Recipe history & notes
Hot Chickens 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 – Hot Chickens
- small chickens
- salt
- onion
- carrots
- fresh parsley
- whole pepper
- allspice
- 3 pieces cloves
- lemon
- vinegar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 3 tablespoons cream
Original manuscript
Digitised facsimile from the 1842 archive.
Historical narrative
# Hot Chickens (1842)
## Faithful Translation into Modern English
Take small chickens and salt them, and put them in a pot with onion, carrots, green parsley, some whole pepper, a little allspice, three cloves, three slices of lemon and some vinegar broth, and let them boil until half cooked; take a spoonful of butter to melt, a spoonful of flour and let it swell, then strain the sauce in which the chickens boiled, add three spoonfuls of cream, and placing the chickens on a dish, let it boil a little more.
Cook’s advice
# Tips for a Modern Kitchen
These recommendations are not part of the original text.
1. Simmer chickens gently to keep them tender.
2. Skim excess fat before thickening the sauce.
3. Adjust acidity with lemon or vinegar to taste.
4. Serve immediately with sauce poured over.
Additional notes
# Historical Notes
- “Enibahar” refers to allspice.
- “Slices of ală” likely means slices of lemon.
- The dish consists of boiled chickens served with a sauce thickened with flour and cream.