[Sca-cooks] translating Scappi

[Stefan li Rous]

Helewyse replied:
> Lavender de Morten wrote
> <snipped>
> I would love to get a hold of  a full copy and
> translation if there is one available.
>>
> I might be called a crazy translating fool, but Scappi
> is almost too big a project for me.
> Scappi has six books, the first detailing how to
> choose items (44 paragraphs), 2nd with meat dishes
> (281 recipes), 3rd giving fish dishes (286 recipes),
> 4th containing menus for the entire year (328 menus),
> 5th giving pastry recipes (237 recipes), 6th
> containing miscellaneous recipes and those for the
> convalescent (218 recipes), and 7th giving the
> instruments necessary for a well equipped kitchen (8
> pages of text and some beautiful pictures).
> Overall this book is an overwhelming, and fantastic
> resource.  Generally what I do when I am feeling like
> cooking Italian is think of an ingredient and find a
> recipe I want to try.
> e.g. venison pie (yes I am a spoon tease but haven't
> quite finished with those translations and redactions
> yet so you can wait just a little bit longer).
> Then translate that particular recipe.


> My brain
> freezes at the contemplation of the entire book.
> I don't know what the chances are of a scholar taking
> on that particular manuscript either.  It would be
> terribly expensive. So in the absence of a translation
> we are stuck with doing it one recipe at at time.

So, what is wrong with one, or a few, recipes at a time?
The main problem I see is that it could be a long time, if ever, till the
complete book is translated. And in the meantime no one other than the
translator really gets much use out of all the work. And the translator
doesn't get quick feedback which might allow them to revise that recipe and
use that knowledge when translating the next recipes.



My proposal would be to send the original text and your translation to me as
you complete them. I could then combine them with the previous recipes, in
whatever order is decided upon, and place the result in the Florilegium. The
public would then get access to these translations and you might some feedback
ranging from translation improvement suggestions to recipe redactions.

There is no reason you can't pick the order of the translations by what looks
like the most interesting to you. Even if you never go back and fill in all
the recipes, your work would still result in a consistant, single source work
that others could use. As you updated old translations and added new ones,
they would get added to the file.

Although the editing of these files was done in one batch, this work would be
similar to these files by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain.
Guisados1-art    (220K)  5/28/01    A translation of Ruperto de Nolaís
                                        1529 "Libre del Coch", part 1 of 2
                                        by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain.
Guisados2-art    (116K)  5/28/01    "Libre del Coch". part 2 of 2.
                                        Lenten recipes.

Stefan
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas         StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****