SC - garlic, chicken
Decker, Terry D.
TerryD at Health.State.OK.US
Sun Sep 27 15:35:00 PDT 1998
Greetings! The newest issue of Petits Propos Culinaires (PPC), #59, is
one of those which gives me reason to subscribe. There are 4-5
articles which have a bearing on our period, or my particular
interests.
The first article is The Parmesan Pie (Part One) by Anna Martellotti.
She attempts to trace the forebears of the Parmesan pie and appears to
have found a relative in ancient Babylonia. What was of interest to
me was that there are 35 recipes preserved on three tablets dating to
about 1700 BC. In this first article she traces various permutations
of the pie up through Arabic cooking, the_Libro per cuoco_ in Tuscany,
and the 1590 _Kuchenmeisteri_ . Her second article, tentatively
scheduled for #60, may comprise a selection of relevant recipes.
Also in this issue is Food and Drink at the Restoration, as seen
through the diary, 1660-1669, of Samuel Pepys. The article was written
by Gilly Lehmann. While OOP, the material presented by Pepys helps us
learn about some modern items which were still novelties in the
mid-1600s. I was surprised to see that the primary meat served at most
every meal was venison. (Not the ubiquitous SCA chicken!)
A third article is From Espinee to Sambocade: Flowers in the
Recipes of Medieval England by Constance Hieatt and Brenda Hosington.
The authors maintain that there is a unique flavor to English cookery
not shared by the French and the Italians. This is the use of flowers
in the actual foods prepared during the medieval period. While the
French and Italians may have used flowers as garnish, except for
perhaps one or two other recipes flowers as an _ingredient_ are absent
while the English cookery texts contain numerous flower recipes. Two
modernized versions are given from the authors revised version of
_Pleyn Delit_.
Yet a fourth article has bearing for some of us. Charles Perry wrote
Mruziya: Moroccan, Spanish or...Khwarezmian? He attempts to find
the origins of mruziya, a stew of lamb, almonds, raisins and
honey...one of the most famous Moroccan dishes. He finds antecedents
in the _Manuscrito Anonimo_ which is in one of Cariadocs Collections
(and which some of us helped translate!). Included in the article are
three translations from original recipes.
Perhaps of interest is Note About the History of Bredes by Michel
Chauvet. The author tries to show where the word bredes came from.
The meaning is apparantly green leaves eaten boiled. If youve ever
encountered this term, you might be interested in its entymological
wanderings.
And, lastly, of interest to me is Which _Compleat Confectioner_? by
Ivan Day. While the books in question are seriously OOP, anything I
can learn about confections and how they developed is of interest.
Mrs. Mary Eales book, first published in 1718, is of interest as is
Hannah Glasse and her wholesale copying. She, in turn, was copied word
for word by others. It was interesting to note that this plagarism
could be seen as a form of flattery and usefulness to the reader.
Looking through some of the OOP books helps me identify which modern
confections we assume might be period but which really may have been
invented in the late 1600s or early 1700
s, ancient for us, but not within the SCA time frame.
To forestall the inevitable posts about where to get this lovely
pamphlet/booklet:
Cost for 3 issues (1 year): In the UK: 12 pounds; in the USA, $23.50.
Cost for 6 issues (2 years): In the UK: 23.50 pounds; in the USA,
$45.
In the UK: 45 Lamont Road, London SW10 OHU. Make sterling cheques
payable to Prospect Books Ltd.
In the USA: same address as above. Make dollar cheques payable to PPC
North America.
In Canada: c/o Ann Semple, 1897 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Ontario
K2C 3J7. Make cheques payable to Ann Semple.
In Australia: c/o Barbara Santich, 13 King Street, Brighton 5048.
Cheques payable to Barbara Santich.
In New Zealand: c/o Helen Phare, PO Box 5775, Wellesley Street,
Auckland. Cheques payable to Helen Phare.
When PPC comes into my mailbox, my day is automatically brighter and my
bathroom stays become longer!
Alys Katharine
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