The Shakespeare Cookbook - Softcover

"From quince marmalade to mallard and onions, from cider syllabub to salmon in sorrel sauce, all Elizabethan culinary life is here and the overall presentation is a triumph: it's lavishly illustrated and beautifully designed". -Saturday Scotsman

"Takes us into a different age, one in which England has broken from the Pope in Rome and is increasingly at the hub of world trade, which is reflected in the food consumed. It also makes the interesting point that the invention of printing made this the age of the first cookery books. And to add extra spice, the authors have centred each chapter on a theme suggested in Shakespeare's plays, such as the banquet scene in Macbeth". -The Good Book Guide

"Andrew Dalby and Maureen Dalby have done a wonderful job with this book. It's informative, well-researched, beautifully illustrated and a great read... a lovely addition to early modern food history, and a neat addition to the food historian's bookshelf." -Shakespeare's England blog

I began reading with some trepidation: mining Shakespeare for particular topics has been long practiced flowers, women, the Classics, religion, race, the law science the list is endless, and the results are usually desperate attempts.... often out of context. But this is not one of those books. As the authors say in their introduction, food was important to Shakespeare... Pleasant to handle, to browse through looking at the illustrations, and to read, with food history both to entertain and inform, it should whet the appetite of those who wish to know more about food in Shakespeare's time". -Petit Propos Culinaires

"Andrew and Maureen Dalby, who have a passionate interest in the history of food, in this well-researched and beautifully illustrated book, examine the role of meat and drink in the Bard's plays, and plunder Elizabethan cookbooks for authentic recipes such as capon with oranges; rabbit with cider and mustard; mallard with onions; French potage; barm brack; lemon posset and medlar tart". --Tribune

Shakespeare’s working life, from about 1590 to 1615, was not only a period of rich activity on the London stage, but also one of prolific writing and publishing about food. Shakespeare himself used food in many of his plays: from memorable banquet scenes, to the use of food and feasting as metaphor. This fascinating book explores the plays alongside contemporary recipes to offer modern-day cooks a unique insight into daily life and gastronomy in Shakespeare’s London.