[Sca-cooks] Fyletts in Galentyne

Elise Fleming alysk at ix.netcom.com
Tue Dec 8 03:40:18 PST 2009


Stefan wrote:
 >I've been saving some of this thread, but one of my questions has been
 >"What is a galentine?" and what isn't.  Most of these recipes sounded
 >like stews, but apparently it is more specific than that. I've been
 >trying to figure out how to catalog and describe these, but it also
 >sounds like Alys' message here is similar.

Doc's Medieval Cookery site says that it is a sauce for meat which is 
thickened with bread crumbs.  Cindy Renfrew's site says that it is a 
cold dish with meat in jelly, or something similar.  Modern definitions 
include the idea of an aspic or jelly.  One site says that "galentine" 
possibly comes from the Latin "gelata" meaning "jelly".  I rather like 
what Hieatt and Butler say in their Glossary in "Curye on Inglysch". 
They, too, mention "jellied juices of meat or fish..." but note that the 
term was "transferred to the sauce...thickened with bread crumbs and 
spices".  Some galentyne sauces were served cold, some were served hot, 
according to Hieatt and Butler.  They continue (down the long reference) 
that it could be the name for the "spice(s) alone or with breadcrumbs". 
  So, in this recipe, it's meat in a sauce thickened with breadcrumbs.

Is it a stew?  How do you define stew and how thick is it?  The recipe I 
sent says not to make it too "chargeaunt" (thick).  It didn't need to be 
served in a bowl the way some people's stews are.  (I like thick stews 
with only a little "juice".)

Alys, confusing the issue?
-- 
Elise Fleming
alysk at ix.netcom.com
http://home.netcom.com/~alysk/



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