of cury? I keep learning so much from theese books and I even got an old ravioli recipe from form of cury which is funny becasue the book is english style apparently but i thought ravioli was italian lol
I've never gone back to Rome for inspiration, but you've inspired me to check it out.
My historic reference is Georges Auguste Escoffier. His Guide Culinaire is written like and engineer, giving recipes for components that modularly combine to be a great dish. The cover on my copy (titled The Escoffier Cook Book and gide to the fine art of cookery) has 2,973 recipes, and purports to be a faithful translation of the 1846 edition. Check for it in used book stores.