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

[Christine Seelye-King]

Well, the redaction below is mine, and was for a sauce, not a torte. It was
good, however. :)
Christianna

> -----Original Message-----
> From: sca-cooks-admin at ansteorra.org
> [mailto:sca-cooks-admin at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of
> BaronessaIlaria at aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 7:30 AM
> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Question about recipe for Spanish torte/torta
>
>
> 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.
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