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> Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 05:16:40 -0500 (CDT)
> From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
> Subject: SC - My Translation - Roast Cat Recipe
>
> Greetings from Alys Katharine.  Here is something I did a number of
> years ago...
>
> Two Recipes from Ruperto Nola's _Libro de Guisados_
>
> Translated by Alys Katharine (Elise Fleming)
>
> In 1929 Dionisio Perez, also known as "Post-Thebussem", put into modern
> print the 1529 edition of Ruperto Nola's _Libro de Guisados_ with
> copius footnotes and commentary on vocabulary.  It was published under
> Pedro Sainz y Rodrigues, Catedratico of the University of Madrid, Vol.
> IX, Los Clasicos Olvidados, Nueva Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles.
>
> At the beginning of the Glossary, Dionisio Perez comments briefly on
> his work.  This is a rough translation.  Except where noted, all
> footnotes are mine.
>
> "I have preferred to become familiar with the second Spanish edition
> made in Logrono in 1529 by Miguel de Eguia at the request (paid by)
> Diego Perez Davila, mayor of that city, since it is a more perfect and
> cleaner copy than the first, printed in Toledo in 1525.  In 1538  and
> 1543 Nola's work was reprinted, without an indication as to place.  In
> 1577 another edition was done in Toledo.  I am not familiar with any
> later editions.  In the _Encyclopedia Espasa_ a 1568 edition is noted
> to which the title page of the second edition is attributed, which
> appears here. (1)  Torres Amat notes an edition done in Toledo in 1477.
>  In the 'Prologue" I give a history detailing these editions.
>
> "The few biographical references that remain about Nola come from the
> 'Memoria para ayudar a formar un diccionario critico de los escritores
> catalanes' (Barcelona, 1836), edited by Torres Amat, and doesn't
> specify which of the three Hernandos or Fernandos of Naples had Nola as
> a cook.  In the 'Prologue' some facts and dates are set forth on this
> matter."
>
> The first recipe on page 124 caught my eye.  It is offered for
> historical interest only.  I don't intend to try it!
>
> (1)  I am uncertain about the translation of this sentence.
>
> Roast Cat as One Likes to Eat It (p. 124)
>
> You will take the cat that is fat.  You have to slit its throat.  After
> it has died, cut off the head and throw it away because it isn't
> edible.  They say that by eating its brains one can lose one's own
> brains, sense of judgment and reason.  After skinning it very cleanly,
> open it up and clean it out well.  Then wrap it in a clean linen cloth
> and bury it in the ground where it has to lie for a day and a night.
> Then remove it from there and put it to roast in a roaster and roast it
> on the fire.  When beginning to roast, rub it with good garlic and oil.
>  When you have finished greasing it beat it well with a switch (bundle
> of twigs?) (2)  This you have to do until it is well roasted, oiling it
> and beating it.  And when it is roasted, cut it up as if it were a
> rabbit or kid and put it on a large platter.  Take garlic and oil
> (?liquified?) with a good broth so that it is (?quite thin?) and cast
> it over the cat.  You can eat it because it is good table fare.
>
> Note:  According to a note by Dionisio Perez, cat was served disguised
> as rabbit in taverns in the poorer sections of towns, but it was also
> eaten and known to be cat in homes of decided taste.  Cat meat is firm
> and flexible.  Interring it isn't enough to tenderize it.  It needs
> beating during cooking, according to Perez's notes.
>
> (2)  After I did my translation I found one that Nige of the Cleftlands
> had done.  She noted that the "switch" was probably a bundle of
> rosemary used to impart a flavor and sort of tenderize the meat when
> cooking.  She cited another source where rosemary twigs were used to
> beat a piece of meat while cooking.

There is further elaboration and explanations of terms in this recipe by
Brighid ni Chiarain and others which can also be found in this file.
--
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 ****