[Sca-cooks] Re: Llibre de Coch

[Olwen the Odd]

It seems I may make a trek to the Middle Eastern market.  Perhaps I shall
try a version of this with very soft goat cheese and I shall see what he has
for a hard cheese as well.  Thanks.
Olwen

>The ancestor of this dish used a fresh curd cheese called mató, and was not
>a cooked dish. Mató does not taste salty (like a cottage cheese) or sour
>(like chevre), and is whiter and fatter than ricotta. Now, it is almost
>exclusively made with cow milk, but in the 14th and 15th century was made
>from sheep or goat milk or a blend of the two. The closest substitute is
>going to be ricotta.
>
>The recipe wants you to take the curds just at the point they form, while
>they are still soft.
>
>Lady Brighid's translation is of the Logroño edition of 1529, translated
>from the Catalan by Diego Pérez Dávila, Lord Mayor of Logroño. This recipe
>does not appear in Nola's original, and was apparently added by Diego
>Pérez.
>Logroño is on the south side of the Ebro river valley, due south from
>Bilbao. This is sheep country. Almost all the aged cheeses of the region
>are
>from sheep milk. You could use almost any cheese from the Basque country,
>Burgos, Navarra, or Aragon. Any good, aged sheep milk cheese will do.
>Manchego would be an excellent choice as an affordable alternative to
>Parmesan.
>
>Thomas
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
>To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 6:13 PM
>Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Llibre de Coch
>
>
> > On 30 May 01,, Vincent Cuenca wrote:
> >
> > > >I was looking through it and the Dish for Angels caught my attention.
>I am
> > > >going to give this one a try.  I would like some input from folks as
>to
> > > >what
> > > >"take one azumbre of milk in the season of curds" might mean.  Would
>this
> > > >be
> > > >like riccotta or cottage cheese or would it be more like yogurt?
> > >
> > > I translated this a bit differently.  The original text is "tomar un
>azumbre
> > > de leche en tiempo de los requesones"; my translation is "take an
>azumbre of
> > > milk that has just formed curds".  My take is that he's talking about
>a
>sort
> > > of cottage cheese.
> >
> > Now that I look at it more closely, I think we're both right -- and
> > both wrong.  The 1737 RAE dictionary says that "requeson" means
> > the second curd which is made by cooking the whey of the milk
> > after the cheese is made, ie., ricotta.  (Re-queson == re-cheese).
> > The recipe goes on to say "cast them [the curds] into the milk".
> > So you take the newly made ricotta and throw it into two liters of
> > milk.  I would therefore translate that phrase as "at the time of
> > [making] the curds."
> >
> > > Milk can curdle at any time, IIRC, and "tiempo" can
> > > refer to time as well as season.
> >
> > > Then there
> > > >is "a quarter pound of aged cheese" which I am pretty sure would be
>just as
> > > >I please but (I assume) a white cheese.  If anyone has any opinions
>please
> > > >post them as I will be trying a couple of versions this weekend.
> > >
> > > Usually, I tend to use Parmesan cheese when muddling around with de
>Nola's
> > > recipes.  An aged white cheese might be good too.  After all, de Nola
>does
> > > say over and over that these recipes are just guidelines for the
>inventive
> > > cook.  :)
> >
> > Parmesan is what I use.
> >
> > > Vicente
> >
> >
> > Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
> > Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
> > mka Robin Carroll-Mann
> > now at a new address: rcmann4 at earthlink.net
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sca-cooks mailing list
> > Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> > http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks
>
>_______________________________________________
>Sca-cooks mailing list
>Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com