[Sca-cooks] Upcoming Italian Feast (long)

[Patrick Levesque]

Hi folks! Here's an overview of the Italian feast I'm putting together for
our initial Baronial Investiture (March 5th in Montreal, for those who'd
like to travel). 

Most of it is period, although the first and last dishes are somewhat
conjectural (see the notes for each dish)

I still have a few days to work with the recipes, so if you have any
suggestions feel free to comment!

Petru

---

Recipe sources, description,  notes and redaction (if any)

  I am first of all greatly indebted to Mistress Helewyse de Birkestad for
her public translation of the Anonimo Veneziano, from which I have taken a
few recipes. They are reproduced with her permission.
I used Terence Scully¹s translation of the Cuoco Napoletano and Mary Ella
Milham translation of De Volputa Honestate et Valetudine (excerpts provided
under the ŒFair Use¹ copyright clause).


Cheese Spreads (Apicius)

Original recipe : {315} Melcas: cum pipere et liquamine, uel sale, oleo et
coriandro

Notes : Melcas : with pepper and liquamen, or salt, oil and coriander,
Melcas is, as far as I can tell, some form of curdled milk (or milk curdled
with vinegar). It may have been similar to buttermilk, but I need to
research this topic a bit more. For convenience¹s sake I¹ve used instead
cottage cheese, mixed with the appropriate ingredients.

            This is a redaction that does not satisfy me properly (mostly
because it is still unclear to me what melcas is exactly). However I have
decided to include it in the feast in order to have a different kind of
spread than the usual honey butter.

 

Frog Legs (Platina, Book IX #41)

Translated Recipe : ... »We let the legs of those which are captured be
stripped of skin and soaked a night or day in fresh water. Then when they
have been rolled in meal, we fry them in oil. When they are fried and put in
a dish, my friend Palellus covers them with green sauce and sprinkles them
with fennel flowers and spices...

Notes : The forg legs are bought frozen. When thawed, I roll them in beaten
eggs, then in a mixture of flour, thyme and oregano, before frying them in
oil. I serve the green sauce (also from Platina, see below) on the side.

 

Green Sauce (Platina, Book VII #6)

Translated Recipe : Grind together a little parsley, thyme, chard or other
fragrant herbs, a moderate amound of ginger, also of cinnamon, and a bit of
salt. When they are ground, soak in sharp vinegar, and pass through a sieve
into a bowl. If garlic pleases you, add more or less according to taste.

Notes : Also fairly easy to recreate. I replaced the chard with mint (easier
to find) and added garlic, of course!

 

Raviolis (Anonimo Veneziano #LXIII)

Translated Recipe : If you want to make ravioli with herbs or with other
things, take herbs and peel (strip from stalks) and wash well.  Put them to
boil for a little time (parboil) and pull them out (of the pan) and squeeze
out all the water.  Beat them with a knife (chop) and then in a mortar
(grind).  Take fresh strained cheese, eggs and strong and sweet spices and
mix these all well together and make a paste.  Then take a thin layer of
pasta, in the way of lasagna sheets, and take a large measure (spoon) and
make the ravioli.  When they are made put them to cook and when they are
well cooked powder them above with enough spices and enough good cheese and
they are very good.

Notes : the only herb I¹ve used is spinach (prepared according to the
recipe, with a little helps from modern kitchen implements). Goat cheese has
been used for the stuffing, parmesan for dusting. The eggs have been dropped
out of the recipe has these were made in advance and frozen. I have adhered
to Mistress Helewyse¹s theory that the raviolis here are probably boiled in
water and salt. 

 

Veal and Fowl Torta (Veal pies in a baking dish - Cuoco Napoletano #71)

Translated Recipe : Get meat from the haunch of a calf, chop it up with a
little veal fat and a little cured ham; when thus chopped up, put it in a
pot or baking dish away from the fire, and have it well skimmed; you can ut
in pigeons, thrush, and other small birds and cockerels; when these meats
are half-cooked, get a small onion and chop it well, a little lardo, a small
amount of good spices and raisins, put this into the pot and cook it a
little more; then get verjuice, beaten eggs and more good spices and put
everything togeter in the baking dish and let it finish cooking; and you can
put in four or five whole egg yolks. Note that the cook must be judicious in
using those ingredients in quantities appropriate to the amount of the meat
and according to his master¹s taste.

Notes : I¹ve left out the cured ham in an attempt to have a pork-free dish.
Instead I addded a bit of salt with the spices to compensate. The pie
included/will include veal, chicken, quails and possibly pheasant. Since
these were presented as 9-inch pies (as opposed to full-sized tortas) I did
not leave the cooked birds whole but included only the meat. I also skipped
the extra egg yolks, which are implied to be optionnal.

 

Salad of Lettuce (Platina, Book IV #2)

Translated Recipe :  « ...Put it in a dish, sprinkle with ground salt, pour
in a little oil and more vinegar and eat at once. Some add a little mint and
parsley to it for seasoning so that it does not seem entirely bland... »

Notes : Well this is pretty straightforward too, isn¹t it?

 

Sour Cherry and Garlic Sauce (Platina - this is taken from two recipes, Book
VIII #18 and 19)

Amalgamated Translated recipe : #18 : Add to semicrushed almonds or nuts as
much as you want of clean garlic, and grind bst at the same time, as is
sufficient, sprinkling continually with a bit of water so it does not
produce oil. Put into the ground ingredients bread crumbs softened in meat
or fish stock, and grind again. If it seems too hard, it can be easily
softened in the same juice. #19 ... Do not soak in water or juice, but in
the must of red grapes, pressed by hand and cooked for a half hour. This can
even be done with cherry juice.

Notes : I use sour cherry juice, out of necessity (it is the only affordable
cherry juice I could find locally). I boil it down by one half. This is
necessary as otherwise your sauce will  have a nice Pepto-Bismol pinkish
tint. I prefer a more liquid texture, rather than pasty, so I go easy on the
almonds and breadcrumbs. (It is possible, of course, that the Pepto-Bismol
pink color and pasty texture were desireable elements in period. Either
interpretations are plausible).  For both these recipes no usage is
specified - whether they are a sidedish or incorporated into a dish is not
always specified in this chapter. I have used this sauce is baste the meat
before a final run in the oven. It adds a nice, colorful and tasty finish to
the ribs. 

 

Sprouts of Health (Anonimo Veneziano #XXII)

Translated Recipe : If you want to make sprouts of life, take the rounded
cabbage sprouts and boil them for a little while.  When they are a
par-boiled take them off the heat and strain away all the water.  And then
fry them well in plenty of fat.  Take verjuice, parsley, water, spices and
salt and mix them well together before putting them on top (of the sprouts),
and let them boil well together.  Then take a little marjoram, temper it
with water and put it above (the dish) and it will be good.

Notes : the fat used here is butter, out of concern for vegetarians.
Otherwise this recipe is pretty easy to follow.

 

Mushrooms (Anonomo Veneziano #XXV)

Translated Recipe : If you want to make mushrooms, take dried mushrooms and
put them to soak in hot water and wash them well.  Then boil them a little
and make them cook how you want and prefer.  Then take onions and herbs and
season with strong and sweet spices, and then add the mushrooms and fry
everything together.  Take unpeeled almonds and grind them and then put on
top of the mushroom dish, alternatively you can add verjuice and it needs to
be served hot.

Notes : thankfully we have fresh mushrooms all year round! I skipped the
first part of the recipes. The mushrooms were sautéed in oil with the
onions, herbs, spices (cloves, nutmeg and peppet) and garnished with
powdered almonds. 

 

Swan-Shaped Creampuffs

Notes : This is where I break with the Italian tradition. There are recipes
for whipped cream as snow in Sabina Welserin (#55) or in the Ouverture de
Cuisine, and as Trifle in Ladyes Delight, amongst other sources. Sabina
Welserin¹s recipe is interesting in that it serves the the snow on a slice
of bread. 

            There are fewer recipes for Œpâte à chou¹ (creampuff dough). You
find one variant in Welserin as well (#85) and another in the OOP ŒDélices
de la Campagne¹ (1655) under ŒChou¹ or ŒPoupelain¹.
            The swan-shape pastry is shamelessly swiped from the Larousse
Gastronomique. Although I can not prove its appearance in period, this is
the kind of sotlety that would have been amusing during a feast.