[Sca-cooks] first redaction from Romanian cookbook

[Patrick Levesque]

Not the first translation I've completed, but the first dish I actually
tried tonight (as I happened to be passing by the fish market and bought
perch on impulse).  Feel free to comment and share ideas at will!

You'll find the original here:

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/For_Translation/O_Lume/O_Lume_Intr_O_Cart
e_de_Bucate

it's on page 105, but here's a copy anyway, without the proper accents:

"Alta Mancare. Grijind pestile, tae-l bucati si-l pune in tingire. Deci
pune ceapa tocata si apa sa-l acopere un deget-doao, piper, scortisoara,
sare si sofran, putintel vin au agurida, au zeama de lamae, si-l fiarbe.
Deci, cand va fi aproape de fiert, pune-i o mana de erburi tocate."

Rough translation:

"Another dish. Prepare the fish, cut in morsels and put in the cooking pot.
Then add chopped onions and cover with water by about a finger, add pepper,
cinammon, salt and saffron, a little wine or verjuice or lemon juice, and
boil. Then, when it is about to boil, add a handful of chopped fine herbs."

Points of contention: tingire is some kind of cooking implement, whether a
pot or a pan I'm not quite sure
	I've translated 'erbur' as 'fine herbs' but I am not certain if it
would refer to one herb specifically (possibly parsley?)

Redaction:

"Perch in cinammon sauce.

Chop one medium onion, fry it lightly in oil (about a minute), remove, let
cool. Add the fish, in filets about 4" by 1 1/2 ", and cover with water
until the water covers the fish by about a finger's width. Add white wine
(between 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup) or, at leisure, verjuice or lemon juice. Add
salt pepper to taste, generous amounts of cinammon and saffron, and bring
to a boil over high heat. When it is about to boil, add the fine herbs, and
reduce to low heat when it is boiling. Cover and simmer for about 10
minutes. Serve, pour the sauce over the filets."

Notes to the redaction:

I've chosen to fry the onion first, for a great many other recipes in the
book demand it. Also, my guinea pig is my 7 month pregnant lady who has a
problems with raw onions, so I didn't take any chance. :-)) You could
probably just boil it with the rest, however. In the recipes I've
translated so far, oil is much more frequent than butter or lard. The type
of oil is unspecified.

I apologize for the lack of precision concerning spice measurements. I
never measure, but you can safely add a good quantity of saffron and
cinammon. Just be careful not to overpower the sauce with these two spices.
Concerning the liquids (besides water), I used mostly white wine, but I
added some lemon juice as well. I also added a little white wine vinegar
(in most of these recipes, white wine, vinegar, verjuice, lemon juice and
gooseberry juice are all mentioned as possible substitutes).

I used about 6 filets of perch, which weighted (cleaned and gutted) a
little less than one pound.

the end result was very satisfactory; the fish did not taste too strongly.
The sauce has a nice smell, but the fish does not acquire additionnal taste
from the sauce, hence the necessity to pour it when you serve. Then again,
this was only the second or third time in my life I cooked fish, so it may
be a matter of experience.

As it was, I served it with rice and vegetables, but in period it might
have been served on a piece of fried bread.

Petru