[Sca-cooks] Protectorate Feast-Part II

[Terry Decker]

Zanzarelli

Per fare zanzarelli

Per farne dece menestra; togli octo ova et mesa libra de caso grattugiato,
et un pane grattato, et mescola ogni cose inseme. Dapoi togli una pignatta
con brodo di carne giallo di safrano et ponila al focho; et como comincia a
bollire getta dentro quella matefa'le menestre, et mittivi del le spetie di
sopra.



To make zanzarelli. To make ten platefuls, take eight eggs, half a libra of
grated cheese, and breadcrumbs, and mix these things together. Then take a
pot of meat broth colored yellow with saffron and put it on the fire; and
when it begins to boil put in this mixture and stir with a spoon. And when
it seems to have thickened, then remove the pot from the fire and serve up,
then sprinkle with spices.

Martino, Maestro, Libro de arte coquinaria

20 ounces of broth or stock

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon of grated or shredded romano or parmesan cheese

1 Tablespoon fine breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon each of black pepper, cinnamon and ginger, blended

2 threads of saffron (if desired)

Whisk the eggs in a bowl

Add the cheese and the breadcrumbs and whisk until evenly dispersed and the
mixture thickens.

Put the broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Add the saffron, remove from the heat and let stand for a few minutes to
permit the saffron to color the broth.

Return the broth to the heat and bring to a second boil.

Add the egg mixture and whisk until the ingredients are blended into the
broth. Remove from heat.

Add the spice blend 1/4 teaspoon at a time, whisking them into the broth,
until the desired taste is reached.

Makes 3 cups of soup.



The recipe produces a rich soup similar to egg drop soup.

Adding more cheese and breadcrumbs will thicken the soup, This adaptation is
a little thin. The original recipe calls for about 6 ounces each of cheese
and bread for between a half gallon to a gallon of soup.

Spices should be added by taste, as fresh spices may require less than
specified in the recipe.

This was the third recipe that received the most favorable comment.



Limonia

De limonia

Ad limoniam faciendam, suffrigantur pulli cum lardo et cepis. Et amigdale
mundate terantur, distemperentur cum brodio carnis et colentur. Que
coquantur cum dictis pullis et speciebus. Et si non habentur amigdale,
spissetur brodium cum uitellis cuorum. Et si fuerit prope horum scutellandi,
pone ibi succum limonium uel limiarum uel citangulorum.



Limonia. To make limonia, fry chickens with fat and onions. And crush some
skinned almonds moistened with meat broth, and strain. Cook with the
chickens and spices. If you have no almonds, thicken the broth with egg
yolks. When the time to serve nears, add the juice of lemons, limes or
bitter oranges.

Liber de coquina

1 chicken cut into pieces or pieces of chicken for all at the table

1 cup almonds or two egg yolks

2 cups chicken broth

2 small onions sliced thin

3 Tablespoons olive oil or 2 ounces of salt pork

salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon of cloves

1/4 teaspoon of ginger

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

juice of 1 lemon

Crush the almonds to a mealy consistence, adding hot broth to form a thick
liquid.

Strain the almond liquor through a fine cloth (muslin kitchen towel, three
or four layers of fine cheesecloth, etc.

Squeeze out as much of the almond milk as possible.

Heat a skillet and render the salt pork or use olive oil.

Remove the rendered fat.

Brown the onions and the chicken together.

Salt to taste and sprinkle with spices.

Add the almond milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30
to 40 minutes.

Add the lemon juice.

Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and serve.

Serves four to eight.

After browning the chicken in a skillet, these were panned and baked at 425
degrees F until done. The broth was thickened with egg yolks rather than
almonds.



Brodo of fish

Del brodo del pesce

Pesce ben lavato, quanto si conviene; friggilo con l'oglio abbundantemente,
poi lassa freddare; poi abbi cipolle tagliate per transverso; friggile con
oglio rimanente del pesce; poi prendi amandole monde, uva secca, tenula
secca a prugne, e friggi con le dette cipolle insieme, e leva via l'oglio
che avanza, e togli pepe e saffarano, e altre spezie elette, bene trite, e
distempera con le cipolle predette, e vino e aceto; e, distemperato
fortemente, metti a fuoco fino che bolla; poi levalo dal fuoco, e poni in
altro vaso, e mettilo ordinatamente a solaio col pesce predetto. E se 'l
volessi dolce, ponvi o vino cotto, o succaro competentemente.



Brodo of fish. Take as much well washed fish as you need; fry it in plenty
of oil, then let it cool, then take the onions sliced crosswise; fry them in
the oil left from the fish; then take skinned almonds, raisins, dried
elecampane, and prunes, and fry them together with the onions, and remove
the excess oil. Take pepper, saffron, and other selected spices,finely
pounded, and mix with the onions,and wine and vinegar; and when it is
thoroughly blended put it on the fire until it boils; then take it off the
fire, and put into another container; put it in alternating layers with the
fish. And if you like it sweet, add either boiled wine or sugar in the
appropriate quantity.

Libro della cucina secolo XIV

1 lb filet of whitefish

olive oil

1 small onion thinly sliced

1/4 cup blanched almonds

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup prunes

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

salt

1/4 cup sweet wine

2 Tablespoons wine vinegar

Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the fish filets. Remove skin before or
after frying.

Set the cooked filets aside to cool.

Add the onion slices to the skillet and saute until they just begin to
brown, then, stirring, add the almonds, raisins, prunes, spices and salt to
taste. Continuing to stir add the wine and vinegar. Simmer for ten to twenty
minutes. Be sure the mixture doesn't burn.

Layer the fish and the sauce into a serving dish. Serve cold or lukewarm.

A sprinkle of sugar or some sweet wine can be added if a sweeter dish is
desired.

Serves four.



For large quantities, the sauce and fish will need to be prepared separately
and cutting the filets into smaller pieces may permit the dish to be spread
among more people.

The elecampane (Inula helenium) is not readily available and there is no
information about what part of the plant was used in cooking, although the
roots were used medicinally.

Only about 1/3 of the sauce needed got prepared and as a consequence, the
fish was dry. I used whiting to cut costs and the filets were breaking
apart, fortunately, I had planned to break the filets into pieces for ease
of service. I experimented with using a convection oven to cook the filets
in olive oil to speed the cooking. There was no appreciable taste
difference. Almond slivers were left off because of some known allergies
among the diners.





Kidney beans

Fasoli

Coce li fasoli in aqua pura ho in bono brodo, he quando serano cotti, tole
cipolle tagliate suttile he frigele in patella cum bono olio he mette de
sopra questa cipolle cum pipero he canella, he zaffrano; poi lassali
reposare sopra la cinere calda una pezo; et poi fa le menestre cun specie
bone de sopra.



Cook the kidney beans in pure water or good broth, when they are cooked, get
finely sliced onions and fry them in a pan with good oil and put these fried
onions on top along with pepper, cinnamon and saffron; then let this sit a
while on the hot coals; dish it up with good spices on top.

Cuoco Napoletano

10 oz dried blackeyed peas

olive oil

1 small onion thinly sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 or 3 threads of saffron (if desired)

Wash the blackeyed peas thorougly and let soak for several hours or
overnight.

Drain.

Place the beans in a pot and cover with water. Add the salt.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until tender.

Add the pepper, cinnamon and saffron.

In a skillet brown the onion.

Garnish the top of the blackeyed peas with the onion. Let simmer for 10 to
15 minutes longer.

Spice to taste and serve.

Serves eight.



In the context of a 15th Century Italian recipe, the legume in question is
the black-eyed pea rather than a modern kidney bean.

The spices were mixed and put in a shaker to sprinkle on the blackeyed peas.
Do a taste test to determine how much to put on. We didn't and the dish was
too bland.



Peas with salt pork

Piselli cum carne salada

Piglia piselli cum la scorza he falli dare uno bullore; he piglia carne
salata verzellata he tagliata in fette sotile longe mezo digito, he frigele
uno pocho; poi metta li diti piselli a frigere cum la dita carne he meteli
uno pocho de agresto, uno pocho de sabba he zucaro he canella. Cusi si po
fare cum li fasoli.



Get peas in the shell and bring them to a boil, get marbled salt pork and
cut it into slices half a finger long, and fry then a little; then set the
peas to fry with the pork; and add a little verjuice, a little must, sugar
and cinnamon. The same can be done with beans.

Cuoco Napoletano

1 lb fresh or frozen peas in the shell

1 oz salt pork

1 Tablespoon verjuice

1 Tablespoon must or grape juice

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a sauce pan.

Add the peas, cook until tender. Drain.

Slice the salt pork into strips about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide.

Place salt pork in skillet and cook over low medium heat until translucent.

Add the peas to the skillet and fry stirring occasionally until the salt
pook is brown.

Stir in the verjuice, must, sugar and cinnamon.

Remove and serve. Serves 4 to 8.



Baked Cheese Bread

Crostata de Caso et Pane

Piglia pane he getta via la crosta, he fa fette suttile he bruscule a lo
foco che siano colorite; dapoi inbratale cum butiro frsco, he ponerai de
sopra zucaro, canella; et poi habe fette de caso grasso he metelo sopra
questo pane cum de sopra ancora zucaro he canella; poi mette queste fette in
una padella de torta sopra le cinere cum lo coperto de sopra cum braxa; et
como lo caso sia squagilato, manda presto a tavola.



Get bread, remove the crust, slice it thin and toast it on the fire to color
it, then coat the slices with fresh butter and put sugar and cinnamon on
top, then get slices of creamy cheese and put them on the toast with sugar
and cinnamon on top; then put the slices into a torte pan and put this on
the coals with the lid on and coals on top; when the cheese has melted,
serve it quickly.

8 slices of white sandwich bread

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Whipped butter or margarine

Slices of cheese to cover the bread

Mix cinnamon and sugar in a clean salt or pepper shaker.

Toast the slices of bread and trim the crust.

Butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Place the slices of bread on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.

Top the buttered bread with the slices of cheese.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Place the pan in a 300 degree F oven until the cheese begins to melt.

Remove and serve.

Serves eight.

With the fresh spices, we wound up using 4T sugar to 1T cinnamon. The bread
needs to be a little stale to make good crisp toast. The cheese slices need
to be sliced a thicker than deli slices. Try making a slice of cinnamon
toast to taste to find out how heavy to spice the toast.