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 * 1) Llibre de Coch is a 16th-century Catalan language cookery book first published in 1520, and later translated into Castilian (Spanish). The text, believed to be written around 1490 by Rupert de Nola, is considered one of the fundamental texts of Mediterranean cuisine. The text contains recipes showing influences from Aragonese, Valencian, Italian, Provencal and Catalan cuisine. Fish, meat and spices are central, as are the fruits, vegetables and nuts of the region: almonds, hazlenuts, aubergines, figs, lemons and rice. Some of these recipes have roots reaching back to Roman times or Al-Andalus.

Recipes
De Nola's own favorite recipes were salsa de pavo, mirrauste and manjar blance. Salsa de pavo was made with almonds, chicken or turkey liver, bread soaked in orange juice or vinegar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, saffron and sugar. It was more the consistency of a thick soup than a sauce. Mirrauste was made roasted poultry cooked in a sauce made with bread soaked in broth and toasted almonds seasoned with cinnamon and pounded in a mortar and pestle.

Lent
The book contains valuable information on the customs of Cuaresma, before the Church put forth new rules in 1491. One Lenten recipe was manjar blanco de pescado, based on the chicken dish blancmange.


 * 1) ==Sauces in Medieval cuisine==

Catalan
The medieval Catalan cookbook Libre del coch (1520) includes several salsa recipes using ingredients such as ginger, mace powder (flor de macis), cinnamon, saffron, cloves (clauells de girofle), wine and honey. Salsa de pagó took its name from the peacock (el paó) that it was intended to be served with, but could accompany any type of poultry, and was part of the medieval Christmas meal.

Salsa mirraust (or mirausto alla catalana as it's called in the Cuoco Napoletano) was half-roasted (mi-raust) poultry that was finished in a salsa thickened with egg yolks, toasted almonds and breadcrumbs. In the version of the recipe from the 14th-century Libre de Sent Soví, the sauce is thickened with mashed poultry liver instead of egg yolks. The medieval recipes for salsa romesco are similarly thickened with crushed nuts, though in modern times romesco sauce is made with red peppers (an ingredient that doesn't enter European cuisine until the Age of Discovery).