[Sca-cooks] translation of italian recipe

[Randy Goldberg MD]

> Agliata a ogni carne, toy l'aglio e coxilo sotto la braxa, poi pestalo
> bene e mitili aglio crudo, e una molena de pan, e specie dolce e brodo;
> e maxena ogni cossa insema e fala un pocho bolire e dala chalda.
>
> Garlic [sauce] for every meat.  Take garlic and cook it in embers (or
> under a brazier), then mash it well and mix it with raw garlic, a
> "molena" of bread, sweet spices and broth; mix everything together and
> let it boild a little and serve it hot.
>
> Now it looks like a sauce I cooked from Odile Redon's French and italian
> cookbook "Medieval Kitchen", which may have been a translation of this
> recipe.

It is indeed in Redon; she attributes it to Ludovico Frati's _Libro di
cucina del secolo XI_. Her translation reads:

Garlic sauce for all meats: take the garlic and cook it in the embers, then
pound it thoroughly and add raw garlic and crumb of bread, and sweet spices,
and broth; and mix everything together and boil it a little; and serve hot.

She redacts this as follows:

20 cloves garlic
1/2 c dry breadcrumbs
1 c broth (she gives a separate recipe for this)
Spice mixture:
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
salt

Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Wrap 18 cloves of garlic, unpeeled, in aluminum
foil, and bake for 30 minutes (you can do this in the embers of your
fireplace, if they are aglow). Soak the breadcrumbs in about 1/3 of the
broth until softened. Peel all the garlic, cooked and raw. In a mortar or
blender, puree the garlic, blend in the soaked breadcrumbs, and add the
spices and enough broth to create a creamy sauce. Pour into a small
saucepan, add salt to taste and bring to the boil. Simmer a few minutes,
thinning with additional broth if necessary. Serve hot.

Avraham