[Sca-cooks] Spanish Vigil Food
David Friedman
ddfr at daviddfriedman.com
Sat Nov 20 20:02:54 PST 2004
Anahita asked about food for the vigil of a Spanish-Islamic persona Laurel.
How about the stuffed tortillon, which is a
filled bread? (Recipe from our Miscellany below.)
I brought one to a Mists Investiture a year or
two back--I don't remember if you were there and
had a chance to try it.
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
Para Hazer Tortillon Relleno: To Make a Stuffed Tortillon
Diego Granado, Libro del arte de cozina, 1599
Tr. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann)
Knead two pounds of the flower of the flour with
six yolks of fresh eggs, and two ounces of
rosewater, and one ounce of leaven diluted with
tepid water, and four ounces of fresh cow's
butter, or pork lard which has no bad odor, and
salt, and be stirring said dough for the space of
half an hour, and make a thin leaf or pastry and
anoint it with melted fat which should not be
very hot, and cut the edges around, sprinkle the
pastry with four ounces of sugar, and one ounce
of cinnamon, and then have a pound of small
raisins of Corinth, which have been given a boil
in wine, and a pound of dates cooked in the same
wine, and cut small, and all of the said things
should be mixed together with sugar, cinnamon,
and cloves, and nutmeg, and put the said mixture
spread over the pastry with some morsels of cow's
butter, and beginning with the long end of the
pastry, roll it upwards, taking care not to break
the dough, and this tortillon or roll must not be
rolled more than three turns, so that it will
cook better, and it does not have to go very
tight. Anoint it on top with fat, not very hot.
It will begin to twist by itself at one end which
is not very closed, in such a manner that it
becomes like a snail. Have the pie pan ready
with a pastry of the same dough, somewhat fatty,
anointed with melted fat, and put the tortillon
lightly upon it without pressing it, and make it
cook in the oven, or under a large earthen pot
with temperate fire, tending it from time to time
by anointing it with melted cow's butter, and
being almost cooked, put sugar on top, and
rosewater, and serve it hot. The pie pan in
which you cook the tortillones must be wide, and
must have very low edges. [end of original]
Translator's notes: All of the recipes which bear
the name "tortillon" have a rolled-up pastry with
some kind of filling. If I had to translate the
Spanish, I would render it as something like
"roll-pastry". The noun "manteca" can mean either
butter or lard. I have translated "manteca de
vaca" as cow's butter, "manteca de puerco" as
pork lard, and undifferentiated "manteca" as fat.
dough:
2 lb = 7 c flour
4 oz = 1/2 c butter
6 egg yolks
2 oz = 4 T rose water
2 scant T dried yeast
1 1/4 c lukewarm water
2 t salt
filling:
1 lb = 3 1/2 c currents
1 lb = 3 1/2 c chopped dates
3 c wine
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4+ t nutmeg
1/8 t cloves
to use in making loaf:
1/2 c sugar
1 oz = 3 1/2 T cinnamon
2 T butter
~3 T melted butter
1 t rosewater
1 T sugar
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl; mix yeast
with warm water, beat egg yolks with rosewater,
melt 1/4 c butter. Make a well in the center of
the flour and pour the liquids into it, stir
together with a wooden spoon, then knead for
10-15 minutes, until smooth. (The original says
half an hour, but the extra quarter hour doesn't
seem to make much difference.) Let rise an hour
and 20 minutes. To prepare filling, bring wine to
a boil, add currents and dates and let boil two
minutes; drain and add sugar and spices. When
dough has risen, pinch off about an eighth of it
and spread it out flat in the bottom of a greased
11" pie pan; spread 1 t melted butter over it.
Spread the rest of the dough out on a floured
board to a rectangle ~21"x18", spread with 2 t
melted butter, and sprinkle on 1/4 c sugar and 1
oz cinnamon. Spread the filling on top of that;
dot with 2 T of butter in pieces. Roll up from
the long side and pinch together to seal, so that
the filling won't all ooze out. Coil on top of
the piece of dough in the pan and spread another
2 t of melted butter over the top. Let rise
another 10 minutes or so and put in a pre-heated
oven at 350°. Bake 50 minutes or so, taking out
once or twice to spread with more melted butter.
After 45 minutes baking, sprinkle with rosewater
and sugar, then put back in oven for another 5
minutes.
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