Tasting History by Max Miller

Tasting History: Explore the Past Through 4,000 Years of Recipes by Max Miller, with Ann Volkwein | 2023 | Simon Element | Hardcover $ 30

What began as a passion project when Max Miller was furloughed during the pandemic has become a viral YouTube sensation. The Tasting History with Max Miller channel has thrilled food enthusiasts and history buffs alike as Miller recreates a dish from the past, often using historical recipes from vintage texts, but updated for modern kitchens as he tells stories behind the cuisine and culture. From ancient Rome to Ming China to medieval Europe and beyond, Miller has collected the best-loved recipes from around the world and has shared them with his fans. Including the original recipe and Miller’s modern recreation, this cookbook is a must-have for any avid cook or history fan looking to experience delicious recipes from the past.

If you haven’t seen Tasting History on YouTube, this might seem like just any other foodie history book. But in video form, Max Miller’s culinary adventures are just fun to watch and have attracted a devoted audience of people who enjoy the magic combination of well-researched historical facts shared as entertaining stories, charming humor, professional editing, and occasionally all-too-relatable kitchen struggles. This book feels like a pretty good extension of all that, to me.

In terms of history, each recipe includes a short introductory section with info about the context in which the recipe was developed. These sections are interesting and in a couple of cases even a little funny, but they aren’t super extensive either; this really is a cooking book wrapped up with a healthy dose of history, not a history book with incidental recipes.

Let’s talk about the actual recipes. Fair warning! Some of them take quite a bit of time (e.g. brewing mead), while others include specialty ingredients (e.g. long pepper). And some of the videos on the author’s channel are absolutely wild stunts, like stitching together a chicken and a pig for cockentrice or fermenting fish for garum — neither of which are included in this cookbook, thankfully. What I’m trying to say is that this is not a cookbook for folks who are just looking for straightforward weekday dinners. But for the most part, any halfway experienced home cook should be able to make most of the selections in this book in their own kitchens within a few hours at most and with ingredients from a decently stocked grocery store.

Over the past year, I made about one dish per month from Tasting History. Most of them turned out fine, with just a couple of exceptions that can probably be blamed on my own bumblings rather than on the recipes as written.

I also want to mention that the book has some lovely visual elements, including both photographs of food and historical reference images like hieroglyphics. It also has a really good section on some of the more obscure ingredients and optional substitutions. And, yes, it has my favorite sort of lay-flat binding.

I can confidently recommend this book to anyone else who is fascinated by culinary history, and especially home cooks who’ve always wanted to taste the foods of our distant ancestors but who haven’t been able to translate cryptic old recipes into modern kitchen language for themselves.

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Epityrum; citing De Agri Cultura by Cato the Elder (Ancient Rome)

This was one of my favorite recipes in the entire book (and certainly one of the easiest, too). It’s essentially a sort of proto-tapenade.

Everlasting syllabub; citing The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse (1700’s England)

I actually first made this recipe after watching the author’s episode about it on YouTube. I don’t normally like to cook based on video recipes, but this syllabub thing looked so good and not too complicated, so I just had to give it a try immediately. I’m very pleased that it was included in the cookbook, so now the print version of the recipe is at my fingertips whenever we find ourselves in need of a fancy little dessert with a silly little name.

Farts of Portingale; citing The Good Huswife’s Handmaide for the Kitchen by Thomas Dawson (1500’s England)

Yes, FARTS. (Speaking of silly names!) I suppose humans have always had a tendency to embrace slightly rude food names when given a chance — “spotted dick” or “shit on a shingle”, anyone? Regardless, these are actually pretty yummy little meatballs.

Gingerbread; citing Cury on Inglysch, author unknown (1300’s England)

To be clear, this is not at all like typical modern gingerbread or gingersnaps. Its substance is mostly made up of breadcrumbs rather than flour. This, in combination with a generous amount of honey, gives it an interesting texture. I took these to work to share with unsuspecting coworkers before the holidays. I got the impression that they would generally have preferred regular gingerbread-man cookies, but the whole pan was empty by the end of its second day in the breakroom, so clearly at least a few folks took an interest in this historical version of the treat.

Makshufa; citing Kitab al-Tabikh by Muhammad b. al-Husan (1200’s Arabia)

I don’t actually eat nuts of any kind, so I can’t give you a first-hand taste-test review of this candy. I sent the results of my experiment with my spouse to his job; the consensus was that it tasted fine, but it was super sticky and frankly a danger to any dental work.

Nyumen; citing Ryori Monogatari, author unknown (1600’s Japan)

Most of the deep, rather briny flavor in this soup comes from a combination of taremiso (miso sauce) and dashi (kombu broth). However, I do think it would have been a little too one-note without the veg topping, so if you decide to try this recipe for yourself don’t skimp on the greens and eggplant.

Patina de piris; citing De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome)

This dish is a little hard to describe. I know it looks a bit boring, but trust me; the flavor is complex and frankly kinda weird… but in a good way??? It’s basically a sort of sweet, custard-ish pear pudding, except that it is flavored with ingredients you’d typically find in savory foods, namely cumin and fish sauce — yes, fish sauce. If you’re at all interested in the food of Ancient Rome, or just have an itch to try something completely off-the-wall, you’ve got to give this recipe a try.

Pomodori farciti all’erbette; citing Il Cuoco Galante by Vincenzo Corrado (1700’s Italy)

This has to be one of the nicest-looking dishes to come out of my kitchen in a while. And the flavor was certainly quite nice. It’s just a little too fussy for me though; I shall remember it fondly by this photo, but I will probably never muster up the patience to make it again.

Pumpkin tourte; citing Opera Dell’Arte Cucinare by Bartolomeo Scappi (1500’s Italy)

Consider this a kind of rustic pumpkin cheesecake. IMHO, this is one of the best recipes in the book.

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I also made and enjoyed this recipe, but it just wasn’t particularly photogenic:

• Beef with garlic harvester sauce; citing The Prince of Transylvania’s Court Cookbook, author unknown (1500’s Transylvania)

Finally, I also tried these selections, but they didn’t really work for me:

• Potage d’onions au lait; citing Le Cuisinier François by François Pierre de la Vareen (1600’s France)
• Precedella; citing Ein New Kochbuch by Marx Rompolt (1500’s Germany)

Just because these didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean you can’t give them a shot if they sound fun to you; after all, they apparently worked well for Max Miller.

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If I were to dive back into this cookbook again, I think these are some other recipes that’d be worth trying:

• Aztec chocolate; citing General History of the Things of New Spain by Bernardino de Sahagún (1500’s Mexico)
• Christmas pudding; citing Modern Cookery for Private Families by Eliza Acton (1800’s England)
• Hippocras; citing The Forme of Cury, author unknown (1300’s England)
• Hummus kassa; citing Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table, author unknown (1300’s Egypt)
• Mead; citing Tractatus folios, author unknown (1300’s England)
• La pêche Melba; citing Le Guide Culinaire by Auguste Escoffier (1900’s France)
• Puls; citing On the Properties of Foodstuffs by Galen (Ancient Rome)
• Saag; citing A’in-i Akbari by Abu’l-Fazl ‘Allami (1500’s India)

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If you would like to see more of my adventures through this book and several others, check out my Cookbook Cook-Thru Project Page:

Links:

• Official website for Tasting History
• Tasting History with Max Miller on YouTube
• Author interview with Eater
• Review at Publishers Weekly

Publication information: Miller, Max. Tasting history: Explore the past through 4,000 years of recipes. New York, NY: Simon Element, 2023. Print.
Source: Personal library.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.