for laborers than nobles), veal, wild fowl, and pheasant; the recipes for the principes, on the other hand, include pigeon and capon in addition to pheasant and chicken. As we can see, these are all meats considered delicate and suitable for the fine stomach of a noble.
We paired the sauce pro magnatibus et principibus that we present today with pork ribs. The status of pork in medieval medical and culinary literature is unclear. Some physicians, such as the anonymous author of De Flore Dietarum, consider it a temperate and nutritious meat; others, for instance Michele Savonarola, report that it is a meat for a strong stomach, meaning that it is unsuitable for a delicate noble, although its characteristics vary depending on the age: the meat of the young pig is more temperate and generally better.
Pork is one of the most used meats in historical cuisine and pairs perfectly with this sauce, but you can change the type of meat to taste, using for example lamb, chicken, hare, or pheasant.
In our method, we used almonds instead of bread crust, which has the same function in the preparation: it thickens the sauce. As an alternative, you can use other kinds of nuts or starch, without significantly changing the result. We soaked the raisins in wine and added a little to the sauce because bread absorbs more liquid than raisins, but it is up to you how to prepare this dish according to your preferences, as medieval cooks often repeated.
If you do not have verjuice, which is the juice of unripe grapes, substitute it with another acidic juice, such as lemon or orange juice, or with vinegar, as recommended, for instance, by Mainus de’ Maineris in the Opusculum de Saporibus.
Johannes Bockenheim’s Registrum Coquine is a fascinating cookbook written in the 15th century and collected into two manuscripts clearly written by two different copyists, with variations and some different recipes. The author was a German cook who worked in Italy for Pope Martin V. The peculiarity of this book is that the recipes are dedicated to specific groups of people, social classes, and nationalities. Bockenheim’s recommendations are colorful and funny: there are recipes for pimps and prostitutes, priests and laics, princes and peasants. Our translation of the Registrum Coquine, accompanied by an introduction, notes about the recipes, and a glossary, is available on Amazon.
For more historical recipes with vegetables, check out Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers, which collects many recipes from the Antiquity to the early Modern Era.
To know more about medieval food, we recommend Libro de la Cocina. Medieval Tuscan recipes and De Observatione Ciborum. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Frank. You find further articles and translations of historical sources, among which De Flore Dietarum, on our Patreon page.
If you are interested in ancient food, we recommend reading Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources.
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Ingredients
pork ribs
spices (cloves, ginger, nutmeg)
white bread
raisins
almonds
red wine
verjuice
salt
Method
Roast the pork ribs in the oven or under the testum for about two hours, adjusting the cooking time to your preference.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Mince the ginger. Soak the raisins in red wine, pound the nutmeg, cloves, and almonds in the mortar, with two pinches of salt, then add the raisins and ginger. Pound everything together, then add a little verjuice and the wine that you have used to soak the raisins.
Serve the pork ribs coated with the sauce.
Original text
Ad faciendum aliam salsam pro magnatibus et principibus. Recipe uvam passam, et mitte illam ad aquam calidam, cum cortice panis albi prius positi in vino rubeo, et trita illa cum gariofilo, zinzibero, et nuce muscata, et tempera illa insimul cum agresto et valebit pro principibus et magnatibus.
Translation
To make another sauce for rich people and princes. Place raisins in hot water with the crust of white bread previously soaked in red wine. Pound them with cloves, ginger, and nutmeg, mixing with verjuice. It will be good for princes and rich people.
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Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano. Medieval Tuscan Recipes
Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks.
Registrum Coquine by Johannes Bockenheim. A medieval cookbook
Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Sources, Recipes
Translations of Historical Sources
De Agri Cultura by Cato – parts 1-2 (2nd century BCE)
De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome)
Apicii Excerpta by Vinidarius (5th or 6th century)
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus (6th century)
Appendicula de Condituris Variis by Johannes Damascenus (8th or 9th century)
De Flore Dietarum (11th century)
Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria (13th or 14th century)
Liber de Coquina – parts 1-3 (14th century)
Enseignemenz (14th century)
Opusculum de Saporibus by Mainus de Maineris (14th century)
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano (14th century)
Anonimo Veneziano (14th century)
Registrum Coquine by Johannes von Bockenheim (15th century)
Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino – parts 1-5 (15th century)
Recipes
Pizza with Pork Jowl and Fennel Seeds
Maccharoni Siciliani
Fried Tortelli with Beef
Tuscan Chicken Soup with Unripe Grapes
Early-medieval Kohlrabi Stew
Tuscan Fried Leek Rings
Pork Ribs
Tuscan Pancakes with Wild Flowers
Hop Shoots
Shrimp – Savore de Gambari
Orange Frittata – Fritata de Pomerantiis
Tuscan Soup with Hen and Florence Fennel
The diet of the Franks – Celery Root and Beef Stew
Tuscan Fish Cakes – Salciccie di Pescio
Tuscan Stew with Pork Belly and Rutabaga
Pork and Onion Soup
Tuscan Radish Soup
The Diet of the Franks – Endive and Pork Jowl
Tuscan Fried Meatballs
The Diet of the Franks – Chicken Stew
Castagnazzi
Renaissance Stuffed Cucumbers
Pork Roast with Cherry Sauce
Renaissance Fried Tomatoes
Herbolata
The Diet of the Franks – Beef Stew
Fried Chicken Soup
Beef Roast with Garlic Sauce
Bread Soup
Salted Meat and Peas
Baghdadi Rice Cream
Chicken with White-Pepper Sauce – Piperatum Album
Indian Chickpeas and Meat
The Diet of the Franks – Pork Stew
Chestnut and Mushrooms
Lentils with Oregano and Watermint
Egyptian Bread with Pistachios and Almonds
Veal with Fennel-Flower Sauce
Pork Roast with Green Sauce
Eggs Poached in Wine
Brodium Theutonicum
Crispellae – Pancakes with Saffron and Honey
Brodium Sarracenium – Chicken Stew
Fava Beans and Pork
Erbe Minute – Meatballs with Herbs
Lettuce and Pork Soup
Zanzarelli – Egg and Cheese Soup
Turnip and Beef Soup for Servants
Cheese Pasta – Vivanda Bona
Gratonata – Chicken Stew
Chickpea Soup with Poached Eggs
Apple Fritters
Hippocras and Claretum – Mulled Wine
Pastero – Pork Pie
10th-century Goat Roast – A Langobard at the Court of the Byzantine Emperor
Romania – A Recipe Between Arabic and Italian Tradition – Medieval Chicken with Pomegranates
Emperor’s Fritters
Medieval Pizza – The Origin of Pizza
Roast Chicken with Salsa Camellina
Sweet Rice
Afrutum or Spumeum – 6th-century Byzantine recipe
A Medieval Breakfast – Wine, Carbonata, and Millet Bread
Salviata – Eggs and Sage
Tria di Vermicelli
Cabbage Soup
Frittelle Ubaldine – Pancakes with Flowers and Herbs
Saffron Cheesecake
Drunken Pork – Early Medieval Pork Stew
Medieval Monk’s Stuffed-Egg Soup
Apple Pie
Onion Soup
Gnocchi
Lentils and Mustard Greens
Chicken soup – Brodo Granato
Turnip Soup
Beans and Bacon – Black-Eyed Peas
Prawn Pie – Pastello de Gambari
Foxtail Millet Polenta and Spit-Roasted Goose
Beef Stew
Blancmange
Leek Soup
Quail Stew with Coconut
Chicken Pie
Ravioli
Almond Cream
Red Mullet Soup
Spit Roast Beef with Arugula Seeds
Walnut Bread
Lasagna
Tripe
Fried Fish
Roast Lamb with Green Sauce
Clams
Sweet and Sour Sardines
Trouts with Green Sauce
Lamb Stew
Quails with Sumac
Chicken with Fennel Flowers
Sea Bream
Historical Italian Cooking 