[Sca-cooks] First Recipe from Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco, in parts

[Raphaella DiContini]

Greetings, 
   A project I've been thinking about for a while is working my way through all of the recipes in Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco (14th/15th c.)  (Anonimo Veneziano). I've actually started on the process of recreating this first recipe, but I've already hit a slight bump in the road. In this first recipe, there's an ingredient I need to make before I can continue on, a recipe within a recipe if you will. 

It mentions amido/starch, one pound of it to be exact. Fiamma was nice enough to find reference to it in Cindy Renfrow's glossary, http://www.thousandeggs.com/glossary.html: 
* Amydone, amidon , amidum= Starch from wheat or rye. Basically, wheat (or rye, rice) is soaked in water for several days; the water must be changed several times. Then the wheat is pounded and put into water again. This mash is filtered somehow and dried in the sun. The result seems to be starch that must be powdered again before it is put to use. 

As rice was one of the options listed, I decided to use an arborio rice and measured out 2 cups rice to 2 cups water in a clear airtight container. Over the course of a week I changed the water 4 times, trying to drain it as completely as possible and replacing the same amount of water. 

The issue is, it seems to have fermented. When I took it out and started to grind it in my mortar and pestle it smelled so off to me I just tossed it all. I'm not sure if it was a factor of the container being airtight, or that I should have been changing the water morning and night instead of once a day, and not gone for a full week. I'll definitely be experimenting further, perhaps with a clay pot, and/ or a shorter time.

Here's the transcription and translation that I've been working from for the overall recipe: 
I.	Amidono d’ amido.
Se tu vuo’ fare amiduni per XII persone, tuoi do libre de mandole e una libra de amido, e meza de zucharo, e toi ½ de pignoli mondi e mezo quarta de garofali, e toi le mandole bene monde e bene maxenate, e distempera con aqua chiara bene bolita e toy tre parte de lacte e mitilo a bolire; di quello che te romane crudo meti a molo l’ amidon. Quando lo lacte à bolito asay, distempera l’ amido e mitil dentro e meschola spesso e trailo in suso per menestrare, e mitigo zucharo asay, e poni per sopra le scutelle zucharo e garofalli e pignoli mondi. E se tu vuo’ fare per piú persone o per men, toy le chosse a questa medesima raxone e ene perfecta vivanda.

I. (1) Amidono of starch {Almond milk pudding}
If you want to make starch dish for 12 people, take two pounds of almonds and one pound of amido/starch.  For instructions to make amido see notes.  And half of sugar and take ½ of peeled pine nuts and half a quarter (1/8th) of cloves, and take the almonds well peeled and well crushed, and temper them with clear water well boiled and separate the milk and set it to boil, of that that remains raw put to soften the starch.  When the milk has boiled enough, temper the starch and put it into and mix thick for serving, and put in enough sugar, and dust with scrapes of sugar and cloves and whole pine nuts.  And if you want to make it for more persons or for less, make it like this to this same recipe and it is a perfect food. 

In joyous service to learning, 
Raffaella