[Sca-cooks] RE: Apples and turnips msg 12 digest, Vol 1 #3042

[grasse]

Greetings from Gwen Cat
Sorry this is going to get long, convoluted, and likely muddy things rather
than clear them up.

35. Ein agraz (An agraz )
> >> > Nim holtze epfele und peterlin und bezzin. und stoz ez zu
sammene
> >> > und drucke uz. daz die petersilie ein wenic zuvar. daz heizzet auch
> >> > agraz.

First some definitions:
Agraz is like a verjus, a sour ‘broth’ made of unripe fruit.  Often unripe
grapes but in this case I assume apples.
I am not familiar with holtze apples.  It may be a woody [not good for eating]
apple, may be a crab apple, but we are agreed it is some form of apple.
Peterlin is a variant word for parsley.
Bezzin according to Christa Baufeld in the ‘Kleines fru:ehneuhochdeutsches
Wo:erterbuch’ is beta, [Beet, Root, Chard, Bot.  Beta Vulgaris L.]
Some links if you are curious about the actual botanical
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/beetro28.html

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Beta_vulgaris.html

The final word I had to look up was zuvar.  I could not find an exact
definition in Baufeld.  Zuvahen means to receive or to become pregnant.

I am venturing what was meant is:
Take [the above ] and pound them together, and press it out, that the parsley
receives [the color of the beet?]  That is also called agraz.

I think Baufeld makes it clear that it is not a turnip, though it seems there
were white beets.  Perhaps what they mean is to mush it together till the red
from the beet colors the green parsley and whatever pale/gold/brown the apples
would add.   I don’t have any of the ingredients to hand, so cant try it with
beet root, beet green, parsley green, parsley root [though I find this less
likely, it should perhaps be considered?], crab apples, other perhaps period
apples [GRINS – Look in the Florilegium, Im CERTAIN there is a file on period
apples and other fruit]

Johnne referred to my translations; I have a number of apple recipes from
Rumpolt, and a handful of ru:eben recipes.
Mostly webbed here http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/GK_veggie1.htm
Some just say roots, some specify rutabagas, some state yellow roots [carrots?
Rutabagas? Something else?] one wasser ru:ebe, and two stickel ru:ebe.  Here
is what www.yourdictionary.com had to say about that word.

1.	turnip [n.]	Rübe (<-n>) [f.], Steckrübe [f.]

Rumpolt tends to pair steckfu:eben with mutton.

Unfortunately nothing I have pairs apples with root veggies.

Sorry to have only hijacked  the discussion further from the original request,
and muddied the waters further.

In Service to the Dream [and looking for JUST the right dish to bring to a
household lunch potluck at 12th night on Saturday

Catrin von Berlin called Gwen Cat [at least thats what I'm trying to pass now]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
>Message: 12
>Date: Thu, 02 Jan 2003 17:56:14 -0500
>From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
>To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>Subject: [Sca-cooks] Apples and turnips
>Reply-To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>
>>  Johnnae llyn Lewis said:
>> >>  > I found this one and it's even German--
>> >>  >
>> >>  > 35. Ein agraz (An agraz )
>> >>  >     Nim holtze epfele und peterlin und bezzin. und stoz ez zu sammene
>> >>  >  und drucke uz. daz die petersilie ein wenic zuvar. daz heizzet auch
>> >>  > agraz.
>> >>  >     Take wood apples and parsley and turnips and pound it together
and
>> >>  > press it out, that the parsley colors a little. That is also called
Agraz.
>> >>  >
>> >>  > Ein Buch von guter spise
>> >>  > copyright 1993 Alia Atlas
>> >>  >
>> >>  > http://cs-people.bu.edu/akatlas/Buch/recipes.html#recipe35
>Stefan asked--
>> >>  Okay, but what do you do with this appple/parsley/turnip paste? Do you
>> >>  eat it raw? Or cook it like a fritter? Or stew it?
>Avraham said--
>> >Based on the context in Guter Spiese, and looking at other recipes
>> >called "Agraz", I assumed it was a sauce type concoction.
> to which "Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius" wrote:
>> Maybe a relish of sorts. FWIW, the Melitta Weiss Adamson translation
>> says you use crabapples (which would account for the name, rough
>> cognate of the Italian "agresto", or verjuice) and beets.
>> > Adamantius, certified party pooper
>-------------
>I actually noticed that when I checked the Adamson translation later
>after posting.
>She translates this one as:
>"Take crab apples, parsley, beet-root, mash everything..." instead of
>"wood apples, parsley and turnips" as Alia Atlas does.
> What I found interesting is that Adamson does not index any of these
>recipes as containing "turnips". This number 35 is also the only one
>that
>contains "beet root" listed in the index. Perhaps Gwencat has translated
>something
>with apples and turnips from the 16th century?
>
>Johnnae llyn Lewis  Johnna Holloway
>