[Sca-cooks] Question about recipe for Spanish torte/torta

[BaronessaIlaria at aol.com]

In a message dated 07/24/2002 1:23:43 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
mooncat at in-tch.com writes:

> I'm trying to find the recipe (think it was posted last summer???) that
involves
>  peaches or melons, made into a torta, and perhaps the peaches were
>  pureed??  Think the recipe was late period.

Is this what you were looking for?

Source: Rouperto de Nola, _Libro de Guisados_ (Spanish, 1529)
Translation: Lady Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann)

POTAJE LLAMADO PERSICATE
Pottage called Peach-Dish

You will take the peeled peaches, and cut them into slices, and cook them in
good fat broth; and when they are cooked, take a few blanched almonds and
grind them; and when they are well-ground, strain them rather thick with that
broth. And then cook this sauce with sugar and a little ginger, and when it
is cooked, cast in enough pot-broth or that which falls from the
roasting-spit. And let it stew well for a little; and then prepare dishes,
and upon each one cast sugar; and in this same way you can make the sauce of
quinces in the same manner; but the quinces need to be strained with [the]
almonds, and they should not be sour, and likewise the peaches.

footnote: Durazno is the Spanish for "peach", but Persico ("Persian") is the
word for the peach tree. The Latin name, prunus persica, means Persian plum,
because the fruit was introduced to Europe from Persia.

I took a pork roast and sprinkled ginger, pepper, and kosher salt on it. I
had a can of white Chinese peach halves in light syrup, and I poured a small
amount of the syrup over the roast.  I cooked the roast in a medium oven for
an hour or so.  Meanwhile, I sliced the peach halves.  This was a can of
fruit that I had bought at a Chinese market some time back.  The fruit was
white, firm, almost the consistancy of a pear without the grit, and not as
sweet as a cling peach.  I think it made a big difference, I don't think it
would be as good with cling peaches, but firm, light colored plums would be
about the same texture and amount of sweetness.  I suppose quinces would be
good as well, just a very different flavor.

I placed the peach slices, the rest of the syrup, ginger, a tablespoon or two
of white sugar, and almond milk in a saucepan and let it cook down while the
roast was in the oven.  When the roast was done, I added a bit of water to
the pan to deglaze it a bit, and added the juices to the saucepan, and cooked
it for about 20 minutes longer.  After letting the roast rest, I sliced it
and put it back in it's pan, pouring the sauce and peach slices over the
meat.  It was just wonderful.  It was not too sweet, but I did find that the
sauce needed the small amount of sugar to bring out the flavors, but not
enough to make it overly sweet.  The ginger was a nice compliment to the
roast and sauce.  I think it might also be good if the fruit were pureed into
the sauce.  I will cook this again for our purposes, and would certainly
consider adding it to a feast menu.