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Cheesy Rice or Spelt

Translation of a 16th century Italian Recipe.

From Christoforo di Messisbugo, Banchetti composizioni di vivande e apparecchio generale (Lucio Spineda, Venice, 1610)

p77v A fare riso, o farro, con torli di vuoa, e formaggio per piatti dieci. (To make rice, or spelt, with egg yolks, and cheese for ten platings.)

Take one pound of spelt, or rice, which is well husked, and washed, and when it is a good white, then take it to boil in a fatty broth, and when it is almost boiled, take two pounds of good hard grated cheese, and ten egg yolks1, and mix these eggs with [the] cheese, and throw2 [it] in the rice with a quarter of pepper, a little saffron, mixing all this well together with the spoon constantly, at the end when it will be finished cooking, and when it will be served, put over it six ounces of sugar, and put with this half an ounce of cinnamon, not forgetting to do this, and then moreover do without.

1. I really like that Messisbugo uses the term "torli". Not only can it be an egg yolk, but it's also a spinning top for children. Rosselli by comparison is really a bit boring, simply talking about the red of an egg.

2. The verb "gettare" is actually also translatable as "to hurl" or "to fling", but I don't really think that would be advisable in the kitchen.