SC - APOLOGY TO ALL

Wed Apr 23 16:07:13 PDT 1997

>From the Eastrealm's mailing list - thought this might prove of interest:

>From: donna amato-salvacion <donna at npsa.com>
>To: sca-east at world.std.com
>Subject: [EK] Jewish Recipes of the Spanish Inquisition
>Date: Wed, 16 Apr 97 14:05:16 +0000
>
>Not that I want to start up the Religious ire of the list again.  but
>this is a very interesting article.
>
>http://search.nytimes.com/web/docsroot/yr/mo/day/news/style/spanish-passove
r.html
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><h5>April 16, 1997</h5><br>
><h2>Jewish Recipes of the Spanish Inquisition</h2>
><h5>By ANDREE BROOKS</h5>
><p>   <img src="/images/i.gif" align=left alt=I>t was a few days before
Passover in 1503 in northern Spain.
>Angelina de Leon was kneading a dough of white flour, eggs and
>olive oil, flavored with pepper and honey. She formed walnut-size
>balls, flattening them into round cakes and pricking them with a
>fork.
><p>   Maria Sancho, the family maid, was watching. This was exactly
>the sort of recipe that the Inquisition authorities had told
>servants to report. Maria had also seen her mistress soaking and
>salting meat before placing it into the stew pot.
><p>   All of which would provide proof that this was a household of
>secret Jews  --  Jews who had ostensibly converted to Catholicism
>under pressure from the Church but who had clung to their Jewish
>rituals.
><p>   Maria's detailed account of the preparation and cooking of
>meals, along with similar testimony by informants at other
>Inquisition trials, has left a rare opportunity for contemporary
>cooks to recreate the Jewish cuisine of 16th-century Spain.
><p>   The recreations represent the combined labors of Dr. Linda
>Davidson, a writer on medieval life and an adjunct professor of
>Spanish at the University of Rhode Island, and her husband, Dr.
>David M. Gitlitz, a professor of Hispanic studies there and a
>specialist in crypto-Jewish culture. They have gathered 85 recipes
>from testimony and have tested about 50.
><p>   The testimony rarely included measurements and often used
>generalized terms, like spices, without specific names. So, they
>turned to other sources: the handful of cookbooks still around from
>that era, bookkeeping ledgers used in patrician households of the
>day, travelers' journals and poems written to raise awareness of
>covert Jewish practices.
><p>   Consider this poem, from the wedding feast of a nobleman's
>daughter:<br>
><p>   At this Jewish wedding party
><p>   bristly pig was not consumed;
><p>   not one single scaleless fish
><p>   went down the gullet of the groom;
><p>   instead, an eggplant casserole
><p>   with saffron and Swiss chard;
><p>   and whoever swore by Jesus
><p>   from the meatball pot was barred.
><p>   
><p>   Even so, calculating each ingredient took trial and error,
>"filling our compost heap with all sorts of stuff we couldn't
>eat," Davidson said. Sometimes she removed an ingredient, like
>rue, a salad leaf, or pennyroyal, a variety of mint, as both have
>toxic properties. Sometimes she substituted a tool, like a food
>processor for a wooden hand masher when preparing parsley or
>cilantro juice.
><p>   There were some surprises. One was discovering the way in which
>the secret Jews seemed not to adhere to certain Jewish dietary laws
>while meticulously following others. For example, the Biblical ban
>against eating meat with milk does not seem to have been followed,
>for the prohibition was not found in testimony. Lungs, tripe and
>intestines, equally prohibited, were also eaten.
><p>   But these Jews eliminated animal blood, another restriction,
>Gitlitz said. And ritual slaughter and meat preparation were so
>strictly followed that they were high on the Inquisition's list of
>clues for Christians to detect hidden Jewish practices.
><p>   The couple concluded that lamb and beef were the favorite meats
>among the secret Jews and that chickpeas, eggplant and chard were
>recognized as Jewish vegetables. These Jews also loved cinnamon and
>sugar on almost everything, Dr. Davidson said, even stews and fish.
><p>   Vinegar was "very, very important," she added. Two types were
>used: a balsamic vinegar and a vinegar made from leftover red wine.
><p>   Spices were used in quantities that Davidson could hardly
>believe. "Lots and lots of cilantro, lots and lots of saffron,"
>she said. Perfumed waters, like rose or orange, were popular flavor
>enhancers, too.
><p>   Ground almonds served as thickeners. Favorite desserts were
>turron, an almond nougat; marzipan, and quince paste. And the cooks
>were highly color-conscious, Davidson said, often naming dishes
>based on color, like "green stew."
><p>   But they rarely did their own baking. Fires were a hazard in the
>cramped wooden places where most lived. So, they would take their
>prepared foods to a communal oven for baking. Gitlitz speculated
>that Angelina probably took her pans of matzohs, hidden under other
>foods in a basket, to a more affluent secret Jew who might have had
>enough property for an outdoor oven.
><p>   A few weeks ago, the couple cooked a typical 16th-century
>Spanish meal that might have been served on the first night of
>Passover: Angelina's matzohs, with vermilioned eggs; roasted lamb
>in a coating of chard, mint, garlic and egg; chickpeas cooked with
>honey, onions and spices, and turron for dessert.
><p>   Excluded was haroseth, the paste of dates, raisins, honey,
>walnuts, orange juice and cinnamon regularly eaten at this ritual
>meal nowadays. "It was never mentioned anywhere," Gitlitz said.
>"Some of these customs may not have been as widespread as we would
>like to think."
><p>   Following are recipes gleaned from the testimony, including an
>egg recipe of Pedro de la Cavalleria, a finance minister to the
>King of Aragon until he was caught repeatedly celebrating the
>Jewish Sabbath with foods identified with Jews of the day.<br>
><p>   Angelina de Leon's Matzohs<br>
>Total time: 30 minutes<p>   
><p>   4 cups white flour
><p>   1 tablespoon black pepper
><p>   4 large eggs (beaten)
><p>   6 tablespoons honey
><p>   4 teaspoons olive oil
><p>   8 tablespoons water.<br>
><p>   1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine
>flour and pepper. Mix well.
><p>   2. Combine eggs, honey, olive oil and just enough water to make
>a very dry dough. Mix well; do not overmix.
><p>   3. Divide into 12 equal portions, and shape into balls. On
>lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a thin disk about 8
>inches in diameter. Pierce all over with fork.
><p>   4. Bake on cookie sheets for 10 minutes, or until matzohs are
>puffed and begin to brown. Cool on racks.
><p>   Note: For Orthodox Jews conforming to contemporary kosher
>standards, matzoh cake meal may be substituted for the flour.
>Though it does not roll out as well, it is still acceptable. The
>researchers suggest using 1.5 times as much water and cooking for
>three minutes longer.
><p>   Yield: 12 eight-inch matzohs.
><p>   Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 220 calories, 4
>grams fat, 70 milligrams cholesterol, 20 milligrams sodium, 6 grams
>protein, 40 grams carbohydrate.<br>
><p>   Pedro de la Cavalleria's Vermilioned Eggs<br>
>(Huevos Haminados)<br>
>Total time: 3 hours 15 minutes<br>
><p>   6 cups yellow onion skins
><p>   12 large white eggs
><p>    1/2 cup white vinegar.
><p>   
><p>   1. In large nonreactive pan, put half the onion skins. Gently
>place eggs on top, then top with remaining skins. Add vinegar and
>enough water to cover eggs and skins. Cover pan.
><p>   2. Slowly bring water to a boil. Then, reduce heat to very low.
>Simmer for an hour.
><p>   3. Remove eggs from pan. Tap each egg lightly with a spoon to
>form cracks in shell (this helps create spidery brown lines in egg
>white). Return eggs to water. Simmer for an additional two hours.
><p>   4. Remove eggs from water and allow to cool. Peel shells. Rinse
>in cold water. Refrigerate until serving.
><p>   Yield: 12 eggs.
><p>   Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 80 calories, 5
>grams fat, 210 milligrams cholesterol, 60 milligrams sodium, 6
>grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrate.<br>
><p>   
>
>
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Slainte -


Alasdair mac Iain of Elderslie        Argent, a chevron cotised azure
Dun an Leomhainn Bhig                 surmounted by a sword and in chief
Barony of Marinus                     two mullets sable

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