Index
Background
Italian menus, transcriptions and translations
Breakdown of menus by food type
Feast menu
Italian recipes, transcriptions and translations
Redacted recipes
Acknowledgements and references

Background
In September of 2002 I volunteered to cook the feast for the upcoming Baronial Yule and Investiture in the Barony of Red Spears.  This was my first Feast and I wanted to showcase the best that a SCA feast can be.  To achieve this I used menus taken from 16th Century Italian documents and broke the feast menus down by service and type of dish served.  This was done so that I could structure a feast in a way that would have been recognizable to a 16th Century Italian.  I then searched for recipes from the literature that would comply with the food type and translated and redacted them.  Some liberties were taken with the dishes served to bring the feast in line with a meal that could be served to vegetarians and  persons with allergies.  This means that all the vegetable dishes were vegetarian despite the fact that in period on a meat day they would have been cooked with meat broth.  In addition dishes that used lard were cooked with butter or oil.  On the day the feast went moderatly well.  If I had known then what I know now I would have prepared several dishes differently but on the whole the food was well recieved.  But I learnt a lot from this feast and am looking forward to my next opportunity.
If you have any questions or requests then please feel free to contact me at helewyse@yahoo.com

Menu transcriptions
Will be inserted soon

Menu translations
Menu translations from “Romoli, Domenico. La Singolare dottrina di M. Domenico Romoli. In Venetia : presso Gio. Battista Bonfadino, 1593”.  Romoli Domenica.  The singular doctrine of M. Domenico Romoli.  In Venice: printed by Gio Battista Bonfadina 1593.
From the website: http://www.bib.ub.es/grewe/grewe1.htm

Wednesday the 1st of December
Antipasti :Tomaselle (sausages of liver), Pheasant with pomegranate juice, Dish of cold rissoles, chopped lemons, Pergolese grapes.
Boiled: Breast of veal, Salted beef, Capons, Salami, Dish of small lasagne, White relish/sauce
Fruit: Stuffed quinces, Papardelle (pasta) in Roman style, Fritters of eggs and cheese, Melarose (rose scented kind of lemon or brightly colored apple), fennel.

Thursday the 2nd of December
Antipasti: Veal liver in small morsels, Hens catalan style, Leg of kid, Olives.
Boiled: Boar, Salted beef, Wood pigeon, Ham, White cabbage, Relish of walnuts with garlic
Fruit: Apples, Cardoon, Parmegiano cheese, roasted chestnuts, fennel.

Friday the 3rd of December
Antipasti: Eggs to drink, Lombard style ravioli, Sole with parsley, Chopped lemons, Olives
Boiled: Tuna belly, squid soup, dish of peas in Fiamenga style, Gray mullet, white relish/sauce.
Fried: Jelly of eel, Budelorbi (?no trans?), squid small with slices of citron above, little red sea bream.
Fruit: Tart of apples, sweet bun (cialdoni), Stewed truffles, Melarose, fennel.

Saturday the 4th of December
Antipasti: Crostati (bread toasts) of dates, Marinated eggs, salted fish, Agnellotti (pasta) with capons.
Boiled: Bass, pies of eel in the French style, Dish of cabbage with quinces, Tuna fish side preserved in oil, Walnut relish/sauce.
Fried: fritters of poor fish, green sauce, Tench, prawns, fried eggs, sweet mustard, olives
Fruit: melarose, cardoon, ravigiotto cheese, fennel.

Sunday the 5th of December
Antipasti: Larks, Sausage, Salted pork loin (sommata), Roasted suckling calf, Game pastry served cold, chopped lemons, fresh grapes.
Boiled: Belly of boar, shoulder of salted beef, Dish of meat with pickled capers (Capperotata), Salami, mustard
Fruit: White dish (Migliacci) in Florentine style, Apples, Pastries of damask plums, cardoon, sweet chestnuts, sloes, fennel.

Monday the 6th of December
Antipasti: Liver in stew (picchiante), Crostati (type of pie) of sweet breads, Loin of veal, chopped lemons, fresh grapes.
Boiled: pigeons stewed, thin sliced veal, salami, mustard relish.
Fruit: Fruits of sardinia, stewed peas, parmegiano cheese, melarose, fennel.

Tuesday the 7th of December
Antipasti: white dish in florentine style (Blancmange), small sausages of veal liver, sausages, loin of pork with onions, quinces cooked under the roast, grapes.
Boiled: Boar, Ox, Hare, Salami, Dish of parpardelle (pasta) in Florentine style, relish of favere (? Poor copied word?)
Fruit: Pope pears, parmegiano cheese, roasted chestnuts, sloes, fennel.

Menus translated from: Bartolomeo Scappi, Opera dell’arte del cucinare.  Presentazione di Giancarlo Roversi.  Arnaldo Forni Editore. Testi Antichi di Gastronomia, ristampa 1981.  Bartolomeo Scappi, work the art of the kitchen.  Presented by Giancarlo Roversi, Editor Arnaldo Forni.  Historical food texts, reprinted 1981.

Lunch on the 8th of December with one service from the kitchen, and two from the side board, served in two plates, with two carved dishes and two chopped/sliced.
First service from the sideboard :Pisa style biscotti with Mavasia (Malmsy) wine in beakers, Spiced cake in Neopolitan or Roman style, Fucaccine (pasta) sliced made with butter, sausage cooked in wine served in slices, Ham cooked in wine and then sliced served with currants, sugar and red vinegar above.
First and last service from the kitchen: Crostati (toasted bread/type of pie) covered with kidney of veal roasted on the spit than chopped in many pieces, Thrush interleaved with four pounds of veal sweetbreads roasted on the spit, served with pomegranate juice, pepper and sugar above, Tripe of the lower intestines cooked in Bolognese style, served with cheese, sugar and cinnamon above, Meat balls of lean meat of veal of half a pound each roasted on the spit, served with currants cooked in wine and sugar above, Half a kid (rear half) roasted on the spit served with pomegranate cut above, Shoulder of domesticated pork roasted on the spit served with onions cooked in its fat in a dish, soft mustard in plates, Cow salted, boiled served with parsley above, Domesticated pigeons in lard broth with 12 fresh pork feet.
Second and last service from the side board: Tart of wheat, Herb tart in Bolognese style, Cardoon served with salt and pepper, Quinces cooked on the grill, served with sugar and rosewater above, Pears and apples raw of many sorts, Maiorichino cheese, Parmegiano cheese in slices, Roasted chestnuts served with pepper, sugar and salt above, Snow of milk served with sugar above, Wafers made with dehusked flour, Ciambellate (small ring shaped buns) of Monaco.
Raise the table & give water to the hands one changes the napkins: Fennel sweet, fresh peeled (probably candied), Perfumed toothpicks, Flavorings and confections at ones disposal.

Dinner of the same day as the above written lunch
First service from the sideboard: Endive salad, Macaroni salad, Cooked carrot salad, Ramp roots in salad, Salted pork loin, Soft mustard for flavor, Pastries of veal served cold of six pounds per pastry, Offele (biscuit) of royal pastry, Capons roasted on the spit served cold, Jelly of pork feet, snout and ears of pork with feet, snout and ears underneath, Fresh grapes of many sorts.
First service from the kitchen: Belly of veal stuffed, boiled served with parsley above, Capons stuffed, boiled with cardoon and cervellate (sausage) in the Milan style served with cheese and cinnamon above, Rear half of kid roasted on the spit served with pomegranate seeds above, Shoulder of mutton boiled and then roasted on the grill, served with vinegar and pepper above, Thrush interleaved with three pounds of sausage roasted on the spit, served with lemon cut above, Fricase of four quarters of kid, White sprouts of wood fennel boiled with four pounds of Mortadelle (sausage), Loin of domestic pig made into sopresatta (type of sausage) roasted on the spit served with pieces of quince cooked in its fat, Salted dry meat boiled, served with a nice bit of mint on top, Flavor sauce of dried prunes.
Second service from the sideboard: White tart with marzapaned apples, Green tart in Lombard style, Truffles boiled with oil, pomegranate juice and pepper, Cardoon with salt and pepper, Pears and Apples of many sorts, Romagnolo cheese in slices, Sweet chestnuts cooked on the grill served with salt sugar and pepper, Ricotta passed through the syringe served with sugar above, Wafers made with dehusked wheat, Small round cakes (Cialdoni) of Monaco.
Raise the table wash the hands change the serviette: Sweet green fennel, toothpicks in plates in rosewater, flavorings and confections for each, small bunches of perfumed flowers.

Lunch on the 15th of December with two services from the sideboard, & two from the kitchen, served in four plates with four carved and four chopped
First service from the sideboard: Roman style biscotti with malmsy wine, Neapolitan style spiced cake, Spoletti (bobbins) of marzipan, Offelle (biscuits) made with butter, Salted tongue of beef cooked in wine cut in slices, Ham cooked in wine and then sliced served with capons, currants and sugar above, Pastry of goat served cold six pounds per pastry, Capons served cold with lemons sliced above, Fresh grapes of many sorts.
First service from the kitchen: Thrush interleaved with six pounds of sausages roasted on the spit, served with pomegranate sprinkled above, Fritters of sweetbreads and livers of kid served with pomegranate juice pepper and sugar above, Crostate (toasted bread) with pulp of pigeons and slices of sommata, Liver bundles of pork in a net roasted on the spit served with pomegranate above, Baby hens tiny, stuffed, roasted on the spit served with lemon sliced above sugar and rosewater, Pastries of chopped veal of one pound per each pastry, Wild hen stuffed like a pheasant served with capers and sugar above, Feet of veal boil then endored with egg and fried, served with sliced lemon and sugar above, Soft mustard for taste.
Second service from the kitchen: Dried meat Milan style boiled served with parsley above, Garlic and almond sauce for flavor, Our hens, boiled covered with annolini (pasta?) served with cheese, sugar and cinnamon above, Partridge boiled with base of cardoon and cervellate (sausage) served with grated cheese, sugar and cinnamon above, Pastry of duck, two per pastry with prunes and sour cherries inside, Half a hare fried, covered with ciuiero (sauce) served with pine nuts softened/mixed above, Quince in lard broth with sage sprouts and pieces of bergamot pears, Half a kid boiled, served with sugar and cinnamon above, Jelly with capon meat beneath.
Second and final service from the sideboard: Cardoon served with salt and pepper, Marzipaned white tart, Herbed tart in Lombard style, Truffles boiled with oil pomegranate juice and pepper, Pears and Apples of many sorts, Marzolini cheese of two pounds for each serving, Riviera cheese, Chestnuts roasted served with salt, sugar and pepper, Quince cooked on the grill, served with sugar and rosewater sprinkled above.
Raise the table and wash the hands, replace napkins: Sweet fresh fennel peeled, Perfumed toothpicks, Flavorings and confections for each, Bundles of flowers washed.

Dinner on the same day as lunch
First service from the sideboard: Lettuce and borage flower salad, Salad of cooked chicory, Macaroni salad, Cooked carrot salad, Salad of capers currants and sugar, Salad of feet of kid, Sommata (salt pork loin) cooked in wine, cut in slices served with sugar and pomegranate juice over, Pastry of rufalotto (?) of six pounds per pastry served cold, Tortiglioni (pasta) stuffed in Milan style.
First service from the kitchen: Partridge stuffed with truffles, roasted on the spit, served with pomegranate juice and sugar above, Quail and thrush roasted on the spit, served with onions chopped cooked in their fat, Dried loin boiled in Venetian style, Pigeons roasted on the spit, served with Spanish caper dish above, Pastry of capons with two per pastry served hot, Shoulder of goat roasted on the spit covered with ciuro (sauce) served with candied aniseeds above, Sauce of grapes in plates, Head of kid dipped in eggs and fried, served with lemons sliced and sugar above.
Second service from the kitchen: Veal breast, boiled with parsley on top, Wood pigeon in larded broth, Young capons stuffed, boiled, served with papardelle (pasta) cooked in hare broth with cheese, sugar and cinnamon above, Half a kid boiled, served with a good bit of mint above, White sauce in plates, Pieces of shoulder of hare, boiled with whole onions and neck of pork, Saddle (back cut) with the tail end of mutton boiled and then roasted on the grill, served with salt, vinegar, pepper and sugar above, white tarts, Domesticated pigeons, stuffed, boiled with cervellate (sausage) and yellow turnip/rape, Pastry of small birds, four per pastry, Jelly of pork in quadrants.
Second and last service from the sideboard: Tart of quince, tart of herbs in bolognese style, quinces cooked in a “pignata” served with sugar and rosewater above, Cardoon served with salt and pepper, pears and apples of many sorts, Parmesan cheese in slices, Romanolo cheese, chestnuts roasted served with sugar, pepper and salt, Truffles boiled with oil, pomegranate juice, and pepper.
Raise the table, wash the hands, change napkins: Fennel sweet and green, Scented toothpicks, Flavorings and confections for each, Bunches of flowers with feet of gold.

Lunch on the 25th of December with three service from the sideboard, and three from the kitchen, service with eight plates, with eight carved and eight sliced.
First service from the sideboard: Biscotti with malmsey (peasant or Roman style), Little biscuits of marzipan in roman style, spindles of marzipan, Biscuits layered in Milan style, Sausage cooked in wine, cut in slices, Salted pork loin roasted on the spit served cold with sliced lemons above, Fresh grapes of many sorts, Large capons stuffed with cervellate, roasted on the spit served cold, soft mustard for taste, Neapolitan olives, Jelly in quadrants with the meat of 10 capons below, Dishes of bianco mangere (blancmange), Pastry of goat, served cold with 6 lbs per pastry, Salted pork loin (sommata) cooked in wine, cut in slices served with chopped lemons and sugar above, Ham cut n slices, fried with slices of bread, sage, served with red vinegar, sugar and pepper above, Tortiglioni in Lombard style made with butter.
First service from the kitchen: Tiny birds (e.g. sparrow) roasted on the spit with its crust, Liver bundles of chicken in casing of pork, interleaved with bay leaves roasted on the spit, served with pomegranate juice, sugar and cinnamon above, Crostate (toasted bread) of kid sweetbreads and grated sausage, Leaved pastry of chopped veal of a pound per pastry, Salted sommata, wrapped in casing roasted on the spit, served with chopped lemons and sugar above, Wood cock roasted on the spit served with its juices above, Partridge roasted on the spit served in Catalan style, Meat balls of lean veal meat, four ounces each roasted on the spit, served with currants cooked in wine and sugar above.
Second service from the kitchen: Large capons stuffed, boiled covered with annolini (stuffed pasta) made with chicken meat and beef marrow, pieces of Lombard salted beef boiled, served with parsley above, Soft mustard for taste, Pastry of veal tongue, two per pastry with its juices inside, Fricassee of six half hares, Breast of veal stuffed in Lombard style, boiled served with parsley and enough mint above, Pastry of songbirds, 6 per pastry, Quail in fat broth, Jelly in bite sized pieces amber in color, Turkish style rice cooked with milk, with cheese, sugar and cinnamon above, cinnamon tart in Venetian style.
Third and last service from the kitchen: Loin of veal roasted on the spit served with pitted olives above, Celery cut in slices, served with sugar, salt and rosewater above, Pheasant wrapped in paper roasted on the spit served hot, Royal sauce for flavor, Cheek of young goat roasted on the spit served with pomegranate juice above, Large capons stuffed with cervellate (sausage) and truffles, roasted on the spit served with pomegranate cut above, Wood duck roasted in clay on the spit and served with caper sauce and sugar above, Shoulder of boar in fat broth with large whole onions, Ginestrata (kind of pottage) in dish served with sugar and cinnamon above, Spanish olives, Large pastry of domesticated duck, two per pastry, whole hare roasted on the spit covered with ciuiero (sauce) served with peeled pine nuts, ground/mixed above, Jelly of feet, snout and ears of pork with peeled almonds within.
Second service from the sideboard: tart of sloes, Pastry of whole quinces, 4 quinces per pastry, White tart, Pears boiled served with leaves above and gilded, Jelly of meat in quadrants, Herb tart in Bolognese style, Caravelle pears cooked in the heat of the fire served with “folignata” (? Gilded leaves?) above, Truffles boiled with oil, pomegranate juice and pepper, Peeled cardoon served with salt and pepper, Pears and apples of many kinds, Parmesan cheese in slices, Marzolini cheese, two pounds per serving, Roasted chestnuts served with salt, sugar and pepper, Wafers made with white wheat, Snow of milk with sugar above, Cakes of monaco.
Raise the table, wash hands change serviettes
Third and final service from the sideboard: Fennel, sweet fresh, Perfumed toothpicks, Wafers made with crumb of bread and sugar, Cakes made with eggs and sugar, Flavors and condiments of many sorts to each, Bundles of flowers washed with gold feet.
 

Breakdown of menus.
First service from the sideboard, most popular choices, combination of both lunch and dinner menus:
10 – Roast/boiled meat dish served cold
9 – Biscotti or other cakes
8 – Sausage, roasted or cooked in wine served cold
8 – Vegetable salad dish
7 – Fresh grapes
5 – Roast birds, pasta and meat pies

First service from the kitchen, most popular choices, combination of both lunch and dinner menus:
26 – boiled meat
15 – Roasted meat
14 – Roasted poultry
12 – Sauce
11 – Boiled poultry
10 – Pies and tarts
8 – Salami, sommata or other salted meat
5 – Vegetable (boiled)
4 – Jelly
3 – Crostitini or pasta

Second and last service from the sideboard, most popular choices based on combination of lunch and dinner:
13 – Slices of cheese
12 – Fresh apples and pears
9 – Sweet tarts or cooked fruit
8 – chestnuts roasted or cardoon
6 – Truffles
5 – Wafers or other sweet pastry

Levata la tovaglia, little things to finish, based on menus from Scappi, does not change much between lunch and dinner:
Wafers
Candied fennel seeds
Scented toothpicks

Menu
Primo servito di Credenza - First service from the side board
Biscotti - two styles of biscotti, one flavored with fennel the other with cracked coriander seeds
Salciccione cott'in vino - pork sausage cooked in a red wine broth, served cold and sliced
Mustardo amabile - sweet mustard
Uva fresca di piu sorte - many types of fresh grapes
Insalata di carote cotte - salad of roasted carrots
Insalate di verdura - green salad
Tortelleti di herba alla Lombardo - Lombard style herb stuffed pasta (served hot with olive oil and cheese on top).

Primo et ultimo servito di cucina - First and last service from the kitchen.
Galline ripiene - stuffed roasted chickens
Agliato - roasted garlic sauce
Polpettone di buoe, fatto nel graticola - beef kebabs cooked on the grill
Salza di sugo di pomegranate et limoncelli - pomegranate and lemon sauce
Pane con olio - bread served with rosemary scented olive oil.
Piselli freschi soffrigato con buttiro - fresh peas fried in butter
Minestra di cipolle e porri per giorni quadregesimali - Dish of onions and leeks for lenten days (fried in oil then simmered with saffron and almond milk)

Secondo et ultimo servito di Credenza - second and last service from the sideboard (all cold)
Formaggio in fettatine - cheese in small slices
Mele et pere crudo di piu sorte - uncooked apples and pears of many sorts
Torta bianca reale, quale usana Papa Iulio III - Royal white tart as served to Pope Julio III
Marroni arrostiti, servita con pepe, zuccaro et sale sopra - roasted chestnuts served with pepper, sugar and salt

Levata la tovaglia - Table raising
Cialdoni fatta a scartocci - wafers made with white flour
Conditti et confettioni a - sweet candied fennel seeds
Stecchi profumati - scented toothpicks (some soaked in rosewater, others in mint tea)

Transcriptions of original recipes in Italian
Will be inserted soon

Translations from Italian into English of the original recipes.

From: Bartolomeo Scappi, Opera dell’arte del cucinare.  Presentazione di Giancarlo Roversi.  Arnaldo Forni Editore. Testi Antichi di Gastronomia, ristampa 1981.  Bartolomeo Scappi, work the art of the kitchen.  Presented by Giancarlo Roversi, Editor Arnaldo Forni.  Historical food texts, reprinted 1981. (hereafter referred to as Scappi)
Cap CCXXXVII, folio 391, 5th book
To make morsels of Biscotti
Take two pounds of crumb of bread and make them dry like biscuits, grind in a mortar and pass it through the sieve in a way that it becomes like flour.  For every pound of passed biscuits (resultant flour) take as much wheat flour and two and a half of fine ground sugar, four ounces of yeast/barm ground in the mortar.  Temper with fifteen fresh eggs and then mix everything together with ¾ of aniseed raw ground and made into a powder, and four ounces of rose water.  Mix, beat well so that everything is together until it resembles the pasta for fritters.  Let it rest for two hours in a warm place, then beat it another time, then rest it for another four hours.  Add 8 ounce of salt and beat, then let it rest another hour.  Then have a “tortiere” greased with butter and put inside this mixture to the height of a finger and put it in the oven that is not too hot and let it stay enough that it sets and pull from the oven.  With a thin knife, cut in long thick and thin quadrants as you please.  As soon as they are cut put them in the “tortiere” for marzipan lined with paper underneath and return to the oven at a warm temperature and let them stay for half an hour.  Turn them from time to time until they are cooked, and see that they stay white, cover with another piece of paper.  And in this mix in the place of flour from bread one can also add more flour from wheat but add more yeast and extra eggs.  If you want you can also make biscotti with wheat flour, eggs, sugar coriander flowers and musk.  And in the place of flour you may make with white bread made into biscuits and into powder, eggs, sugar, yeast.  When you put them into the “tortiera” to cook one can make them like “cialde” or “ostie”.  And if you want to make the other sort, one should see the book entitled for convalescents, separate from this fifth chapter.

From Scappi, Cap CIII, folio 47, 2nd book.
To make mortatelle (sausages) of lean meat of boar or domestic pig wrapped in casing
Take 10lbs of the above written meat without bones, skin and nerves, that which has both fat and lean.  Beat with a knife on the table, and add eight ounces of cut salt, and six ounces of sweet dried fennel, four ounces of pepper coarsely ground, one ounce of cinnamon ground, half an ounce of ground cloves and mix everything together well with the hands.  Add four ounces of water and mint and marjoram chopped with a little thyme.  Leave to rest in a wooden or ceramic pot for four hours in a cold place.  Take the casing of this pig well washed of skin and soaked in warm water, and make of this mixture the mortatelle with the caul in the way one makes “tomacelle”.  And during the winter let them rest two days in a dry place, then one cooks them on the grill or in a frying pan with liquid lard.  One can also cook them on the spit between bay leaves, and the mortatelle may also be spitted along the length of sticks of rosemary.  But in whatever way they are cooked, you want to serve them warm.
Of the same mixture you can fill guts of pig, that first are cured in salt, and when they are full in winter you can let them sit for two days and then they must be boiled.

From Scappi Cap CCLXXVI, folio 95, 2nd book.
Sweet Mustard
Take a pound of sauce of grapes, and an other of quinces cooked in wine and sugar, four ounces of "appie" apples cooked in wine and sugar, three ounces of candied peel of eggplant, two ounces of candied lemon peel, and half an ounce of candied nutmeg, and paste all the candied together with the apples and quinces in a mortar.  When everything is ground pass it through a sieve together with the grape sauce, add to the said material three ounces of cleaned mustard seed, mor or less depending on how strong you want it.  And when it is passed (mixed) put in a little salt and sugar finely ground, half an ounce of cinnamon, and a quarter of cloves, and if you don't want to make a paste of the candies then chop them minutely.  If you don't have sauce of grapes one can make it without, take more quinces and apples cooked in the above said manner.
From Scappi Cap CCLXXIIII folio 95, 2nd book
To make sauce of black grapes
Take black grapes, that are firm, those that are called "gropello", that is "cesenese", that have a red skin, break them and put to boil in a casserole on a low fire for an hour.  After take the juice that they have made and strain through a sieve.  And for every pound of juice take eight ounces of fine sugar and put it to reboil in a casserole, scum it well and to this add at the end a little salt and whole cinnamon and let it boil on a slow fire until it takes the cooking (the implication here is that the sauce reduces and becomes syrupy) and when it is cooked conserve it in a glass or glazed pottery vessel.

Taken from “Platinas on right pleasure and good health.  A critical abridgment and translation of De honesta voluptale et valetudine 1999.  Mary Ella Milham.  Pegasus press.  Asheville NC. Fourth book recipe 16.  Provided by Johnnae Ilyn Lewis
On the carrot and parsnip
There are two kinds of parsnip, all of whose force is in root and seed, both what comes up wild and what is sown in early spring or in autumn, in soil which has been dug very deep.  When it is a year old it begins to be useful, but it is more useful in winter, more pleasant in autumn.  Doctors say that parsnip is white, while carrot is red or almost black.  The latter grows better in the garden, especially in Vitterbo, the former grows better in uncultivated soil.  Both are difficult to digest and of little and harsh nutriment.  The parsnip should be boiled twice, with the first water thrown away, and cooked with lettuce the second time.  Transferred from there to a dish and seasoned with salt, vinegar, coriander and pepper.  It is suitable to eat for it settles cough, pleurisy and dropsy, and arouses passion.  It is even customary for it to be rolled in meal and fried in oil or fat when it has been hollowed out after first boiling.
Carrot is seasoned in the same way as parsnip, but it is considered sweeter if cooked under warm ash and coals.  When it is taken out, it should cool a little, be peeled, scraped entirely free of ash, cut up in bits and transferred to a dish.  Salt should be added, oil and vinegar sprinkled on, some condensed must or must added and sweet spices sprinkled over.  There is nothing more pleasant to eat than this.  It is good for people in two respects for it represses bile and moves the urine.  In other ways it is harmful, as it is for liver, stomach and spleen.

From “The fruit, herbs & vegetables of Italy: an offering to Lucy Countess of Bedford.  Giacomo Castelvetro, Gillian Riley.  1989 Viking, New York, NY.  Provided by Johnnae Ilyn Lewis
So, to make a good salad in the proper way, you should put the oil in first of all, stir it into the salad, then add the vinegar and stir again.  And if you do not enjoy this, complain to me.
The secret of a good salad is plenty of salt, generous oil and little vinegar, hence the Sacred law of salads:
Insalata ben salata
Poco aceta & ben oliata.
Salt the salad quite a lot
Then generous oil put in the pot
And vinegar but just a jot.

Scappi Cap CXXIV, folio 70, 2nd book
To make a dish of tortelleti of herbs in Lombard style.
Take swiss chard and spinach and cut them small and wash in plenty of water, and press out the water.  Let them fry in fresh butter, and with these put fragrant herbs to boil, then pull them out and put in a pot of copper or clay and add grated parmesan cheese and fat cheese, more of one than the other, and pepper, cinnamon, clove, saffron, dried grapes and enough raw eggs.  If the mixture seems too liquid add grated bread, but if it is too hard, put in a little more butter and have a sheet of pasta made in the way that is said in chapter 177 and make small tortelletti and large.  Cook them in good meat broth and serve with cheese, sugar and cinnamon above.
Pasta recipe from Scappi 177.
Have a sheet of pasta that is thin enough, made of wheat flour, rosewater, salt, butter, sugar and warm water, and with this sheet make the tortelletti.

From Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco (14th/15th c.) * (Anonimo Veneziano)  * -- This version based on: Ludovico Frati (ed.): * Libro di cucina del secolo XIV. Livorno 1899. Translation in English availablehere  (hereafter referred to as Libro di cucina)
Recipe LVII – Hens stuffed and good.
If you want to make stuffed hens for 12 persons, take the hens then skewer them, then peel them well and pull forth all that within.  Then take a pound of almonds peeled and crushed and strained (make almond milk), take 8 cheeses strained well and sweet and take 12 eggs, parsley, mint and other good herbs and wash well and paste with the cheese and take 3 ounces of spices without saffron, and take the herbs and cheese and eggs and together make in paste and temper with the almond milk and make a paste that is like that for fritters.  Take the chicken well washed and peeled and stuff in between the skin and the meat and within, and then close it well so the filling does not come out and it will be good.

Recipe from Scappi, Cap XIII, folio 20, 2nd book.
To make meat balls in roman style of loin of beef or of cow.
Take the leanest part of the loin, without bones and skin and nerves and cut it  against the grain in large pieces of six ounces each.  Powder them with rubbed salt and fennel flowers or a little bit of ground common spices and take four lardons of ham salted for each piece.  Let them stay marinating with this mixture, a little red vinegar and concentrated grape must (saba) for three hours.  And then put on the spit with a piece of pork fat between each and also pieces of sage leaves or bay leaves.  Let them cook on a temperate fire.  Then they are cooked they should be served as such, hot with a sauce above, made from that juice which falls from them, and mixed with this mixture, that is made from the things in the marinade.  This sauce wants to have little body and give to it the color of saffron.   In this way one can cook the loins of young lambs, mutton and of other quadruped animals.

Recipe from Scappi, Cap CCLXX, folio 94, 2nd book.
To make sauce of pomegranate juice and lemons.
Take four ounces of lemon juice and a pound of pomegranate juice, strong or of half flavor, and put to boil the clear part in a casserole with a pound of fine sugar and a quarter of whole cinnamon and two cloves.  Leave to cook in the same way as that described in the previous recipe of the sauce of pomegranate in the way that there is left from the three parts two.

Cap CCLXIIII, Folio 93, 2nd book.
To make sauce of pomegranate.
Take a pound and a half of cleared/clarified pomegranate juice and a pound of sugar and let everything boil together on a slow fire of coals until it is cooked.  That one knows because of the taste in the mouth.  Above all the sugar must be fine and let it boil very slowly. One can conserve it in a glass flask or in a glazed pottery one.

From Libro di cucina
Agliato (garlic sauce)
Agliato for every meat, take the garlic and cook it under the coals then grind to a paste and mix it with raw garlic and crumb of bread, sweet spices and broth.  Mix everything together well and let it boil a little and serve warm.

From Scappi Cap CLXXXIX, Folio 74, 2nd book.
To fry fresh peas with the skin and without
If you want to fry the said peas with the skin.  Take the most tender and pull their flower and the small end, and make them boil with good meat broth, take them out and let them drain and fry them in strutto (salted pig fat) or lardo (fresh pig fat) and serve them with pomegranate juice and pepper above.  One can also fry these with a little garlic and chopped parsley.  Of the said peas fried, one can cover hens or other volatile meats roasted on the spit.  If you don't want them with the grainy skin, peel them and fry them in the above written way.  In this way you can also fry peeled favas.

Scappi Cap CCXXXIIII, folio 153, 3rd book.
To make a dish of onions and leeks mixed together in days of Lent
Take whole onions, old, peel them and slice in pieces and take the white part of the leek and let them parboil.  Then take them out of that broth and drain them and chop finely with a knife and fry in olive oil, add pepper and cinnamon.  When they are fried add water colored with saffron and let them boil in a pan of copper or clay.  When they are nearly cooked add almond milk that is not too clear (thin) and a little verjuice, and a handful of chopped herbs, and let them finish cooking, enough that they have a little body.  And if it is not a vigil day you can incorporate beaten eggs and grated cheese and serve hot with spices on top.

Scappi Cap LXXX, folio 357, 5th book
To make a royal white tart like that served to Pope Julio III
Have two pounds of fresh provatura, made that day, and paste in a mortar until it becomes like butter.  Add two pounds of fine sugar, three ounces of rose water, and three capi (measurement unknown) of milk made that day, or a beaker of cream of milk and 15 egg whites.  Have a tortiera with cold butter powdered with flour and put inside this mixture. Let it cook very slowly on a slow fire, more heat above than below and when it is nearly cooked make a crust of sugar, and before you pull it from the oven give it a luster, with the white of an egg, like for marzipan and serve hot or cold at ones pleasure.  And if it is made in the month of March it will always be better because of the provatura and milk. One can also make it with a pastry crust, adding egg yolks and ordinary spices with the juice of apple of “appie”.

Scappi Cap CXLI , folio 420, book 6.
To make wafers with crumb of bread and sugar.
Take crumb of bread and let it moisten in cold water and strain it through a sieve.  Make a paste of it and wheat flour, rosewater and sugar and simple water and fresh egg yolks.  Because otherwise you won’t be able to make wafers make the paste liquid and firm.  When you have the irons add a little malmsey wine, and make the wafers.
If you want it with pulp of capons boiled in water and salt.  Paste this meat in a mortar and temper with a little cold water and pass with the bread crumb through the sieve and mix together with the other things and make wafers.  One can also make with almond milk and egg yolks.

Redacted Recipes
Biscotti - two styles of biscotti, one flavored with fennel the other with cracked coriander seeds
1/2 lb all purpose flour
10 oz sugar
5 large eggs,
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon rose water
Beat all ingredients together in a Kitchenaid or equivalent mixer at low speed, turn speed to medium high (6) and beat for five minutes.   Beat in 2 teaspoons of aniseeds, again beating for a good five minutes.  Pour into a well greased and lined 9 * 13 " pan.  Bake in a 370 degree oven for about 20 minutes until risen, lightly browned and set.  Remove from the oven, turn out on a wooden board and allow to cool slightly.  Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees.  Slice the cake into two strips lengthwise (4.5 " each), remove the outside crusts, and cut into thin slices (less than 1/2").  Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Return to the oven for two hours, turning once, until dry.  Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 48.
For coriander biscotti substitute 2 teaspoons of coarsely ground coriander seeds.

Salciccione cott'in vino - pork sausage cooked in a red wine broth, served cold and sliced
4 lb boston butt (pork) containing at least 10 oz pork fat, supplement if necessary.
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fennel seed, lightly crushed
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon fresh chopped mint
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Trim the pork of all sinews and bones, cover the trimmings and bones with at least 4 pints of water.  Bring to a boil and simmer, remove all the scum as it rises to the surface.  Simmer for about two hours until a rich pork stock develops, strain and reserve.  Grind the pork and fat together with on a fine mince plate in a Kitchenaid grinder attachment, alternatively process in a food processor or chop finely by hand.  Mix in the spices with six tablespoons of cold water.  Chill in the fridge for at least one hour.  Soak salted hog casings (those suitable for bratwurst) in clean cold water, rinse out the inside of the casing with water.  Thread casing onto Kitchenaid sausage stuffer attachment, feed sausage meat into casing on speed 4.  Twist or tie sausages into even lengths, weighing approximately 4 oz each.  Place the sausage into a pan and cover with a wine and broth mix consisting of 1/4 cup red wine for each 3/4 cup pork stock (made above) with salt to taste if the pork stock is unsalted.  Bring to a gentle simmer and simmer for 20 minutes or until cooked.  Don't worry if you see bits in the stock at this point, it is the tannins in the wine reacting with the pork stock, it does not affect the taste.  Allow to cool in the broth in the fridge overnight.  Remove sausages from the broth, skin (because the casing now has the consistency of a rubber band) slice on a bias, arrange on the serving platter.  Serve cold, serves 30 for feast.

Mustardo amabile - sweet mustard
For the grape sauce:
1 lb red or black grapes
4 oz sugar
1 " stick cinnamon
For the apples cooked in wine and sugar (note for feast apples were cooked in water only):
3 apples
1/2 cup wine
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
For the mustard sauce:
1 oz candied lemon peel
1 small pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch cloves
1 oz mustard seed ground
pinch salt
Take the grapes, break the skins and place in a covered pot on a low heat for one hour.  Strain the grapes through a sieve and then strain the resultant pulpy juice through a jelly bag or cheesecloth.  This should yield 8 oz of grape juice.  Add the sugar, return to the pan and bring to a boil.  As it boils remove any scum that rises to the surface.  Simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce reaches a consistency that is tacky and thick and is before the jelly stage.
Core the apples, chop roughly and place in a pan with the wine and sugar, simmer until tender.  Remove the apples from the liquid and press through a sieve or other strainer, to remove skin and mash apples.
Blend 8 oz grape sauce with 8 oz of apple mush in a blender with the lemon peel and remaining spices including the mustard.  Blend until smooth.  This is a sweet, tangy, fruity mustard, in every way friendly (which is the literal translation of amabile).  Makes enough to fill a 16 oz canning jar, serves 30 for feast.

Insalata di carote cotte - salad of roasted carrots
1 lb carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
pinch sweet spice blend comprised of 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 4 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cloves.
Roast the carrots, whole, in their skins at 375 Fahrenheit for 40 minutes or until tender.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  When cool, remove the skins, slice the carrots.  Arrange in a dish sprinkle with the salt, toss with the olive oil, sprinkle with the vinegar.  Dust lightly with the spices, serve at room temperature.  Serves 6.

Insalate di verdura - green salad
1 lb mixed spring greens
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Wash the greens and dry them well, place in a bowl, sprinkle with salt, mix well, add the olive oil, mix well, add the vinegar, mix well.  Serves 8.

Tortelleti di herba alla Lombardo - Lombard style herb stuffed pasta
For the pasta:
1 lb bread flour
1 good teaspoon of salt
1 whole egg + 2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 - 14 tablespoons water
Blend all together until a firm pastry dough is obtained.  Knead for ten minutes by hand or in the Kitchenaid for five minutes until the pastry is smooth and elastic.  Allow to rest at room temperature for an hour.  Roll out using a pasta machine to the second thinnest setting.
For the filling:
12 oz fresh or 10 oz frozen spinach
2 oz arugula
1 oz parsley
2 tablespoons of  butter
Chop the spinach coarsely and fry in  butter over medium heat until tender, add the arugula and parsley, fry for a further two - five minutes.  Remove from heat and pulse in a food processor until finely chopped.  Place in a bowl and add:
15 oz ricotta which has been drained of most of the liquid
2 oz parmesan cheese finely grated
2 egg whites (reserved from pasta recipe above)
4 tablespoons dried currants
good pinch salt (between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon)
4 grinds from a pepper mill (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 generous pinch of cinnamon (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 scant pinch ground cloves (about 1/8 teaspoon)
Place the pasta sheet on the counter, brush excess flour off the pasta, brush one half with water, on the other half place 1 teaspoon mounds of filling every 1.5 - 2 inches (dependent on ravioli size required and size of spoonful).  Fold over the pasta and seal the pasta around the dough, make sure to expel all air, otherwise the pasta will explode when they are cooked.  Move to a flour dusted baking sheet lined with plastic wrap, use within an hour or freeze.  Once frozen pasta can be moved to storage bags.
To cook: Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.  Add the ravioli and cook for about 5 minutes or until they float and the pasta is al-dente.  Drain, place on the serving platter, pour over olive oil, grate a little imported parmegiano reggiano on top, and dust lightly with a spice blend that consists of:
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
Serve hot, makes 40 - 50 ravioli dependent on size.

Galline ripiene - stuffed roasted chickens
8 oz cheese (spanish or farmers type)
1/3 cup almond milk
(4 oz blanched almonds ground with 1/2 pint boiling water three times, strain, yields 3 cups of almond milk)
1 large egg
2 oz parsley
2 sprigs of mint
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 chicken about 4 lb with bones. .
Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
Remove the rib cage and back bone from the chicken, without cutting through the skin.  Leave the leg and wing bones in the bird.  Loosen the skin from the flesh.  In a food processor combine the first six ingredients to form a smooth paste.  Work some of the paste in between the skin of the bird and the meat, place the remainder inside the cavity.  Truss the bird, making sure that as many of the openings in the skin as possible are sealed.  Weigh the bird.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes per pound plus 20 minutes for the bird (about 60 minutes for a 2 lb bird).  Test with a thermometer in the thickest part to ensure that a safe temperature (190 Fahrenheit), remember that the internal temperature will increase by 5 degrees during the resting period.  Serve sliced.

Agliato - roasted garlic sauce
1 garlic bulb + 1 small clove
1 cup vegetable broth made with onions, carrots, celery, parsley stems
1/2 teaspoon sweet spices consisting of 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 4 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cloves.
3 tablespoon bread crumbs
Roast the garlic in foil with a dash of olive oil at 375 F for 40 minutes, until soft and golden brown.  Press out the cooked pulp and puree in a food processor with 1 small fresh garlic clove and the remainder of the ingredients.  Return to the pan and simmer for five minutes.  Serve hot, serves 20.

Polpettone di buoe, fatto nel graticola - beef kebabs cooked on the grill
12 oz sirloin cubed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon strong spice blend consisting of: 1 part ground cloves, 16 part ground black pepper, 4 parts long pepper, 8 parts nutmeg.
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon grape molasses
Marinate the cubed lamb in the remaining ingredients for three hours.  Thread onto skewers that have been soaked in water.  Grill over a medium high flame until cooked to your preference or at the peak of perfection (i.e. medium rare).  Serve hot, serves 4.

Salza di sugo di pomegranate et limoncelli - pomegranate and lemon sauce
4 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (check local middle eastern store)
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons sugar
Mix all together and simmer for 10 - 20 minutes until it takes on a syrupy consistency.
Store in a cold place and serve cold.
Serves 16.

Piselli freschi soffrigato con buttiro - fresh peas fried in butter
1 small clove garlic
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 lb of frozen peas, thawed in by covering with boiling water or in the microwave
2 tablespoons butter
Melt the butter, add the garlic and fry briefly, add the peas and fry gently for 5 minutes until water is boiled off and the pies begin to take some color.  Sprinkle with parsley.  Serve hot, serves 10.

Minestra di cipolle e porri per giorni quadregesimali - Dish of onions and leeks for lenten days (fried in oil then simmered with saffron and almond milk)
8 oz leek, tender white part, chopped roughly
8 oz onions chopped coarsely
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
1 pinch saffron
2 cups almond milk (made from 3 oz blanched almonds)
Place the coarsely chopped onions and leeks in a pan with sufficient cold water to cover, bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat and discard the water.  Chop the onions and leeks finely in a food processor.  Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add the chopped leeks and onions, fry and stir for at least 10 minutes until they become transparent.  Add cinnamon and ground black pepper and fry a couple more minutes.  Add the saffron and sufficient cold water to cover the onions, reduce the heat and simmer until the onions and leeks are very tender and the water is reduced by 1/3.  Add the almond milk and continue to simmer until the almond milk is almost all evaporated and the dish has a thick/rich consistency. Serve hot, serves 10.

Bread (three versions)
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour + or - 1/4 cup
2 teaspoons dried active yeast
Additions: for rosemary bread 1 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary; for asiago bread 1/2 cup asiago grated.
In a bowl combine water, salt, olive oil, yeast and 3 cups of flour.  Beat until well incorporated.  Turn out onto a well floured board and add additional flour and flavorings (if any) until the dough is firm and not sticky.  Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth.  Cover and allow to raise in a warm place for an hour.  Divide the dough into two even balls and form into round loaves.  Place on a greased baking sheet and allow to raise until doubled in size (about 40 minutes).  Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until the loaves are browned and sound hollow when you tap the bottom.  Serves 8 -10.

Rosemary scented olive oil
1 1/2  pint extra virgin olive oil
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
1 clean and dry wine bottle
Rinse the rosemary and dry.  Wash the bottle out well and sterilize with hot water.  Feed the rosemary into the bottle.  Cover with olive oil, seal the bottle.  Store in a cool, dark place for one month while the rosemary infuses the oil.  Attach a pourer.  Serve on plates.

Torta bianca reale, quale usana Papa Iulio III - Royal white tart as served to Pope Julio III
15 oz full fat ricotta, strained
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon rosewater
2 egg whites
Grease and lightly flour an 8" pie plate.  In a food processor blend the ricotta, cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add the rosewater and egg whites and pulse to mix.  Pour into the prepared pie dish and bake in the middle of a pre-heated 310 degree oven until the center is slightly set.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  Just before serving spritz with a little rosewater (the small oil spray bottles are perfect for this) and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar.  Serves 12.

Basic Sweet Wafer with Butter (provided by Lady Johnnae Ilyn Lewis)
1 3/4 - 2 cups flour (varies-- depends on how one measures and if one is using jumbo eggs)
1 stick (8 Tablespoons or 1/4 pound) melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs - extra large or even jumbo
pinch salt
Flavoring which can be 2 teaspoons of what you like, anise, almond,
hazelnut, lemon, orange, etc.
Mix eggs and sugar together. Then add flour and salt. Then add melted butter and flavoring. You can do this by hand or use a mixer.  Depending on the flavoring chosen, one will have to vary the amount slightly to get the balance right. This is very much personal preference as to whether you want a mild or strong taste. Also this recipe can be adapted to using brown sugar and/or a mix of brown and white sugar.  Bake according to instructions that come with your irons. Thin with milk if needed. You'll have to adjust dough depending on thickness or thinness of the wafers and type of iron being used. In general this makes a very good "cookie" type of wafer that tastes good and is well liked.  This makes 42 approximately of the small 3 inch wafers.

Acknowledgements
The entire feast was based on sources mostly in Italian from the 16th and earlier centuries.  Many thanks go to Lady Johnnae Ilyn Lewis for encouraging me to use my knowledge of Italian to translate period Italian manuscripts, for tempting me with her copy of Scappi at Baron Wars in May, for providing many additional sources of information, for volunteering to cook the wafers and providing invaluable advice throughout the feast planning process.  Thanks are also extended to the cooks guild of the Barony of Red Spears for the loan of serving gear. The cooks guild also provided all the equipment for the additional outdoor kitchen, which made the cooking of this feast possible. I am also grateful that the cooks guild volunteered to cook bread for the feast.  The Red Spears Baronial cooks the Silver Spoons consists of: Baroness Gabriella Juliana' la Laron, Lord Aiden Alpin of Dunkeld, Lady Bronwen d' Torrens of Stirlingshire, Lady Decima DeSeta, Lord Mark the Mailmaker, Lady Rowan de Veres, Lord Blaise de Fry and Lady Darian ua' Faelian.

References
Romoli, Domenico. La Singolare dottrina di M. Domenico Romoli. In Venetia : presso Gio. Battista Bonfadino, 1593.
From the website: http://www.bib.ub.es/grewe/grewe1.htm

Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco (14th/15th c.) * (Anonimo Veneziano)  * -- This version based on: Ludovico Frati (ed.): * Libro di cucina del secolo XIV. Livorno 1899. Translation in English available here  (hereafter referred to as Libro di cucina)

Platinas on right pleasure and good health.  A critical abridgment and translation of De honesta voluptale et valetudine 1999.  Mary Ella Milham.  Pegasus press.  Asheville NC. Fourth book recipe 16.

The fruit, herbs & vegetables of Italy: an offering to Lucy Countess of Bedford.  Giacomo Castelvetro, Gillian Riley.  1989 Viking, New York, NY.

An Italian Dictionary, By Alfred Hoare, M.A. Second Edition.  Cambridge University Press 1925.

A dictionary Italian & English, Formerly compiled by John Floria and since his last edition, anno 1611, augmented by himselfe in his life time with many thousand words and thuscan phrases.  Now most diligently revised, corrected and compared with la Crusca and other approved dictionaries extant since his death and enriched with many considerable editions.  Printed by T. Warren for Fa. Martin, Fa. Allestry and the Dicas, and are to be sold at the signe of the Bell in S. Pauls Church-Yard.  MDCLIX.

This page was last updated 1/26/03 by the author S. Louise Smithson, known in the SCA as Helewyse de Birkestad.
Please feel free to use the translations and redactions, but please give credit and notification of use.