SC - Got me a hunk of meat....

[Kea ErisDottir]

Stephanie Rudin wrote:
>      This makes me remember that I've been wondering if capers are period?
>      Does anyone know?

Platina (Venice, 1475), lists "De Conditura Capparis", translated by
Elizabeth Buermann Andrewsin 1967 as reading "On Preparing Capers"
Here is the test:

The caper is sown in dry places, surrounded by cleared, open space and
on all sides by banks, either made by nature or by artificial
stonework, so that the caper cannot run riot. It grows more stoutly
than a fruit tree; From it the stalk, along with the seed, is plucked
in abundance. Some kinds, especially the foreign varieties (as Pliny
says) are to be avoided. For the Arabic is harmful, and that from
Apulia, and make one vomit and violently move the stomach and the
bowels. Indeed now (as it seems to me) their nature is changed. For
the foreign is in demand, and especially that from Egypt, and the
Apulian is not bad. Some call the caper tree Cynosbaton, others
Nosbatum, and yet others Staphylen. Its force is dry and warm. They
say that those who use capers every day will not be in danger from
paralysis, nor pain in the abdomen or liver, because capers open the
passages of the vitals and those near the heart, and expel glutinous
humors and melancholy pressures from the spleen, move the bladder,
kill worms, excite the passions, and have the force of Tyriaca against
poisons. It is prepared in this way: Put it in a pan of water that is
hot but not boiling, and leave it there until it has lost most of its
saltiness. Then transfer it to cool water and leave it until it has
cooled off. Then put the capers into a dish, after wiping them dry and
pour a little oil and vinegar over them. There are those who add mint
to this food, and that is not disagreeable, because it makes for
pleasure and health.


I cannot remember off the top of my head any recipes using capers, but
I've only given this manuscript a complete read through once. So they
were at least known in the Veneto region of Italy in the late 15th
Century. (Any qualifications to the above statements I missed that I
should be pointing out?)


Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Barony of Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
(mka Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio, TX)
zarlor at acm.org
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