SC - Fw: Re: [TY] Easter Celebrations

[Christine A Seelye-King]

Lorix wrote:

> CBlackwill at aol.com wrote:
> <snip>
>
> > On the same topic, I believe the terms "dumpling" and "ravioli" are fairly
> > ambiguous across many cultures.  The French quenelle, the Chinese
> > pot-sticker, and the Italian gnocchi all qualify as dumplings.
> > Unfortunately, in mainstream America, it's not a dumpling unless it comes out
> > of a Bisquik box.
> >
> > Any references for quenelles being period?
>
> I am sure that I have seen reference to 'quenelles' in either Le Menagier or
> Taillevent (I'm going from hazy memory and am at the end of wading thru 3 weeks
> of e-mail & its late at night, so I may well be wrong ;-)
>
> I seem to remember that it was associated with a roast (chicken I think that had
> been gilded with egg) and it describes serving it with quenelles.  My memory
> supplies a faint recollection of these being sausage like balls of possibly
> meat/mince and/or stuffing.  Have neither time nor ability to check further into
> this at the moment, but offer it as a possible prod to someone else's memory and
> someone with more available time at the moment to check ;-0

After all that . . . I had to check!  Following taken from Le Viandier de Taillevent
translated by James Prescott (2nd edn 1989) ISBN 0-9623719-1-2. 14 century
cookbook.  Basically according to the above translation, quenelles are period.
However, the above book does not include the original text, merely the translated
version.  Further, the author notes that while he has predominantly followed the
text, there are some specialised words where the author has chosen to use a more
commonly used modern word, rather than the medieval equivalent (eg 'crush' instead
of bray, 'meat' instead of flesh, etc).  He has not noted his substitutions.  Thus,
although my translated version does give 2 medieval recipes for quenelles, I would
suggest that another translation be consulted to check accuracy.
Lorix

Page 57 Gilded dishes:
"178. [Gilded chickens with quenelles]
After the chicken is killed, break a bit of skin on the head, take a feather tube,
blow in until it is very full of air, scald it slit it along the belly, skin it, and
put the carcass aside.

For the stuffing and the quenelles have some raw pork meat (it doesn't matter what
kind) chopped with pork fat, white [chicken meat], eggs, good Fine Powder, pine nut
paste and currants.  Stuff the chicken skins with it (but do not fill them so much
they burst), restitch them and boil them on the fire (but d not let them cook for
very long).  When the quenelles are well made, put them to cook with the chickens on
slender spits.  Have the spits for the quenelles slenderer by half or more than
those for the chickens.

Afterwards, you need to have some batter beaten from eggs until it can stand up in
the pan.  When the chickens and quenelles are nearly cooked, remove them and put
them over your batter.  Take some batter with a clean spoon, stirring always, put it
on top of your chickens and quenelles, [and put them over the fire] until they are
glazed.  Do them 2 or 3 times until they are well covered.  Take some gold or silver
leaf and wrap them (first sprinkle with egg white so that the leaf adheres)."

Alternatively, there is the recipe for spanish pots following after hedgehogs:
196 "If you wish to make some spanish pots, take little earthenware bottles in the
shape of little ewers, wet them inside with egg white so that the stuffing holds
together better, fill them, and boil them on the fire in a pan or a boiler.  When
they are well cooked, withdraw them and leave them to drain, and when they are cold,
break the pot (but cut nothing up).  Have slender spits (not so small as for the
hedgehogs).  Make little quenelles, put them on skewers in two or 3 rows, and gild
the with [egg] batter and fine flour."

FYI additional recipes apparently taken from the Bibliotheque Nationale manuscript
(recipe 210) gives info on how to make "Fine Powder":  "Grind white ginger (9
parts), selected cinnamon (2 parts), lump sugar (2 parts), cloves and grains of
paradise (1 part each). (Edited from Power, p.298)

The author later defines quenelle as a ball of forcemeat (stuffing) boiled like a
dumpling.