[Sca-cooks] Help: Word Translation

Gretchen Beck grm at andrew.cmu.edu
Thu Jun 12 14:39:25 PDT 2008



--On Friday, June 13, 2008 9:11 AM +1200 Antonia Calvo 
<ladyadele at paradise.net.nz> wrote:

> euriol wrote:
>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>> However, I'm concerned that translating [guissell] 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.
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> Am I missing something here?  It sounds like a broth to me, or, if you
> like, a soup.  Why would you call it a stuffing?

>From reading this recipe, I doing thing <guissell> is a broth -- the "stir 
it fair and soft until it comes together and curds" makes it sound more 
like a custard or a stovetop dressing type of thing. Here's the OEDs 
definition for the word:

Forms: 4-5 iusshell(e, 5 gusschelle, guissell, iuschel(le, iuselle, 5-6 
iussell(e, 5-7 iussel, iussall, 7 jussel, 8-9 dial. jossel, jossle.

    In ancient cookery, a name including various forms of mince or 
hotch-potch.

?c1390 Forme of Cury in Warner Antiq. Culin. (1791) 11 Jusshell... Jushell 
enforced. 14.. Tourn. Tottenham, Feest vii. in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 95 Ther 
come in iordans in iussall. c1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 11 Iusselle. Take 
myud bred, and eyren ou swynge; Do hom togeder with out lettyng, Take 
fresshe broth of gode befe, Coloure hit with safron, at is me lefe, Boyle 
hit softly, and in o boylyng, Do er to sage and persely oyng. c1430 Two 
Cookery-bks. 16 Iuschelle of Fysshe. Take fayre Frye of Pyke, and caste it 
raw on a morter, an caste er-to gratid brede [etc.]. c1440 Promp. Parv. 
268/1 Iusselle, or dyschelle, dyshemete.., jussellum. c1450 Two 
Cookery-bks. 87 Guissell. 1513 Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. 273 Blaunche 
manger, Iussell, and charlet. 1552 HULOET, Iussell, a meat made of chopped 
herbes, minutal. 1781 J. HUTTON Tour to Caves Gloss. (E.D.S.), Jossel, an 
hodge-podge. 1828 Craven Dial., Jossle, hodge podge, a dish composed of a 
variety of meat.

and the MED:

jussel (n.) Also jus(s)elle, jushel(le & guissel.

[OF]

(a) A dish made of eggs, or eggs mixed with grated bread, cooked in a 
seasoned broth; ~ of flesh; ~ sengle; ~ enforced, such a dish served with a 
sweet and spicy creamed sauce; (b) a dish made of fish roe and grated bread 
mixed and cooked in a fish broth; ~ of fish.


According to the OED< it does derive from a French word meaning broth:

[a. OF. jussel juice, broth (Godef.), ad. L. juscellum, dim. of jusculum, 
dim. of js broth, soup.]

toodles, margaret





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