[Sca-cooks] Cicera fracta, farinata /Southern Fried Peacock?/mock capon
JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
Tue Jan 29 21:24:51 PST 2013
I don't think fracta here is split (or fractured or anything similar).
Arnauld de Villeneuve talks about a drink made with "ossa fracta" and I don't
think split bones would have gone down very well. Also the Dictionnaire
Gaffiot says that fractus means "broken, reduced to pieces". Plus a word in
Provencal (faufrach), meaning a soup made of powdered broad beans, turns
out to be derived from "faba fracta", which is said to mean "broken broad
beans".
_http://books.google.com/books?id=kGhXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA218&dq=%22faba+fracta%22
&hl=en&sa=X&ei=upgIUeflAY7vigKysoFQ&ved=0CGgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22faba%20fr
acta%22&f=false_
(http://books.google.com/books?id=kGhXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA218&dq="faba+fracta"&hl=en&sa=X&ei=upgIUeflAY7vigKysoFQ&ved=0CGgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q
="faba%20fracta"&f=false)
In fairness, Dalby does translate the latter as "split beans", however.
Otherwise, the same document includes an intriguing recipe for peacock (or
goose), which I read as:
"Of the great [most eminent] birds, first of peacocks and geese, roast
goose or peacock well, and set the pan or another appropriate instrument under
it to receive the flowing fat. And color it with saffron. Also have the
juice of small lemons [?] mixed with sugar, so that it is sweet and sour.
Then, take a little bread crumb fried with well beaten egg yolks, mix a little
of the form there together [sic], roll the above-said bread crumbs and fry
them with fresh bacon in a pan, and roll this bread in the said flavors,
sprinkle good spices well ground over it. Then order it set on the terrace in
pieces. And give it to eat for capon."
25. -- De avibus magnatum, primo de pavone et ansere: pavonem vel anserem
assa bene; et patellam vel aliud instrumentum conveniens subtus pone, ad
recipiendum pinguedinem fluentem. Et colora cum safrano. Habeas etiam succum
de limoncellis cum zucara mistum, ita quod sit acrum dulce. Deinde, habeas
micam panis parum assatam cum vitellis ovorum bene batutis, parum de forma
ibidem simul mixa; micam predicti panis involve et suffrige cum lardo
recenti in sartagine, et istum panem in predicto sapore involve, bonis speciebus
bene trittis desuper sparsis. Deinde ordinatim per solaria in cissorio
pone. Et da comedere pro caponibus.
I can't figure if, despite the lack of a clear direction, the flavored
bread crumbs are meant to somehow end up on the bird, in which case we would
have an early mention of something like Souther Fried... Peacock? But maybe
the most surprising touch is that this rather expensive bird is supposed to
be offered up as the somewhat cheaper capon. (Which again suggests that it
was covered with the bread crumbs somehow.
Jim Chevallier
www.chezjim.com
Newly translated from Pierre Jean-Baptiste Le Grand d'Aussy:
Eggs, Cheese and Butter in Old Regime France
In a message dated 1/29/2013 11:36:38 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
christianetrue at earthlink.net writes:
And I agree that the chickpeas are split.
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list