[Sca-cooks] Translation and BBQ Type Questions - German

[M C Grasse]

Greetings 'Brunhilda' 

sorry to be chiming in so late, I was getting ready for the wonderful 
Cooks Symposium that was this past weekend (waves at Kateryn, Kiri and 
the others!!!) in the Middle, and somehow managed to miss this whole 
thread (and the digests it should have been in.)

The first thing I see on your  transcription is that the (b) is 
actually an esszett, it is that sharp SS that does not exist on the 
modern American keyboard.  Also the K you have at the end of salk is a 
tz, another one of those letters they used that does not exist on the 
modern keyboard (American or German)

You already have translations of the words that puzzled you.  I would 
use a pork loin for the Rueckbraten.
Rumpolt designated it as Hungarian (style) because of the use of garlic.

The smoking and then grilling would sound like a fine way to prepare it 
for a feast, and you could likely smoke them for an hour or two on 
something (not hickory or mesquite) and then freeze them and finish 
them on the grill (or for simplicity sake even in the oven or a 
roaster) at the site.

As for the gent with the question about Rucksack - I dont have a German 
OED, but I would assume that since it is worn on the back 'Ruecken or 
Ruck' that Backsack is a possible interpretation.  


Greetings,

I am deep in the throes of teaching myself Renaissance German, and I
must say it isn't going too badly. But I do get stuck, and I am at
that point right now. First off here is the transcription and my
preliminary translation from the chapter on Swine Wild Caught:

27. Ungerische Braten an einem ha(b)len Spie(b) gebraten/ sonderlich
die Ruckbraten/ mit Salk und Knobloch gerieben/ darnach mit dem
Spie(b) in Rauch gehenckt/ unnd ein stundt oder zwo hengen lassen/
geschwindt hinweg gebraten/ und zum ersten gang auff die Bruh gelegt.

27. Hungarian Roast on a Hazel Spit Roasted/ especially the Rump Roast
(?)/ with salt and garlic rubbed/ thereafter with the Spit a smoke (?)
cooked (?)/ and let it hang for an hour or two/ take it (the spit)
away from the roast/ and for the first course arrange it with broth.

The obvious words that I am having difficulties with are Ruckbraten,
Rauch and gehenckt. Any thoughts on those would be greatly
appreciated.

The second question is for those BBQ and open fire cookers out there.
In trying to figure out how I would scale this up for a feast (and
actual spit roasting will not be possible in this situation) I was
considering a couple of options - both of which would involve needing
to get my hands on Hazel Wood.

One would be if I could get some small Hazel skewers. I thought if I
skewered them into the roasts and then cooked them on the grill with
relatively indirect heat then it would give whatever flavor that the
Hazel spit would.

The second idea was if I could get some Hazel wood chips like you use
in a smoker, soak them, and put them in a pan on the coals. This would
give a more smoking effect - but I think it might give an
approximation.

Being that I have never attempted any of this before I was wondering
if anyone out there had any pointers. I know that there are woods that
you really should not use for smoking because they will leave nasty
tastes - is Hazel wood one of those? I have searched the web for Hazel
wood chips but it does not seem to be something commonly used or
offered for smoking. Is that because you shouldn't use it or just
because people don't use it? And finally, does anyone have any idea
where I could get some? Wood that is?

I know this is kind of a crazy question but I would love any
assistance anyone could give.

Glad Tidings,
Serena da Riva
(and for this event aka)
Brunhilda der Koch