[Sca-cooks] 14th c Italian cookbook (long)

[a5foil]

Brighid scripsit:
> I checked "The Original
> Mediterranean Cuisine" by Barbara Santich.  She has both of those
> recipes in her book, with the original recipe, a translation, and a
> redaction.  She expresses the opinion that "amido" is an error, and that
> the word should be almonds.

There is a recipe for chicken with lemon sauce in the Sent Sovi (Catalan)
which uses almond milk -- it specifically calls for peeled almonds -- as the
base for the sauce. And I agree that the instructions would work with
almonds. On the other hand, the transcription in Santich's book uses the
word "amido" twice. So either the scribe did not recognize the word for
almonds, which I find hard to believe, or it really is "amido". And the
instructions would work equally well with wheat starch. Either way you would
have the thickener tempered with broth and strained to remove any solid
bits.

I sure would like to see the manuscript ...

Cynara