« …Quod Graeci vocant… »

Abstract

Written in the 1460s by the Italian humanist Platina, De honesta voluptate fits into the story of the food tastes. The book mixes intimately cooking, medicine, literature quoting Greek terms that should probably add to the book a certain confirmation of a "humanistic model" in the eyes of a Greek scholar as was intended to be Platina. The edition employed here was printed in Strasbourg in 1517.The author mentions the writers of Antiquity to allege or not his informations taking advantage of the prestige of the Greek language. He uses hellenisms, and describes with Greek terms or Greek etymologies the foods.The analysis of the lexical field of food questions us about the nature of the products, the cooking methods and the culinary preparations. Those are here subject of a reflection on the food and culinary practices in the humanistic Europe of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Keywords

• Humanism
• Gastronomy
• Food practices
• Dietetic
• Strasbourg