[Sca-cooks] Soft-boiled eggs in period

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

I looked more closely at the recipe for boiled eggs in Granado, and
found that they are soft-boiled, not hard-boiled.  Nevertheless, I
thought the translation would be of interest.

PARA HAZER HUEVOS SORBIDOS
source: Diego Granado, _Libro del Arte de Cozina_ (Spanish, 1599)
translation: Robin Carroll-Mann (Brighid ni Chiarain)


To Make Soft-Boiled Eggs

Take eggs laid that day, and make a hole, no larger than the head
of a pin, and put it in a vessel full of water which has been brought
to a boil, and move the vessel far away from the fire, and keep it
covered just until a little of the white has come out through the
hole, and touch this white, because if it is firm, the egg is cooked.
And you can do this in another way, boiling the egg for the length
of a Credo, and then strike it with the back of a knife, because if it
resists the first blow, it will be cooked, and if it is not, the shell will
break easily.  You will also know if, after having it in boiling water
for the length of a Credo, you put it on a table, giving it a flick with
your fingers; if it spins, it is cooked.  The fourth way of knowing is,
if it has been -- as was said -- in boiling water for the length of a
Credo, and you take it in your hand and grasp it in your fist; if it is
so hot that you cannot endure it in your hand, without a doubt it is
cooked.  That which is cooked over the heat of the fire must be
turned very gradually, and when it begins to sweat, and then the
sweat goes away, it can be removed; it is cooked.  When it is
served you must be careful to break it little by little, with the back
of the knife, far from the point, and keeping the point of the knife up
high, pointing upwards; this is to discover if there is "milk"
remaining in the egg.  And put a little sugar and salt on top.

Notes:

"huevos sorbidos" would literally be "eggs for sipping".

"the length of a Credo" means the time it would take to recite the
Credo (the Apostles' Creed) in Latin.

If anyone would like to conduct an experiment at breakfast, you will
find the text of the Credo at:
http://www.sainthenry.org/prayers.htm

Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
rcmann4 at earthlink.net