Csapó Katalin - Füreder Balázs - Sári Zsolt: Reneszánsz ételek – Ételek reneszánsza Időszaki kiállítás 2008. március–május (Budapest, 2008)

58. Neapolitan envoy Petrus Ransanus in front of King Matthias and Queen Beatrix, miniature, 1490 Matthias Corvinus was followed on the throne by Wladislas II (1456-1516). The new king's kitchens were supplied with ingredients from the Komárom and Tata estates, but the meals were incomparable to Matthias' feasts in terms of lavishness. Food expenditures were reduced to 100 florins a week, a quarter of what Matthias had spent on wining and dining. Gradually, the Hungarian Renaissance court declined. This tendency continued under Louis II, and on a weekday the steward would spend just 25 florins a week on meals. Wladislas II is known to be fond of spicy Hungarian cuisine, and his royal chefs used a lot of saffron, for example. Meals were characterised by meat dishes in particular. Parmesan cheese, oranges and pomegranates, Szerem, Somogy and Baranya wines were the order of the day. Little is known about the feasts of Louis II (1506-1526). The court was fed on loans from Buda merchants, and the two meals each day - lunch (prandium) and supper (cena) - must have been fairly modest. The twenty-year-old ruler was accompanied to the fatal battle of Mohács. Illés Gondos Szakácsi died on the battlefield, together with the king, clasping his sword and a spit. In the sixteenth century there was a drop in the use of herbs and spices - used copiously before - due to the many wars. The most ubiquitous herb was black pepper, but Hungarians did not have to give up the colour and flavours of saffron, nutmeg, mace, cloves and cinnamon either. Two new drinks appeared in Hungary at that time: brandy {pá/inka) and coffee. Liquor used to be used as a medicine, but in the sixteenth century pá/inka selling places started springing up. Coffee entered the country in the mid-century. Hungarian society owes coffee drinking to the Turks, but the beverage did not become widespread until it was embraced by Vienna and western Europe in general, and not util the latter half of the seventeenth century.