Caporum iuvenum in locis altis degentium caro mediocriter pinguis, caeteris omnibus (gallinacei generis, vel quibusvis avibus potius) praestat, substantiae et qualitatum, et proinde etiam nutrimenti ratione, quod ad homines sanos, Mich. Savonarola[1] ex Isaaco. Ioannes Mesue (inquit idem) huiusmodi capos (caeteris avibus) meliores et leviores esse addit. Capus in quatuor qualitatibus temperatus est, quare multum alit, et venerem auget, Isaac. qui alibi etiam capum avibus omnibus praefert, ut qui melius nutrimentum et perfectum generet sanguinem. Gallinacei (capi) caro bona est, et solidior quam gallinae, Albert. Capo laudatur in cibo circa aetatem sex vel octo vel septem mensium, Arnoldus Villan.

The meat of the young capons living in high areas is not very fat, and is better than all others (of chicken, or better, of any bird) as composition and quality, and also from a nourishing point of view as far as healthy people is concerning, Michele Savonarola who draws this from Isaac Judaeus. Still Savonarola says that John Mesue - perhaps Mesue the Young - adds that such capons (in comparison with other birds) are better and easier to be digested. The capon possesses the four types of humor constituting the temperament, then he nourishes a lot and is aphrodisiac, Isaac Judaeus. Who also in another passage places the capon before any bird, being that who gives the best nourishment and a perfect blood. The meat of the cock (of the capon) is good and more compact than that of hen, Albertus Magnus. The capon is extolled as food when he is nearly 6-8-7 months old, Arnaldo from Villanova.

¶ Pullum farsilem ex Apicio descripsimus in Gallo F.[2] ait autem in capo etiam similiter fieri. De porcello lactente condimentis quibusdam farciendo assandoque, Platinae verba recitavi in Sue F. Idem autem (inquit) fieri potest ex ansere, anate, grue, capo, pullastra. ¶ Apicius lib. 4. cap. 3.[3] in minutal Apicianum testiculos caponum adijcit, gallis nimirum dum castrarentur exemptos. ¶ Fieri ius consumptum, aut ex phasiano, aut ex perdice, aut ex capreolo, aut ex pipionibus, aut ex columbis sylvaticis potest. Si ex capo voles, cacabum sumes, qui aquae metretas[4] quatuor contineat. Huic capum fractis ac comminutis ossibus indes cum uncia succidiae macrae, piperis granis triginta, cinnamo pauco nec nimium tunso, tribus vel quatuor caryophyllis, salviae lacerae trifariam foliis quinque, lauri duobus. Sinito haec efferveant horis septem, vel donec ad duas scutulas vel minus redigantur. Cave salem indas aut salita, si aegrotantium causa fiet. parum aromatum nil vetabit quominus aegroto etiam apponatur. Senibus hoc et valetudinariis detur, Platina[5]. ¶ Ius caponis cum caseo. Ius capi affundito segmentis panis albissimi, et caseum optimum tritum in tyrocnestide[6] inspergito cum pauco polline aromatico dulci, hoc ferculum in lance obtectum apponito, Baltasar Stendelius scriptor Magiricae Germanicus. Idem docet quomodo pastillus e capone fiat. de quo leges etiam in Gallo F[7]. Artocreas de carne vituli, hoedi aut capi elixa, ex Platina recitavimus in Vitulo F.

¶ In the paragraph F of the chapter devoted to the rooster I described the stuffed chicken drawing it from Apicius. In fact he says that it can be prepared in the same way also with the capon. In the paragraph F of the chapter devoted to the pig I quoted the words of Platina about some seasonings by which to stuff and roast the sucking piglet. And he says: The same thing can be made with goose, duck, crane, capon and pullet. ¶ Apicius in the 4^th book chapter 3^rd adds the testicles of capon to the fricassee à la Apicius, obviously removed from the roosters when castrated. ¶  A consommé can be prepared with pheasant, partridge, roe deer, pigeons or with wild doves. If you want it of capon, you will take a cauldron which can contain four metretae [34.92 liters] of water. You will put inside a capon with crushed and minced bones with an ounce [27.28 gs] of lean lard, thirty grains of pepper, little cinnamon and not too much crushed, three or four cloves, five leaves of sage lacerated in three bits, two of laurel. Let these ingredients boil for seven hours, or until they are reduced into twos small trays or even less. Keep from putting salt or salty things if it is prepared for ill people. The presence of some spices won't forbid that it is given also to a sick person. It must be given to elderly and chronic sick people, Platina. ¶ Broth of capon with cheese. Pour broth of capon on slices of very white bread and sprinkle very good grated cheese with little sweet aromatic dust, serve this course in a tray placing a cover, Balthasar Staindl, German writer of culinary art. Still he teaches how a pie of capon can be prepared, about which you can read also in the paragraph F of the rooster. Drawing from Platina, in the paragraph F of the calf I reported the pie of bread and meat prepared with boiled meat of calf, kid or capon.

¶ Mirause[8] Catellanicum[9]: Catellani gens quidem lauta, et quae ingenio ac corpore Italicae solertiae haud multum dissimilis habetur, obsonium, quod mirause illi vocant, sic condiunt: Capos aut pullastras, aut pipiones bene exenteratos et lotos, in veru collocant: volvuntque ad focum tantisper, quoad semicocti fuerint. Inde exemptos, ac tessellatim divisos, in ollam indunt. Amygdalas deinde tostas sub cinere calido, abstersasque lineo panno, terunt. His buccellas aliquot panis subtosti addunt, mixtaque cum aceto et iure, per cribrum setaceum transmittunt. Posita in ollam haec omnia, inspersaque cinnamo, gingiberi ac saccaro multo, tandiu effervere simul in carnibus procul a flamma lento igne permittunt, quoad ad[10] iustam cocturam pervenerint, miscendo semper cum cochleari, ne seriae adhaereant. Hoc nihil suavius edisse memini. Multi est alimenti, tarde concoquitur, hepar et renes concalefacit, corpus obesat, ventrem ciet, Platina. Idem lib. 6. Cap. 41. et 42. cibaria alba, sive leucophaga, delicatissima, ex pectore capi parare docet[11]. et rursus lib. 7. cap. {48}<69>.[12] cibarium croceum ex eodem. Eiusdem libri cap. 49.[13] esitium quoddam ex carne describens, Sunt etiam (inquit) qui pectus capi tunsi non incommode addant. Esitium ex pelle caporum ab eodem praescribitur lib. 7. Cap. 55.[14]

¶ Catalan mirause: The Catalans, a polished people indeed and who are thought not very dissimilar in character and body traits from Italic ingeniousness, season in the following way a dish they call mirause: they place on the spit capons, or pullets, or pigeons well cleaned from entrails and well washed, and turn them on the fire until are half cooked. After removed them from fire and squared them off, they place them into a pot. Then mince almonds toasted under hot ash and cleaned with a flax cloth. They add morsels of just toasted bread, and pass the things mixed with vinegar and broth through a horsehair sieve. After they placed into a pot all these ingredients and sprinkled with cinnamon, ginger and a lot of sugar, they let them boil together with meat away from flame on a slow heat until they did reach a right cooking, stirring all the time with a spoon so that they don't stick to the pot. I don't remember to have eaten something sweeter than this dish. It is very nourishing: it is slowly digested, heats liver and kidneys, fattens the body, moves the bowels, Platina. Still he, 6^th book, chapters 41 and 42, teaches to prepare white foods with the breast of capon, or leucophaga, very delicate. And still in the 7^th book, chapter 69, a food of capon with saffron. Still in the 7^th book, chapter 49, when describing a meat dish, he says: Rightly some add also the breast of a crushed capon. Still by him in the 7^th book, chapter 55, a course is told made with skin of capon.

¶ Aloisius Mundella Dialogo 3. scribit se aegroto cuidam febri continua maligna laboranti, cum iam signa concoctionis apparerent, modo turdum, modo unum aut alterum ovi vitellum, modo caponis carnem contusam concessisse, potius quam vituli. Idem Dialogo 1. describens historiam iuvenis cuiusdam biliosi febricitantis continue a se curati, Victus ratio (inquit) fuit caro caponis iuvenis, per diem ante mactati, cum seminibus melonum contusa: nec non panis in eiusdem iure optime incoctus, ad virium (quae debiles in eo valde erant) robur conservandum.

¶ Luigi Mondella in 3^rd dialogue of Dialogi medicinales decem writes that he allowed a patient suffering from a malignant continuous fever, since the signs of the marasmus were by now appearing, now a thrush, now one or two egg yolks, now minced flesh of capon rather than of veal. Still he in 1^st dialogue of Dialogi medicinales decem writes, when describing the clinical course of a jaundiced youth with continuous fever he had treated, says: The base of the feeding has been flesh of young capon killed the day before, minced with melon seeds: as well as bread overcooked in broth of the same capon with the purpose of preserving the vigor of the strength (which in such sick person was very enfeebled).

G.

G

Obscuri quidam authores caponi attribuunt vires medicas ex Dioscoride et aliis authoribus, quas illi gallinaceis adscripserant: quoniam per imperitiam linguae Latinae gallinaceum interpretantur caponem. ¶ Leonellus Faventinus electuarium quoddam phthisicis praescribens, quod valde praedicat, immiscet in id pulpam caponis pinguis et bene cocti, incisam contusamque in mortario lapideo, etc. Medici quidam quoties deiectas vires aegrotantium excitare volunt, medicamentum dant quo ex carnibus caponum et perdicum conficitur, quod facile corrumpitur, si aliquo notabili tempore moretur: neque etiam in aegrotos alit, neque ut quae prius diximus, (vinum, ova sorbilia, testes gallinacei,) Aloisius Mundella Dialogo 3. Ius caponis mire restaurans vires, si vel cochlearium parvum inde aegrotus sorbeat. Capum veterem para, exentera, totum cum ossibus comminue. Tum in vase bene obturato vitreo aut stanneo per sex horas bulliat, adiecto etiam auro, ut annulis vel nomismati<bu>s aureis, Obscurus. Capo generosus in aqua pura discoquitur cum foliis bor<r>aginis et buglossi, ana manip. j. conservarum de violis, rosis, bor<r>agine et buglosso, ana unc. ij. adijciatur etiam nonnihil de illis quae cordialia vocant contritum. destillatum inde liquorem in diplomate (balneo Mariae) cum pulvere diasantalon[15] mixto propter odoris gratiam, propinabis creberrime, And. a Lacuna circa finem libri de peste. Sunt qui in quibusvis morbis, capitis praesertim, et frigidis, et cum virium imbecillitate, destillatas huiusmodi caponum aquas laudant, et nos colicis affectibus aliquando prodesse experti sumus, iis maxime qui flatuosi fuerint. aqua enim destillata aphysos[16] redditur, ut non amplius inflet, si recte parata fuerit, adijcientur autem medicamenta alia atque alia a perito medico pro affectuum varietate. Plura leges in Thesauro Euonymi Philiatri[17].

Some not too much known authors ascribe to the capon medicinal faculties inferring them from Dioscorides and other authors who attributed them to the rooster: the reason is in the fact that because of a scarce knowledge of the Latin language they translate rooster with capon. ¶ Leonello Vittori, when prescribing for phthisical sick people an electuary he praises quite a lot, he there mixes pulp of fat and well cooked capon, cut and crushed in a mortar of stone, etc. Some physicians, every time they want to stimulate the exhausted energies of sick people prescribe a medicine prepared with meat of capon and partridge, which easily goes bad if unused for too much time: and which so doesn't nourish the sick people, as not even those other things I said before (wine, sucking  eggs, testicles of rooster), Luigi Mondella in 3^rd dialogue of Dialogi medicinales decem. The broth of capon restores the strength in a marvelous way if a patient drinks even only a teaspoon of it. Make ready an old capon, empty him of entrails, shred him along with his bones. Then he has to boil for 6 hours in a well sealed up container of glass or tin, also adding gold, like rings or gold coins, an unknown author. You have to cook in pure water a plump capon along with a handful each of leaves of borage and bugloss, two ounces each [around 50 g] of preserve of violets, roses, borage and bugloss, you have to add also a little mush of those substances they call cordials. Then you will give very often to drink the liquid which has been distilled in a vessel with two containers (bain-marie) mixing powder from three kinds of sandal because of the pleasantness of its scent, Andrés de Laguna, toward the end of his book on plague. In whatever pathology, above all of the head, and of cold nature, and which is accompanied to exhaustion, some are praising the so distilled water of capon, and I  might experiment that sometimes they are useful in case of illnesses of the colon, especially in those people who show flatulence. For the distillate becomes unable to give flatulence, so that doesn't make to inflate further on, provided that it has  been correctly prepared, for by the experienced physician different kinds of medicines will be added according to the sort of pathology. You can read quite a lot on the subject in Thesaurus Euonymi Philiatri.