Menu de la maison de la Reyne
- Year
- 1562
- Era
- 16th century
- Origin
- France · Europe
- Language
- French
- Category
- French foundational
Menu de la maison de la Reyne, compiled by Pinguillon and dating from 1562, records the bill of fare maintained for the queen's household in mid sixteenth-century France. As a working document of royal domestic provisioning, it offers rare insight into the dishes, sequence of services, and supply expectations governing court dining, and stands among the earliest French sources to detail the gastronomic life of a Valois royal establishment.
Cooking from this book
Potage de chapon aux herbes
Signature dishA signature presence on any royal French household menu of the period, this delicate capon broth simmered with fresh garden herbs embodies the refinement expected at Catherine de Medici's table. Pinguillon's bill of fare places such pottages at the heart of the queen's daily service, where they functioned as both nourishment and ceremony. The dish reflects the transitional cookery of mid sixteenth-century France, still medieval in spirit yet quietly anticipating the elegance of later court cuisine.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
