Domingo Hernandez de Maceras

Translation by Dan Gillespie

Chapter 1 Of the beginnings of the meal, and supper, for winter and summer.

The summer meal begins with sour cherries, sweet limes, sweet oranges, custards, sloe plums monk’s plums, melons, and early figs, figs and muscatel grapes.

The winter, fresh butters from Baeza, herrings, dried apricots, raisins and almonds, uncooked endive, and cooked endive with oil, vinegar and sugar, and carrots cooked with oil, vinegar and sugar, and pepper and sugar, also give then out roasted in a new clay pot, clean them and put them in the pot, and put a lid on the pot and put it with the opening below in the middle of the fire and surround the circumference with live coals and in the space of two hours and don’t let the fire go out after putting the pot on and clean the burnt ones off and cut in pieces and cast oil and vinegar and pepper and it is a good warm salad

Chapter 6 How to Cook Another Dish Called Albujauanas (Mutton Patties)

Take a leg of mutton, two or three pounds, according to the number of guests, for each a half pound of meat. Take meat and chop it very well with far salt pork, parsley and mint, and after having chopped it with all this, put into a casserole, and take four or six maravedies of spices, and for each pound an egg, and you take these eggs and spices, fine salt, and vinegar and add all to the meat and knead it very well. Then being massaged, take a quarter pound of meat and place it in your hand and make a patty. Then take a greased casserole and place them in it. It should be cooked each one with a hole in the middle. Have a place to put the casserole on the fire, with a little fire underneath and above. When it is cooked beat a couple of eggs wit a little vinegar and thicken a little broth, and place in the plates and add in the broth on top and serve to the table.

Chapter 28 How to Make An Escabeche of Partridge

Roast the partridge such that it is half roasted, and divide it in the middle or in quarters, and fry it in oil, and pound all the spices and bay leaves, white wine and vinegar judiciously, slices of lemon and cook everything together, and then cool and put over the partridge, and it will keep all the time you like, and when you want to eat it, heat it up in the same escabeche, and don't forget to add salt into this escabeche.

Chapter 29 How to Make An Escabeche of Partridge Another Way

Roast the partridge and remove the bones, picking it very well, and add four maradevis of spices, cloves, pepper and saffron, white wine, and orange juice, and put the partridge in a casserole or plate and cook with all this for a quarter hour and then you can serve.

Chapter 54 How to Make Olla Podrida

To make olla podrida, cast lamb, beef, bacon, pigs feet, head, port sausages, tongue, doves, wild duck, hare, beef tongue, garbanzo beans, garlic and turnips, if it is their time, and the meant the each one wishes; mix it all in the clay pot, and cook it a lot; add your spices and after it is well cooked, make plates of it, with mustard or some other and on top of the plates, cast parsley, because it looks nice and it is very good.

Chapter 55 How to make clove buns

Take a pound of flour and a pound of sugar and a half bound of fat and a dozen eggs. And after you make all this into a well mixed dough and cast in some chopped dates and a strip of candied orange peel and take some pepper and set them in a casserole and see them, casting into each or a little and set tme with fire underneath and on top and let it be cooked a little so they do not burn. These are also called maymones buns.

Chapter 83 On a pie of dry apricot or peach halves

A large and good pie of dry apricots, bring a pound of them, those which are washed with hot water, and after they are well washed, cast them in a pot with a pound of sugar; leave a little for on top, and cast to them white wine, and cinnamon, and season it, and set it on the fire; be sure that it does not burn, because they are delicate, and being conserved, remove them and put them in the pie and cast to them sugar and cinnamon on top; after they are well conserved you also may cast honey in place on the sugar; but let it be good and put the pie cooking on a small fire because all the sweet dishes burn easily.

How to Make Truffle Broth

Toss the truffles in water, until it comes to a boil earth and all, so that it is washed better, and clean off the earth, and with them, and serve in the bowls. This is the best pottage of all pottages, because often a little broth needs truffles for the aftertaste. You can cook these truffles in being clean, fry onions, garlic, parsley, mint in oil. Add to it salt, for it is a very flavorful dish. Season with salt, and crushed garlic and spices and bread crumbs, deglaze everything with water and add the truffles. Have enough broth for your bowls, and cook well with caution And after it is cooked and well seasoned with salt, vinegar, and spices, beat a couple of eggs, or two pair, considering how many truffles there are, and thicken pantalones, cuilentes, English pasties, tarts and in casseroles.

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Ken Albala’s translations

Little Fish

Little fish you fry and put in escabeche like barbels, and you serve it hot with pepper and orange. Equally you can put it in a pot or earthenware casserole after washing. Be sure afterwards to add vinegar, spices, salt and chopped garlic, and toss everything and place it to cook. And don't add water, because enough falls from it and soaks everything, it will be very good this way. And cooked you can offer with salt, vinegar, water and parsley and verjuice, and serve with pepper.

How to Make Wheat Starch

To make eight plates of wheat starch, you take half a pound of starch and an acumbre of milk, and a pound of sugar. With a little of the milk, dissolve the starch, and being dissolved, strain through a fine thin cloth, and place in a casserole, and add the milk and sugar and place on the fire, stirring continuously with a spoon until it's thick. Then make each plate and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon on top. It's a good dish.

Chapter 27 Huevos Rellenos (Stuffed Eggs)

For a dozen eggs, take half a pound of peeled almonds and half a pound of sugar, and make a marzipan well beaten. Beat the eggs well, and make omelets very thin like paper, and as wide as the pan. Then take a bit of marzipan and make it the length of the tortilla, and roll each one up. After you have filled them all up, make in each one two or three holes, to make the tortilla big, and beat for eggs reserved and fill up the holes in the tortillas and fry without burning. Put them on plates and serve with sugar and cinnamon. Sometimes these are called arrolados, it is a regal dish, though costly.

A Tart of Milk

To make this tart, you need half a quart of milk, and two ounces of flour in a saucepan and mix with eggs as when you make custard, and throw in six eggs with salt and mint and mix in the the milk, and add half a pound of sugar and form the part from this mixture, placing it to cook on a small fire, so that it congeals little by little, and it should not stick to the lid, and add sugar and cinnamon on top.

(Third Book) Chapter 1 How to Make Rice with Milk

After washing the rice in four changes of water, you must drain the water, and for 12 bowls of rice, you pour out a pound and a half of rice. After it's drained pour it to cook in an acumbre (1/2 gallon) of water and salt and let it cook until it's well dried. Then add an acumbre of milk, and a pound of sugar and let it cook on a low fire, because you don't stir it, shake it so it doesn't stick, and let it soak up the milk. Cover it and let it rest, and fill the bowls, and pour on top sugar and cinnamon. If you want, make it with almond milk. From one pound of almonds you draw out an acumbre of milk, and to be good you shouldn't draw out more. And add the sugar to be good.

Chapter 19 How to Make Eggplants

You must cook the eggplants in water and salt, and being cooked discard the water, you mince them well and put them in a casserole to fry with much oil. Add grated cheese and bread, and 6 or 8 maravedis of spices, and one garlic clove, totally smashed, and cook everything carefully. Add eggs and let them solidify, placing the fire on top. This is called a cacuela mongil (monk's casserole) of eggplant, but you can also cook them with fat in a pot, and serve them with fatty salt pork, pepper or parsley. Eggplants can also be kept all year in a conserve having made them in this manner, cook them in the conserve, and adding cloves and cinnamon when you cook it, and put it in a glazed pot, in which you keep it.