SC - vegetarians

[Carla S. Tucker]

Lenny Zimmermann wrote:

> >4. "Pul" means to skin, probably.
>         Anyone else have any indications this may mean shredded, as in
> the pulled pork example cited by Sir Gunthar?

I have no serious indications either way. My own opinion is that this
involves skinning the cooked fish, removing the fins (which have a
separate internal bone structure which responds well to pulling them out
rather than cutting them off) and lifting off the four naturally
occurring fillets. However, this is based largely on intuition, not a
knowledge of the facts. It might very well be in chunks, based on what
little we actually know.

> >6. The served cold fish.
>         This one I wonder about. I do know some regions did have cold
> houses with ice packed in straw for use during the spring and summer,
> but was this or some other method actually used for refrigeration of
> such foods and/or making them cold (as in refrigerated)? I had thought
> it meant the fish was to be served after it had cooled-off to room
> temperature. As in "Eat your fish before it gets cold!". :-)

I think the term "cold" might just mean as opposed to hot. Considering
also that central heating was more or less non-existent through most of
Europe in period, their version of room temperature, depending on the
season, might have been somewhere in the fifties, which would translate
to the human mouth as pretty darned cold.

This also could have been a reference to the way in which it was served:
I believe there are faint glimmerings of this in High Mediaval feastday
menus, and there are more references in later sources to courses being
served from the sideboard, to be replaced by an entire course of
"banquet" stuff in really late sources indeed. In other words, this
might have been one of what we might refer to as a preset first course
dish; something the cooks could prepare a bit in advance and have people
start in on (along with some other similar dishes) while they work on
the second course...

Another aspect is that hot vinegar, undiluted, is MUCH sharper on the
tongue than cold.  

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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