This page opening illustrates various tools, including a ‘sperone da pasticiero’, or a  ‘pastry cook’s spur’. This was a multi-purpose pastry cutter (or ‘jagger’) with a large scimitar blade at one end, probably used for trimming, and a serrated wheel at the other, for creating herringbone patterns in damp pastry, as shown in the Dutch kitchen scene (displayed nearby). It is identical to the Italian example, made c.1570, on the wall nearby. Tools of this kind are still commonly used in Italy, but mainly for cutting ravioli.

Private collection