[Sca-cooks] Nutmeg Leaves

[David Walddon]

My preference is to translate as literally as possible and footnote the translation notes, or if you must the other way around :) 
Ideally of course with the original language recipe beside it either in transcription or even better the original. 
Eduardo 
PS - Transcription has some challenges similar to (as well as different from) translation.

On Feb 23, 2014, at 8:21 AM, Sam Wallace wrote:

> Thank you all for your comments. One of the more difficult tasks in
> translation is to know when to translate something literally or if there is
> a better way to capture what was actually meant. This is often compounded
> by the passage of time as the source language changes. I am trying to track
> down the portion of the original text of the Assises from which that
> reference is taken rather than work from translation so that I can
> better ascertain the meaning - perhaps by finding other references to the
> same terms elsewhere in it. I am sure that Bear's comment implying
> that gilliflower
> leaves means the spice we currently call cloves and not the leaves of the
> same plant is spot on.
> 
> I suspect that "nutmeg leaves" probably means mace, but the phrase is
> seldom used. Additionally, there are often documents in which the same
> thing is referred to by several different names. To use your example, Thorvald,
> in Ouverture de Cuisine there are 8 examples of "fleur de muscade" (still
> used in modern French) but only 2 of "fueille de muscade." Does one mean
> ground mace while the other mean that it should be whole? I would think not
> as in one of the two examples the recipe specifies "fueille de muscade
> rompue" so I would guess it is either simply an alternate term for mace or
> it does mean the literal leaves. As for simple nutmeg, there are 17
> examples of "noix muscade" and over 50 where "muscade" is used by itself.
> 
> From a more practical standpoint, I tried the recipe with mace and it was
> OK. I am going to mix another batch along with one in which I use the
> leaves and compare the two. Perhaps that will provide entertainment if not
> additional insight.
> 
> Thanks again,
> 
> Guillaume
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