SC - Harpestreng fish recipe consensus???

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Hullo, the list!

In an attempt to stem the tide of rampant Mushy Stuff (tm) from certain
quarters, I will introduce a small conundrum from this week's headliner
topic, the various Harpestreng manuscript cookbooks found across
Northern Europe.

Grewe's translation of recipe 10 in both Codices K and D follows:

"How fish is condimented in a sauce appropriate to them.

"One should take bream and pike or other fish, and fry them well, and
baste them with the oil, which were mentioned earlier*. When they are
well fried, pour off the oil, and pound with vinegar and squeeze through
a cloth. These sauces are called 'Inder iaeght.' They are good for all
kinds of fish."

*Recipes 1 and 2 in both the codices K and D, as well as Q and, in the
second recipe, W, but not Q, are for extracting walnut and almond oil.

It seems as if this is a sauce of pureed, oily fried fish, thinned with
vinegar. Not unlike escabeche served over another fish dish. Pretty
civilized, if you ask me!

Does it sound like I'm missing something here? I've eaten fish fried,
uncoated, until somewhat dry but chewy, and of a concentrated, somewhat
caramelized flavor, and I think this might be the kind of fried fish the
recipe is talking about. That kind of flavor, sitting on top of, say,
grilled tuna steak, might be a Good Thing, a precursor to the various
Tonnato sauces found today in Italy. Comments would be appreciated. 

Adamantius  
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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