Now For Something Different Feast

ONLINE SOURCE COMPILATION FOR FOUR-COURSE SCA FEAST

Song Dynasty Chinese | Aztec/Mexica | Malwa Sultanate Indian | Muscovite Russian

COURSE 1: SONG DYNASTY CHINESE (960-1279 CE)

Primary Source Translations & Recipe Recreations

Robban Toleno's Recipe Blog - THE BEST FREE ONLINE RESOURCE

• URL: https://robbantoleno.com/blog/
• Translating the Benxin zhai shushi pu (Vegetable Recipes from Benxin's Studio) and the Shanjia qinggong (Pure Offerings of Rural Households), both recipe collections from China's Song dynasty (960-1279). Robbantoleno
• Contains actual recipe translations and recreations with photographs
• In China's Song dynasty, cooking evolved into something resembling the Chinese cuisine of today. Tea, citrus, bamboo shoots, crabs, and other foodstuffs became the subject of dedicated treatises, and recipe collections emerged that celebrated culinary products. Robbantoleno
• Recipes include: pine pollen cakes, rice with lotus root, steamed chestnuts, mochi variations, garlic chive dishes, turnip/radish broth, mock meat ("jade-filled lung"), peach rice, and more

Madame Wu's Handbook on Home-Cooking (2023 publication)

• URL (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Madame-Wus-Handbook-Home-Cooking-Domestic/dp/1777938724
• Madame Wu's Handbook on Home-Cooking: The Song Dynasty Classic on Domestic Cuisine is the first Western language edition of the Wushi Zhongkuilu, one of the earliest Chinese works on home cooking and the only culinary work written by a Chinese woman from premodern China preserved in its entirety. Amazon
• Translated by Sean J.S. Chen
• Documents the myriad of home fermentation techniques used in the Song dynasty household, the beginning of soy-sauce use in Chinese cuisine, and the prevalent consumption of Central Asian foods and sweets in Eastern China. Sean J.S. Chen

Translator's Blog - Sean J.S. Chen

• URL: https://wayoftheeating.wordpress.com/2023/11/18/my-new-book-madame-wus-handbook-on-home-cooking/
• As the only premodern Chinese cookbook by a women, it is an important work letting us compare a woman's cookbook writing style and motivation with that of her contemporary male counterparts. These 800-year-old recipes are actually quite fun to cook! Sean J.S. Chen

The Food Dictator - Plum Blossom Soup Recipe

• URL: https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-medieval-chinese-plum-blossom-soup-梅花汤饼/
• The Shanjia Qinggong, the most iconic cookbook of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE), covered a wide range of simple and nutritious recipes. Ingredients were always seasonal, usually grown on the mountains, and prepared in a way that was both minimal and poetic. The Food Dictator

RADII China Article

• URL: https://radiichina.com/what-did-song-dynasty-people-actually-eat/
• There are said to be around 1,000 recipes preserved from this era. To produce Delicacies, three authors conducted extensive research, comparing notes from Song food writers with cookbooks from earlier and later dynasties. They narrowed their selection down to about 150 dishes, and remade each dish multiple times for accuracy. RADII

China Knowledge Encyclopedia Entry

• URL: http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Science/shanjiaqinggong.html
• Shanjia qinggong "Simple and pure cuisine of Master Mountain Dwelling" is a book on diet written during the Southern Song period (1127-1279) by Lin Hong. The book presents recipes for 100 different dishes including beverages, vegetable-and-meat combinations, pastry, rice and congees. China Knowledge

China Knowledge - Madame Wu's Cookbook

• URL: http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Science/wushizhongkuilu.html
• Wushi zhongkui lu is a text with recipes of dishes from the Song period, perhaps written by a female person, Madame Wu. The contents are divided into three categories: meat and fish dishes, vegetable preparations, and sweets, with more than 70 recipes listed in total. China Knowledge

Atlas Obscura - Oldest Cookbooks

• URL: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/oldest-cookbooks
• The Harvard-Yenching Library owns a 17th-century copy of the Simple Offerings of Rural Households (Shanjia qinggong). Containing over 100 recipes and many food-related anecdotes, Simple Offerings is probably the earliest surviving cookbook in Chinese. The author, Lin Hong, was a man of letters who lived in the mid-13th century. Atlas Obscura

COURSE 2: AZTEC/MEXICA (Pre-1521)

Primary Source - Digital Florentine Codex (FREE)

Getty Research Institute Digital Florentine Codex

• URL: https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/
• The Digital Florentine Codex gives access to a singular manuscript created by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún and a group of Nahua elders, authors, and artists. Written in parallel columns of Nahuatl and Spanish texts and hand painted with nearly 2,500 images, the encyclopedic codex is widely regarded as the most reliable source of information about Mexica culture, the Aztec Empire, and the conquest of Mexico. Getty
• Fully searchable in Nahuatl, Spanish, and English

Library of Congress / World Digital Library

• URL: https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667855/
• Commonly referred to as the Florentine Codex, the manuscript consists of 12 books devoted to different topics. Book X is about Aztec society and covers such subjects as the virtues and vices of the people, food and drink. LOC

Smarthistory - Florentine Codex

• URL: https://smarthistory.org/bernardino-de-sahagun-and-collaborators-florentine-codex/
• The 12 volumes document the culture, religious and ritual practices, economics, and natural history of the indigenous central Mexican peoples in the years immediately preceding the Spanish Conquest. Smarthistory

University of Utah Press - Florentine Codex Translation

• URL: https://uofupress.com/books/florentine-codex-book-8/
• Several chapters are devoted to describing the various articles of clothing that the rulers and noblemen wore and the foods they ate for differing ceremonies and activities. Bringing the knowledge of modern scholarship to bear on their materials, the translators have been able to illuminate many obscurities in the text. Uofupress
• Anderson and Dibble English translation (scholarly standard)

Modern Scholarly Resources

Sophie D. Coe - America's First Cuisines (UT Press)

• URL (publisher): https://utpress.utexas.edu/9780292711594/
• This pioneering work offers the first detailed description of the cuisines of the Aztecs, the Maya, and the Inca. Sophie Coe begins with the basic foodstuffs, including maize, potatoes, beans, peanuts, squash, avocados, tomatoes, chocolate, and chiles, and explores their early history and domestication. University of Texas Press
• Also available on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/americasfirstcui00coes

Getty Museum - Dining in the Aztec Empire PDF

• URL: https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/files/2010/06/aztec_feast_recipe_pack.pdf
• Fray Bernardino de Sahagún is regarded as the father of ethnography and one of the first culinary historians. He began collecting material on the Aztecs from native informants and illustrating and recording their culture in Spanish, Nahuatl and Latin. This codex gives us exhaustive lists illustrating Aztec foods. Getty Iris
• Educational packet with historical recipes and bibliography

National Geographic - Eating With the Aztecs

• URL: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/eating-with-the-aztecs-on-cinco-de-mayo
• Fray Bernardino, who lived to the age of 90, spent over 60 years in Aztec Mexico, during which he learned to speak fluent Nahuatl and penned a 12-volume study of Aztec society. He describes over 20 different varieties of peppers and their culinary uses, which variously included "frog with green pepper, newt with yellow pepper, tadpoles with small peppers." National Geographic

Pass The Flamingo Blog - Aztec Recipes

• URL: https://passtheflamingo.com/tag/aztec/
• Taco recipe: https://passtheflamingo.com/2017/09/13/ancient-recipe-tlahco-tacos-aztec-prehistory-16th-century-ce/
• Most Aztec dishes were cooked (ungreased) on a flat, round pottery griddle called a comalli. 16th-century Spanish chronicles such as the Florentine Codex describe a dizzying array of possible taco fillings. Passtheflamingo
• No archaeological evidence has uncovered in Mesoamerica a cooking vessel capable of frying. In her book America's First Cuisines (1994), Sophie Coe reports that "the distaste of the American Indians for the fat of European animals is recorded over and over." Passtheflamingo

Food Timeline - Aztec, Maya & Inca Foods

• URL: https://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmaya.html
• The Aztecs' culinary sophistication is apparent from the extraordinarily long list of spices and flavourings which they would use with chocolate." From Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson. Food Timeline

JSTOR - Sacred Consumption: Food and Ritual in Aztec Art and Culture

• URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7560/310595
• Scholarly book with chapters on Aztec food and ritual

CRITICAL AUTHENTICITY NOTES FOR AZTEC COOKING:

• There were few large land animals known to the Aztecs. Between the dog, the peccary, the deer and the jaguar, there was no creature that produced consumable milk or had large deposits of fat. Unable to fry, the Aztecs cooked their food in other ways: roasting over an open flame, boiling in a pot, or steaming. Passtheflamingo
• Avoid post-contact ingredients: cilantro, lime, cheese, wheat flour
• Use comalli (flat griddle) cooking method

COURSE 3: MALWA SULTANATE INDIAN (c. 1500)

Primary Source

British Library - Ni'matnāmah-i Nāṣirshāhī (Nasir Shah's Book of Delights)

• British Library blog: https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2016/11/nasir-shahs-book-of-delights.html
• The only surviving copy of the Niʻmatnāmah-i Nāṣirshāhī (Nasir Shah's Book of Delights) written for Sultan Ghiyas al-Din Khilji (r.1469-1500) and completed in the reign of his son Nasir al-Din Shah (r.1500-1510). British Library
• Original manuscript: British Library IO Islamic 149
• Published translation: Norah M. Titley, The Ni'matnama Manuscript of the Sultans of Mandu (Routledge)

Routledge Press - Published Translation

• URL: https://www.routledge.com/The-Nimatnama-Manuscript-of-the-Sultans-of-Mandu-The-Sultans-Book-of/Titley/p/book/9780415650465
• The Ni'matnama is a late fifteenth-century book of the recipes of the eccentric Sultan of Mandu (Madhya Pradesh), Ghiyath Shahi. It contains recipes for cooking a variety of delicacies and epicurean delights, as well as providing remedies and aphrodisiacs for the Sultan and his court. Routledge

MAP Academy Entry

• URL: https://mapacademy.io/glossary/nimatnama-i-nasiruddin-shahi/
• Cookbook written c.1500 in the Malwa Sultanate. The manuscript was written in Persian, in the Naskh script and illustrates the preparation of recipes through the Turkic style of Shirazi painting and the Chaurapanchasika style of pre-Mughal India. MAP Academy

Middle East Eye Article

• URL: https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/india-pakistan-book-of-delights-nasir-shah-food-cuisine
• The Nimatnama stands as a notable achievement within India's culinary literature. Beyond being a mere collection of recipes, the book offers a treasure trove of Epicurean delights and valuable insights into the history of consumption and eating experiences. Middle East Eye

Academia.edu - Scholarly Papers

• URL: https://www.academia.edu/115225886/Pleasure_Over_Politics_The_Nimatnama_Manuscript_Of_Mandu
• The aim of this paper is to investigate the Ni'matnama, Book of Delights of the Sultans of Mandu as a primary source that encapsulates the unique epicurean culture of medieval Malwa. Academia.edu

Alternative/Supplementary Indian Source: Manasollasa (1129 CE)

Wisdom Library - Manasollasa Full Text (FREE)

• URL: https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/manasollasa-study-of-arts-and-sciences
• The full text of the Manasollasa (study of Arts and Sciences) in English is available here and publicly accessible (free to read online). Wisdom Library

Wisdom Library - Food Chapters

• URL: https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/manasollasa-study-of-arts-and-sciences/d/doc1474614.html
• Recipes for Vatika: a paste of Bengal gram powder or Black gram powder, sugar, cardamom, and pepper should be prepared, rounded suitably, and fried properly in oil. Wisdom Library

Peppertrail - Recipes from Manasollasa

• URL: https://peppertrail.com/recipes-frommanasollasa/
• Manasollasa is a treasure trove of ancient recipes. Various recipes that use meat and seafood in the annabhoga chapter. The author Somesvara, belonging to ruling Kshatriya class, was not a vegetarian. Peppertrail
• Includes detailed recipes with modern adaptations

SCA Recreation - Irayari Vairavi's Manasollasa Dishes

• URL: https://sites.google.com/site/vairavisca/Home/creations/manasollasa-dishes
• Redacting recipes from the Manasollasa of King Somesvara. Includes battimakam: raw meat made into good paste and mixed with saffron, made into small balls and fried in deep hot oil. Google Sites
• Tested recipes for SCA events

The Better India Article

• URL: https://thebetterindia.com/157715/ancient-book-india-history-manasollasa-karnataka/
• King Someswara covered a wide range of recipes in the book. According to culinary historian Mary Ellen Snodgrass, the Manasollasa and its extensive section on recipes predate the writing of cookbooks in Medieval Europe by nearly a century. The Better India

Homegrown India - Manasollasa Article

• URL: https://homegrown.co.in/article/802780/fried-black-rats-12th-century-idlis-other-peculiar-food-habits-of-an-indian-king
• A number of dishes described in the Manasollasa are easily identifiable as ancestors of staples of modern Indian cuisine. For example, the book describes 'iddarikas', which seem to be a medieval version of the idli. Homegrown

COURSE 4: MUSCOVITE RUSSIAN (16th Century)

Primary Source Translation

Domostroi - Internet Archive (FREE)

• URL: https://archive.org/details/domostroirulesfo00unse
• Carolyn Johnston Pouncy's English translation available for borrowing Internet Archive

Published Translation (for purchase):

• Carolyn Johnston Pouncy, The Domostroi: Rules for Russian Households in the Time of Ivan the Terrible (Cornell University Press, 1994)
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Domostroi-Rules-Russian-Households-Terrible/dp/0801496896
• The Domostroi, which literally means 'household order,' is a 16th-century Russian guide to life for noblemen, an exhaustive inventory of homilies, rules and recipes ranging from how to instill obedience in a wife to instructions for making mead and storing cabbage. Amazon

Online Resources

Sofya la Rus - Medieval Russian Food

• URL: http://sofyalarus.info/russia/Food/index.html
• Main Russian research page: http://sofyalarus.info/russia/
• A household management text called the Domostroi first written in the mid 1500s includes some vague recipes for meads, kvas, and a few other foods. That's all we have for "period" Russian recipes. Sofyalarus
• Excellent SCA-focused resource with extensive Russian research

The Recipes Project - Russian Domostroi

• URL: https://recipes.hypotheses.org/3974
• "As everyday food servants receive rye bread, cabbage soup, and thin kasha with ham. Sometimes they may have thick kasha with lard. On Sundays and holy days servants sometimes get turnovers [pirozhki—small pies], jellies, pancakes." The Recipes Project
• Academic food history blog

Cynthia Bertelsen - From Mother Russia with Love

• URL: https://gherkinstomatoes.com/2015/03/30/from-mother-russia-with-love-the-domostroi/
• The Domostroi consists of sixty-three relatively short chapters, telling Russians living during the time of Ivan the Terrible how to behave themselves and how to run their lives and households. Heavily influenced by the Orthodox Church, The Domostroi runs the gamut from prayer to pickling. CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN
• Includes recipe: "Chop cabbage, greens, or a mixture of both very fine, then wash them well. Boil or steam them for a long time. On meat days, put in red meat, ham, or a little pork fat." CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN

Old Russian Cuisine Overview (Advantour)

• URL: https://www.advantour.com/russia/food/history/old-russian-cuisine.htm
• Vegetables: cabbage, turnip, radish, peas, cucumbers were eaten raw or salted, steamed, boiled or baked separately from one another. In the medieval period most Russian beverages turned national: mead, khmel, kvass, cider. Beer appeared in 1284. In 1440-1470s Russia discovered vodka. Advantour

UNESCO Russia - Grains of History: Russian Kasha Culture

• URL: https://unesco.ru/en/news/52-kasha/
• The popularity of kasha was reflected in "Domostroy," a collection of everyday advice published in the 16th century: "on normal days, coarse bread, cabbage soup daily and thin kasha with ham, sometimes replaced by thick kasha with lard." Kasha was the food of all people; it was prepared daily and on special occasions. Unesco

Express to Russia - History of Russian Cuisine

• URL: https://www.expresstorussia.com/experience-russia/the-history-of-russian-cuisine.html
• Soups played a large role. People prepared clear soups from fish or meat spiced with different kitchen herbs. Black soup was prepared with cloves and white soup using pepper. Soup without spices was called naked soup. Popular soups included rassolnik and shchi. Express to Russia

Pass The Flamingo - Medieval Russian

• URL: https://passtheflamingo.com/tag/medieval-recipe/
• The earliest Russian cookbook dates to 1547. A Medieval Russian peasant's diet would have been hearty, uncomplicated and mostly vegetarian. Turnip and cabbage were important crops, as was kasha or buckwheat. Passtheflamingo

The Kingdom of Rye: A Brief History of Russian Food (scholarly book excerpt)

• URL: https://dokumen.pub/the-kingdom-of-rye-a-brief-history-of-russian-food-9780520383906.html
• Porridges, soups, stews, and vegetables were all traditionally prepared in clay gorshok or cast iron chugun pots. The most classic form of Russian cabbage soup, sutochnye shchi (twenty-four-hour shchi) is made by slowly simmering beef bones in water to make a rich broth. DOKUMEN.PUB

Key Russian Dishes from Period Sources:

• Shchi (cabbage soup) - the fundamental dish
• Kasha (buckwheat/grain porridge)
• Pirozhki (small pies with meat/vegetables/grains)
• Kvass (fermented bread beverage)
• Mead and Braga (fermented beverages)
• Fish preparations (for fast days - 60%+ of Orthodox calendar)
• Pickled mushrooms and vegetables

SUMMARY OF KEY FREE ONLINE RESOURCES

ADDITIONAL SCHOLARLY BOOKS (For Purchase/Library)

Song Chinese:

• Sean J.S. Chen, Madame Wu's Handbook on Home-Cooking (Linea Publishing, 2023)

Aztec:

• Sophie D. Coe, America's First Cuisines (UT Press, 1994)
• Anderson & Dibble, Florentine Codex translation (University of Utah Press)

Indian:

• Norah M. Titley, The Ni'matnama Manuscript of the Sultans of Mandu (Routledge)
• P. Arundhati, Royal Life in Manasollasa (Sundeep Prakashan, Delhi, 1994)

Russian:

• Carolyn Johnston Pouncy, The Domostroi (Cornell University Press, 1994)

This compilation should give you excellent documentation for your SCA feast with sources you can cite and recipes you can adapt!