ANST - Two 15th Century Receipts for Steak

[Gunnora Hallakarva]

> From: Margo Lynn Hablutzel <Hablutzel at compuserve.com>
> Morgan said:
> I figured I should keep quiet until I had time to consult my references;
> since I don't have a peerage to back up my words, I have to do it with
> documentation.  > 

This is one of the bigger non-sequiturs I've seen in a while.  Are you
seriously suggesting that the Society holds Peers to a LESSER standard of
proof and documentation?

Certainly I never asked you for documentation... the issue we discussed
was whether or not it was reasonable for you to be chastizing me publicly
for what you
claimed was me chastizing others publicly.  

And, in fact, I wouldn't have accepted a "Just because I say so" from a
peer or anyone 
else -- though I do listen respectfully when noted experts on cooking such
as Ansteorra's Mistress Meadhbh have an opinion on cooking, as she is
inevitably well-informed and *does* have the sources to back up her
assertations.  My original comments were based upon information that I had
received from Meadhbh about the authenticity (or rather lack therof) of
steaks as a medieval dish.

We are encouraged as a Society to to produce documentation, so that others
may  learn from our research.  Thus I am happy to see that someone else has
introduced some relevant documentation into the discussion.  I would,
however, like to see more than just the titles of these receipts - I'd be
interested in seeing a little more about the nature of the ingredients and
the preparation, which I suspect may distinguish these "stekys"  from
modern steaks.

Mistress Meadhbh mentioned that the few period steak  recipes she was aware
of often involved pre-roasting or pre-boiling the meat, then slicing
collops thinly from the haunch and continuing preparation, these slices
being what is  known as "stekys".

So, just out of curiosity, are these "steaks" as we would recognize them?
By which I mean, raw meat (marinated or not) cooked on a grill over some
sort of flame?  Or is this  a different dish with the same name?  I'm more
than willing to learn something new.

I suspect that in fact you're referring to recipes such as given here:

---------
"Original:
To make Stekys of venson or bef.  Take Venyson or Bef & leche & gredyl
it up brown; then take Vynegre & a litel verious <verjuice>, & a lytil
Wyne, and putte pouder perpir ther-on y-now and pouder Gyngere; and
atte the dressoure straw on pouder Canelle y-now, that the stekys be
all y-helid ther-wyth, and but a litel sauce; & serve it forth.

Redaction:  from Maggie Black:  The Medieval Cookbook

6 fairly thin beef steaks
oil or fat for grilling

Basting sauce:

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons seville orange juice
4 tablespoons red wine
pinch each of ground black pepper and ginger

Garnish
Sprinkle with cinnamon

Nick the edges of the steaks and grease them. Mix the sauce
ingredients in a jug, adjusting the proportions if you wish.  Then
grill the steaks as you prefer; warm the sauce, and sprinkle with a
few drops over the meat while grilling it.  Serve the steaks lightly
sprinkled with cinnamon and any remaining sauce."
---------

The medieval "stekys" recipes that Meadbh has made me aware of all are
pan-fried (the recipe above calls for cooking them on a "gredyl" or
griddle), very thin slices of meat, usually cooked with or served with a
vinegar-based sauce.  

This is not at all the same thing as a ribeye served with A-1.




Wæs Þu Hæl (Waes Thu Hael)

::GUNNORA::

Gunnora Hallakarva
Herskerinde
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ek eigi visa þik hversu oðlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Aðal
(Ek eigi thik hversu odhlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Adhal)

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