An Tir West War foodie play date- two more recipes from Anon. Venetian

[raffaellasworld]

I'll write this up much better once I've had some sleep. I just want to get the pictures loaded so I can play with them properly. 
XXIII. Cisame de pesse quale tu voy.
Toy lo pesse e frigello, toy zevolle e lessale un pocho e taiale menude, po’ frizelle ben, poy toli aceto et aqua e mandole monde intriegi, et uva passa, e specie forte, e un pocho de miele, e fa bolíre ogni cossa insema e meti sopra lo pesse.
XXIII Cisame (Sweet/sour dish) of whichever fish you want.
Take the fish and fry it. Take onions which have been boiled a little and chopped finely, and fry them well. Then take vinegar and water and whole peeled almonds, currants, strong spices and a little honey and put everything to boil together (with the onions) and put it above the (fried) fish.

Eduardo gave me 4 cod steaks to use for this, and let me use some of his dried currents, sliced almonds and homemade white wine vinegar (he had both red and white, but I thought white more appropriate for this trial) and I fried it up in some of his lovely lardo- NOM. One of the other foodies in camp from the west had a spare onion.

Ingredients: 
4 cod steaks
1/8 tsp black and strong spices (black pepper, long pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves)
1 medium red onion (I used the red because it was available, not nessisarily because the recipe called for that type)
1/4 cup currents
4 cups water
2 tbsp lardo, or lard (I used Eduardo's fantastic lardo because it was available)
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey- left out here because things got crazy and it was forgotten- will try again and add it
Finely chop onions, boil onions, drain. Take vinegar, water, currants, strong spices and a little honey and put everything to boil together including the par boiled onion. Fry fish in lard (or lardo in this case) flipping half way through cooking, plate and cover with sweet/ sour onion sauce and garnish with almonds. 

XXII. Cime de vitte.
Se tu vo’ fare cime de vite, toli le cime ritorte e fale lessare un pocho; quando sono un pocho bolite, traile fuora e strucha ben fuora l’ aqua, e poy frizelli molto e grasso, e poy toy verzus, //petreselo\\ et aqua, e specie, e sale; distempera insiema, e meti sopra, e lassa ben bolire. Poy toy un pocho de ozaiorana, [?=ma-] e destemperalo con aqua, e meti sopra e serà bono.
XXII Sprouts of life/health
If you want to make sprouts of life, take the rounded cabbage sprouts and boil them for a little while.  When they are a par-boiled take them off the heat and strain away all the water.  And then fry them well in plenty of fat.  Take verjuice, parsley, water, spices and salt and mix them well together before putting them on top (of the sprouts), and let them boil well together.  Then take a little marjoram, temper it with water and put it above (the dish) and it will be good.

Ingredients: 
2 cups sprouts (bean, in this case as that's what was available)
2 tbsp fat (Eduardo's lardo)
1 cup white verjuice
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf italian parsley
1 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp each fine and sweet spice mix, and salt to taste (may vary dependant on fat used)
Par boiled the sprouts then pan fried them in some of Eduardo's delicious lardo (clairified lard) then made a separate sauce of the verjuice, parsle, spices and marjoram. Heated sauce then served over fried sprouts, salt to taste.

I packed super-duper light since I was carpooling and I wound up begging nearly all of the ingredients for both these dishes from David Walddon. I should have de-boned the fish but was otherwise completely happy with how this turned out. I'll have to try this again at home.
       

Comments

[katanubis.livejournal.com]

Your baby is getting so big!!! What a cutie!

[hugh-mannity.livejournal.com]

Yes. Definitely well-endowed with teh kewte!

Why is it that SCAdians have such cute kids? It can't just be the garb :D

[ayeshadream.livejournal.com]

I think the garb definately helps. I know I'm biased but I think he's generally pretty darn cute, but you put him in garb and it's so sweet it could make a pancreas explode. :)

[ayeshadream.livejournal.com]

He's getting HUGE! He's totally in line with where he should be in the 96-98% for both height and weight so he's perportionate, but he's getting really hard to lug around. :)

He's finally completely off the boob, because I couldn't get him to stop biting no matter what I tried, but he got a good 6-7 months and seems to be still doing fine. He's starting to try more foods now and I love that he's digging on veggies.

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

I'll third the mini-overlord comments - very cute! I wish I could have cooked with all of you, but I was needed next door.

[ayeshadream.livejournal.com]

There's always next year!! This is becoming my favorite event of the year despite the looooooooooong drive.

"sprouts of life"

[(Anonymous)]

just a note (because we've discussed this and I know you're trying to stick with the contents of the translation available to you, but I don't want the error to spread) that "sprouts of life" is a mistranslation and should be "grape vine tips" not cabbage or bean sprouts.
glad you had fun!

Re: "sprouts of life"

[ayeshadream.livejournal.com]

It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! I just wish I had been able to cook more.

Eventually I hope to have better translation skills myself, but in the meantime I'm always happy to use better information if it's available. If you would be willing to share any of your translations I'd be happy to use those, and of course I'd credit you for it. No pressure, I know you're busy with other projects and may not have time to dig out your translation work for the last banquet, or feel comfortable sharing it if a pamphlet is in the works.

Re: "sprouts of life"

[lapioggia.livejournal.com]

sorry didn't realize I wasn't logged in for my earlier comment.. I'll send you the grape vine tips recipe - we tried it a couple times for the Venetian Banquet this spring but couldn't get enough grape tendrils to serve 150 so we let it go...

Re: "sprouts of life"

[ayeshadream.livejournal.com]

My new supervisor's family has a certified organic vinyard in eastern washington. I've already asked her about vine tips and verjuice. They don't currently do anything with either, so I'm hoping I might possibly be able to interest them if they'd just toss the early grapes and prunings.

I've also got some questions on some of the other recipes that just don't seem right- XIX. Coradella d’ agnello, etc.
Se tu voy fare coraella d’ agnello, toy la coraella e falla alesare intrega; e poy fa le fete sotille, e fa che una non se parta dall’ altra, e poy toy herbe bone e rossi de ova batute insieme, e frigi in bon lardo collato. E poy ch’ è frito, miti le specie dolze e forte, e polveriza la chola dentro, poy meti quelle herbe dentro in una fetta e l’ altra, e poy l’ avolzi intro la rete overo raisella, e mitila intro una rocha di cana fessa, e fala cosere,
e serà bona da manzare.
XIX Lamb lungs etc.
If you want to cook lungs of lamb, take the lungs and boil them whole. Then cut them into thin slices, and make sure that each one does not come apart from the other (i.e. do not slice all the way through. Then take good herbs and egg yolks and beat them together and fry them in good strained lard. When the eggs are fried, mix sweet and strong spices and powder inside the lungs. Then put the herb/egg mixture into the lungs between each slice. Wrap the whole thing in a caul or membrane, and put it into a “rocha di cana fessa”* and let it cook, and it will be good to eat.
* No accurate translation of “rocha di cana fessa” could be found or inferred from similar words. From examination of close words it may be possible to guess at some kind of hollow stone or possibly ceramic vessel. But this is pure conjecture. Close words are:
Rócca – distaff, name also given to a kind of lamp with a high stand and to a champagne glass.
Ròcca – word of uncertain origin meaning, fort, tower, chimney-pot, rock, part of the temporal bone.
Ròccia - rock
Cana – hoariness
Canna – botanical term for cane, pipe or straw, the hollow in any round thing
Fesso – crack, from fendere

XX. Coradella di chapreto, etc.
E se tu voy fare coraella de cavreto integra, toy la choraella e falla alesare, poy la bati con lo mazo, e poy toy herbe bone e lo rosso batuto e frito in lo lardo e mitillo entro la coradella, e pesta ogni cossa insiema, e metili mezzo formazo fresche, e metili specie fine, e metili tre ovi, e mena ogni cossa insiema. Poy l’ avolzi entro la sua rete medexima, po la chosi in la padella, e sarà bona.
XX Lungs of kid, etc.
And if you want to cook entire lungs of kid, take the lungs and boil them. Then beat them with a mallet. Then take good herbs and beaten egg yolks and fry them in lard and put them into the (beaten) lungs, and grind everything together. Add half a fresh cheese and fine spices and three eggs, and mix everything together. Then one encloses it well in a caul or net and then puts this thing into a pan (to fry) and it is good.

Re: "sprouts of life"

[lapioggia.livejournal.com]

re XIX: rocha di cana fessa is almost cwertainly a typo for "brocha di cana fessa" a skewer made from a stick split open to grill your coradella.

RE XX: the eggs are "beaten and fried in lard" it is not specified that the herbs are fried with them as it implies in the translation. also at the end it says "then wrap it in the same caul, then..."

re both - coradella is not merely lungs, but can be eithe the pluck (heart liver AND lungs) or the giblets. not to say that it isn't wanting just the lungs here, but that it could be any of several innard bits :>

any other corrections are minor & shouldn't affect your reconstruction just fussy phrasing issues...

Re: "sprouts of life"

[ayeshadream.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to get giblets (other than chicken and sometimes beef) even at the specialty "exotic meat" store- have you ever looked for this and if so where if anywhere did you find it?

I've also had trouble finding caul locally. The butcher at safeway just looked at me like I was crazy. :)

Re: "sprouts of life"

[lapioggia.livejournal.com]

you need to find a real butcher for giblets - or maybe a local farmers market - ditto caul.

[celyn100.livejournal.com]

I just have to mention that we have the same plates, you and me.

[ayeshadream.livejournal.com]

I love this pattern. I was trying to get an entire set until Rob got us an 8 person setting of better china for every day use.

I also found that for a while Marshalls an Ross were carrying american market Deruta for insanely cheap so I was snapping that up while it was available intead.

question on the sprouts . . .

[kathrynmice.livejournal.com]

what is the purpose of parboiling them before frying? you see that alot in medieval recepies and I am curious if its cleanliness or textural.

Rosceline

ps - looks like you had a great time at the event!

Re: question on the sprouts . . .

[ayeshadream.livejournal.com]

Historically it may have been for humoral balance, and for flavor it may have helped remove some bitterness.

It was a lot of fun, well worth the 10+ hours each way with an infant. :) I love traveling with friends.