SC - Quick question...

[Jamey R. Lathrop]

Tibor challenged us "faint-of-heart" with:


  Boiled Perch			("Perch boiled", Harleian MS 4016, # 155)

  "Perche boiled. Take a preche, and drawe him in (th)e throte, and make
  to him sauce of water and salt; And whan hit bigynneth to boile, skeme
  hit and caste (th)e perche there-in, and seth him; and take hum uppe,
  and pul him, and serve him forth colde, and cast uppon him foiles of parcelly.
  and (th) sau[c]e is venegre or vergous."

........................................................

OK, I stopped reading the Digest at this point so I wouldn't be cheating...

Hmmm, first a translation:

Perch, boiled.  Take a perch, and draw him in the throat, and make to him sauce of water and salt.  And when that begins to boil, skim it and cast the perch therein; and seeth him.  And take him up, and put him, and serve him forth cold, and cast upon him foils of parsley and the sauce is vinegar or verjuice."

Hmmm... sounds suspiciously like poached fish with parsley and vinegar to me (though my mom always used lemon juice.)

Okay, next, the simplified instructions (is that what "redaction" means?)

Gut a perch [or cut off its head?  Let's do both, to be on the safe side].  Put water and a little salt in a pan; bring to a boil.  Skim it [skim what???  Perhaps they want you to make a light stock first?  In that case, throw in the head and tail and bring to a boil; then remove them.  That would make a bit of a scum on the water; you could skim that.]  [Or they could mean "skim" the fish, meaning to scale it; that would be sensible too.]  Throw in the fish. and simmer till, well, till done.   Remove from water; allow to cool.  Serve cooled, garnished with parsley, and provide vinegar or verjuice as a flavoring.. (I would probably still use lemons, depending.)

Finished product:  A beautifully poached fish on a platter (no head, no tail), surrounded with sprigs of parsley and slices of lemon, drizzled with lemon juice.  Yum!

Grade?
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