privte: Re: SC - Lady Seaton's Projectofo

[LrdRas@aol.com]

Yup.  My Mom picked it up maybe 10 years ago at some odd sale at the local
library in her town.  The cookbook is _The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm
Cookbook_, and it was published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1965.  It contains a
section entitled "Cooking from Antique Cookbooks," with selections from Platina,
as well as several more, commonly known past-period cookbooks.
It's interesting on a couple of levels.  She gives both originals (translations
don't seem to be too bad) and her redactions.  It's neat to see someone doing
redactions almost 40 years ago.
Secondly, many (most) of her redactions are absolutely *horrible.*  Like many
other authors who have looked back at past art or food or culture or whatever,
she quite distinctly brings her own cultural biases.  I think totally
unconsciously, since the tone of the book in general is pretty straight forward.

Examples? A recipe for Cherry Tart, which reads very much like a cheesecake
comprising two kinds of cheese, some eggs, and some sugar, ginger, and pepper,
contained in some sort of pastry crust, and flavored with chopped cherries and
rosepetals, becomes a baked cherry custard, topped with (I kid you not) an
uncooked topping comprising sour cream and creamed cottage cheese.
The assumptions she and her intended audience were most likely making had
everything to do with what _they_ were familiar with, and not much at all with
accuracy.  Other recipes (for poached eggs, or blancmange) are similiarly
morphed into dishes largely familiar to cooks of 40 years ago--the poached eggs
lose their wine base, and gain tomatoes and mushrooms, while the blancmange
loses every ingredient in the original except sugar (almonds, chicken, bread
sauce w/broth, spices, rosewater, pomegranate seeds), and becomes a gelatin
dessert made with milk, sugar, vanilla, and topped with stewed plums.
I've kept the cookbook for a number of reasons--as a reminder of my own cultural
biases (thinking of earlier thread about all those period recipes for chicken
and rabbit that the redactors somehow added dredging and browning to), as a
source for early-60s ideas, etc.
Up until now, unfortunately, it's been my only source of any kind for anything
on Platina, so I'm really, really happy to know that there are other and better
versions out there!
Please pardon the rambling...I'm like this a _lot_ of the time! <grin>
- --Maire

allilyn at juno.com wrote:

> >>(I have a few from an old, old Pepperidge Farm cookbook<<
>
> a few what?  Platina published in  Pepperidge Farm?
>
> from Margaret:
> Here's the redactions of my Lunch from Platina  (15th C Italian, by the
> way), with comments on what I'd change for the next time.  Lunch was
> very well received. Any and all comments on these are welcome.
>
> Asparagus
> Mushrooms in green salsa
> Green salad
> Ham with cherry and mustard sauces
> Macaroni
> Fresh Fruit
> Bread
>
> 1st comment.  This fed 8 very comfortably.  For an SCA feast, it would
> undoubtably be enough for 2 tables of 8.  I had about 1/2 the salad left
> over, 1/4 of the macaroni, 1/3 of the ham.  No asparagus and only a
> couple of mushrooms.
>
> Asparagus
> 2 lbs asparagus
> olive oil (2-3 Tbsp or to taste)
> Balsamic vinegar (1-2 Tbsp or to taste)
> salt
>
> Bring large pot of salted water to boil.  Wash asparagus and trim ends.
> Put in pot, and boil for 5-7 minutes or until desired texture (some like
> it mushy, some like it just this side of raw).  Lay asparagus on
> platter, sprinkle on salt.  Pour on olive oil, toss.  Pour on vinegar,
> toss.  Serve.
>
> Mushrooms in green salsa
> 2 lbs mushrooms
> 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
> salt
> 1-3 Tbsp olive oil
>
> Put whole  mushrooms in a pot with salted water and garlic cloves.
> Bring to boil.  Boil about 10 minutes (if you're using white mushrooms,
> boil until they start to change color).  Drain.
> (you can do this the night before.)  Heat olive oil in skillet.  Add
> mushrooms, saute about 10 minutes.  Pour on salsa, serve.
>
> Green Salsa
> 20 vine leaves (I used bottled cause I didn't have access to fresh.  If
> you use fresh, use more vinegar and salt. I used leaves because I didn't
> have access to tendrils.)
> 2-3 cloves garlic
> 3-4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
> 2/4 slice white bread crumbs
>
> If using bottled leaves, rinse well in water.  Grind leaves in mortar
> (or run through food processor).  Add garlic and crumbs and
> grind/process some more. If using fresh leaves/tendrils add salt at this
> point, too.  Add vinegar and grind/process more.  At this point, it
> should look like a moist "swamp=thing".  Put in food mill and strain.
> (this step is EXTREMELY important -- otherwise it not only looks like a
> moist "swamp-thing" but tastes like it too.  After straining, though,
> you have a really nice green sauce.) Pour over mushrooms and serve.
>
> Green Salad
> I've done this several times before, and it's basically "make a base of
> romaine lettuce, and add whatever green herbs are on hand.  Pour on salt
> and oil and toss. Add vinegar and toss.  Serve.".  Today the ingredients
> were:
> 14 leaves romaine lettuce
> 1 lb fresh spinach
> 1/4 cup parsley leaves, loosely packed
> 20 mint leaves
> leaves from 3 sprigs tarragon.
>
> Ham served with cherry and mustard sauce
> 4 lbs ham (I used pre-cooked sugar cured cause that's what the grocery
> store had.  Next time I'm getting a country ham, but I have to travel
> for that...)
> 1 bottle white wine (I used a jug wine a trifle less sweet than a
> reisling.  Reisling would be good for this, though)
> Water.
>
> Put ham in pot.  Cover with 50/50 mixture wine/water.  Bring to boil.
> Simmer for about 45 minutes. Let cool.  Slice. Serve.
>
> Cherry sauce
> I wasn't satisfied with this sauce, probably because I used the wrong
> cherries. This was a "it's what the store had and I forgot to check the
> frozen food aisle".  Next time I'll use fresh, or if need be frozen.  It
> needed a stronger cherry flavor, but wasn't too horrible for all that.
> 1 can Queen Anne cherries in heavy syrup. (yuck!)
> 2 Tbsp bread crumbs
> Vinegar to taste  (I put in too much, and then added sugar to counteract
> it, which added to the problems the sauce had.)
> 1/2 tsp cinnamon
> 1/8 tsp ginger.
>
> If using canned in syrup, rinse cherries well.  Blend cherries, bread
> crumbs and vinegar in food process or mortar.  Put sauce on stove and
> simmer for 20 minutes stirring often. (this time will vary with fresh
> cherries, since this will be necessary to cook them) Sprinkle on
> cinnamon and ginger.   Cool. Serve.
>
> Reddish Mustard
> 5 Tbsp mustard seed
> 1 Tbsp raisins
> 1-2 tsp flour
> 12 - 3/4 piece toast, crumbled.
> Sprinkle cinnamon
> Red wine vinegar to desired consistency.  (I used about 4 Tbsp.)
>
> Grind mustard seeds  in spice grinder or mortar.  In mortar or food
> processor, grind/process in mustard seeds, raisins, flour, toast and
> cinnamon.  Add vinegar and grind/process.  Keep adding vinegar until
> mustard is desired consistency.  If you like course ground, serve.  If
> you like smooth, run it through a strainer and serve.
>
> Macaroni
> Note: I didn't make my own noodles.  I'm also not sure how to interpret
> the "This dish should be cooked for two hours"  Does this mean the
> noodles, or that you should cook the boiled noodles cheese and herb
> mixture?  Anyhow:
>
> 1 1lb box penne rotini
> Beef boillion/stock/broth (I used 5 cubes in the water used to boil the
> noodles.)
> 1 cup fresh grated 50/50 Romano/Parmasan mixture
> 2 Tbsp butter
> 1 tbsp each chopped parsley and basil
> 3 sage leaves, chopped.
>
> Bring pot of broth/boillion to a boil.  Add noodles and boil until
> noodles are as done as you want them to be. (my husband and I have
> arguments about mushy or al dente...).  Drain off most, but not all of
> the remaining broth.  Return noodles to pot and mix in butter.  Pour
> noodles into a lasagna/sheet cake pan (or into oven proof serving
> dishes).  Spinkle on cheese.  Mix herbs together and sprinkle on.  Place
> in slow oven until cheese melts.  Serve.
>
> Regards,
> Allison,     allilyn at juno.com
>
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