Book/pamphlet
Book Cover
Name Dalby, Andrew, 1947-
Title Tastes of Byzantium : the cuisine of a legendary empire / Andrew Dalby
Dates/Publication Details London : I.B. Tauris, 2010
LOCATION NUMBER STATUS
 General Reference  641.3 D137  (Small Books)  ORANGE SHELVES
Description/Quantity 268 pages : ill. ; 20 cm
Notes First published: 2003
Includes index
Bibliography: p. [239]-256
Contents Machine generated contents note: An Introduction to Byzantium -- Tastes and Smells of the City -- Foods and Markets of Constantinople -- Water and Wine, Monks and Travellers -- Rulers of the World -- The Texts -- The Eight Flavours -- Categories of Foods -- Humoral and Dietary Qualities of Foods -- A Dietary Calendar -- Instructions and Recipes -- A Phrase-Book of Byzantine Foods and Aromas
Summary For Centuries the food and culinary delights of the Byzantine Empire - centred on Constantinople - have captivated the West, although it appeared that very little information had been passed down to us. Andrew Dalby's Tastes of Byzantium now reveals in astonishing detail, for the first time, what was eaten in the court of the Eastern Roman Empire - and how it was cooked. Fusing the spices of the Romans with the seafood and simple local food of the Aegean and Greek world, the cuisine of the Byzantines was unique and a precursor to much of the food of modern Turkey and Greece. Bringing this vanished cuisine to life in vivid and sensual detail, Dalby describes the sights and smells of Constantinople and its marketplaces, relates travellers' tales and paints a comprehensive picture of the recipes and customs of the Empire and their relationship to health and the seasons, love and medicine. For food-lovers and historians a like, Tastes of Byzantium is both essential and riveting an --
extraordinary illumination of everyday life in the Byzantine world. --
À fascinating read, with its descriptions of the glittering centre of an empire. Along with his portrait of Byzantine feasting on spiced wine and sugary sweets, Dalby includes many colourful observations' Charles Perry, Cornucopia --
À delightful book... offers a novel and humane approach to the Byzantines and their culture, and one that should appeal to Byzantinists as well as general readers' The Bryn Maivr Classical Review.
Subject Food habits -- Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire -- Social life and customs
Byzantine Empire -- History
Byzantine Empire -- Civilization
ISBN 9781848851658