[Sca-cooks] Martino was Re: Happy about Scappi

[Barbara Benson]

>> Maria Buchanan wrote:
>>
>>> Hey all.  What's everyone's view on the book Art of Cooking: The First
>>> Modern Cookery Book?

Saluti!

I have it and have utilized it as a resource for a feast, and I love
it. I have redacted several things out of it and plan on doing more. I
find it fascinating and for the feast I ended up doing much of my
research with it, a copy of Platina and Cuco Neapolitain sitting in
front of me, constantly cross referencing. The Martino book actually
has the entirety of Art of Cooking and then selections from 2 later
publications/rip-offs of the text. The editors have only included
recipes that they feel significantly diverge from the original.

I have started an A&S project that will have comparisons of the same
recipe from the different sources for comparison, the idea being to
understand how recipes evolved and changed from book to book. To hit a
fine line between being labeled a tease and posting too much
information, here is an example of one of the dishes I did for the
feast and it's comparison:
***
Platina 8:50 – Snacks
Grind up a little Parmesan cheese, not too hard, and the same amount
of fresh cheese. Beat two egg whites. Mix in whole raisins, cinnamon,
ginger and saffron, and fold into meal which has been worked and
spread out well to the size you want. Then cook it in an oven, not too
much, for it will be more pleasant thus. They, however, are of little
nourishment, are slowly digested, induce blockages, and create stone.

Neapolitan: 159 – Offelle
Get good soft cheese with little salt, and have it grated; get eggs,
whole raisins, cinnamon, ginger and saffron, mix all this together and
make this filling rather thick; get a thin pastry dough as for lasagna
and bind [i.e., wrap] the filling in the dough like lasagna. Making
them large or small as you wish, yellowing the top; bake in an oven
that is not too hot; they should not be overcooked.

Martino: Chapter 4 – How to make Offella
Take some good Parmesan cheese that has not been overly aged, and a
bit of another type of fresh cheese, and grate, adding some egg
whites, whole raisins, some cinnamon, ginger, and a bit of saffron.
Mix all these things, incorporating well, and make sure that this
filling is slightly thick. Then take a thin dough, like that used for
making lasagna, and wrap the offelle in this dough, making them large,
medium-sized, or small, as you wish, giving them some yellow coloring
on top with saffron, or whatever other color you wish; and cook them
in the oven, and be careful that the oven is not too hot. Because they
should not be overcooked.
***

They are quite obviously the same dish, and you can see the
instructions vary quite a bit. I think I need a better translation of
Platina before I go any further into this. Comparing the texts I have
become very suspicious of the translation I have (the Pegasus Press
version). Has anyone been able to compare different translations of De
Honesta?

My, I guess this has gotten a bit lengthy. Sorry.

Ciao!

--
Serena da Riva