The ties between food and medicine in early modern Scottish recipe books

Abstract

This article explores the prominent medical theories in Western Europe, paying attention to how these theoretical frameworks changed perceptions of consuming food. It discusses the idea of moderation of food and drink and how it connected to the practice of Protestantism in the household. Finally, the article explores Scottish domestic papers dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, focusing on recipe books. Through these sources, this article will highlight the historical ties between food and medicine and how it was understood in the upper-class Scottish households.