从食谱书看近代早期英国的饮食观念

Ideas on Diet from the Perspective of Recipe Books in Early Modern England

在食物史研究领域,中外史家对近代早期英国人的饮食观尚未给予充分关注。食谱书是考察这一问题的重要依据。英国食谱书的出现和发展,与近代早期经济、社会和文化等方面的变革密切相关。食谱书的内容,不仅反映了社会需求和社会变迁,还体现了当时人的饮食观念。近代早期英国食谱书作者多从古典作品中寻找理论支撑和灵感来源,并在古典基础上,提出了新的见解。他们注重各种食物的医疗特性,提倡人们应该根据自身状况来选择适宜的食物和烹饪方法,以达到维持身体健康的目的。近代早期英国食谱书还囊括了各种疾病的治疗方法,这些方法多以普通食物为原料,饮食被视为"第一剂良药"。

Compared to the other sides of study on food history, both Chinese and foreign historians have not paid enough attention to the ideas on diet in early modern England. Recipe books are valuable materials to study such issues. The appearance and development of recipe books in early modern England were closely related to the conditions of society, culture and economy at that time. The contents of recipe books reflected contemporary people's ideas on diet as well as the changes of social needs and social environment. Their viewpoints were much based on the thought of classical scholars; meanwhile, they put forward many creative ideas on diet. They paid lots of attentions to the medical characteristics of various food materials and suggested that people should choose appropriate food and cooking methods according to their body condition. Moreover, these recipe books contained various disease treatments, which were mainly made of common food materials. In short, diet was regarded as' a great remedy' in early modern England.