15th c. Vegetarian Sausage?

[madbaker]

I've been slowly going through my cookery books to record the charcuterie recipes and this one leapt out at me. It's not quite a vegetarian sausage, but...

82. Sfasimento ad uno budello de vitella
Piglia uno budello he fallo bene nettare he rascalo – he fa che sia grassol poi piglia noce monde he meza spica de aglio he uno pocho de caso veghio permisano, specie fine, zaffrano he uva passa cum uno poco de grasso de vitella taglato quanto minuto sia posibile, ma non pisto, he due ova, he miscola questa material tuta insieme; he impene lo budello che sia un pocho piu che mezzo pieno.

Stuffing for a Calf’s Intestine.
Get an intestine, clean it thoroughly and scrape it – it should be fat; then get clean walnuts, half a clove of garlic, a little old Parmesan cheese, fine spices, saffron and raisins, with a little veal fat that is cut as finely as possible but not ground up, and two eggs, and mix this all together; stuff the intestine so that it is a little more than half full.

Scully, Terence. Cuoco Napoletano: The Neapolitan Recipe Collection. New York: University of Michigan P, 2000. ISBN 0-472-10972-3.

(If you're interested in helping me track down period charcuterie recipes, let me know and I'll add you to the edit list.)

Comments

[j-i-m-r.livejournal.com]

I've seen several recipes like this in the Spanish sources. Ivan Day also has some English ones on his website. He seems to categorize them as steamed puddings rather than sausages. Since most Americans don't eat much steamed pudding, that category doesn't spring to mind, but it does kinda fit.

Charcuterie good ... please keep me on the list :-)

[vittoriosa.livejournal.com]

Cool! Sooo... if one were to try to make this totally non-meaty, what would be an appropriate substitute for the intestine? Pie crust is too obvious. Maybe use the mixture to stuff vegetables? I feel like I've seen period recipes for stuffed carrots or something, but those might be from Near Eastern rather than European sources. (For veal fat: replace with butter or oil? Or a soft creamy cheese + more eggs?)

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

I'd think either a cloth or a jar. I haven't seen any stuffed vegetable recipes except for stuffed head of cabbage. I didn't read that one all that well, either, so it could be that it says you could use the mixture to stuff other vegetables. But I don't know for sure.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I think I remember some period recipes stuffing carrots and turnips. But I'd agree with the cloth idea.

[freewaydiva.livejournal.com]

You had me all excited. I thought it was sausage made from real vegetarians. ;)

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Why would you want that? They're tough and stringy.