What is recipe redaction?
The
process of reconstructing a medieval recipe
into modern terms and methods.
What is a redaction?
A
redaction in this regard is a recipe that has been translated from medieval to
modern terms often scaling down the amounts needed.
How to start the process?
It
is best to work from a primary source if possible, if a primary source is not
available in your language you will either a) need to translate it or b)need to
get it translated. Translations will not always make sense. Terms for cooking
can be different as well as many other items like pots , pans, and utensils and
in some cases there is no word to translate to. Once you find a recipe that
looks interesting to work with is where the fun begins.
Things to remember:
The
first attempt is usually a disaster! You might get lucky, or have a very simple
recipe, or be really good on the first try, but usually the first attempt is a
complete miss. Why do I tell you this? No, it is not so you feel doomed
from the beginning and don't even try.
It is warning so that you don't get discouraged! Remember that redacting
is trial and error.
No
two people will come to the same conclusion.
As most recipes include the elusive term "to taste". This one
term has been the cause for heated debate among cooks everywhere. I like spicy
foods so may add more pepper and ginger to an item when it is called for,
others may like dishes sweeter and so use a heavier hand with sugar when an
amount is not indicated and some others may omit a spice all together when it
is not "to their taste". The third person though risks turning the
dish into something entirely unintended.
As long as the ingredients are nothing you are allergic to every attempt
should be made to use all the ingredients or reasonable substitutes. Also to be
mentioned, every person has a style of cooking even if they think they don't.
This style imparts an unquantifiable quality to the food. Give two people the
exact same recipe, access to the exact same stove, measuring cups, utensils and
ingredients; you will get two similar but different products. The difference
could be subtle or like night and day but there will be differences.
There
are NO
wrong results. Results can be inedible,
gross, disgusting, ugly, divine, enchanting, awesome, and a myriad of other
descriptive words. None of them are wrong. Conversely there are no right
results either. Lacking the capability to go back in time and see and taste
what "right" truly is, no one can say with 100% accuracy that what
they made and the way they made it is "right".
Work
with what you know. If you are attempting to redact a recipe on your own I am
going to assume that you have some experience and knowledge of cooking and how
to cook. If you do not have this background it will make the process harder but
not necessarily impossible. So assuming you have the background skills, think
about the recipe you are trying to redact, dissect it. What do you mean by
that? Well, what I mean is break it down into its major parts, ingredients and
cooking method(s). Then sort the ingredients by how they are treated, pre
cooked, chopped, ground, etc… This will help you get a feel for what might be a
"recipe starting point". A
recipe that is similar enough to use as a base for amounts or ratios that will
help you construct your recipe. Also
during the process if dissection start to think of your substitutions, not just
for ingredients but for the cooking utensils and methods as well.
Example:
On page 23 of The Good Housewife's Jewel, is a recipe for "To make
pears to be boiled in meat".
The recipe reads:
Take
a piece of a leg of mutton or veal raw, being mixed with a little sheep's suet,
and half a manchet grated fine taking four raw egg yolks and al. Then take a
little thyme and parsley chopped small, a few gooseberries or barberries or
green grapes being whole. Put all these together, being seasoned with salt,
saffron and cloves, beaten and wrought altogether. Then make rolls or balls
like to a pear, and when you have so done, take the stalk of the sage, and put
it into the ends of your pears or balls. Then take the fresh broth of beef,
mutton or veal, being put into an earthen pot, putting the pears or balls in
the same broth with salt, cloves, mace and saffron. When you be ready to serve
him, put two or three yolks of eggs into the broth. Let them boil no more.
To dissect:
Ingredients first, there are no amounts listed save for
the number of eggs used.
raw
veal or mutton (a piece) sheep's
suet thyme
(fresh) manchet(gratedfine)
parsley (fresh) 4 eggs gooseberries,
barberries or green grapes salt saffron cloves
fresh sage broth
(made from beef, mutton or veal) mace 2
or 3 more egg yolks
Cooking equipment and method:
Earthenware
pot To
be boiled
OK,
substitution time. First evaluate your ingredients, their availability and
their treatment. First on the list is raw veal or mutton. Now think of the
recipe as a whole, the recipe calls for a whole piece of leg but in the end
everything needs to be pounded and mashed together. You could a) get a piece
and mash/grind it yourself or you can go and buy pre ground. What is easier for
you? What do you have time for? What is available? If like me you have a
butcher available you can go to and order your meat. If you are relying on a
grocery store you will have to make more substitutions so I will address those.
Getting veal or mutton may be expensive where you are, though knowing that veal
is from a cow, ground beef is a likely substitution. Knowing though that when
they grind beef they add fat to it to make it grind better as well as to
"keep it moist and flavorful" while cooking, makes thinking about the
second ingredient easier. If you were to grind your own leg you would have to
add in the fat, if you buy pre-ground from the store they have added fat, now
it becomes an experiment with what "fat content" works best for you.
Fresh herbs are the most common type of herbs used in the time though dried herbs did exist. Fresh is best but not always available.
Fresh herbs are the most common type of herbs used in the time though dried herbs did exist. Fresh is best but not always available.
Manchet,
a type of bread or roll about the size of a man's hand, usually described with
a crusty exterior. So what you need is bread crumbs.
Berries
or green grapes? The most common one of them all will be the grapes and please,
go with seedless.
Fresh
sage, this could be skipped. It mostly makes for a nice presentation.
The
other spices, they are mostly self explanatory, while an omission of saffron
will change the flavor and possibly the color some it is important to know that
those with allergies to onions, garlic and other items from the Alliums family
are also sensitive to saffron. Cloves, while those used in the meatballs
themselves should likely be ground the ones in the broth may be whole and then
strained out before the egg yolks are added.
Broth,
this can be bought in cans, cubes, or granules, but you could also make your
own by boiling "soup bones" or a chunk of meat.
Now
that the ingredients have been addressed we need to talk about what to cook it
in. The method is simple, they are boiled, but not everyone has an
"earthen ware pot" just hanging around to cook with on their stove
(or over an open fire). So, it is likely you will be using a large aluminum or
stainless steel pot.
1lb ground meat
1/2 - 1 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme@
1 egg
1 handful of green seedless grapes
salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves#
8 cups of broth
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground mace
Make the "pears" as directed by combining all
the first set of ingredients together. Place a sage stem in each one. Place
into a pot so there is little space but they are not "packed in". Use
enough broth to mostly cover them but not entirely the sage stem should be
outside the liquid. Boil them about 1/2 an hour. Remove one as a "test
subject" and cut it open to check for doneness. If done remove
"pears" to a shallow bowl. When the pan is empty of pears, remove the
pan from heat and add the 2-3 egg yolks. If you do not want the eggs to
"curdle", beat the yolks in a bowl and add a Tbsp at a time of the
hot broth warming up the yolks, then stir them into the rest of the both. Pour
the broth over the "pears" and serve.
*Disclaimer I have not sat down and fully redacted this
recipe! All amounts are approximates
@A flavor I am not particularly fond of, so enough to
have notice but not be too over powerful I hope)
# Cloves are very powerful especially when ground, I
don't want to risk "over spicing"
^ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/redact
redact
[rɪˈdækt]vb
(tr)
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) to compose or draft (an edict, proclamation, etc.)
2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) to put (a literary work, etc.) into appropriate form for publication; edit
[from Latin redigere to bring back, from red- re- + agere to drive]
redaction n redactional adj redactor n
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) to compose or draft (an edict, proclamation, etc.)
2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) to put (a literary work, etc.) into appropriate form for publication; edit
[from Latin redigere to bring back, from red- re- + agere to drive]
redaction n redactional adj redactor n
