[Sca-cooks] Virtual Cooking Contest

Sat May 29 00:12:47 PDT 2004

Here is my entry:

In my shoebox will be:
[I am guestimating that this will go in a
shoebox. The spices will be in small packets]

8 eggs
several slices of rye bread
parmesan cheese (1/4 lb)
butter (1 lb)
lard (1 lb)
sugar (1 lb)
salt (1 cup)
pepper
saffron
ginger
cinnamon
cloves
cardamom
raisins (1/2 cup)
currants (1/4 cup)
olive oil (1/4 cup)
vinegar (1/4 cup)
hyssop (1/4 cup)
chard (3/4 cup)
sage (1/4 cup)
anise

A German Feast in honor of St. Boniface, patron
saint of Germany, whose feast day is June 5th.

First course:

To make capons or hens in a glass 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533 

Take a capon, or a hen, which should not be
especially large, or a rooster. Scald it well and
make it very clean, and when it is scalded, cut
open the skin from around the neck for about a
finger's length. Otherwise let the skin be
entirely undamaged. Draw the neck completely out
of the skin, in such a way that the wings are 
also skinned in this manner, until the small 
bones in the front are completely caught up in 
the skin. After that pull the skin from it as far
as the knee, and that so that the feet and the
head remain caught up in the skin. And when you
have taken out the large bones and the flesh of
the capon, or the hen, and emptied the skin
completely, then take a white silk thread and sew
the capon closed again. After that put one leg
after the other into a glass vessel. And if the
capon has claws on the feet, cut them off. Next
put the skin entirely inside as far as the head,
which does not go into it. You can cut it off.
Then take the capon meat and chop it small. When
it is finely chopped, then put an egg and good
spices thereon, a little saffron, as much as one
stuffs in a small hen for roasting, and with a
funnel stuff it through the beak into the capon.
Then the skin is once again filled, as if the
capon were whole. Afterwards set the glass vessel
into a pot of water and let it cook therein, then
see you, that it is right. Slaughter the chicken
or the capon only when it is to be prepared, so
that it is not torn in the front. Pay attention
afterwards to proceed carefully, so that the skin
is not torn and remains whole. 

To make goose giblets 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533
[Nota bene: Instead of goose giblets, I will be
using chicken giblets]

Take goose blood, take the feet, wings, stomach
and neck and boil them in half water and half
wine. Grate rye bread, fry it in fat, add to it
also the blood from a goose and wine and some of
broth in which the goose was cooked, sugar,
ginger, pepper, cinnamon, cloves and let the
peppersauce cook for a long while, as much as
three hours. Then brown a few onions in fat and
add the fat to the peppersauce, and when you 
would serve it sprinkle ginger thereon. 

To make an herb tart 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533 

Take spinach, blanch it and chop it and grate
Parmesan cheese into it, a little pepper, small
raisins, melted butter therein. Salt it and bake
and make a tart out of it, as one normally makes
covered tarts

To make a pastry dough for all shaped pies 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533

Take flour, the best that you can get, about two
handfuls, depending on how large or small you
would have the pie. Put it on the table and with 
a knife stir in two eggs and a little salt. Put
water in a small pan and a piece of fat the size
of two good eggs, let it all dissolve together 
and boil. Afterwards pour it on the flour on the
table and make a strong dough and work it well,
however you feel is right. If it is summer, one
must take meat broth instead of water and in the
place of the fat the skimmings from the broth.
When the dough is kneaded, then make of it a 
round ball and draw it out well on the sides with
the fingers or with a rolling pin, so that in the
middle a raised area remains, then let it chill 
in the cold. Afterwards shape the dough as I have
pointed out to you. Also reserve dough for the
cover and roll it out into a cover and take water
and spread it over the top of the cover and the
top of the formed pastry shell and join it
together well with the fingers. Leave a small
hole. And see that it is pressed together well, 
so that it does not come open. Blow in the small
hole which you have left, then the cover will 
lift itself up. Then quickly press the hole
closed. Afterwards put it in the oven. Sprinkle
flour in the dish beforehand. Take care that the
oven is properly heated, then it will be a pretty
pastry. The dough for all shaped pastries is made
in this manner

To bake sour cherry puffs 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533

Take hot water, lay fat the size of a walnut into
it, and when the fat is melted, then make a 
batter with flour, it should be thick. Beat it
until it bubbles, after that thin it with egg
whites. If you like, you can also put a few egg
yolks into it. Tie four sour cherries together,
dip them in the batter and fry them. Shake the
pan, then they will rise. The fat must be very
hot. 

Second course:

Apricot soup
>From Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, c. 1581 

Take apricots/ and crush them with the seed (I
would hope they only mean the kernel inside the
pit)/ they be dried or green (fresh)/ spread
(through a sieve) them with cinnamon and wine/ 
and make them well sweet/ let it come to a boil
therewith/ so it is good 

Pike in May butter 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533
[Nota bene: since the fish is already salted, I
will only boil it in wine and water.]

Take a pike, let it come to a boil in salted wine
with water, and when it is half done, then draw
the skin off of it and put the flesh in a pan and
put a large amount of fresh butter, good wine,
ginger and cinnamon thereon. Do not oversalt it
and let it cook together. Do not make too much
sauce.

If you would make a Polish sauce for pike 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533

Chop onions small, one to six, according to how
large they are, put them in a clean pan with pea
broth, let it cook for half of a quarter hour and
put the pieces of pike into it, salt it and 
season it well with pepper and color it yellow.
And let it cook together well, until the pike is
done. After that, serve it. 

To make Bohemian peas 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533

Take one and a half ounces of peas, cook them
until dry, so that they are not too wet, and 
pound them in a mortar, so that they become a 
fine mush. Put good wine on them, ginger,
cinnamon, cardamom and sugar. Serve it cold,
sprinkle it with sugar. It is a good and lordly
dish.

Third course:

Venison sausage boiled in beer.

Since the sausage is already made I will boil
it in a "suitable broth", i.e. beer.

To make venison sausage 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533 

Take the liver and the lungs from a red deer, 
also good roast meat and deer fat, bacon, spices,
saffron, ginger and mace as well, chop it all
together and cook the sausage in a suitable 
broth. 

Red cabbage
>From Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, c. 1581 
[Nota bene: since it was not specified what
kind of cabbage is in the box, I am presuming
it to be red cabbage.]

33. Take a red head lettuce (red cabbage)/ cut it
nicely small/ and poach it a little in warm 
water/ then cool it quickly/ season it with
vinegar and oil/ and when it soaks a while in the
vinegar/ it gets nicely red.

An herb tart 
"Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin." 1533

First, take a small handful of hyssop, mint, 
chard and sage. There should be three times more
of chard than of the other herbs, according to 
how large one will make the tart. Take clarified
butter and fry the herbs named above therein, 
take raisins, small currants and sugar, as much 
as you feel is right. Take then eight eggs, beat
them carefully into that which is described above
and make a pastry shell with an egg and bake it
slowly 

Baked Pears
>From Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, c. 1581 
[Nota bene: since the box contents says "assorted
fresh fruits, including ..." I am presuming that
there will be pears in the basket.]

26. Baked pears. Peel and cut them into pieces/
lay them on a bowl/ and sprinkle them with 
[sugar] coated anise/ or with fennel/ sprinkle
crushed sugar thereover/ so they are good and
welltasting.

This has been an interesting challenge.  I hope
that you enjoy my entry.

Huette

=====
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they 
shall never cease to be amused.

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