SC - Vinegar/verjuice

[Peters, Rise J.]

david friedman wrote:
> 
> >As for me, it's those durned cuskynoles that I'm losing sleep over!
> >
> >Adamantius
> 
> The only recipe in the entire medieval corpus that comes with an
> illustration, and he's still not happy with it.

Yeah, some people are never satisfied ;  ).
> 
> The relevant part of my interpretation (from the Miscellany) is:
> 
> Roll out as two 12"x15" sheets. Cut each sheet into 10 6"x3" pieces. Spread
> 1 T of filling on one piece and put another piece over it, making a
> sandwich of dough, filling, dough. Using the back of a thick knife, press
> the edges together to seal them, then press along the lines shown in the
> figure, giving a 6"x3" "cake" made up of fifteen miniature fruit filled
> ravioli, joined at their edges. Boil about 4 minutes, then broil at a
> medium distance from the burner about 4 minutes a side, watching to be sure
> they do not burn.
> 
> That is at least consistent with the picture.

That is pretty much what I figured on. The only problem is that the
recipe essentially forces you to indulge in a intuitive speculation: I
am quite familiar with how ravioli is made, but the problem is that the
diagram is really the only clue that the process is very similar. For
instance, no mention is made of a second piece of dough, either as a
12"x15" sheet or as a piece the size of your hand, as I believe the
recipe specifies. So, while they could be made like modern ravioli, they
could also be made as square turnovers 3" on a side, especially since
the recipe states , as well as I can recall, that each  cake is a
portion. This could be interpreted as meaning that one piece of dough is
required for each. 

Another possibility is that the instructions are given in the wrong
order (which happens occasionally elsewhere) and that the intent is for
the filling to be portioned out on the sheet of dough, then topped with
a second sheet, sealed around the filling, and then cut into portions
along the seals, if we want to take the ravioli comparison to its
logical conclusion.
 
Also, no mention is made of whether they are turned over in the roasting
process, so they could end up being along the lines of Chinese guo tie,
with one crisp side and one boiled side. I have made them with only one
crisp side and actually prefer them that way, although it's hard to tell
which is intended. 

So no, in spite of the diagram, I'm not satisfied, and although your
interpretation makes sense, I think there are other avenues to explore,
which is what I've been doing, instead of (figuratively speaking)
sleeping.

Now if only we could thresh out the whole mosserouns yflorys issue, I
could die a happy man ;  ).

Thanks very much for the description! 

Adamantius