[Sca-cooks] Maestro Martino and grilled cheese sandwiches

[Antonia Calvo]

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Bear replied to my question asking for the "grilled cheese sandwich" 
> recipe in Martino with:
>
> a recipe and his redaction, the translation of the recipe was:
> <<< Get bread, remove the crust, slice it thin and toast it on the 
> fire to color
> it, then coat the slices with fresh butter and put sugar and cinnamon on
> top, then get slices of creamy cheese and put them on the toast with 
> sugar
> and cinnamon on top; then put the slices into a torte pan and put this on
> the coals with the lid on and coals on top; when the cheese has melted,
> serve it quickly. >>>
>
> Thanks for the recipe, translation and redaction.
>
> The thing I note here, and Bear's redaction says the same, is a single 
> slice of toasted bread with butter and sugar and cinnamon on top of it 
> and then cheese.
>
> My definition of a sandwich is at least *two* pieces of bread with 
> something in-between them. Not a single slice of bread topped with 
> something. I'd consider that something else, maybe an open-faced 
> sandwich. So when deciding whether sandwiches were period or not, I've 
> always ruled out items that didn't involve two pieces of bread. 
> Other's opinions? 

I don't have the Italian text in front of me, but the translation I have 
says "Take some bread and remove the crust, thinly slice, and toast over 
a flame until browned. Then spread the slices with fresh butter and top 
with sugar and cinnamon. Take some sliced bread and fatty cheese and 
place on top of the cheese with more sugar and cinnamon; then put these 
slices in a covered torte pan over hot ashes, and top the pan with hot 
coals. As soon as the cheese has melted, serve."


I read that as buttered toasted bread sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, 
and then topped with cheese and a slice of untoasted bread.

-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

-----------------------------
Habeo metrum - musicamque,
hominem meam. Expectat alium quid?
-Georgeus Gershwinus
-----------------------------