Page 38 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 38
stone narratives
Food selection was limited due to a limited food supply and a way of cooking. Food
prepared in the cauldron mostly included liquid dishes, such as different types of stew, for
example šelinka of celery, jota of sauerkraut (sour cabbage) or turnip, beans and potato, ječ-
menka of pot barley, and a stew of kale (vrzote).4 In daily meals, bread was substituted with
polenta. For the preparation of polenta, corn grits (coarsely ground maize kernels) had to
be stirred continuously up to half an hour with a special type of wooden spoon with an ex-
tension for stirring. In the Vipava Valley, there is no record of special devices for stirring
polenta, such as were documented in Brda, Natisone Valleys and Friuli (Reja & Sirk; 1997;
Scheuermeier, 1956). After cooking, the cauldron was put off the fire and placed on a spe-
cial coil made of corn husks. Grease was heated in a pan that was placed on a tripod; if nec-
essary, the handle of the pan was stuck in the console of the andiron. Smaller amounts of
food were warmed up in three-legged wire-bound clay or cast-iron pots or in pots that were
placed on tripods. Dishes were stirred with a wooden spoon. Food was roasted on a grill
above embers or fire; coffee beans and barley were roasted in a special coffee roaster – a cy-
lindrical container with a long handle. Dishes and liquids were kept warm in pots that were
placed into cup-like holders on the andiron. The hob grate ( fornel) – a recess with a grate,
ash space and good air circulation – enabled fast and efficient warming of smaller quanti-
ties of food and liquids. Sometimes, especially in summer, and always in the households
without an oven, they would bake bread or flat cakes made of maize flour on the fireplace
under an upturned clay, metal or tin pot or under a wet cloth or paper covered with ash-
es and embers (Bizjak, 1958, f. 241, 279, 302; Budal, 1993, p. 120; Godina Golija, 1998, p. 92;
Keršič, 1990, p. 337; Plahuta, 2002, p. 95; Šarf, 1958a, pp. 10–15, 32–35, 42; 1958b, p. 4, 42–
43, 75; Škrlep & Škrlep, 2010).
Bread was baked once a week in a bread oven whose mouth was due to the shared
smoke exhaust right next to the fireplace. Preparing leavened dough and baking were tech-
nically the most demanding kitchen tasks. Until the second half of the 19th century, the
dough was knead in an elongated shallow kneading trough (nečke), from the middle of the
second half of the 19th century, in a table with a bread-kneading trough below it (mentrga or
vintula), and from the first half of the 20th century, in a bowl or on a wooden board. Yeast
was prepared from the previous dough; it could only be bought from the middle of the first
half of the 20th century. The dough was left to rise in mentrga; the already formed loaves
were left to rise on the cover of mentrga. Meanwhile, the oven was heated up with dry fire-
wood. Some people used to burn brushwood, bundles of acacia branches or stakes for ty-
ing vines that were no longer in use, while the others burnt beech or acacia wood chopped
into smaller pieces. Fire and embers had to be distributed evenly. The oven was hot enough
when it became lighter. The embers were scrubbed from the oven with a wooden or met-
al scraper (greblja). After that, the oven was cleaned and, if necessary, cooled down with a
broom, soaked in water, which was made from the upper part of the maize plant or from
a stake wrapped in sackcloth. Before baking, they would throw a handful of flour into the
oven to check whether it was hot enough. If the flour got burnt, the oven was too hot. Leav-
ened loaves were put into the oven with a wooden bat. For festivals, they would bake a wal-
nut roll (potica or gubanca) and butter bread (Budal, 1993, p. 120; Škrlep & Škrlep, 2010).
4 Ulrike Thoms drew a similar conclusion for the German territory, that is that stews were more common in
dwellings with open-fire kitchens (1998, p. 52).
36
Food selection was limited due to a limited food supply and a way of cooking. Food
prepared in the cauldron mostly included liquid dishes, such as different types of stew, for
example šelinka of celery, jota of sauerkraut (sour cabbage) or turnip, beans and potato, ječ-
menka of pot barley, and a stew of kale (vrzote).4 In daily meals, bread was substituted with
polenta. For the preparation of polenta, corn grits (coarsely ground maize kernels) had to
be stirred continuously up to half an hour with a special type of wooden spoon with an ex-
tension for stirring. In the Vipava Valley, there is no record of special devices for stirring
polenta, such as were documented in Brda, Natisone Valleys and Friuli (Reja & Sirk; 1997;
Scheuermeier, 1956). After cooking, the cauldron was put off the fire and placed on a spe-
cial coil made of corn husks. Grease was heated in a pan that was placed on a tripod; if nec-
essary, the handle of the pan was stuck in the console of the andiron. Smaller amounts of
food were warmed up in three-legged wire-bound clay or cast-iron pots or in pots that were
placed on tripods. Dishes were stirred with a wooden spoon. Food was roasted on a grill
above embers or fire; coffee beans and barley were roasted in a special coffee roaster – a cy-
lindrical container with a long handle. Dishes and liquids were kept warm in pots that were
placed into cup-like holders on the andiron. The hob grate ( fornel) – a recess with a grate,
ash space and good air circulation – enabled fast and efficient warming of smaller quanti-
ties of food and liquids. Sometimes, especially in summer, and always in the households
without an oven, they would bake bread or flat cakes made of maize flour on the fireplace
under an upturned clay, metal or tin pot or under a wet cloth or paper covered with ash-
es and embers (Bizjak, 1958, f. 241, 279, 302; Budal, 1993, p. 120; Godina Golija, 1998, p. 92;
Keršič, 1990, p. 337; Plahuta, 2002, p. 95; Šarf, 1958a, pp. 10–15, 32–35, 42; 1958b, p. 4, 42–
43, 75; Škrlep & Škrlep, 2010).
Bread was baked once a week in a bread oven whose mouth was due to the shared
smoke exhaust right next to the fireplace. Preparing leavened dough and baking were tech-
nically the most demanding kitchen tasks. Until the second half of the 19th century, the
dough was knead in an elongated shallow kneading trough (nečke), from the middle of the
second half of the 19th century, in a table with a bread-kneading trough below it (mentrga or
vintula), and from the first half of the 20th century, in a bowl or on a wooden board. Yeast
was prepared from the previous dough; it could only be bought from the middle of the first
half of the 20th century. The dough was left to rise in mentrga; the already formed loaves
were left to rise on the cover of mentrga. Meanwhile, the oven was heated up with dry fire-
wood. Some people used to burn brushwood, bundles of acacia branches or stakes for ty-
ing vines that were no longer in use, while the others burnt beech or acacia wood chopped
into smaller pieces. Fire and embers had to be distributed evenly. The oven was hot enough
when it became lighter. The embers were scrubbed from the oven with a wooden or met-
al scraper (greblja). After that, the oven was cleaned and, if necessary, cooled down with a
broom, soaked in water, which was made from the upper part of the maize plant or from
a stake wrapped in sackcloth. Before baking, they would throw a handful of flour into the
oven to check whether it was hot enough. If the flour got burnt, the oven was too hot. Leav-
ened loaves were put into the oven with a wooden bat. For festivals, they would bake a wal-
nut roll (potica or gubanca) and butter bread (Budal, 1993, p. 120; Škrlep & Škrlep, 2010).
4 Ulrike Thoms drew a similar conclusion for the German territory, that is that stews were more common in
dwellings with open-fire kitchens (1998, p. 52).
36
