Libro de Guisados Manjares y Potajes Intitulado Libro de Cozina

Libro de Guisados Manjares y Potajes Intitulado Libro de Cozina

This is an early print of the popular cookbook by Ruperto de Nola, about whom little is known aside from the fact that he was a cook for various kings of Naples from the Aragonese dynasty, Ferdinand I (1423–94) inter alia. Ruperto may have been born in Nola, Italy, which would have been in the Aragonese Kingdom of Naples at the time, or in Noia, a port city on the Galician coast of northwestern Spain. First published in Catalan in 1520 (Barcelona) and 1525 (Toledo), more than 15 editions of his work were created. This specimen, commissioned by Pérez Dávila, was printed in Logroño, Spain by Miguel de Eguía on November 24th, 1529. The author is believed to have translated the text into Spanish himself. It represents a marvelous and beautiful source for Catalan and Aragonese recipes and general information about contemporary cuisine and what made up a proper dinner table in those times.

A Cookbook for Professionals

Unlike modern cookbooks, which are mostly intended for amateur cooks preparing meals for friends and family in their own homes, this was a handbook for professionals that had to manage grand households and prepare food for dozens if not hundreds of people on a daily basis. The 243 recipes include many adaptations of Arab dishes and their instructions presume that the reader is well-acquainted with various techniques and follow introductory chapters addressing topics like the duties of household officers, dietary health, carving meat, and table service. As is typical of the period, the longwinded title gives a concise description of the book and its contents:
Book of stews, dishes, and pottages entitled "Book of Cooking": in which there is the management of the households of kings and great lords, and of the household officials, and how each one should serve in his office. And this second edition has added the management of the households of knights and gentlemen and clerics of rank and persons of middle estate. And others who have family and servants in their houses, and some dishes for invalids and other things added to it, all newly revised, added, and amended by the same author,
With Imperial license
Ruperto de Nola
Logrono, 1529