[Sca-cooks] More Italian queries

[edoard at medievalcookery.com]

> -------- Original Message --------
> From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
> 
> Some more questions from my daughter for anyone who has answers, or 
> even plausible guesses:


Here are some possibilities based upon possible spelling variants from
Florio's 1611
(note that I know squat about Italian, so these are just my guesses as a
language geek):


> Acantate: The obvious meaning is "to sung (feminine plural)" or "to 
> (you plural sing)" neither of which makes sense, since it's "of 
> leeks." Any better suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It does 
> seem to be a verb.

Acante, the hearb grounswell.  [groundsell - genus Senecio]


> Berlice: Something you make a "grosta" out of.

Grosta, hath been used for Crosta.

Crosta, a crust.
Crostame, crusts, chippings of bread.

[could berlice be barley/barley flour?]


> Cozzarda: Something of spices. A collection? A selection? A mixture? 
> Not sure. Not given as "a", just "with cozzarda of spices".

Cozzolo, a knuckle bone.  [perhaps a unit of measure?]


> Crepa: The name of a dish, but also an ingredient; one recipe 
> instructs you to put in "an ounce of crepa of white wine."

Greppola, dregs, dross, leese of any thing.
[yeast perhaps?]


> Fritto - Fried, but what? "To make fried with loins" doesn't make 
> much sense, and we don't have the recipe it goes with. To fry loins? 
> Is there a set meaning for "fritto" like chopped herbs for "battuto"?

Frittole, as Fritelle, fritters, wafers.


> Fusticello: An implement used to push chopped herbs into a lamprey 
> that one is cooking. I'm guessing a long fork of some kind because of 
> the trifling similarity to "forchetta" - "-etto" and "-ello" did seem 
> to go back and forth during this period, and my dictionary gives 
> "fustigare" and "fustigone" as "furigare" and "furigone", suggesting 
> that they may have gone back and forth as well. Pretty lousy 
> evidence, yes.

Fusto, any kind of stock, stump, trunk, logge, or block. 
Also a trunk or body without a head. Also a stalk, a shaft,
or shank of any thing.
[I'd guess it means a sort of stick, something like a muddle]


> Grosta: Possibly crust, but is first given as "grosta of chickens" 
> which doesn't make sense. The recipe is not given.

Grossa, gross, big, fat.  [maybe the equivalent to "brawn"?]
 

> Iapigio: No idea. One recipe asks you to take a pound of pork loin 
> cut fine, wash it and put it "al iapigio." The dictionary says Iapiga 
> is the western wind.

Appogio, a rest, a stay, or leaning upon. [?]


> Moriada: An adjective applying to meat.

[dead?]


> Odoricti - adjective applied to chicken. Also an ingredient named in 
> making capon along with voci. Probably actually odoritti, since it is 
> named the second time as "odoriti".

Odorifero, odiferous or smelling. [stinky? fragarant?]


> Ola: Something you make tortelli of.

Olla, any pipkin, possenet, or pot.


> Panniccia: They suggest panic. I doubt it.

Pannicula carnosa, a fleshie membrane or pannicle or skin that lieth 
next under the fat of the outward parts, and is the fourth cover 
that wrapppeth  all the bodie over.


> Roffoffoli: The name of a dish that you make with quinces. The recipe 
> is not given.

[a typo for rossofoli perhaps?]
Rosso, red, ruddy, tauny-red.
Folio, a folio or sheet of paper.


> Tigete: Possibly related to below. Either a feminine noun, or an 
> adverb applying to a verb applying to a feminine pronoun. Context: 
> "...and put in an onion cut minutely and a decent quantity of salt, 
> and depress (lower) the (or it, feminine) tigete to half..." The 
> feminine thing for it to refer back to would probably either be the 
> eel you're cooking or the pot you're cooking it in, more likely the 
> former.
> Tengato: Something of something else. Context: "Take the tengato of 
> whatever you want, and take almonds and ginger and cinnamon, the best 
> that you can have, and spice some with cloves and nutmeg and a little 
> saffron, and mix these things well, and grind them..." The recipe is 
> "To make sauce"

Tegghia, any kind of pan or pot, as a dripping, a frying, a tarte, or a
colepan.


> Voci: Something you make capons with, along with odoritti (see 
> above). Voconie is cherries or figs.

Vocolari, kernels, wartles, buttons, or glandules under a hogs jaw.

[This makes me wonder if "odoritti" is offal.  Is the recipe in question

similar to the period English recipes for "garbage"?]

- Doc