I have been cooking from Luigi Ballerini's translation of Maestro Martino's Libro de Arte Coquinaria for something like 10 years. Recently I was shown yet another translation, which, when I compared it to Ballerini, showed up some inconsistencies, which seem to make it necessary for me to work my way through the original, something that my laurel has long insisted on. So I am going to get started, using my sparse knowledge of Italian and Latin, together with Florio's 1611 Italian/English Dictionary and my period cooking experience to try and figure out discrepancies. I am not going to post the other translations for copyright reasons.
So here goes the first part - a short treatise on how to prepare which kind of meat.
"Per dare ad intender qual carne merita andare arrosto et quale allesso.
Carne grossa di bove et de vacca vole esser allessa; carne de vitello, zioè il pecto davanti è bono allesso, et la lonza arrosto, et le cosse in polpette. Carne de castrone tutta è bona allesso, salvo la spalla, che è bona arrosto, et etiamdio la cossa. Carne de porco non è sana in nullo modo; pur la schina vole essere arrosto quando è fresco con cepolle, et il resto per salare o come ti piace. Carne di capretto è tutta bona allesso et arrosto; ma la parte de drieto è meglio arrosto. Similemente è l'agnello. Carne de capra è bona del mese de jennaro con la agliata. De la carne del cervo la parte denanzi è bona in brodo lardieri, le lonze se potono far arrosto, et le cosse son bone in pastello secco o in polpette. Similemente è bona la carne del capriolo. Carne de porco salvatico vole esser in peperata, o in civero, o in brodo lardieri. Carne de lepore è tutta bona arrosta, ma la parte de drieto è migliore, et la parte denanzi è bona in sapore, come è dicto. Carne de coniglio è meglio arrosto che in niuno altro modo, et li lumbi sonno la miglior parte di esso. Carne di urso è bona in pastelli."
Explaining which meat is better for roasts and which is better for boiling
Great meat[1] from oxen and cows should be boiled; for veal, the breast is good boiled, the loin roasted, and the leg for small pieces[2]. Wether[3] is always good boiled, except for the shoulder, which is good roasted, and same for the leg. Pork is not healthy in any way; the loin should be roasted, if fresh, with onions, and the rest salted or whatever else. All the meat of kid is good roasted or boiled, but the hindquarters are best roasted. Similar for lamb. Goat meat is good in the month of January with garlic sauce[4]. The forequarters of deer can be good in fatty broth[5]; the loins can be roasted and the haunch is good in pies and as small pieces[6]; the same for roe deer. Wild boar is good in pepper sauce or in civet[7] or in larded broth. Hare meat is all good for roasts, but the back is better, and the front has a nice flavour. Rabbit meat is better roasted than in any other way, and the loins are the best piece. Bear meat is good in pies.
Please note that his is a first draft and subject to updates.
[1] This appears to be a technical term referring to boiling cuts (like maybe "cuts from the front half"). See 'grete vlehs' or 'grosse char' - Curye on Inglysh, Hieatt and Butler, Oxford 1985, p193
[2] Florio has polpétte as 'olives of veal, rosted'. In modern Italian polpette are meatballs, but that appears to be a shift in meaning. Since we are talking about the leg, diced meat is very plausible, and it is likely that grinding the meat would have been mentioned.
[3] A male, castrated sheep that is older than 2 years.
[4] Martino has several of these, which I will link once translated
[5] recipe see further down
[6] see [2]
[7] see further down
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