[Sca-cooks] Romanian Cookbook: name, fruits, salads

[Patrick Levesque]

Oh, sorry, didnt't expect that level of interest right away :-)

One correction to my original post: between dishes of sheep, and dish of
dove/pigeon, I wrote pork. Excuse my lack of attention, these are hare
recipes. Pork recipes are dealt with in another section, of course.

Here's the full name of the text: "Carte intru care sa scriu marcarile de
peste i raci, stridii, melci, legumi, erburi si alte marcari de sec si de
dulce."

Or: "Book where I write about dishes of fish and crayfish, oysters, snails,
vegtables and greens, and other dishes for fast days and meat days."

It is published by the Romanian Cultural Fundation under the title: "O Lume
intr-o carte de bucate: manuscris din epoca brancoveneasca" ("A world in a
cookbook: manuscript from the Brancovan era"). ISBN 973-877-090-3. I only
found one distributer on the net:
http://www.romaniandolls.com/books/003cook/cookindex.html#

The book appears to be a collection of recipes, some supposedly going to
the 16th century. As it is, the manuscript dates from the second half of
the seventeenth century. There is an introductory study which constitutes
half the book written by Matei Cazacu; as far as I can tell, it is
remarkably similar to another work from the same author, "The Story of
Romanian Gastronomy", same publisher.
There are other introductory notes by Ioana Constantinescu; it pays to read
them as she makes the link between period and modern names for some
ingredients.

Ok, and a few recipes. Fruits and Salads only, Snails coming up soon, along
with sweets and deserts. The fruit dishes are all rather similar, as you'll
see. The original follows underneath. As for the rest, I'll send them as I
work on them. Feel free to comment or suggest or help with the few words I
haven't been able to translate.

These are not fully translated, there are a couple of vegetables I'm not
quite sure of (in this case, I've put the original word in the english
translation). I'm pretty sure by now that 'molotru' refers to the mustard
plant (while 'mustar' is the condiment), and that 'nucsoare' refers to
nutmeg. (I could be wrong, but it makes sense in all the recipes they
appear). I typed this pretty fast, I hope there aren't too many typos.

Fell free to make use of these recipes if they interest you. One exception
for Easterners and Ealdormerians: I'm planning a feast here in Dragon
Dormant (Montreal, Canada) around this book by February/March (date
uncertain). As a courtesy, please don't beat me to it :-)))

Fruits:

Dishes of fruits dried and fresh, for fast days and meat days.

Dried plums or cherries or sour cherries; put to moisten in a little warm
water, then pull out, clean well and boil with water, with wine and sugar,
with cloves and with nutmeg and cinammon, all ground together. And after
you've boiled, when you pour, put over a slice of fried bread and add sugar
over.

Pear and quince. Take pears, remove the skin and cut, then put in water.
Then remove from the water and boil with wine and ground sugar and clove,
and with whole cinnamon [stick], and when you serve, put on a slice of
fried bread and cover with sugar.

Apples, when they are tender. Remove the skin, then boil whole or sliced,
as you like, and proceed as the other fruits above.

Cherries and Sour Cherries and ripe plums and peaches. To do cherries, or
sour cherries, remove the stalks, boil with wine, sugar, cinnammon and
fresh butter, and after you've boiled, when you serve, put on a slice of
bread fried in butter and cover with sugar.

Peaches. Ripe peaches, but not too ripe. Remove the skin and cut in slices,
then boil in cherry or sour cherry juice, with a little white wine, sugar,
cinnammon, and clove, and then do as above for cherries or sour cherries,
but do not boil too much.

Ripe plums, but not too ripe. Cut them in two if they are big, leave whole
if they are small, and when it is ready, [boil] with wine, sugar,
cinnammon. And when you pour, put on fried bread and [add] sugar, as in the
other fruits.

Salads:
Salad of lettuce, cover with vinegar, oil and flowers of 'boranza' or
'limba-boului' (litterally: tongue-ox, some kind of indigenous flower, I
guess. Limba could be lamba, rabbet, as well)'

Salad of lettuce, cut in parts, put in a bowl and, in the middle,
fatty/oily greens and other good greens, and on the margins lettuce,
flowers of 'boranza' or of 'limba boului' and cover with vinegar, oil, salt
and sugar.

Salad. Mix lettuce, leafs of 'boranza', fatty herbs, leaf of 'matacina',
tops of 'molotru', (probably mustard greens), mint, leaves of beans and
herbs as you want, cut small, dressing as for lettuce sald.

Salad of andives, boiled with water and salt and over with capers or lemon
slices, vinegar, oil and sugar.

Salad of boiled asparagus, cover with vinegar, oil and sugar.

Salad of red beet, boieled whole or ripe in 'spuza' in ??? use, cut the
leaves, cover with capers, rosewater, oil, salt and sugar.

Salad of capers, cover with currants, rosewater and sugar

Salad of capers, moisten in vinegar, cover with lemon slices, seeds of
pomegranate, 'orange-flower-water' or rosewater and sugar.

Salad of capers, moisten in strong vinegar, than pull out of the vinegar
and put in a bowl. cover with slices of red beets boiled and add oil only,
without vinegar.

Salad of lemon slices, moisten a little in chill water, than drain the
water in put in a bowl, cover with seeds of pomegranate, rosewater and
white sugar.

Salad of root of chicory, boil with water and salt, cover with currants,
vinegar, oil, caper, sugar.

Salad of 'morcovi' (carrots, maybe parsnips?) boil with water and salt, cut
in slices, cover with salt, vinegar, oil and ground pepper.


----
(habitual disclaimer on accents applies)

Mancari de Poame Uscate Si Verzi in Zile de Sec si de Dulce

Ia prune uscate au cireasa au visine si le pune sa stea amoiu catvas in apa
calda, apoi le scoate, spalandu-le bine si le fiarbe cu apa, cu vin si
zahar, cu cuisoare si cu nucsoara si cu scortisoara, toate acestea pisate.
Si dupa ce vor fiarbe, cand le vei turna, sa le pui pe didesupt falii de
paine prajite si pe deasupra zahar.

Pere si guitui. Sa iai perile, sa le curi de coaka si sa le tai, apoi sa le
dai unda cu apa. Decui le scoate di apa si le fiarbe cu vin si cu zahar
pisat si cu cuisoare, si cu scortisoare intreaga; si cand le vei turna la
masa, sa pui pe didesupt falii de paine prajite su zahar pe deasupra.

Mere. Merile fiind fragide, tribue sa le coci in spuza si sa le curi de
coaja, apoi sa le fiarbi intregi au falii, cum vei vrea ca si celelalte
poame ce s-au zis.

Cirease si visine i prune parguite i piarseci. Sa iai ciresile, iar de ar
fi cam acre, mai bine ar fi, au visine, fara coade, sa le fieri cu vin,
zahar, scortisoara si unt proaspat, si dupre ce le vei fiarbe, cand le vei
turna , sa le pui pe didisupt falii de paine prajute in unt si pe deasupra
zahar.

Piarseci. Piarsecile parguite, care nu sant bine coapte, sa le curi de
coaja si sa le tai falii, apoi sa le fierbi in must de visine au de cireasa
acre, cu putintel vin alb, zahar, scortisoara si cuisoare, si sa le faci
cum se-au zis de cisine i cireasa, numai sa nu le prea fierbi.

Prunele iar parguite, nu prea coapte, sa le tai in doao de vor fi mari,
iara de vor fi de cele mici, sa le lasi intregi, si sa le dai unda bine, cu
vin, zahar, scortisoara. Si cand le vei turna, sa le pui paine prajita i
zahar, ca si la celelalte poame.

Invatatura de a face multe feliuri de salaturi, dupa vremi.

Salata de laptuci, pe deasupra cu otet, cu untdelemn si flori de boranza au
de limba boului.

Salata iar de laptuci, taiate in parti, puse in strachina inprejur, si in
mijloc iarba grasa si alte erburi bune, si pre marginele laptucilor, flori
de boranza au de limba boului, pe deasupra cu otet, untdelemn, sare si
zahar.

Salata de amestecatura de laptuci, foi de boranza, iarba grasa, foi de
matacina, varfari de molotru, izma, foi de bob si erburi ce vei mai vrea,
taiate marunt, pe deasupra cum s-au zis si la salata de laptuci.

Salata de andidii, fiarte cu apa si cu sare si pe deasupra, cu capere date
unda au falii de lamae, otet, untudelemn si zahar

Salata de sparanghel fiert, pe deasupra cu otet, untudelemn si zahar.

Salata de sfecle rosii, fiarte intai au coapte in spuza, in calti uzi,
taiate falii, pe deasupra cu capere date unda, otet de trandafir,
untudelemn, sare si zahar.

Salata de capere date unda, apoi puse amoiu in otet tare. Deci le scoate
din otet si le pune in strachina, pa deasupra cu falii de sfecla rosie
fiarte si untudelemn numai, fara otet.

Salata de falii de lamae, puse amoiu catvas in apa rece, apoi scurse bine
de apa si puse in strachina, pe deasupra graunte de rodie, apa de trandafir
si zahar alb.

Salata de radacina de cicoare, fiarte cu apa si cu sare, pe deasupra cu
stafide marunte, otet, untudelemn, capere si zahar.

Salata de morcovi, fierti cu apa si cu sare, taiati falii, pe deasupra cu
sare, otet, untudelemn si piper suptire pisat.



YIS

Petru 'cel Paros' Voda