[Sca-cooks] Lookin for Farced type Chicken

[Stefan li Rous]

Serena da Riva asked:
> I was wondering if there are any farced chicken recepits that involve
> deboning the chicken before you stuff them so that you can slice the chicken
> and have a pretty looking slice of chicken with the stuffing in the middle.
>
> If not, are there any period recepits that might be modified as an "artistic
> choice"? This is for something that taste and presentation are more
> important than period-ness.(Gack! Did I actually just say that? Double
> Gack!)

Well, there is this recipe from my lamb-mutton-msg file, but I don't
think the animals are deboned. I think I have another one done similarly
but starting with a camel, but I haven't found it yet.

> Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 13:45:49 -0500 (EST)
> From: Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu>
> Subject: Re: SC - lamb recipe
>
>> Once upon a time we had a cooking workshop (this was in the days when we
>> wondered how practical 'field cooking' was. In my Backyard, over an open
>> fire, I prepared the following recipe (with changes as noted)
>>
>> Take one camel. (I couldn't find anywhere to take it from, so I skipped
>> that bit. Plus we were feeding 20 people, all of whom were cooking
>> something. It seemed like overkill.)
>>
>> Take one sheep   (which I did. without the neck opened. The butcher
>> kindly got me one like that)
>>
>> Stick it in the camel (No camel. Well, what can you do)
>>
>> Take some ducks, geese, or chickens. (I got some chickens, and a buch of
>> bits as well.)
>>
>> Put capons or quail in them. (quail went into chickens, ducks got capons
>> filled with chicken breast)
>>
>> fill the rest with rice, pistachios, sultanas, figs and some other nut (I
>> forget. I partially cooked the rice first)
>>
>> Put it on a spit over the fire, and cook it.
>>
>> What was amazing was that over about 8 hours, we ate nearly all the lamb,
>> all the quails and most of the rest. It was really good.
>>
>> Unfortuantely I don't have any documentation.
>
> I'm glad to see that somebody has actually tried this.  Here's your
> documentation.  The following appears in the 13th-century Arabo-
> Andalusian _Manuscrito Anonimo_, and is reprinted in Cariadoc's
> Collection, volume II:
>
> Roast Calf, which was made for the Sayyid Abu-L-'Ala in Ceuta
>
> Take a young, plump ram, skinned and cleaned; open it deeply between
> the thighs and carefully take out all the entrails that are in its
> belly.  Then put in the interior a stuffed goose and into its belly a
> stuffed hen and in the belly of the hen a stuffed pigeon and in the
> belly of the pigeon a stuffed thrush and in the belly of this a small
> bird, stuffed or fried, all this stuffed and sprinkled with the sauce
> described for stuffing; sew up this opening and place the ram in a hot
> tannur  and leave it until it is browned and ready; sprinkle it with
> that sauce and then place it in the body cavity of a calf which has
> been prepared clean; sew it up and place it in the hot tannur  and
> leave it until it is done and browned; then take it out and present
> it.
>
>                                         mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
>                                                  Stephen Bloch
>                                            sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu

--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas          stefan at texas.net
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