Recipe history & notes
Chicken with Capers is a historical Romanian recipe from 1842, presented with ingredients, preparation, and historical context. This page brings together the available transcription, editorial notes, and the original manuscript image.
Ingredients – Chicken with Capers
- 1 heaped tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 piece onion
- meat broth
- 1 whole cooked chicken
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons cream
- handful capers
- lemon peel
Original manuscript
Digitised facsimile from the 1842 archive.
Historical narrative
# Chicken with Capers (1842)
## Faithful Translation into Modern English
Take a good spoonful of butter and let it melt; add two spoonfuls of flour and let it fry lightly; add an onion cut in four, some meat broth, as much as is needed to thin it, and let it boil; then strain it through a sieve; add into it a spoonful of white vinegar, three spoonfuls of cream, a handful of capers, lemon peel cut very finely, and put in the chicken, letting it boil until it is cooked.
Cook’s advice
# Modern Tips (not part of the original text)
- Cook or lightly brown the chicken separately, then warm it in the caper sauce just before serving.
- Toast the flour only until pale golden so the sauce stays light in colour.
- Add the capers toward the end so they keep their bite and don’t get too salty.
- Taste the balance between acidity (vinegar + lemon) and richness (butter + cream) before serving.
Additional notes
# Historical and Language Notes
- Capers were a luxury ingredient with clear Western influence in 19th‑century boyar cuisine.
- The sauce is made like a light roux: melted butter, flour, onion and meat stock, then strained.
- White vinegar and lemon peel provide acidity and aroma, balanced by cream.
- The chicken is already cooked (boiled or lightly fried) and finished in the caper sauce.