[Sca-cooks] Italian Fried Custards?

[Stefan li Rous]

Maggie mentioned:
> I'm planning for Caid 12th night feast in January of next year, and
> that is why I've been asking about feast ervice, this, that, other
> stuff (especially regarding Apicius).
>
> One of the requests/suggestions I've gotten is to do the fried
> custards that they mention in "The Stars Compel. by Michaela Roessner".

Hmmm. What details do they give? "Custard" may cover a lot of items. Is 
this a custard which is then spooned onto a griddle and fried? Or is it 
enclosed in some kind of dough and then fried? The latter wounds a lot 
like a filled donut.

> I can't seem to find any references to it in the Scapi menus
> recommended by Helewyse, or in the Anonymous Venetian cookbook, or in
> libro del coch, or .. anywhere.
>
> I see lots of mundane references to fried ricotta as a dessert, but
> no references in the period cookbooks.

Is this ricotta breaded? Or just thrown into a pan of oil/grease? 
Ricotta doesn't seem all that close to a "custard" to me.

> Does anybody know if its referred to by a name other than fritelle di
> crema? or something?? maybe?

Well, I found the following recipe in Lady Brighid ni Chiarain's 
translation of Ruperto de Nola's
1529 "Libre del Coch". However, I'm not sure I would call this a 
"custard" despite the recipe title. That is why I asked earlier for 
just what was meant by "custard".

This recipe can be found in this file in the FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS section 
of the Florilegium:
Guisados1-art    (220K)  5/28/01    A translation of Ruperto de Nola's
                                        1529 "Libre del Coch", part 1 of 
2
                                        by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain.

> 136. Custard Which Is a fritter
>
> FLAONES QUE ES FRUTA DE SARTEN
>
> Take new cheese, and curds which should be very dry, and grind them 
> well in a mortar with as much again of eggs; and you can also put a 
> little of fat buttery cheese which should be grated and ground with 
> the new cheese, and the curds, all together with a little dried and 
> powdered mint; and then cast a little rosewater into the mortar, and 
> it should not be much, but medium, and then make dough of very good 
> flour, and knead it with sweet oil, which is very fine, and in such a 
> manner that it is very well-kneaded, and that it remains and becomes 
> very hard; and then make from the said dough some empanadillas to put 
> the cheese into; but before you put them in and you fill them, warm 
> the dough a little, however it should be firm; and after filling them 
> with the said pottage, and before the empanadillas or custards are all 
> filled, take some little tongs and shirr the edges. And then they go 
> to the fire to cook. And when they are cooked, that they have lost the 
> color on top and have a little color; then as they are hot, cast on 
> them melted honey or sugar syrup, but not made with rosewater; and 
> when they have absorbed the honey or the syrup, cast sugar and 
> cinnamon on top of them.

There are other fritter recipes in this manuscript which could be 
considered a custard too, I think.

> PS-- I've already come up with a really yummy version of cebollada to
> use, and I think its going o work just fine.

What is "cebollada"?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****