sca-cooks meat preservation

[Nancy Wederstrandt]

I think people ate meat that was stronger since most animals were range fed
and if you have every eaten eggs that are from range chickens and very
fresh, you can really taste the difference.  Meat must taste like that as
well.  I have a cookbook that talks about Victorian food and they talk
about the fact that the Victorians liked to eat game birds when they were
"high" or well aged.  The book included a receipt for woodcocks that had
been aged and hung for a number of days and was a little ripe for modern
tastes.  I think these factors need to be considered... 1) the meat was
probably stored in a cold place and having wandered through several small
castles in England those thick stone walls retain cold very well.  It is
conceivable that the meat was hung in what would be a larder.  I doubt that
people left the meat just sitting around.  2>  the rigor mortis questions
has been dealt with and dealt with well. 3> Tastes differ.  Obviously there
is proof that Victorians liked meat slightly more aged than I would
personally eat so it could be said that medieval man (or whoever) ate their
meat more aged than I. 4> Mundanely, I work in a Zoology Department of a
University and they are always telling me about the additives found in meat
that affect the taste.

        This sounds kinda know-it-all-ish but it's not meant to be.

Clare R. St. John