Recipe history & notes
White Chickens Braised (Enclosed Cooking) 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 – White Chickens Braised (Enclosed Cooking)
- chickens
- salt
- bacon
- parsley root
- celery
- carrots
- whole peppercorns
- nutmeg
- meat broth
- onion
Original manuscript
Digitised facsimile from the 1842 archive.
Historical narrative
# White Chickens Braised (Enclosed Cooking, 1842)
## Faithful Translation into Modern English
Take the chickens and remove the breast bone, salt them, put in a pan slices of bacon, slices of parsley root, celery and carrots also cut into slices, whole pepper and a little nutmeg; place the chickens on top and cover them again with slices of bacon and pour two spoonfuls of broth over them. Put a sheet of white paper over the pan and over the paper the lid, and let everything cook tightly enclosed until the chickens are well done. Take out the chickens and arrange them with the bacon that was on top of them, and over the roots that remain in the pan pour as much meat broth as needed, let it boil well and strain it; pour this gravy over the chickens on the serving dish, with a little onion and pepper in it, and let it simmer a little more.
Cook’s advice
# Modern Tips (not part of the original text)
- Use a tightly sealed lid or parchment cartouche.
- Lightly brown the bacon for deeper flavour.
- Reduce the strained sauce slightly before pouring over the chicken.
Additional notes
# Historical and Language Notes
- “Înădușiți” refers to tightly enclosed braising.
- Paper under the lid is an old steam-retention technique.
- The root vegetables flavour the broth, which is strained before serving.