[Sca-cooks] Swallenberg Sauce

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Quite a long time ago, we discussed here 
Swallenberg Sauce from "daz Buch von guter Spise".

It seems that there was an error in the 
translation in a version of the a recipe commonly 
available on the Internet, one which many of us 
cooks have perpetuated. In fact, i did it myself.

I would like to correct the error on my website. 
That is, while i cannot change what i did at a 
feast a few years ago, i'd like to add a 
corrected translation and some notes.

However, with the death of my hard drive in 
February, all my personal archives are lost, 
including about 5 years of messages from this 
list... so i can't find our previous discussion. 
Here i am sort of resurrecting it - albeit we no 
doubt have some different listees now.

Here's a version of original recipe:
49. Ein gut salse
Nim win und honigsaum. setze daz uf daz fiur und 
laz ez sieden. und tu dar zu gestozzen ingeber me 
denne pfeffers. stoz knobelauch. doch niht al zu 
vil und mach ez stark. und ruerez mit eyer 
schinen. laz ez sieden biz daz ez [word in 
dispute: brünnien (Atlas) brinnen (Adamson)] 
beginne. diz sal man ezzen in kaldem wetere und 
heizzet swallenberges salse.
(Alia Atlas, http://cs-people.bu.edu/akatlas/Buch/recipes.html )
(Melitta Weiss Adamson, page 77 (see below for ref.)

Here's the Atlas translation:
49. A good sauce.
Take wine and honey. Set that on the fire and let 
it boil. And add thereto pounded ginger more than 
pepper. Pound garlic, but not all too much, and 
make it strong and give it impetus with egg 
whites. Let it boil until it begins to become 
brown. One should eat this in cold weather and is 
called Swallenberg sauce.

Here's the Adamson translation:
49. A good sauce.
Take wine and honey, put that on the fire, let it 
boil, and add ground ginger more than pepper. 
Pound garlic, not too much, however, make it 
strong, and stir with a stick. Let it boil until 
it starts smoking. This you should eat in cold 
weather, and is called Sauce a la Swallenberg.

The two biggest differences, beyond mere turn of phrase are:
(1) Original: und ruerez mit eyer schinen
(1a) Atlas: and give it impetus with egg whites.
(1b) Adamson: and stir with a stick.

The first (1) changes the ingredients.

(2) Original, Atlas: laz ez sieden biz daz ez brunnien beginne.
Original, Adamson: laz ez sieden biz daz es brinnen beginne.
(2a) Atlas: Let it boil until it begins to become brown.
(2b) Adamson: Let it boil until it starts smoking.

The second (2) changes the cooking. Atlas appears 
to have changed the first "i" to a "u", which 
seems to change the meaning of the German word. 
Adamson acknowledges removing the "i" in the 
second syllable. However, in Adamson footnote 26, 
page 103, that Lemmer/Schultz, 65, translate 
"brinnien" as "glasig werden", a term used for 
fried onions or garlic just before they turn 
golden brown. This looks to me like "becomes 
glassy", i.e., translucent... Or am i way off 
here, German speakers? Anyway, based on the foot 
note in Adamson, i would cook it as Atlas 
recommends.

So, ultimately, it appears to me that some 
combined version of the two is more accurate - 
leaving out the egg white (which made the sauce 
an interesting green color, but otherwise didn't 
seem to alter it exceedingly) and NOT bringing it 
to the stage where it "smokes" - unless "smoking" 
here implies that one can see vapors escaping...

What think you all?

Anahita

--- Bibliographic Reference ---
Melitta Weiss Adamson
Daz bouch von gouter spise (The Book of Good Food)
A Study, Edition, and English Translation of the Oldest German Cookbook
Medium Aevum Quotidianum
Herausgegaeben von Gerhard Jaritz
Sonderband IX
Krems (Oesterrich) 2000
ISBN 3-90 1094 12 1

Purchased from Devra of Poison Pen Press