[Sca-cooks] Onion-riffic

[Johnna Holloway]

They appear in numerous recipes but they weren't always appreciated.
This is an excerpt from Das Kochbuch des Meisters Eberhard
(Germany, 15th century - Giano Balestriere, trans.)

Onions are hot in the fourth degree and moist in the third and cause  
unchastity and headaches. To those who eat them raw they cause bad  
moisture and great thirst.

-----

There is this recipe for an onion pottage where onions appear in the  
title:

This is an excerpt from Libre del Coch
(Spain, 1520 - Robin Carroll-Mann, trans.)


46. Pottage of Onions That is Called Cebollada. You will take onions,  
peeled and well-washed and cleaned and cut them in large pieces; and  
cast them in a pot of water that is boiling; and when they have boiled  
once or twice in the pot, remove them from the pot and squeeze them  
between two wooden chopping blocks; and then gently fry them with  
melted good fatty bacon or with bacon grease, moving them about with a  
spatula, and stirring them in the frying pan with said spatula which  
is of wood. And if the onions become at all dry, cast in good fatty  
mutton broth until the onions are well-cooked. And then take almonds  
which are well-peeled and blanched. And grind them well in a mortar,  
and then mix them with good mutton broth and strain them through a  
woolen cloth. And then cast the almond milk in the pot with the  
onions. And mix it well. And then cook them well until the onions are  
cooked with the almond milk. And cast into the pot some good cheese of  
Aragon, grated, and mix them well with a haravillo as if they were  
gourds. And when they are well-mixed with the cheese, and you see that  
it is cooked, prepare dishes, first casting into the pot a pair of egg  
yolks for each dish; and if you wish, cast sugar and cinnamon on the  
dishes, and it is good.

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And here is a Dutch dish:

This is an excerpt from Wel ende edelike spijse
(Dutch, late 15th c. - Christianne Muusers, trans.)
The original source can be found at Christianne Muusers's website

Onions with cuminsauce with almonds. Take cumin, saffron and bread,  
brayed and tempered with almond milk. Let it boil with the onion. Add  
salt and let it then cool sufficiently.

Johnnae





On Sep 16, 2009, at 4:55 PM, Christiane wrote:

> In doing more historical research about Sicily (yeah, I know, my  
> obsession knows few bounds), I was thinking about the role of onions  
> in the cuisine. SNIP
>
> Were there other medieval dishes that put such an emphasis on the  
> onion over the other ingredients? The plethora of onions in "A  
> Sicilian Dish" makes me wonder; I know there are many recipes that  
> use onions in a sauce, but it's not the focus of the ingredients.  
> And I am not sure about the origin of "cipolline," onions pickled in  
> vinegar and sugar or honey, popular as an appetizer today. snip
> Adelisa di Salerno