Fricassee next installment

Question was: what connection between Mozart and fricassee. For Mozarts Menu we looked for the mentioning of food and drink in the libretti of Mozarts Operas, Lieder and the letters of the family. In the Oca di Cairo you will find :

Oh questa e graziosina,
Faro una gelatina
Faro un buon fricassee.

Translated this means something: oh, this is wonderful, I will prepare a galantine, I will prepare a good fricassee. Hence the fricassee. A very fashionable dish at that time. You can also fricassee froglegs, we found in a recipe from Conrad Hagger Neues Saltzburgisches Koch-Buch from 1719.

Fricassee from frogs
Take the hindquarter of frogs. Cut off the lower part of the legs, leaving the fat thighs. Wash them a few times in fresh water. Take a casserole and put a piece of butter in it and let it melt on the stove. Add a little fine flour. Stir well. Take the froglegs from the water and put them in the butter for a while. Add some meatstock, fresh ground pepper and a mace, stir in a little lemon juice and wine and thicken the sauce with this. If you like, you can add a little finecut parsley

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The picture shows Mozart at the Court in Vienna, in his courtsuit - probably the handmedown from one of the princes - and a little wig. Poor kid, having to perform at all hours, exploited by his father who didnot get the recognition he desired in Salzburg. Little Wolfgang was his only way to escape. The painting is a Martin van Meytens. More about him here www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/meytens_martin_van.html or here http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/m/meytens/index.html