SC - A&S entry (long)

[Vincent Cuenca]

This past weekend, I went to the Queen's Prize Tourney in Dun Ard, Calontir. 
  Queens' Prize is a combination A&S showcase and  competition intended for 
novice-level entrants.  Each entrant is sponsored by GoA- or PoA-level 
artisans (Calon Lily for arts, Silver Hammer for Sciences), who supply small 
prizes for other entrants.  Everybody wins something.  I entered three sweet 
dishes from de Nola: the Torta Genovesa, Frutas de Mazapan, and the Burnia 
de Higos.

"Torta a la Genovesa
Una libra de almendras mondadas; y otra de piñones, y otra de avellanas 
tostadas; y majarlo todo junto en un mortero y después de majado dejarlo 
aparte, y tomar una olla con agua y sal y aceite, y esto sea en día de 
carne; y cátalo que esté bueno de sal, y tomar media libra de pasas sin los 
granillos; y tres onzas de dátiles mondados de los cuescos, y hechos cuatro 
partes; y tres o cuatro manzanas agras o dulces; y hacerlas cuartos y 
quitarles el corazón y las pepitas, y echarlo en la olla porque cueza; y 
desque haya bien hervido, las manzanas serán cocidas, y después sacarlas de 
la agua; y majarlas con los dátiles y pasas y almendras y con las avellanas 
y piñones; y después de bien majado todo desatarlo con el dicho caldo; y si 
es dia de carne puedes echar en el mortero una docena de huevos majados con 
las sobredichas cosas, y después pasarlo por un cedazo; y hecho esto, tomar 
masa que sea buena y bien sobada, y has de ella un tajadero tan grande como 
fuere el suelo de la sartén que tuvieres; y hacerle sus orillas como a una 
empanada sin cobertor; empero que sea del tamaño de la sartén ni más ni 
menos, y ponla dentro de la sartén y desque esté dentro échale un poco de 
aceite debajo porque la masa no se pegue en la sartén; y después echarás 
toda aquella salsa o manjar dentro de la empanada; y ponla sobre buenas 
cenizas calientes, y después tomar una cobertera que sea tan grande como la 
sartén, que la cubra bien, y ponle buen fuego de carbón arriba y abajo y al 
derredor y desque esté así un poco, quitarle sotilmente la cobertera de 
encima; y echar dentro en la torta dos onzas de azúcar, y otra de canela 
molida, y despues tórnala a cubrir con su cobertera, y cueza dos horas hasta 
que la masa se aparte de la sartén; y entonces es cocida; y sácala en un 
plato así como si fuese una tortilla de huevos; y ponla en la mesa así como 
empanada."

Genovese Torte
	One pound of shelled almonds; and another of pine nuts, and another of 
toasted hazelnuts; and grind them all together in a mortar and once they are 
ground set them aside, and take a pot with water and salt and oil, and this 
should be on a meat day, and taste it for saltiness, and take half a pound 
of raisins without the little seeds; and three ounces of dates with the 
stones removed, and cut into four parts; and three or four tart or sweet 
apples; and cut them into fourths and remove the core and the seeds, and put 
them in the pot so they can cook; and when they have boiled for a while, the 
apples will be cooked, and then take them from the water; and mash them with 
the dates and raisins and almonds and with the hazelnuts and pine nuts; and 
when it is all ground together thin it with the aforementioned broth; and if 
it is a meat day you can add a dozen eggs to the mortar mixed in with the 
aforementioned things, and then pass it through a strainer; and when this is 
done, take dough that is good and well mixed, and make from this a flat 
piece the size of the bottom of the frying pan that you have, and fix up the 
edges as for a pasty without a cover, but it should be the size of the pan, 
no bigger or smaller, and put it in the frying pan and when it is in add a 
little fine lard so that the dough does not stick to the frying pan; and 
then add all this sauce or dish to the pasty; and place it over good hot 
coals, and then take a lid which is as big as the frying pan, which will 
cover it well, and put good burning charcoal above and below and around it 
and once it has been like this a bit, gently remove the cover from on top; 
and add to the torte two ounces of sugar, and another of ground cinnamon, 
and then cover it again with its lid, and cook it for two hours until the 
dough comes away from the pan; and so it is cooked; and turn it out on a 
plate as if it were an egg omelet; and place it on the table as if it were a 
pasty.

This is a lengthy recipe, but not all that complex.  I reduced the 
proportions by fourths:
4 oz almonds
4 oz hazelnuts
4 oz pine nuts
2 oz raisins
¾ oz dates
1 apple
3 eggs
After blanching and toasting the nuts, I ground them to a coarse meal in an 
electric food grinder.  The fruits were cooked in salted water, then forced 
through a china cap with a pestle.  I mixed the nuts with the pureed fruits 
and eggs then poured the mixture into a torte pan lined with the pâte a pâte 
recipe from "The Medieval Kitchen". For effect, I made a fretwork of dough 
strips on the bottom of the pan.  I baked the torte at 350 degrees for ten 
minutes, then scattered ¼ oz cinnamon mixed with ½ oz sugar over the top and 
continued with the baking until the filling was set.  As directed, I 
inverted the torte onto a plate.


Burnía de Higos
	Muy buenos higos pasados tomarás, bien melados; y allanarlos bien uno a 
uno; y quitarlos lo duro de los pezones; y tomar una aljafana o plato hondo 
que sean nuevos y muy limpios, y pon al suelo de la aljafana un lecho de 
rosas coloradas, quitando el blanco de ellas con unas tijeras, y sobre las 
rosas un poco de azúcar y después un lecho de los higos y desta manera 
haciendo un lecho de las rosas y azúcar, y otro de los higos, enchir la 
aljafana o plato y hecho esto atapar bien la aljafana, porque esté asi 
quince o veinte dias, y después comer destos higos; y es muy gentil manjar.

Burnia of Figs
	Take dried figs, very sweet; and flatten them out one by one; and remove 
the hard part of the stems; and take a washbasin or platter which should be 
new and very clean, and place on the bottom of the plate a layer of red 
roses, removing the white part with scissors, and scatter a little sugar 
over the roses and then a layer of the figs, and fill the plate in this 
manner, with a layer of roses and sugar and a layer of figs, and once this 
is done cover the basin very well, for it will sit for fifteen to twenty 
days, and then eat the figs; and this is a very remarkable dish.

This dish is hard to classify, but easy to interpret.  It does not fit into 
the usual categories of confit or preserved fruit, or any other confection.  
For visual effect, I alternated Black Mission figs with white Greek figs, 
removing the stems, pressing them flat with a cleaver, and arranging them in 
layers alternated with rose petals and sugar.  After the time recommended in 
the recipe, the rose petals were dried and nearly odorless, and not very 
appetizing.  This is in keeping with the recipe, which clearly states that 
the figs, and not the rose petals, are eaten.  The white figs took the 
flavor of the roses better than the black ones.

Fruta de Mazapan
	Tomar almendras blancas muy bien majadas; y como se fueren majando ir 
echando azúcar; y para una libra de almendras otra libra de azúcar; y 
majarlo todo junto y como se vaya majando irlo cebando con agua rosada, y 
sea lo más molido que pueda; y después tomar harina muy cernida, y amasarla 
con huevos y manteca; y un poco de vino blanco, y hacer unas tortillas; y 
echar aquella pasta en ellas, y poner una sartén con manteca, y después de 
bien caliente echar la fruta dentro; y fríase de su espacio; y después en el 
plato échenle miel y azúcar y canela.

Marzipan Rissoles
	Take well ground white almonds; and while grinding them add sugar; and for 
a pound of almonds another pound of sugar; and grind it all together and 
while grinding sprinkle it with rose water, and it should be as well milled 
as possible; and then take very well sifted flour, and make a dough with 
eggs and lard; and a little white wine, and make some little cakes; and put 
the paste in them, and set a frying pan with lard, and when it is very hot 
toss in the cakes; and fry them with plenty of space between them and not 
too quickly; and then add honey and sugar and cinnamon on the plate.

	De Nola uses the phrase fruta de sartén (lit. “fruit of the frying pan”) or 
simply fruta to indicate rissoles or pancakes, whether sweet or savory.  
These sweet rissoles bear a certain comparison to the caliscioni found in 
Martino’s Libro de Arte Coquinaria, although these are fried rather than 
baked.   The recipe is quite simple to follow: one pound of blanched 
almonds, one pound of sugar, ground together and moistened with rosewater, 
then wrapped in a dough of lard, flour, eggs and wine and fried.  As an 
experiment, I used an unrefined Mexican sugar called piloncillo to more 
closely approximate period sugar.  This stuff comes in rock-hard cones.  I 
had to break it apart with a hammer, then grind it in a mortar to make it 
useable.  I ground a pound of almonds with an electric grinder, ground an 
equal measure of sugar by hand, then mixed them together with enough 
rosewater to make a paste.  It was not as fine-textured as modern marzipan, 
with a much more pronounced flavor of molasses from the sugar.  I used the 
same dough recipe as for the Genovese torte, substituting white wine for the 
water.  I cut out small rounds of dough, then filled the rounds with 
spoonfuls of marzipan paste and folded them over to make a crescent shape.  
I fluted the edges with a fork, then fried them in oil until they were 
golden, then drizzled them with syrup of thinned honey mixed with cinnamon 
on top.

Responses:

The judges were quite taken with the complexity of the dishes, and the 
display.  I put the rissoles in a copper bowl lined with a white napkin, and 
the torte and figs on silver plates, all on a simple white tablecloth.  I 
lost a few points on documentation, because I didn't make a big deal about 
how hard it was to blanch the hazelnuts and grind the sugar by hand.  The 
torte was greatly appreciated by all, the figs were nibbled, then wolfed 
even by those who don't like figs, and fights broke out over the marzipan 
rissoles.  I had to set aside a couple at risk of life and limb to give to 
Her Majesty.  (She took one bite and immediately hid them from her retinue.) 
  I got lots of compliments, requests for recipes, and a few ounces of 
grains of paradise as my prize.  I was also informed (not asked, but 
INFORMED) by several Laurels that I WILL be entering Kingdom A&S this year.  
I had a blast, in spite of a case of the barking laryngitis.  Next time I'll 
bring more copies of the documentation, more food, and plenty to drink.  
Maybe I'll try some cold meat dishes, or pasties. Hmmm....

Vicente
(giddy with the possibilities)
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