I’m not much for formal redactions, but here are a few….
Florentine-Style Meat in a Baking Dish
The Neapolitan recipe collection (Italy, 15th c – T. Scully, trans.)
Florentine-Style Meat in a Baking Dish. Get veal or another meat with the bone, cut it into pieces as small as a fist, and put them into a baking dish with a little water, a beaker of wine and another of good verjuice; if your master likes, add in a few slices of onion – or, should he not like onions, use parsley, the root, that is – along with raisins, dried prunes and salt; cover the meat by no more than a finger of water, and set it in the oven; when it looks half done, add a few cloves, a good lot of cinnamon, pepper and a good lot of saffron- and let it taste of pepper; when it is half cooked, turn it over; then take it out onto a plate with spices and sugar on top, or else leave it in the baking dish. You can do the same with fish – that is, grey mullet or eel – cut into pieces four fingers in width, washed well and put into a baking dish with a little oil. Note that you can make these things sweet or tart according to your master’s taste.
Redaction:
1 ½ lb bone in lamb chop (or other meat as desired)
½ onion sliced
¼ c raisins
4-6 prunes*
¼ c water
¾ C wine (I’ve found I prefer a sweeter white wine in this dish)
½-1 tsp cream of tartar**
3-4 whole cloves
¼ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of saffron
¼ tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
Combine first six ingredients in a covered baking dish. Bake 350F for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, flip meat, add spices and salt to taste. Return to oven covered for ~15 minutes. Sprinkle with additional sugar/spices if desired. This recipe is well suited to adaption to a pipkin over coals or a modern crockpot.
*Prunes appear in the Scully translation, but not in the Parzen. It is possible that they are translating from different source copies that may have transcription variances.
**substitute for verjuice found in the Anonymous Tuscan
Pears
According to the Tacuinum Sanitatis pears should be served mid-meal.
An Anonymous Tuscan Cookery Book (Italy, ~1400 – Ariane Helou, trans.)
Take fresh pears and put them in water to soften; and, this water having been thrown away, set them to boil in fresh water with salt and oil, and a bit of onion to fry with spices and saffron in a little water, and set them to cook: and when they are cooked, stir in a bit of spices on the plate. And likewise you can make it in a bit of almond milk without oil and without onions, adding a bit of sugar and a bit of salt.
Redaction:
4 pears
½ onion
2 tsp oil
Pinch of saffron
¼ tsp each- sumac, coriander, pepper, ginger, grains of paradise
Salt to taste
Peel pears, boil gently in water, remove and slice. Boil onion, oil, saffron and spices in 2 cups salted water. Once onion is cooked, remove from heat and add pears. Allow to marinade.
Confection of apples
Libro di cucina / Libro per cuoco(Italy, 14th/15th c.) – Louise Smithson, translator
CXXXII – Confection of apples. Confection of apples apio (honeyed) of of paradise apples if you want to make immediately and grated they may be made how you like. Take the apples and peel, then grate, guard that the seeds don’t go in the grated stuff and let to dry for two days. The juice that makes the apples leave with the apples; strain the apples grated and for every three pounds of apples put three pounds of honey and leave it to sit for two days, then let it boil always mixing, with spices, enough that the honey is cooked, have in mind that the spices should be added when the confection is nearly cooked, otherwise they scorch. Then pour it on a table or over a bathed stone (wet stone) and make in the way of a thick leaf (sheet) less than half a finger (width); then let it chill and make in the way of little cakes or wafers in small pieces and set on a dish with leaves of laurel (bay leaves) underneath and above, with the other hand you put leaves in-between, and if you want to put spices between leaf and leaf it will be very good. Have in mind that it wants at the least to boil for an hour and it must be always mixed well and guarded from smoke
Redaction:
1 lb apples*
1 lb honey
¼ tsp cinnamon
Bay leaves
Grate apples allow to sit two days then drain. Mix with honey, allow to sit two days (not sure the real purpose of these steps, but following non the less. It’s likely you could go straight to cooking). Cook on low heat stirring regularly for approx. 1 hour careful not to burn, this should form a stiff dough, add cinnamon towards the end. Cool; wet hands and shape into small cakes. Allow to dry somewhat before storing (I used the lowest setting on my dehydrator to speed up the process). Store with bay leaves.
*According to seed catalogs, Paradise apple (malus pumila) are small sweet apples suitable for eating or cider. Those not being readily available I used apples from Paradise (because Dad jokes are totally required in cooking), the apple mix was gala and roma
Cooking Gourd
Martino da Como. The Art of Cooking. (Italy ~1460) Translation by Jeremy Parzen (2005)
Give the squash a good washing, and then cook in meat broth or in water, and add the necessary amount of onion. When it seems to be done, remove and pass through a slotted spoon or crush well, and cook in a pot with fatty broth and a little verjuice. Make it yellow with saffron; and when it is done, remove form heat and let cool for a little while. Then take the necessary amount of egg yolks and beat them with a little aged cheese and mix with squash, stirring continuously with a spoon so that it does not stick. Then serve in bowls, topped with sweet spices.
Redaction:
1 ½ pounds of winter gourd (purchased at an Asian market)
½ onion
Salt
1 ½- 2 cups fatty broth*
1/4 tsp cream of tarter**
2 TBSP white wine
Pinch of saffron
two egg yolks
2 TBSP Parmesan cheese
Cinnamon, ginger, pepper, sugar (ground and mixed)***
Peel and chop the gourd and onion. Boil in salted water or broth until tender then drain. Crush or blend to desired consistency. Add fatty broth, saffron, tarter and wine, bring to a boil. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly. While the squash cools, mix egg yolks and cheese. Temper yolks with squash mixture, then add to squash stirring constantly. Slowly heat until thickened, salt to taste. Serve in bowls sprinkled with the spice mixture.
*I used homemade broth made with chicken, salt, carrot, onion, celery
** substitute for verjuice found in the Anonymous Tuscan cookbook
*** blend inspired by mix used in red cherry and rose torte recipe
Composta
There are numerous versions of compost from various nations, they tend to be a spiced, sweet and sour condiment of fruits and/or vegetables generally preserved in a vinegar sauce. The inclusion of mustard is pretty common. This will be paired with roast pork loin, as the Tacuinum Sanitatis advises that pork should be eaten with mustard.
An Anonymous Tuscan Cookery Book (Italy, ~1400) Ariane Helou,translator
Another preparation. Take finely minced radishes, anise, fennel seeds, and set them to cook in must; and cook them so much that the must is reduced to half: and with this must dilute the mustard. Then take small turnips (rape piccioli) and turnips (naponi), and quince, and apples, cut into four pieces, and pears cut in half, and whole carrots, and parsley roots, and fennel bulbs, and set all of these things to cook. And when they are cooked, arrange them in order in a clean jar, interspersing the diluted mustard on top, in the aforementioned batches. And if you like, you can put in some honey; and this can be made with sugar and cinnamon diluted with the aforementioned things and with vinegar, and put it away and serve it.
Redaction:
4 radishes, minced
½ tsp anise seed
½ tsp fennel seed
¼ C crushed grapes*
½ cup grape juice concentrate*
¼ C wine vinegar
1 TBSP sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP ground mustard
Salt to taste
1 each- turnip, carrot, parsnip**, small fennel bulb, quince, apple, pear
Simmer radish, grapes, grape juice, anise and fennel for about 15 minutes, allow to steep an additional 15 minutes. Strain mixture and blend with vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, mustard and salt to taste. Return to pan. Peel and chop fruit/vegetables, boil in batches until soft. Layer fruit/vegetables into clean container, bring sauce to a boil and pour over produce. Close container and refrigerate. Store at least three days before using. This recipe would also be suitable for modern canning using the water bath method.
*creative substitute for must which is the skin and juice mash left over from pressing grapes for wine.
** in lieu of parsley root due to lack of local availability
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