[Sca-cooks] peacocks

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Jun 12, 2006, at 2:01 PM, Susan Fox wrote:

> You've had this turkey, you must have, it's one of my standards.  It
> came from one of our least favorite sources actually, "The Delectable
> Past" which took a period recipe of turkey pieces stewed with
> raspberries and transformed to a whole turkey with raspberry glaze on
> the outside.  It's still pretty tasty, whether "period" or not.  I'll
> have to make it for some other event.

Tasty is certainly a plus.

I remembered this combination from Wheaton's "Savoring the Past", and  
went and checked both books. Aresty's version is a pretty  
straightforward roast turkey with a raspberry glaze, which she  
compares to baking a ham for basic method. She calls this Turkey a la  
Varenne. Wheaton also includes a recipe for turkey with raspberries,  
but hers involves stuffing things under the skin of the turkey before  
cooking, and saucing it with a number of ingredients, of which  
raspberries are an optional part.

However, she does include la Varenne's recipe (c. ~ 1653 C ),  
unfortunately without a translation, and my French isn't that  
advanced. I think his original calls for the skin to be slipped off,  
the meat removed, chopped with additional veal, bacon, and some other  
stuff, then placed back into the skin and roasted as a faux turkey,  
with raspberries included in the sauce if they're in season.

Maybe someone (Anne-Marie???) has this in translated form? If not, at  
some point, maybe tonight, I'll type it in in French...

Adamantius