SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #2616/ Period Eggs

[Kay Loidolt]

Jadwiga wrote:
>The pickled Melon _recipe_ in the Domostroi may be postperiod (I don't
>have my copy with me, but Yana will know) but mentioned of pickled melon
>and other fruit are in the period portion of the Domostroi.

Yep, it is in the "questionable" part of the Domostroi (the Long Version
that has parts that probably come from outside our period).  The melons in
question were likely imported from Azerbaijan or another South Central
Asian country.  For those who are wondering:

(Pouncy:199-200)  Watermelons.  Strain watermelon puree through a fine
sieve.  Let it ripen in an alkaline solution.  When it is ripe, do not cook
it, but let it purify itself.

Take a watermelon and cut it into layers.  Take out the seeds.  Cut about
two fingers width from the skin, leaving a little of the green flesh.  Peel
off strips a little thicker than paper.  Put the strips in the juice and
let them sit, changing the juice halfway through.  Add honey and cook the
mixture over a slow flame.  Skim off any foam that appears.  When the
mixture is clear and no more foam appears, the syrup is ready.  To the hot
mixture, add spices--pepper, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, mace, or nutmeg--and
simmer it.  Put the syrup in a bowl so it will not burn.  When it is ready,
put watermelon in a lime solution, then cool it will not burn.  When it is
ready, put watermelon pieces in the syrup.

Other people say you should cook the watermelon in a lime solution, then
cool it before adding it to honey cooked with spices.

Melons.  Peel melons thinly.  Cut the body of the melon in half, then place
it in an alkaline solution for a day and a night.  Put the pieces in a
spiced syrup like the one used for watermelons and let them sit.  Stir the
pieces, turning them over, from time to time.

Others say that you should leave the melons in the syrup for a while, then
pour it off and replace it, leaving it there for a week altogether.  When
the syrup has evaporated, add honey with spices--pepper, ginger, and cloves.

- --Yana