[Sca-cooks] Pastillus

[Marian Rosenberg]

#3 in a series of "help us plan a period menu for Pennsic"

This is from On Right Pleasure and Good Health by Platina (c 1470)

VI 8 Meat Roll from Wild Game

You will make a meat-roll from young roe deer or fallow deer thus: cut
the meat in medium sized pieces.  When it has been softened by coming to
a boil with water, vinegar, and salt, take it out of the pot and leave
it one a board until the juice drains away.  Then knead pepper and
ground cinnamon together with creamed lard in the manner of cake, and
wrap the meat with bits of lard added the length of it as if it were in
leaves, and put grains of cloves all over it, then knead the
finely-sifted meal.  You will wrap each piece in a rather thick crust
made from this kneaded mixture and cook best in an oven on slow fire.
Serve these at once to your guests, or they can be saved for a month, or
at least a fortnight.  They are generally of little nourishment, are
digested slowly, loosen the belly, harm those with spleen and liver
problems, and irritate the chest. (Milham 271)

VI 9 Meat Roll from Tame Animals

I call tame animals all which are nourished at home, like calf, capon,
hen, and the like.  From these, you make a roll thus: take as much lean
meat as you want and cut it up fine with small knives.  Mix veal fat
into this meat well with spices.  When it has been wrapped in thin
crusts, bake in an oven.  When they are almost cooked, put on the roll
two egg yolks separated from the white and beaten with a paddle with a
little verjuice and very rich juice.  some add a bit of saffron for
looks.  This roll can even be made in a well-greased pan without a
crust.  For special pleasure, cook in a roll capon, pullet or whatever
you want, whole or cut up in pieces.  There is also much nourishment in
this; it is slowly digested, has little indigestible residue, aids the
heart, liver and kidneys, is fattening, and stimulates the libido.
(Milham 271, 273)

Is capon another word for chicken or are capons another bird entirely?

Would puff pastry from the grocer's freezer be appropriate for "thin
crust?"

Does anyone have any pastry recipes that could either be the thin crust
of #9 or the thick crust of #8?

Does ground beef count as having been "cut up fine with small knives?"
or is that stretching it a bit too much towards peri-oid?

#8 calls for pepper, cinnamon, and cloves.  #9 just calls for spices.
Should I use pepper, cinnamon, and cloves only or is it okay to use any
spice mixture I please such as pre made poudre forte?

Why do they call it "pure leaf lard?"  And, is that type of "leaf lard"
that is sold in the grocery stores the type of lard referred to here in
#8?

Where does one get verjuice?  If one cannot get verjuice, what are
reasonable substitutes for verjuice?