Tales from the archives: the torture of therapeutics in Rome: Galen on pigeon...
Recently, I have noticed fewer pigeons at Cardiff station. This probably mean that there has been a cull, which even though I’m no fan of pigeons, made me feel rather melancholy. So, in honour of the...
View ArticleIntroducing the UG series
By Laurence Totelin For the last five years, the Recipes Project has been running an annual September Teaching series. That series has proven extremely successful, and the blog is now a mine of...
View ArticleAncient Cures for Asthma: Do They Really Work?
By Joanna Cunningham, as part of the Undergraduate Series Find out more about ancient ideas on asthma, and whether the remedies that ancient physicians used actually work! Asthma and Its Ancient...
View ArticleIn Search of Efen
By Allison Shichen Du, published as part of the Undergraduate Series This summer, I started a journey to explore Manchu (Manzu) food both in books and in real life. After reviewing A Comprehensive...
View ArticleRecreating Ancient Beauty
By Eboni John, published as part of the Undergraduate Series The society of ancient Rome was just as obsessed with cosmetics and beauty as we are today. Indulging in the use of items such as white lead...
View ArticleThanksgiving with Galen and Apicius
By Sean Coughlin For Thanksgiving, I thought I’d come up with a new English translation of a seasonal recipe from the Roman cook-book of Apicius. It comes from the third book of De re coquinaria. The...
View ArticleApicius’ Pumpkins with Turkey
By Sean Coughlin This post follows on yesterday’s post on whether the Romans had pumpkins. Translation: [Cooked] gourds with fowl: [add] hard-fleshed peaches, truffles, pepper, caraway, cumin,...
View ArticleCleopatra’s Eye: The Significance of Kohl in Ancient Egypt
By Hazel Lunn Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra in 1963 production of Cleopatra, portraying malachite and galena kohls used in Egyptian makeup. Courtesy of...
View ArticleInterview with the author: Elaine Leong
Our very own Elaine Leong’s new book Recipes and Everyday Knowledge Medicine, Science, and the Household in Early Modern England has just come out with the University of Chicago Press. We are super...
View ArticleA Pain in the Backside: Ancient Remedies for Haemorrhoids
By: Glyn Muitjens Although haemorrhoids are not often talked about, as many seem to consider them a source of embarrassment, they are anything but a rare condition. In fact, the Association of...
View ArticleNit Picking the Greek and Roman Way
By Laurence Totelin One of the ‘joys’ of parenthood is dealing with lice and nits. In the UK, the NHS helpfully states that ‘there’s nothing you can do to prevent head lice.’ You can only prevent them...
View ArticleTales from the Archives: What Was Perfume in the Eighteenth Century?
In the UK, we are getting towards the end of the wonderful bluebell season. In some cooler parts of the country, forest floors are still covered with the delicately-scented flower. I love the earthy...
View ArticleA rose is a rose is a rose… but how does it smell?
By Galina Shyndriayeva as part of the Perfume Series Questions of words and the meanings they convey are critical for poetry and literature, but they are just as important in the poetry of the senses....
View ArticleSmelling of Roses in Ancient Rome
By Laurence Totelin as part of the perfume series The painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) had a knack for depicting the — sometimes imaginary — luxurious excesses of the Romans. In The Roses of...
View ArticlePigeon slippers
By Robert Ralley and Lauren Kassell The Casebooks Project, a team of scholars at the University of Cambridge, has spent a decade studying 80,000 consultations recorded by the seventeenth-century...
View ArticleVariable Matters (Basel, 20-22 September 2019), organized by Barbara Orland...
By Stefanie Gänger Hosted at Basel’s beautiful Pharmacy Museum, the conference “Variable Matters” was designed to bring together historians with an interest in the movement of medicinals and knowledge...
View ArticleBeauty and the Beaumont Magazine: Transgender Make-Up
By Daisy Payling For Charlie Craggs, transgender activist and nail artist, make-up is vital. Interviewed by Stylist in February 2019, she spoke about its transformative power: “Some people think beauty...
View Article‘A Curious Book’: The Many Functions of Martha Hodges’ Manuscript Recipe Book
By Kate Owen On the inside cover of Martha Hodges’ recipe book (17-th-18th century), written in pencil, is a note that calls the manuscript ‘a curious book’. Although there is no further explanation...
View ArticleBasel Pharmacy Museum: An Interview
The Recipes Project heads to Basel, Switzerland, to learn about the collections of the Pharmacy Museum. Laurence Totelin spoke with Philippe Wanner, Barbara Orland, Corinne Eichenberger and Martin...
View ArticleTouching the Perfect “Noir de Flandres”: a visitor’s experience at the Museum...
By V.E. Mandrij The colour black is the reason why I became an art historian specialising in Netherlandish oil painting. From the backgrounds of 17th-century still-life paintings, to nocturnal...
View Article