Caper Soup

A 16th century Italian Recipe, translated into English by Shannon Wanty

From Rosselli, Giovanne: Epulario: qual tratta del modo di cucinare ogni carne, vccelli, pesci, & ultra qualita di viuande (Altobello Salicato, Vinegia, 1596)

p12v Per far xii. menestre de seme de capana con la carne. (To make 12 soups of hemp seeds with meat.)

Take one and a half pounds of hemp seeds, and wash them well and make them boil in an earthenware pot until they are just beginning to open. And then take one and a half pounds of well ground blanched almonds, and put them with these seeds, and grind it well with a morsel of bread, and temper these with a little meat or fatty chicken broth, and pass it through a strainer, and then boil it in an earthenware pot over a brazier far from the fire, stirring it often with a spoon, and then put in a pound of sugar, half an ounce of ginger, and a little saffron with rose water, and make the soup putting in the sweet spices above.