If fresh spring peas are a marvel in themselves, butter transforms them into a comfort food extraordinaire. This decadent northern Italian dish, recorded by late Renaissance chef Bartolomeo Stefani, takes that concept to exaggerated heights.

Mostaccioli, a spiced biscuit, can be traced back to ancient Rome through the recipe called mustaceos, recorded in the wine chapter of Cato’s farming manual De Agricultura. The fundamental ingredient is 'mosto', or reduced grape juice. They went on to become the most ubiquitous biscuit in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, with recipes that varied in the extreme.

Those who cook regularly from cookbooks generally develop a certain sensory literacy, that is, they can read a recipe and connect with how it is going to feel, smell, and taste, just as a musician can hear a written score without playing the music. But with historical recipes, so much is vague, missing, or unknown that it is difficult to grasp the outcome to the degree that one might with a modern recipe. Here is an example of a historical recipe that seemed straightforward enough at the outset, but turned out to be unexpectedly challenging.