SC - Cider Sauce, Arte de Cozina

[Jenne Heise]

And it came to pass on 30 Nov 00, , that lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> I'd like to make the Lemon Sauce from Sent Sovi for the Boar Hunt. 
> Robin Caroll-Mann sent a "synopsis" to the list and i've faked it 
> from there, not knowing what the proportions are really supposed to 
> be.
[snip]
> Lemon Sauce
> Catalan, Libro de Sent Sovi, 15th c.
> 36 cups
> 
> 12 cups almonds, ground
> 24 cups chicken and vegetable broth
> 1/2 lb currants
> salt as needed
> 2 tsp saffron
> 3/4 cup powdered ginger, or less
> 12 cups fresh lemon juice
> 18 cups sugar
> 
> Drain the broth from the chickens when they are cooked and add 
> vegetable broth to make 24 cups. Make almond milk with broth. Add 
> remaining ingredients and simmer until sugar is dissolved and sauce 
> is well flavored.

In that particular message, I was referring to more than one recipe.  
The lemon sauce in "Libro de Guisados" contains raisins; the 
recipe from "Sent Sovi" does not.  I think you may have slightly 
confused the two.  The recipe from Nola's "Libro de Guisados" is 
as follows:

LEMON DISH
LIMONADA

Take blanched almonds and prepare them, and grind them in a mortar, 
and blend them with good hen’s broth; and then take new raisins, and 
clean them well of the seeds, and grind them by themselves and strain 
them through a woolen cloth; and after they are strained, mix them with 
the almonds, and put everything in the pot where it must cook; and put 
sugar and a little ginger in that same way, and set it to cook, constantly 
stirring it with a stick of wood.  And when it is cooked, put a little lemon 
juice, and then stir it a little with the wooden stirrer so that the lemon 
juice is well-mixed within it.  And then dish it out and cast fine sugar on 
the dishes.

Your  redaction seems to be a reasonable interpretation of this recipe, 
which also appears in the original Catalan text, the "Libre del Coch", 1520.

The recipe in "Sent Sovi" is slightly different.   Here's a paraphrase:

First make chicken broth, and the broth should be well cooked and 
flavored, and then make almond milk.  Set it to cook in a pot with spices, 
much ginger, saffron, and much white sugar and lemon juice.  And boil it 
for a long time.  It should be deeply colored, and taste of salt and spices 
and sour and sweet.  This sauce goes with roast hens or boiled hens.  If 
you don't want to use sugar, you can substitute honey.


So if you go with the redaction you've chosen, just change the menu to 
read that it is from "Libre del Coch".


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net