[Sca-cooks] "Fresh" Cheese Question

[Johnna Holloway]

And to muddy the waters even further there is another of these recipes.
The "Auther Tartus" is indexed in the Concordance as another Tart out of 
Lente.
It's in Harl. 4016

Auter Tartus. ¶ Take faire nessℏ chese that is buttry, and par hit, 
grynde hit in a morter; caste therto faire creme and grinde hit togidre; 
temper hit with goode mylke, that hit be no thikker þen̄ rawe creme, and 
cast thereto a litul salt if nede be; And thi chese be salte, caste 
thereto neuer a dele; colour hit witℏ saffron̄; then̄ make a large coffyn̄ 
of faire paste, & lete the brinkes be rered more þen̄ an enche of hegℏ; 
lete þe coffyn̄ harden̄ in þe oven̄; þen̄ take it oute, put gobettes of 
butter in the bothom̄ thereof, And caste the stuffe there-to, and caste 
peces of buttur there-vppon̄, and sette in þe oven̄ witℏ-oute lydde, and 
lete bake ynowe, and then̄ cast sugur thereon̄, and serue it fortℏ. And if 
þou wilt, lete him haue a lydde; but þen̄ thi stuff most be as thikke as 
Mortrewes.

Johnnae

Doc wrote:
> I believe this is the one that Her Excellency is
> referring to:
>
> For tarts owte of lente. Take neshe chese and pare hit
> and grynd hit yn A morter and breke egges and do ther
> to and then put yn buttur and creme and mell all well
> to gethur put not to moche butter ther yn if the chese
> be fatte make A coffyn of dowe and close hit a bove
> with dowe and collor hit a bove with the yolkes of
> eggs and bake hit well and serue hit furth.
> [Gentyll manly Cokere (MS Pepys 1047)]
>
> Yes?
>
> If so, then I see something else interesting.  "Take
> neshe chese and pare hit ..."  If this recipe were
> calling for something like ricotta or freshly-made
> cheese then pareing it (removing any rind, mold, dry
> part, etc) wouldn't make much sense.
>
>
> --- Elise  wrote:
>
>   
>
>> Aha!  So in that case, a Cheshire or Wensleydale
>> would fit since they are
>> fairly soft, agreed?
>>     
>
> Both look like reasonable candidates - provided that
> the Cheshire isn't one that was colored bright orange
> with annato or whatever.
>
>   
>> Which mozzarella would you choose?  The fresh one
>> (which is easy to get
>> here) or the regular pizza-type mozzarella?
>>     
>
> Really it would depend on my mood and budget.  Though,
> thinking now about the "pare hit" part now, I'd
> probably go with the pizza type since it's a bit
> drier.
>
> snipped
>
> - Doc (who feels like he just muddied the waters)
>
>
>