SC - salad & Castelvetro translation

[Philip & Susan Troy]

TG wrote:
> 
> Eden wrote:
> << Thomas writes that the germans have many period recipes for salad,
> but I must point out that per castelvetro these were hardly fit to be
> called salad ;->  >>
> 
> Haha. Good point. Yes, since the days of Tacitus, the culinary
> reputation of the Germans, seen from the south, was never really a very
> good one

I seem to recall Pliny speaking well of Gaulish hams and bread, and
there seems to have been some tribal equivocation. Ah well, Pliny the
Elder is before Tacitus anyway... 

... But I guess, Castelvetro's chapter on German salad would
> have been a bit more hymnic if he had tasted a few of the 50 RUMPOLT
> salad recipes... ;-)
>            *****

Or, as an American might say at this time of year: "Now, pinch-hitting
for the Germans... MARX... RUMPOLT..." [Crowd roars]
 
> " ... where we Italians would much rather feast the palate than the
> eye. YOU ENGLISH are even worse; ..."
> " ... ma noi Italici abbiam più riguardo di piacere a monna bocca. ALTRI
> fan vie peggio, ..."
> 
> As far as I can see, there is no mention of "You English", but only of
> "others" in this Italian text (based on the Firpo edition in 1974). And
> I cannot find anything that comes close to the "footbath of Morgante",
> nor do I find anything for "a fate which I fear lies in store
> for most inhabitants of this Kingdom" in the Italian text of the Firpo
> edition; "è degno" is not "is condemned" but "is worth", "paperi" are
> not chicken, but geese etc.
> 
> What is going on here? On which Castelvetro text is the translation
> based? Could someone please take a look?

I don't have this book, but it does seem a bit suspicious. There does
seem to be a fair amount of xenophobic food views kicking around, even
today, and I can't help but think about Le Menagier's advice about
dealings with Germans and their alleged love of overcooked carp.

Actually, the greatest scorn for an improperly prepared salad I have
ever encountered has got to be by the modern chef David Bouley (who is
quite possibly the model for Lumiere, the talking candlestick in the
Disney version of "La Belle et la Bete"), who has about 187 rules as to
how each form of salad green should be washed, torn and tossed. But then
this is also the man who cuts broccoli into its component nodules,
virtually pureeing it, and who spent several years romantically involved
with Bernadette Peters, so his judgement may be assumed to be suspect. 

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com