SC - rabbit recipes

[Charles McCathieNevile]

Hello from Sylvan Glen!
        There were several specific points in the well thought piece from
al_sayyid Ras concerning food before & after 1500.  I am mainly basing my
reply on the 1607 Arte de Coaina, because that is the manuscript that I'm
most familiar with at this point.  He writes "spices used with galengal,
cubebs, saffron, hyssop, verjuice..."  Verjuice is still a very common
ingredient in this book.  It is usually interchangeable with vinegar; there
may be some instances where one or the other is specified.  The Spanish at
this time were still very fond of sour & sweet/sour flavor combinations at
this point. 
         He continues "Spice combinations such as savory and "sweet" spices
were not used in combination in the same dish any longer and "sweet" spices
such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves were almost exclusive reserved for
dessert type dishes."  This is not true in Arte de Cozina.  There are lots
of recipes which call for "sweet" spices in "savory" recipes.  While
medieval spices such as galangal & grains of paradise are not found, sweet
spices like ginger, cloves, & cinammon are widely used in this book.  A
recipe for stuffed lettuce calls for mint, parsley, borage, cinnamon,
saffron with sugar & cinnamon on top as a garnish.
        He continues: "main ingredients were not usually stewed, fried and
rosted all in the same recipe"  One recipe for eggplant which I posted
recently calls for the eggplant to be boiled, chopped, fried & then either
cooked or baked with eggs, bread, cheese & spices.  There are lots of
blancmange recipes which call for the meat to be cooked, minced & boiled
with milk & ground almonds.
        He continues: "Ostentaciousness was no longer the rule but rather
was frowned upon".  The author specifies for several recipes that
(paraphrasing) "Such a dish is very expensive & only to be seen at very
fancy occasions."  Often such recipes feature ingredients like edible musk
(any one know where I could get some, perhaps?) & ground up amber!  These
ingredients were certainly meant to impressive friends & neighbors.  One
other possible explanation for more everyday recipes being included in later
period cookbooks is the democritizing influence of the printing press.  Many
cookbooks after the mid 1400's would have been printed rather than hand
written & they would have been marketted towards more middle class people,
with somewhat more modest means.  Overall, however, there must have been a
continuing demand for fancy-schmany recipes menat to knock people's socks
off.  One such recipes in this text is for a whole roasted peacock, cooked
in parchment to keep the outside skin looking *white* rather than golden.
        He continues: " With the introduction , and wide spread use of of
New World foods such as potatoes, yams, tomatoes, green beans, green and hot
peppers and corn"
Spain *should* have been one of the first countries to embrace New World
foods.  I can not remeber even one instance of a New World fruit, vegetable,
animal or spice being mentioned in this book.  Undoubtedly, some of those
ingredients were slowly finding their way into common use, but most of them
seem to have come very slowy.  Spain had contact with the New World for over
100 years at the time this book was written.
        Overall, I would have to say that the general trends that al-Sayyid
Ras mentions are true, but I might call into question the actual dates when
they came into effect.  I would argue that cooking in the years 1500-1600
are still strongly connected to the period that they evovled out of.  They
are *much* closer to Medieval food than to "modern" food.  Other opinions
are always welcome.
                                Yours truly,
                                        Antoine de Bayonne



>In a message dated 97-12-19 16:55:40 EST, you write:
>
><< So, as I am new to this, could someone please summarize these 
> massive changes? >>
>
>IMHO, the change that occured was a drastic reduction in the number and types
>of spices used with galengal, cubebs, saffron, hyssop, verjuice and grains of
>paradise , which were used  in Medieval European recipes almost universally,
>virtually dissappeared from the kitchen . Also, main ingredients were not
>usually stewed, fried and rosted all in the same recipe. Spice combinations
>such as savory and "sweet" spices were not used in combination in the same
>dish any longer and "sweet" spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves were
>almost exclusive reserved for dessert type dishes. 
>
>In general, complexity of preparation and spicing was dramatically simplified
>to the point that flavors and textures became much more basic....the beginning
>of "salt and pepper cooking" , if you will. :-) Ostentaciousness was no longer
>the rule but rather was frowned upon. There was also the disappearance of the
>bread trencher and a rise in multi-ingredient stews (e.g. meat and vegetable
>combinations).
>
>Of course, regional cuisines retained some of these features but by and large,
>this was not generally the case. With the introduction , and wide spread use
>of of New World foods such as potatoes, yams, tomatoes, green beans, green and
>hot peppers and corn , these differences became even more apparent and rapidly
>produced a style of cookery as unique from the Middle Ages as they were from
>pre-Crusader cookery. Add to this the loss of the influence of the Moors in
>Spain, and we get a completely different cuisine after circa 1500 C.E.
>
>al-Sayyid Ras
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>
Dan Gillespie
dangilsp at intrepid.net
Dan_Gillespie at usgs.gov
Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA 

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