The earliest English culinary recipes: dietary advice in Old English medical texts

The earliest culinary recipes written in the English language, or England, are contained three main Old medical collections, now known as Bald’s Leechbook, Leechbook III and Lacnunga, dating from tenth, possibly late ninth, to eleventh centuries. These reveal contemporary ideas about suitability of various foods for people experiencing conditions, but not a generalised ‘healthy diet’, nor indeed diet population at large England time. They form part fairly substantial body dietary advice, drawing quite heavily on Latin tradition that was common most Western Europe, which betrays clear traces humoral theory.