SC - cuskynoles

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Mary Morman wrote:
> 
> maybe the dots on the original drawing are the fruit mush?  and the lines
> are where you press to make the dough pockets?
> 
> elaina

That was my take on it, as well. The main point in which I differ with
HG Cariadoc's assessment is that I can see no reason why the
illustration should be interpreted as being a rendition of one portion
of pastry, subdivided into bite-sized cells. I am working on the
assumption (arbitrary, to a great extent, but to my mind, simpler and
more sensible) that the little cells in the picture are individual
portions, which are either sealed by folding in half, or topped with
similarly shaped rectangles.

The original recipe simply isn't clear on this, so while one can
conjecture till one is blue in the face, we will never really know until
we find another recipe for cuskynoles with more complete instructions.

FWIW, it was suggested to me by two separate and individual sources that
in both Spain and Portugal, there are dishes called "cosquinos", which
are any of several types of filled pastries, like an empanada, etc.

Possibly a coincidence, but it occurred to me that if we could find a
period recipe for cosquinos (which I have, as yet, been unable to do) we
might get some answers, or at least, another perspective.

Regarding Lady Aoife's idea that roasting cuskynoles on a gridiron
without fat could be disastrous, I'll point out that this could be an
example of an assumed "given". Many recipes call for things to be
roasted, or sauteed, or whatever, without giving specific instructions
as to how this is to be accomplished. It is assumed the cook will know.
This recipe calls for the pastries to be boiled, and then roasted on a
gridiron, but the recipe is also presumably aimed at full-time cooks,
whose training and experience would not let that stand in the way of
making the dish work.

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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