Radish, in particular raw, was a common appetizer in the Antiquity as well as in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, despite being considered heavy to digest and a poor food by Pliny, who calls it cibus inliberalis, unsuitable for free men. It was generally eaten in salads, as we read in Galen’s De Facultatibus Alimentorum and De Re Coquinaria, but also in the book about salads written in the Renaissance by the naturalist Costanzo Felici.
In De Re Coquinaria, radish is simply dressed with garum and pepper. According to Galen, a common dressing for the roots was olive oil and fenugreek, or vinegar and garum, and radish was eaten both raw and cooked. The leaves, the Greek physician writes, were used only for necessity. The stalks, which grow in spring to bring flowers (and then the pods that contain the seeds), were simmered and dressed with oil, garum, and vinegar. Even the pods, Felici writes, were added to salads for their pleasant flavor.
In the medieval cookbooks, we find scarce references to this vegetable, which continued to be used mainly for salads. In Anonimo Toscano’s Libro de la Cocina, instead, there are two recipes, one for the lean days and the other for the days of the vigil, in addition to a simple method for radish leaves, simmered and stir-fried with olive oil and leek or onion.
The first recipe requires simmering the radish and frying it with olive oil, onion, and salt, plating with ground spices. The second does not mention simmering the radish, but this passage is probably taken for granted by the author. It is unclear whether the radish must be stir-fried, but probably not, since there are no onions in the list of ingredients.
We made a soup with simmered radish, eggs, and grated cheese, using 100 grams of radish for each plate with a poached egg and omitting the spices, but you can make another choice. A different way to prepare this recipe may be by following the previous method, plating with cheese and poached eggs or adding an egg beaten with a bit of broth just before removing the radish from the fire.
We used the cooking broth of the radish, but if you want, plate it with a bit of chicken or beef broth. Among the spices, choose some of the ones more common in this and other Italian medieval cookbooks, for instance pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, or nutmeg. The best kind of cheese for this plate is pecorino, but you may also use Parmigiano or another aged cheese.
The Libro de la Cocina, also known as Anonimo Toscano, a complete and fascinating cookbook written in the Tuscan vernacular in the 14th century, collects 175 recipes for all kinds of medieval dishes, from meat, fish, and vegetables to pies and pasta. The author recommends several variations for lean or fat plates, making this source a satisfying and exhaustive handbook to recreate historical plates and experiment with medieval preparations according to our taste, using ingredients that are mostly common and easy to find. Our translation of Anonimo Toscano’s Libro de la Cocina is accompanied by an introduction about medieval cooking, the basic methods and ingredients, as well as notes to the text and a glossary.
For more historical recipes with vegetables, check out our book, Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers, which collects many recipes from the Antiquity to early Modern Era.
If you are interested in medieval cooking, check out De Observatione Ciborum. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks and Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook. For more information about ancient food, we recommend reading Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources. You find further translations of historical sources and articles about ancient and medieval cooking and dietetics on our Patreon page, among which the first nine books of De Re Coquinaria.
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Ingredients
radish
eggs
pecorino
olive oil
salt
Method
Clean the radish, discarding the leaves, and simmer it in salted water with a bit of olive oil for about 15 minutes. Break an egg and lay it gently in hot water just below the point of boiling. Remove the egg after a minute. The yolk must remain tender.
Grate the cheese. Plate the radish with a bit of broth, a poached egg, and the cheese.
Original text
Togli raponcelli, bene bulliti in acqua, e poni a sofriggere con oglio, cipolla e sale; e quando sono cotti e apparecchiati, mettivi spetie in scudelle.
Altramente. Togli raponcelli, ovvero paperdelli, con olio e sale e cascio gratato e ova debattute; e giongevi su cascio e ova perdute, nel dì del sabbato.
Translation
Boil the radish well in water, they fry with oil, onion, and salt. When it is cooked, plate dusting with spices.
Another recipe. Take radish, namely paperdelli, with oil, salt, grated cheese, and beaten egg. And add cheese and poached eggs on the days of the vigil.
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Books
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 Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome)
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus (6th century)
Appendicula de Condituris Variis by Johannes Damascenus (8th-9th century)
De Flore Dietarum (11th century)
Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria (13th-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 – first and second part (15th century)
Recipes
Tuscan Fried Meatballs
The diet of the Franks – Chicken Stew
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 