[Sca-cooks] making vinegar

[Sandra Kisner]

>>Stere Htt Well ("A book of medieval refinements, recipes and remedies 
>>from a manuscript in Samuel Pepys's library" - Pepys Library ms 1047) has 
>>a recipe.  Though the Pepys is OOP, the ms. is perhaps 15th 
>>century.  This is a facing-page translation, with no redactions.  The 
>>Introduction by Delia Smith, on the other hand, is one of those hideous 
>>"disguise the smell and  flavour of decaying flesh" sorts of things 
>>(thank goodness for libraries).
>
>The modern English translations are also unreliable. It's the source for 
>our "that no egg may escape" translation anecdote--the translator knew 
>about the 15th c. word for egg, and as a result mistranslated "air" as 
>"egg." The recipe has no eggs in it.
>--
>David/Cariadoc

I'm not surprised.  I mostly just flipped through the book to see what was 
in it, and noticed some translations that, while not wrong, involved word 
changes that didn't seem necessary.  The one that comes to mind involved 
hollowing out a parboiled onion, but I've returned the book and don't 
remember the exact words.  Something like "take out the core" vs. "remove 
the inward parts."

Sandra