[Sca-cooks] Redacting another Jewish dish (fwd)

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> I would be interested to know what the exact context was, which might
> indicate whether this is supposed to be the preferred preparation method,
> how knowledgeable the writer was about cookery, and also how interested the
> writer was in the clarity of the description.

The authors don't give enough information to tell _why_ the Swiss chard
recipe was so important, though it appears it is probably from the
testimony of Maria Alvarez's maid, Francesca, who would have been quite
knowledgeable about cookery. Presumably this was not the preferred
preparation method for old-Christian cooks. Whether it was a preferred
cooking method for Jews is not given. It's possible that the dish was
served on a special occasion, such as a funeral, since not eating meat at
a funeral was considered a symptom of Judaizing, or Francesca may have
been highlighting the use of oil instead of bacon fat.

Unfortunately, the source materials for the quotation are all in Spanish,
being published accounts of the Inquisition proceedings, and my Spanish
just isn't up to it.

-- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
 "in verbis et in herbis, et in lapidibus sunt virtutes"
(In words, and in plants, and in stones, there is power.)