raffaellasworld

KATHERINE MCIVER, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, BIRMINGHAM
Let’s Eat: Kitchens and Dining in the Renaissance Palazzo
The domestic interior in Renaissance Italy has been the subject of groundbreaking exhibitions, conference sessions, and publications in recent years. Material culture is at the forefront of research allowing us to better understand how and where people lived, what they collected and bought for their homes, and how and why they valued certain objects over others. We now have a much clearer picture of private life; but what about mundane issues like food preparation, eating, and the sociability of dining. How was the Renaissance kitchen outfitted and where did people eat? Where were the kitchens and storage rooms located in relationship to dining spaces? What can be said about dining practices in the sixteenth century? Was eating gendered? Inventories of palaces, letters, expense accounts, architectural treatises, and cooking manuals, as well as paintings and architectural plans will be used in this paper to address these issues.

Edited to add- I wrote to her, now I just hope I sounded reasonably intelligent and even if I can't make I'll be able to read her research somehow.

Edited part 2- I did a search for her on Amazon and this is what I got:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=KATHERINE+McIVER&x=20&y=24
I think I'm going to be buying one of these a month for a while, maybe I can get one of the text books for my birthday. :)

Here are some more pictures of The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, there will be more interior shots to follow. As well as one decent canal shot. I just love, love, love, love, love venice.
( Behind cut to save my f-list )I'm starting the serious push testing recipes for candlemas now, so that that I'll (hopefully) be ahead of the curve on any needed menu changes. I've already made some changes and now I'm debating where to start. Maybe I'll do the sauces, the rice dish, and a small roast tonight, although that may mean a late dinner. I've now got 5 sauce to choose from and I think I may test them all then eliminate maybe one or two- all the ones I've tried are all really, really good.
XIV Ciuiro* (civet) or sauce black to ash gray for boar
III. "Agliata", roasted garlic sauce.
LIX Genuine pepper sauce
LXVII Perfect strong sauce
LXIX White ginger sauce for capons

I put together the information part of the documentation - the original Italian and English translation of the recipe, and have started with the bones of my redactions. Some of these I have done before (this is one of my favorite sources) and some I will be exploring for the first time.  I'm not entering it, but I think this will be a good exercise for me, and I like having the information all in one place. Altogether it runs almost 5 pages, and it will get longer as I add in more detailed redactions for each one. At this point they just have the basic ingredients that I gleaned from the original. I was pondering how much is too much, as far as information goes, but I guess in this case it's really for my own pleasure. I was also thinking of having copies available in case any of the participants might be interested. Any thoughts? If you came to a feast would you be interested in a handout of the source material and redactions?