Piroguen, Helwa, Easter Eggs (1662 or 1669)

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Sun Apr 21 01:10:43 UTC 2002


THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELLS OF THE AMBASSADORS SENT BY FREDERICK DUKE OF HOLSTEIN, TO THE GREAT DUKE OF MUSCOVY, AND THE KIND OF PERSIA.  BEGUN IN THE YEAR 1633 AND FINISH'D IN 1639
by Adam Olearius
translated by John Davies
London: J. Starkey and T. Basset, 1669

   Both the 1662 and 1669 editions of this book are online, in Early English Books Online (EEBO).  I read the 1669 edition today in the Rare Books Room of the NYPL, while my Italian cookbooks were coming up blank for "puttanesca."
   The biggest find is "piroguen," which the OED reader did not record.  "Helwa" from this book is OED's first cite, but the larger context is valuable.
   The biggest disappointment is that all of the "vodka" citations in the 1967 translation are "Hydromel" here in 1669.  What does the original have?..."Kvas" there is "Quas" here...No surprise, but "Fuck your mother" is not here in the 1669 translation.

Pg. 11:  ...Wine, Beer, Hydromel, and Aqua vitae...

Pg. 21:  ...all sorts of drinks, as _Lithuanian_ Hydromel, excellent sack, and good beer...
(Would that be Lithuanian vodka?--ed.)

Pg. 40:  April 17, was their Easter Day. (...) The streets were all full of a sort of Merchants, who sold Eggs of all sorts of colours...
("Easter egg"--ed.)

Pg. 65:  Among other things they make a sort of Pies, which they call _Piroguen_, about the bigness and fashion of a twopenny Loaf.  They fill the crust with Fish or minc'd meat, with Chibols and a little Pepper, and fry them in a Pan with Butter, and in Lent with Oil.  (...)
   Their ordinary drink is a sort of small Beer they call _Quas_, or Hydromel...

Pg. 66:  Common Hydromel is made of the Honey-combs, which they beat in warm-water, stirring it much, and after it hath rested seven or eight hours, they cleanse it through a Sieve, boyl it, scum it, and without any more ado expose it to sale.

Pg. 131:  ...a hot blackish kind of drink, which they call _kahawa_...

Pg. 175:  ...Squibs, Crackers...
(In a section on "fireworks."  See both OED entries and my recent "cracker" post--ed.)

Pg. 231:  They have another kind of fruit, not known in _Europe_, which they call _Padintzan_.

Pg. 232:  Sometimes they boyl the _Duschab_ too long, that they reduce it into a Paste, for the convenience of travellers, who cut it with a Knife, and dissolve it in water.  At _Tabris_, they make a certain conserve of it, which they call _Helwa_, mixing there with beaten Almonds, Flower, and peel'd FIlbeards or small Nuts.  They put this mixture into a long and narrow Bag, and having set itunder the press, they make of it a Paste, which grows so hard, that a man must have a hatchet to cut it.  They make also a kind of Conserve of it, much like a pudding, which they call _Zutzuch_, thrusting through the middle of it a small cotton thread to keep the Paste together.

Pg. 234:  The _Coeffure_ of the men, which they call _Mendils_, and the _Turks_, _Tulban_ or _Turbants_...

Pg. 239:  There is not anything more ordinary in _Persia_ than Rice soak'd in water.  They call if _Plau_, and eat of it at all their Meals, and serve it up in all their Dishes, especially under boild Mutton. (...)
   (Description of various breads follows--ed.)
   The _Komatsch_ are three fingers thick, and a foot and a half in length.  The _Lawasch_ are round, and about the thickness of a man's finger.  The _Peasekessche_, are half an Ell, and they are bak'd in their Houses, over the _Tenurs_, on which they are set, and with the five fingers of the hands, they make them as many Horns, whence they havetheir name.  Th _Sengek_ are made upon the pebbles, wherewith some of their Ovens are covered, so that this kind of Bread or Cakes is uneven, and full of bits.  The _Jaucka_ is like wafers...



More information about the Ads-l mailing list