[Sca-cooks] Millet

[Alec Story]

I think it's important for SCA cooks and brewers to keep the idea of a
translation and a redaction separate.  I've certainly run into this problem
myself, where the recipe didn't make much sense until I realized what it
meant by making it.

On Thu, May 5, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Susan Lord <lordhunt at gmail.com> wrote:

> We all wrote -
> >
> > I wrote:
> > "Make dough with millet flour, salt and a little water, kneading it into
> a round shape. Make it thick if it is to be baked and thin if fried. Cover
> the outer layer with sesame seeds, anise and green anise. Cook immediately
> before the dough deteriorates.?
> >
> > I see that when originally translating this recipe, I had a typo and
> wrote think not thick. This is a direct translation from Barajas-Benavides?
> Spanish version of "The Alhambra,? p 96. I did have a copy of the English
> version but it was not good and I must have misplaced it.
> >
> > What would be a better word than ?deteriorates?? - I don?t like it
> either.
> >
> The original text reads: deteriore. The full sentence is: Cocinar
> enseguida para que la masa no se deteriore - translated that is - Cook
> immediately so the dough does not deteriorate.
>
> Tis interesting because we criticise medieval manuscripts because the
> scribes were not cooks so their notes were transcribed directly with no
> interpretation. Now the Barajas-Benavides book is a 20th publication and
> still we find people like me and other official translators doing the same
> until or unless we actually try the recipe. So Sara has hit it on the head
> with her interpretation of the recipe - cook immediately to prevent dough
> from drying out and cracking. - A thousand thanks!
>
> Interesting, in the end I let the dough rise for 2 hours. After baking, it
> cooled and cracked. Perhaps I should have watched them more carefully and
> as soon as it stopped rising due to whatever items I used which included-
> tapioca flour, yeast, baking powder and xanthan gum.  I am not a cook, but
> an historian trying to interpret ancient recipes into modern terms.
>
> Members of our group mention an Indian flat bread - Bari no Rotio. It is
> possible that mijo bread descend from the Indians, then went to Bagdad and
> on to Spain. That’s a little too far for my research.
>
>
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-- 
Alec Story