[Sca-cooks] New 544 CE Chinese Recipes

[Alec Story]

Responses:

The term used in the text that I translate as "taro seed" is 芋子.  芋 is
taro, *Colocasia esculenta* according to *A Student's Dictionary of
Classical and Medieval Chinese*, and it has the same meaning today.  子 in a
botanical context almost always means seed, so I'm pretty convinced that
this is indeed taro seed.  If that doesn't work in reality, then the text
is wrong or misleading, because it definitely says taro seeds.

Whenever I say "salted fermented beans," I'mtranslating 豉.  This is
modern-day douchi <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douchi>, although I
suspect there have been some process changes.  I will eventually translate
out the recipes for it from this book too.

I don't think that the *Indofevillea* reading of 藏瓜 is likely.  This
literally translates to "storage gourd" but I think it's meaning "gourds
which you have stored," i.e., pickled.

Sour rice water *is* a thing, at least in later (~1000) brewing texts,
where it's used to get the inoculum started in the right environment.  It's
not surprising to see it here in a similar context.

Zongzi (well, I'm calling them tamales because my audience is broad) are
traditionally eaten on the dragon boat festival, so it's cool to see that
this tradition goes back to 544.

I wasn't dismissing the use of starch!  I was pointing out that it's
interesting that they're using it, as it's clearly an intentional addition
so they must have had a good understanding of what it takes to make good
pickles.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can clarify.

YIS,
Þórfinnr Hróðgeirsson

On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 1:41 AM, Terry Decker <t.d.decker at att.net> wrote:

> Taro does have seeds which can be collected when the plant flowers.
> There's a hybridization project using seed to improve taro cultivars.  You
> can find the manual here, http://www.adap.hawaii.edu/ada
> p/Publications/Ireta_pubs/taro_breeding.pdf . While they're probably
> edible, I've never heard of them being used that way.
>
> Indofevillea is a distinct genus of cucurbit.  You can find the botanical
> description for I. khasiana here, http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/c
> hina/PDF/PDF19/Indofevillea.pdf .  From what I can find, most of the
> members of the genus are classed as rare or endangered.  A new species I.
> jiroi is known from one plant found in Myanmar.
>
> Bear
>
>
> This is so exciting. I have so many questions about your translation!
>
> "Taro seed"- what was the original term? Do you mean Colocasia esculenta?
> Because I grow Colocasia esculenta, and it has no seeds. The parts you eat
> are the root (actually a corm) and the leaves. It's an elephant ear plant.
>
> "Beans" again, what was the original word used? Do you think it means soy
> beans, broad beans, azuki beans, or something else?
>
> "Indofevillea khasiana" I googled this to no avail. Is this "winter
> melon/wax gourd"? or another kind of gourd?
>
> "Sour rice water" could totally be a thing, it's very common in Indian
> cooking all through history too (called kanji, similar to congee) often
> sweetened and spiced like a medieval ginger beer.
>
> "Zongzi" Almost this exact dish is also found in India. I really want to
> try this.
>
> Don't be too quick to dismiss the use of starch in pickle-making. Many
> modern-traditional Korean kimchi recipes use a base of boiled glutinous
> rice flour paste. That method makes the most lovely, crunchy, and
> long-lasting kimchi you've ever eaten.
>
> Can't wait to try these dishes. Thank you so much for doing this work,
> it's really wonderful.
>
> Madhavi
> Trimaris
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sca-cooks mailing list
> Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org
>



-- 
Alec Story