“On the morning of Santo Zanobio the 29th of May 1504, I had from Lionardo Vinci 15 gold ducats and began to spend them. to Mona Margarita S 62 d 4 to remake the ring S 19 d 8 clothes S 13 good beef S 4 eggs S 6 debt at the bank S 7 velvet S 12 wine S 6 d 4 meat S 4 mulberries S 2 d 4 mushrooms S 3 d 4 salad S 1 fruit S 1 d 4 candles S 3 .... S 1 flour S 2 _____________________________ Sunday 198 8 _____________________________ bread S 6 wine S 9 d 4 meat S 7 soup S 2 fruit S 3 d 4 candles S 3 d ____________________________ Monday 31 ____________________________ bread S 6 d 4 meat S 10 d 8 wine S 9 d 4 fruit S 4 soup S 1 d 8 ____________________________ 32”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
(Cold Meat Cookery). 612. INGREDIENTS.--2 or 3 dozen small button mushrooms, 1 oz. of butter, salt and cayenne to taste, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, mashed potatoes, slices of cold roast beef. _Mode_.--Wipe the mushrooms free from grit with a piece of flannel, and salt; put them in a stewpan with the butter, seasoning, and ketchup; stir over the fire until the mushrooms are quite done, when pour it in the middle of mashed potatoes, browned. Then place round the potatoes slices of cold roast beef, nicely broiled, over a clear fire. In making the mushroom sauce, the ketchup may be dispensed with, if there is sufficient gravy. _Time_.--1/4 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 8d. _Seasonable_ from August to October.
Sources: The passage is from da Vinci Leonardo, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete, tr. Richter, Jean Paul, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Beeton, The Book of Household Management of 1861, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — forest cloth, grapes stamp.