“Shakespeare’s Kitchen not only reveals, sometimes surprisingly, what people were eating in Shakespeare’s time but also provides recipes that today’s cooks can easily re-create with readily available ingredients.”
—from the Foreword by Patrick O’Connell


Francine Segan introduces contemporary cooks to the foods of William Shakespeare’s world with recipes updated from classic sixteenth- and seventeenth-century cookbooks. Her easy-to-prepare adaptations shatter the myth that the Bard’s primary fare was boiled mutton. In fact, Shakespeare and his contemporaries dined on salads of fresh herbs and vegetables; fish, fowl, and meats of all kinds; and delicate broths. Dried Plums with Wine and Ginger-Zest Crostini, Winter Salad with Raisin and Caper Vinaigrette, and Lobster with Pistachio Stuffing and Seville Orange Butter are just a few of the delicious, aromatic, and gorgeous dishes that will surprise and delight. Segan’s delicate and careful renditions of these recipes have been thoroughly tested to ensure no-fail, standout results.

The tantalizing Renaissance recipes in Shakespeare’s Kitchen are enhanced with food-related quotes from the Bard, delightful morsels of culinary history, interesting facts on the customs and social etiquette of Shakespeare’s time, and the texts of the original recipes, complete with antiquated spellings and eccentric directions. Fifty color images by award-winning food photographer Tim Turner span the centuries with both old-world and contemporary treatments. Patrick O’Connell provides an enticing Foreword to this edible history from which food lovers and Shakespeare enthusiasts alike will derive nourishment. Want something new for dinner? Try something four hundred years old.

"I find the complexity of the dishes and variety of the ingredients amazing. Francine Segan does a wonderful job of translating ancient recipes for use in today's kitchen."
-Jean-Georges Vongerichten, author of Simple to Spectacular and Cooking at Home with a Four Star Chef

“Shakespeare’s Kitchen treats four-hundred-year-old recipes with a freshness that will keep this cookbook selling for years and years to come. As enlightening as they are appetizing, Segan’s recipes bring the exuberance of the Elizabethan era into the modern American kitchen. You’ll want to try them all.”
—Moira Hodgson, cookbook author and restaurant critic, The New York Observer 
 
“Francine Segan has employed the same intelligence and passion directors of plays and films use in making the Bard relevant to us and to our times. The fare she found and resuscitated is far more sophisticated than those cinematic visions of nobles gnawing on haunches of various animals had led us to believe. It is clear that all manner of appetites were stimulated at table in Shakespeare’s time, and, through Segan’s book, will be again.”
—William Rice, food and wine columnist, Chicago Tribune

“I’ve had the pleasure of dining at Francine’s table many times and have always walked away singing. I loved reading Shakespeare’s Kitchen. Maybe now I can learn to cook! A hit, a very palpable hit.”
—Betty Buckley, Tony Award–winning actress and singer

“Francine Segan reawakens our love of the Renaissance feast. William Shakespeare’s words find their feasting fellow in this joyous cookbook in which pleasures of the flesh and pleasures of the spirit cohabitate.”
—Tina Packer, artistic director, Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, Massachusetts

“Through Segan’s connection to Shakespeare’s delicious words and times she entices us with culinary delights that are sure to please any palate.”
—David A. Dreyfoos, producing director, Oregon Shakespeare Festival

"Shakespeare's Kitchen" not only reveals, sometimes surprisingly, what people were eating in Shakespeare's time but also provides recipes that today's cooks can easily re-create with readily available ingredients.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-263) and index.

Francine Segan, a noted food historian, introduces us to the foods of William Shakespeare's world through recipes updated from classic sixteenth- and seventeent-century cookbooks such as "The Accomplisht Cook by Robert May, published in 1660, and "The Good Housewife's Jewel by Thomas Dawson, published in 1596. Segan's easy-to-prepare adaptations shatter the myth that the Bard's primary fare was overcooked mutton--in fact, Shakespeare and his contemporaries dined on salads of fresh herbs and vegetables, fish of all kinds, and delicate broths. Watercress Salad in Verjus Vinaigrette with Violets is just one of the delicious, aromatic, and gorgeous dishes that will surprise and delight the reader. Other recipes include: Grilled Tuna with Carrots and Sweet Onions, Fish Bisque with Chestnuts and Artichokes, and Red Snapper with Caviar. Segan's exquisite renditions of these recipes have been thoroughly tested to ensure no-fail, outstanding results. Food-related quotations from Shakespeare and interesting facts on the culinary customs and social etiquette of his time enhance each chapter, as does the text of the original recipes, with peculiar spellings and eccentric directions intact. Fifty photographs by award-winning food photographer Tim Turner span the centuries with both old-world and contemporary treatments. Patrick O'Connell provides an enticing Introduction to this edible history from which food lovers and Shakespeare enthusiasts both will derive nourishment. Want something new for dinner? Try something four hundred years old.