Un aliment sain dans un corps sain : santé et systèmes culinaires au Moyen âge

Mediaeval culinary art mirrors the scientific concepts of dietetics, as a branch of medicine, that we are discussing here. Based on ancient doctrine and their own experiences, scholars propagated a holistic concept as guideline for a healthy way of life. In this article, the author presents concepts, developed during the 10^th-12^th century in the Arab area, which enlarge and systematize the ancient doctrine of the four humours. A special procedure - it could be likened to the accuracy of a chessboard-like distribution - allowed them to judge foods according to their particular effects, advantages and disadvantages. For the Christian physician Ibn Butlan from Baghdad (Tacuinum sanitatis in medicinam), for Isaac Israéli, Haly Abbas and Avicenna, nutrition did not mean asceticism and abstinence from carnal joys, but culinary delights, thanks to the sophisticated and balanced arrangement of foods of different temperaments and qualities. The “Complexion” and health of the individual, and moderation, constitute two essential principles of healthy nutrition. By calling for moderation, the medical discourse succeeded in effecting a transition to the moralist discourse of theology (traduit de l’allemand par Doris Tranter).