Quite a Weekend
May. 4th, 2008 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjAnd life suddenly adds more busy-ness. To start off with the big news, the Crown of the West has offered ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cryptocosm membership in the Order of the Pelican. He's scheduled to be elevated at A&S Tourney which ... ulp ... is just a smidge over a month from now. I've offered to help with the various arrangements (well, duh!) but the specifics have yet to be sorted out.
The Cloverdale site for coronation was as delightful as usual -- I love the fact that if you look in any direction there are no modern sights, just pastures and trees and sheep ... ok, and emus, which distracts a smidge from the illusion of a medieval European countryside. Friday night was a bit cold and Saturday a bit warm, but Saturday night and Sunday were almost perfect in temperature. Saturday came close to being all court all the time (or just seemed that way). My quest for a random spontaneous dinner guest was fulfilled byshutt3rg33k, although I also gathered a raincheck from two people who had fixed dinner plans already but liked the idea. My entry for the Wooden Spoon cooking competition brought the total entries to two, so I'm glad I decided to go for it.
To redeem the teaser in my previous entry, here's the documentation for my entry:
* * *
Ottaviano Bon was the Venetian ambassador to the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul from 1604 (or 1605?) to 1607 and wrote a detailed account of his observations and experiences there. I have used an English translation of his work published by Robert Withers (claiming it as his original work) in 1625. [1]
Chapter IV of the work is entitled "Of the Persons which live in the Seraglio; and chiefly of the Women, and Virgins" and concludes with the following passage concerning these women:
Now it is not lawful for any one to bring aught in unto them, with which they may commit the deeds of beastly and unnatural uncleanness; so that if they have a will to eat radishes, cucumbers, gourds, or such like meats; they are sent in unto them sliced, to deprive them of the means of playing the wantons: for they being all young, lusty, and lascivious wenches, and wanting the society of men, which would better instruct them, and questionless far better employ them, are doubtless of themselves inclined to that which is naught, and will often be possess'd with unchaste thoughts. [p.57-8]
Although Chapter IX of Ottaviano's work describes the kitchens and dining rituals of the sultan in great detail, it fails to discuss how these radishes, cucumbers, gounrds, and such like meats might be dressed for eating, or whether they might be served ... undressed.
A plausible method of serving cucumbers may be interpolated by the agreement between Platina (15th c. Italian) who recommends that they "are eaten cut up in pieces with salt, oil, and vinegar, once the rind has been removed and the seeds dug out." [2: p.129] and the 13th c. Baghdad Cookery Book [3: p.206] which notes, "For sousing cucumber, capers, onion, and the like, put into vinegar as required, leave until soft and tender, and then serve." Between these two rather disparate sources, we see a common approach: a simple dressing involving vinegar, perhaps allowed to marinate somewhat. (I would interpret the Baghdad listing of "cucumber, capers, onion, and the like" as a list of alternatives, not a composite dish.) As Ottaviano Bon's culinary discussions note an extensive use of oil in the cuisine [p.100], I have included olive oil in the dressing, however as he specifically notes that the sultan "useth no salt at his table" [p.94] I have included none in my dish.
Commercial cucumbers are all variants of the species Cucumis sativus and the most common modern varieties have been developed to fruit with minimal pollinization so that the seeds remain undeveloped. Even aside from identifying what variants might have been available in Turkey ca. 1600, this would make it difficult to obtain similar variants short of growing them myself. Platina describes three varieties: a large "bluish" one, a yellow one, and one that grows "rough and like a snake ... curled in a coil". The context of the original text suggests a variety that is elongated, relatively smooth skinned, and of an ... appropriate size. I have selected the variant known as the Mediterranean cucumber, on the perhaps naive assumption that the name indicates the location where the variety developed.
References
[1] Bon, Ottaviano. 1996. The Sultan's Seraglio: An Intimate Portrait of Life at the Ottoman Court (From the Seventeenth-Century Edition of John Withers). Saqi Books, London. [note: The editor provides no explanation why the title gives Withers' first name as "John" but elsewhere in the editorial matter and text it is given as "Robert".]
[2] Milham, Mary Ella (trans. & ed.). 1998. Platina: On Right Pleasure and Good Health. Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, Tempe.
[3] Arberry, A.J. 1939. "A Baghdad Cookery-Book" in Islamic Culture, as reproduced in A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks (3rd Edition) compiled by David Friedman.
* * *
I presented the dish to the judges (and selected audience members who'd been intrigued by my hints enough to show up) on a large tray covered entirely by a white cloth and began doing a dramatic reading of the initial section of the documentation (up through the end of Bon's passage). When I got to the line "young, lusty, and lascivious wenches" I reached under the cloth and pulled out a gherkin, looked at it, then tossed it to one side. When I got to "better instruct them" I reached under the cloth and pulled out an 18" long English cucumber, looked at it, and tossed it to one side. When I completed the passage, I reached in and pulled out a Persian cucumber (roughly the size and shape of a young zucchini), paused a moment, then cut it into slices. Then I removed the cloth to display a plate of vinegar-marinated cucumber slices, drizzled with olive oil, which was the edible version of the entry.
Oh, and my entry won the competition, which I hadn't really expected but it was cool all the same.
cryptocosm membership in the Order of the Pelican. He's scheduled to be elevated at A&S Tourney which ... ulp ... is just a smidge over a month from now. I've offered to help with the various arrangements (well, duh!) but the specifics have yet to be sorted out.The Cloverdale site for coronation was as delightful as usual -- I love the fact that if you look in any direction there are no modern sights, just pastures and trees and sheep ... ok, and emus, which distracts a smidge from the illusion of a medieval European countryside. Friday night was a bit cold and Saturday a bit warm, but Saturday night and Sunday were almost perfect in temperature. Saturday came close to being all court all the time (or just seemed that way). My quest for a random spontaneous dinner guest was fulfilled by
shutt3rg33k, although I also gathered a raincheck from two people who had fixed dinner plans already but liked the idea. My entry for the Wooden Spoon cooking competition brought the total entries to two, so I'm glad I decided to go for it. To redeem the teaser in my previous entry, here's the documentation for my entry:
* * *
Ottaviano Bon was the Venetian ambassador to the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul from 1604 (or 1605?) to 1607 and wrote a detailed account of his observations and experiences there. I have used an English translation of his work published by Robert Withers (claiming it as his original work) in 1625. [1]
Chapter IV of the work is entitled "Of the Persons which live in the Seraglio; and chiefly of the Women, and Virgins" and concludes with the following passage concerning these women:
Now it is not lawful for any one to bring aught in unto them, with which they may commit the deeds of beastly and unnatural uncleanness; so that if they have a will to eat radishes, cucumbers, gourds, or such like meats; they are sent in unto them sliced, to deprive them of the means of playing the wantons: for they being all young, lusty, and lascivious wenches, and wanting the society of men, which would better instruct them, and questionless far better employ them, are doubtless of themselves inclined to that which is naught, and will often be possess'd with unchaste thoughts. [p.57-8]
Although Chapter IX of Ottaviano's work describes the kitchens and dining rituals of the sultan in great detail, it fails to discuss how these radishes, cucumbers, gounrds, and such like meats might be dressed for eating, or whether they might be served ... undressed.
A plausible method of serving cucumbers may be interpolated by the agreement between Platina (15th c. Italian) who recommends that they "are eaten cut up in pieces with salt, oil, and vinegar, once the rind has been removed and the seeds dug out." [2: p.129] and the 13th c. Baghdad Cookery Book [3: p.206] which notes, "For sousing cucumber, capers, onion, and the like, put into vinegar as required, leave until soft and tender, and then serve." Between these two rather disparate sources, we see a common approach: a simple dressing involving vinegar, perhaps allowed to marinate somewhat. (I would interpret the Baghdad listing of "cucumber, capers, onion, and the like" as a list of alternatives, not a composite dish.) As Ottaviano Bon's culinary discussions note an extensive use of oil in the cuisine [p.100], I have included olive oil in the dressing, however as he specifically notes that the sultan "useth no salt at his table" [p.94] I have included none in my dish.
Commercial cucumbers are all variants of the species Cucumis sativus and the most common modern varieties have been developed to fruit with minimal pollinization so that the seeds remain undeveloped. Even aside from identifying what variants might have been available in Turkey ca. 1600, this would make it difficult to obtain similar variants short of growing them myself. Platina describes three varieties: a large "bluish" one, a yellow one, and one that grows "rough and like a snake ... curled in a coil". The context of the original text suggests a variety that is elongated, relatively smooth skinned, and of an ... appropriate size. I have selected the variant known as the Mediterranean cucumber, on the perhaps naive assumption that the name indicates the location where the variety developed.
References
[1] Bon, Ottaviano. 1996. The Sultan's Seraglio: An Intimate Portrait of Life at the Ottoman Court (From the Seventeenth-Century Edition of John Withers). Saqi Books, London. [note: The editor provides no explanation why the title gives Withers' first name as "John" but elsewhere in the editorial matter and text it is given as "Robert".]
[2] Milham, Mary Ella (trans. & ed.). 1998. Platina: On Right Pleasure and Good Health. Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, Tempe.
[3] Arberry, A.J. 1939. "A Baghdad Cookery-Book" in Islamic Culture, as reproduced in A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks (3rd Edition) compiled by David Friedman.
* * *
I presented the dish to the judges (and selected audience members who'd been intrigued by my hints enough to show up) on a large tray covered entirely by a white cloth and began doing a dramatic reading of the initial section of the documentation (up through the end of Bon's passage). When I got to the line "young, lusty, and lascivious wenches" I reached under the cloth and pulled out a gherkin, looked at it, then tossed it to one side. When I got to "better instruct them" I reached under the cloth and pulled out an 18" long English cucumber, looked at it, and tossed it to one side. When I completed the passage, I reached in and pulled out a Persian cucumber (roughly the size and shape of a young zucchini), paused a moment, then cut it into slices. Then I removed the cloth to display a plate of vinegar-marinated cucumber slices, drizzled with olive oil, which was the edible version of the entry.
Oh, and my entry won the competition, which I hadn't really expected but it was cool all the same.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 05:59 am (UTC)I just want it noted that we never get any emus at our events... although it's nice to wake up early at Rowany Festival and watch the kangaroos walking around in the mist -- and then bounding off at insane speed when they notice their audience.
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Date: 2008-05-05 01:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 01:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 05:00 pm (UTC)