[MR] baby eating

[Stefan li Rous]

Dunstan LeHeryngmongere (rangernealson at aol.com) posted:

<<< Viande de Infante.
Take braunne of infants or toddlyrs ?ou shalle;
Parboyle and drye hit with alle;
Hew hom smalle, bray in mortere,
As smalle as bred, ?at myed were;
Take good almonde mylke anone
And lye hit up with tarrygon
Or with floure of ryse, ?ou may;
Coloure hit with safron, I ?e say;
Boyle hit after yche adele,
Charge hit with infant flesshe brayed wele;
Seson hit with sugur and ?en ?y dysshe
With onyones set ?ou schalle florysshe


CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH TRANSLATION


Meat of Baby:
Take flesh of babies or toddlers you shall;
Parboil and dry it withal;
Hew them small, pound in mortar,
As small as bread, that was grated;
Take good almond milk anon
And mix it up with tarragon
Or with flour of rice, you may;
Color it with saffron, I say [to] you;
Boil it after each part,
Thicken it with baby flesh pounded well;
Season it with sugar and then your dish
With scallions set you shall garnish.


Redactions/Changes;  basically, Isubstituted baby meat for capons and  
hens. I decided on the use of tarragon rather than amidon because in  
myexperience it compliments the taste of small human so well, although  
Gerarddoes not place tarragon?s use in England until the mid 1500s, so  
fortrue authenticity one might revert back to amidon.  I also  
substituted scallions for almonds,which makes the dish a more savory  
than sweet one, but I find nothing saystrue cannibalism like a little  
scallion on the side.  Note that in line one it specifically states  
that toddlers are usable, but I find that babies are much more tender  
and they struggle less.

ENJOY! >>>

I fear your redaction has a few problems in it. "Amidon" is wheat  
starch and is generally used as a thickener in many period dishes.  
Tarragon would not serve this function, at all well.

You substituted scallions for almonds, when what you probably wish to  
do, if you desire is indeed to create a more savory dish, is to cut  
back on, or omit the sugar.

Rather an start with a recipe of capons, which tend to be older and  
tougher, or hens, I would recommend starting with a veal recipe,  
especially for veal that has been exclusively milk fed, and both for  
aging and other reasons, I suspect that you wish to specify the use of  
only milk-feed babies and omit the tougher, stronger taste of toddlers.

Of course, if you have any excess heralds or Peers or barons around,  
they too cam be made edible with careful pre-processing and specific  
cooking techniques, keeping in mind the humors involved. Here are some  
favorite recipes that I have obtained.
SCA-dishes-art (11K) 4/13/00 "A Guide to making the most out of the  
SCA and its members" by Kim Huett. (humor)

http://www.florilegium.org/files/UNCAT/SCA-dishes-art.html

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****