SC - My Translation - Roast Cat Recipe

[Elise Fleming]

Greetings from Alys Katharine.  Here is something I did a number of 
years ago...

Two Recipes from Ruperto Nola's _Libro de Guisados_

Translated by Alys Katharine (Elise Fleming)

In 1929 Dionisio Perez, also known as "Post-Thebussem", put into modern 
print the 1529 edition of Ruperto Nola's _Libro de Guisados_ with 
copius footnotes and commentary on vocabulary.  It was published under 
Pedro Sainz y Rodrigues, Catedratico of the University of Madrid, Vol. 
IX, Los Clasicos Olvidados, Nueva Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles. 

At the beginning of the Glossary, Dionisio Perez comments briefly on 
his work.  This is a rough translation.  Except where noted, all 
footnotes are mine.

"I have preferred to become familiar with the second Spanish edition 
made in Logrono in 1529 by Miguel de Eguia at the request (paid by) 
Diego Perez Davila, mayor of that city, since it is a more perfect and 
cleaner copy than the first, printed in Toledo in 1525.  In 1538  and 
1543 Nola's work was reprinted, without an indication as to place.  In 
1577 another edition was done in Toledo.  I am not familiar with any 
later editions.  In the _Encyclopedia Espasa_ a 1568 edition is noted 
to which the title page of the second edition is attributed, which 
appears here. (1)  Torres Amat notes an edition done in Toledo in 1477. 
 In the 'Prologue" I give a history detailing these editions.

"The few biographical references that remain about Nola come from the 
'Memoria para ayudar a formar un diccionario critico de los escritores 
catalanes' (Barcelona, 1836), edited by Torres Amat, and doesn't 
specify which of the three Hernandos or Fernandos of Naples had Nola as 
a cook.  In the 'Prologue' some facts and dates are set forth on this 
matter."

The first recipe on page 124 caught my eye.  It is offered for 
historical interest only.  I don't intend to try it!

(1)  I am uncertain about the translation of this sentence.

Roast Cat as One Likes to Eat It (p. 124)

You will take the cat that is fat.  You have to slit its throat.  After 
it has died, cut off the head and throw it away because it isn't 
edible.  They say that by eating its brains one can lose one's own 
brains, sense of judgment and reason.  After skinning it very cleanly, 
open it up and clean it out well.  Then wrap it in a clean linen cloth 
and bury it in the ground where it has to lie for a day and a night.  
Then remove it from there and put it to roast in a roaster and roast it 
on the fire.  When beginning to roast, rub it with good garlic and oil. 
 When you have finished greasint it beat it well with a switch (bundle 
of twigs?) (2)  This you have to do until it is well roasted, oiling it 
and beating it.  And when it is roasted, cut it up as if it were a 
rabbit or kid and put it on a large platter.  Take garlic and oil 
(?liquified?) with a good broth so that it is (?quite thin?) and cast 
it over the cat.  You can eat it because it is good table fare.

Note:  According to a note by Dionisio Perez, cat was served disguised 
as rabbit in taverns in the poorer sections of towns, but it was also 
eaten and known to be cat in homes of decided taste.  Cat meat is firm 
and flexible.  Interring it isn't enough to tenderize it.  It needs 
beating during cooking, according to Perez's notes.

(2)  After I did my translation I found one that Nige of the Cleftlands 
had done.  She noted that the "switch" was probably a bundle of 
rosemary used to impart a flavor and sort of tenderize the meat when 
cooking.  She cited another source where rosemary twigs were used to 
beat a piece of meat while cooking.




============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================