[Sca-cooks] Help: Word Translation

[Terry Decker]

OED gives Jussel as a general term for mince or hotch-potch.  The particular 
recipe at which you are looking, I would modernly call "bread dressing," 
which, if I used it to stuff a bird or something, would then be "bread 
stuffing."  You might translate this recipe to "a mince of bread in broth."

Bear


> I'll be teaching a class in redacting recipes in the next couple of
> weeks, and the recipe I've chosen as an example is from Two Fifteenth
> Cookery Books.
>
> The recipe is:
>
> Guissell. (Note: Taken from Douce MS.) Take faire capon broth, or of
> beef, And sette hit ouer the fire, and caste therto myced sauge,
> parcelly and saffron, And lete boile; And streyn the white and the
> yolke of egges thorgh a streynour, and caste there-to faire grated
> brede, and medle hit togidre with thi honde, And caste the stuff to
> the broth into the pan; And stirre it faire and softe til hit come
> togidre, and crudded; And then serue it forth hote.
>
> I have found the translations into modern English online, however
> the word "Guissełł" itself is not translated.
>
> Now I did find on Cindy Renfrow's website the following in her
> glossary:
>
> Iusselle,  Iuschelle, Iussell, Jussel, Jossel, Jossle, Juselle,
> Gusschelle, and Guissell =   The name comes from O.Fr. jussel,
> meaning juice or broth, and derives
> from Latin juscellum meaning
> soup. Some recipes contain fish roe; some use just breadcrumbs mixed
> with eggs and chopped herbs. This mixture is poured into boiling
> broth and stirred until it comes together as a mass. This is then
> taken up and served.  A familiar modern equivalent would be
> StoveTop(tm) Stuffing.
>
> However, I'm concerned that translating it to "broth" is a bit
> misleading to the what this dish is. However, I'm not sure "stuffing"
> is appropriate either since it is not used to stuff anything with.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Euriol