[Sca-cooks] Question

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Amanda Blackwolf:
>I was told tonight that roasting chicken w/ apples and dates placed under
>the skin was period.........now, I admit, I don't know much but I can't find
>anything like it in my very limited library....then again, I'm not quite
>sure what I should be looking for. Anyone have a source and translation?
>Since I'm going for a mostly period feast, I want to be able to document
>stuff.

I don't recall having heard of it, which may or may not mean
anything. It's possible your source simply has or saw some source of
which I'm unaware, or perhaps they have made some leaps of logic.

For example, there are foods stuffed with apples (or pears) and
dates; the infamous cuskynoles come to mind. There are also cases of
chicken skin being separated from the flesh before roasting, either
for better roasting (the same technique used for Peking Duck), or for
making skinning and boning easier, possibly for subsequent stuffing
of the skin to make a faux "bird"; however, the stuffing would more
likely be chopped pork, egg yolks, herbs and cheese, that sort of
thing. There might be fruit in it, maybe currants, but I don't think
fruit would be the primary ingredient for a poultry stuffing. There
may be exceptions (isn't there something with quinces, somewhere?)
but even so, this would only support the idea that
apple-date-stuffed-under-the-skin chicken isn't totally
unprecedented. But that, in itself, doesn't make it period.

The only thing I can suggest, unless somebody here comes up with a
more specific reference, is that you ask the person who told you this
if they can provide you with more specific documentation.

Adamantius