SC - Elizabethan buffet (long)

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

HI from Anne-Marie
Cariadoc asks about my reconstructions:
> What is your reason for thinking that Epulario's "fine paste" corresponds
> to shortbread or sugar cookie dough?
Unfortunately, Gunter (bless his heart) omitted some key info. This is
actually Maestro Eduardos reconstruction. I rather agree that the sugar
cookie dough, while tasty isnt exactly what Maestro Epilario had in mind.
If you do it with regular pastry dough (which can be fried, by the way),
its also very good. Interestingly, in the Martino, (I think that's the
one..cant remember) this exact recipe contains fish, but this translation
of the Epilario omits it. Scribal error? Maybe...you'll have to speak with
Eduardo on that one!)
> 
> Have you tried frying these instead of baking them? The recipe is for
> "fritters" and frying them is the first method proposed, although the
> alternative of baking is also offered, so the dough ought to be one that
> works as fritters. I have my doubts about frying shortbread dough, but I
> haven't tired it.
> 
> 
> 
> >(Digby p155)
> >To Make Pear-Puddings.Take a cold Turky, Capon, or cold Veal, shred it
very
> >small, and put almost as much Beef-suet as your meat, and mince it very
> >small. Then put Salt and Nutmeg grated, half a pound of Currans, a
little
> >grated bread, and a little Flower. Then put in three ylks of eggs, and
one
> >of the whites, beaten very well.
> 
> >(Digby p167)
> >To Make Pear-Puddings. Take a cold Capon, or half roasted, which is much
> >better; then take Suet, shred very small, the meat and Suet together;
then
> >half as much grated bread, two spoonsfuls of Flower, Nutmegs, Cloves and
> >Mace; Sugar as much as you please; half a pound of Currans; the yolk of
two
> >eggs, and the white of one; and as much Cream as will make it up in a
stiff
> >Paste. Then make it up in the fashion of a Pear, a stick of Cinnamon for
> >the stalk, and the head of a Clove.
> >
> >Our version: (makes about 10 pears)
> >1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
> >1/4 cup minced salt pork or suet
> >1 cup home made bread crumbs, grated finely
> >2 tsp nutmeg
> >1/2 tsp mace
> >1/8 tsp clove
> >4 tsp sugar
> >2 handfulls currants
> >3 eggs
> >1 egg white
> 
> A few questions:
> 
> 1. Why salt pork? It isn't much like suet, which is what the recipe
specifies.
> 
Again, my reconstruction notes were omitted. We tried both, and the results
were indistinguishable. It was easier to find salt pork than suet for the
banquet, so that's what we went with.

> 2. I would expect your 1/4 c of salt pork or suet to weigh a little over
2
> ounces. So the ratio of suet to meat in your recipe is close to 1:8,
> instead of the 1:1 that Digby specifies in his first recipe (the second
> doesn't say). That's a pretty extreme change--why did you make it?
Since one recipe said one to one, and the other didnt give any porportion
at all, we felt we could do as we saw fit. When we used more fat, they
melted away and didnt hold the pear shape as well. Perhaps the Digby
chickens were leaner than ours?
> 
> 3. Digby uses 2 or 3 egg yolks and one egg white; your recipe has 3 eggs
> and one egg white; why the change?
> 
Purely for finanical reasons. Again, when we did it "right" it didnt seem
very different than when we did it the cheap way, ie not ending up with a
gajillion extra whites (as it was, the lone egg white was from another of
the myriad recipes that called for egg yolks solely). Our eco-groovey
recycle till you die crew was very upset at the idea of throwing away
dozens of eggs worth of whites (and no one was willing to freeze them all).

hopes this helps clear up some confusion...
- --AM
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