Renaissance cooking: Food historian Francine Segan and a recipe for 'pears' in broth (they're not really pears)
Francine Segan is a food historian with a taste for the Renaissance. She’s the author of six cookbooks, including Shakespeare’s Kitchen (2003) and the Opera Lover’s Cookbook, which was nominated for a James Beard award. This year she’s been spending…
From the archive to the oven: How to make a sweet potato pudding
Folger researchers recently uncovered a very early European potato recipe in our archives in a collection kept by the Grenville family from c. 1640-1750. “To make a potato puding” shows the growing popularity of this New World food in England.
Recipe: How to make a sweet potato pudding
The Folger is home to the largest collection of early modern western European recipe books in the United States, and a team of Folger researchers recently uncovered a very early European potato recipe in our archives. This recipe, “to make a…
A perfect pairing: A recipe for almond jumballs and a podcast episode on "Recipes for Thought"
Early modern kitchens, food, and recipes offer an intriguing window on the world in which Shakespeare lived. Our new Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episode is a fascinating interview with Wendy Wall, who explores the role of food, kitchens, and other related subjects in…