SC - Re: help please

[Kimib2@aol.com]

     What is "saynderys" translated as "saunders"?
     
     Mercedes


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: SC - chicken on string (and beef)
Author:  <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG> at SMTP
Date:    8/1/97 3:25 AM


Hi, Katerine here.  Rosalinde asks for medieval recipes for beef roast.  The 
following are two recipes the use roast beef that I am particularly fond
of.  In both cases, you want to be very sure that you use a good grade of 
roast.  (Making them for myself, I use a standing rib or ribeye.)  
     
Auter brawn en peuerade
(Two Fifteenth Century, H279 Potage Dyvers xxxii)
     
This is roast beef served with a peverade sauce (i.e. a sauce which includes 
and tastes of pepper), in which the beef is simmered to finish cooking.  The 
meat is served cut up in small pieces in the sauce.  The "auter" in the name 
means "other"; this recipe is the second of two in a row for meat in peverade 
sauce (and to my mind, by far the better).
     
Recipe:
     
Take myghty brothe of Beef or of Capoun, and thenne take clene Freysshe Brawn, 
and sethe it, but not y-now; An ghif if be Freysshe Brawn, roste it, but not 
I-now, and then leche it in pecys, and caste it to the brothe.  An thanne take 
hoole Oynonys, & pylle hem, an thanne take Vynegre ther-to, and Canelle, and 
sette it on the fyre, an drawe yt thorw a straynoure, and caste ther-to; then 
take Clowys, Maces, and powder Pepyr, and caste ther-to, and a lytil Saynderys, 
an sette it on the fyre, an let boyle tylle the Oynonys an the Brawn ben euyne 
sothyn, an nowt to moche; than take lykoure y-mad of Bred an Vinegre an Wyne, an
sesyn it vp, an caste ther-to Saffroun to make the coloure bryth, an Salt, an 
serue it forth.
     
In more modern English:
     
Take a strong beef or chicken broth, and then take clean fresh meat, and boil 
it, but not completely.  And if it be fresh meat [i.e. not salted], roast it, 
but not completely, and then slice it in pieces, and put it in the broth.  And 
then take whole onions, and peel them [and put them in the pot], and then add 
in vinegar, and cinamon, and set it on the fire, and draw it through a 
strainer, and put it in.  Then take cloves, mace, and ground pepper, and add 
them, and a little saunders, and put it on the fire, and let boil til the 
onions and the meat are fully boiled, and not too much.  Then take liquid made 
of bread and vinegar and wine, and season it up, and add saffron to make the 
color bright, and salt, and serve it forth.
     
Amounts as I make it:
2 lb standing rib roast, less bones        1 tsp pepper 
1 can beef broth + 1/2 can water        1/4 tsp saunders
3 med. large onions, quartered                6 slices bread 
1 T vinegar                                1 T vinegar
1 tsp cinnamon                                1/4 cup red wine
1/4 tsp cloves                                2 lg pinches saffron 
1/4 tsp mace                                
     
Step-by-step:
1.        Preheat oven to 550¡.
2.        Put in roast and turn down immediately to 350¡. 
3.        Roast 15 minutes to the pound.
4.        Cut into bite-sized slices.  (Try not to make it look like chunks, to
        make it clearer to modern eyes that this is really a roast with sauce, 
        not a stew.)
5.        Put in a pot with ingredients through saunders, and simmer until meat
        is cooked and tender (how long this takes will depend on how much you 
        make; for this amount, about 10 minutes is usually enough.)
6.        Trim crusts off bread.
7.        Put bread into blender with wine, vinegar, and broth from the pot.
        Blend until smooth, then stir mixture back into the pot.
8.        Taste; add salt if needed, and any other spices you think it needs (if
        you can't taste the pepper, add more now).
9.        Grind saffron (or break into little crumbs in the palm of your hand),
        and stir in.  When the saffron is fully mixed in, it is ready to serve.
     
Notes:
     
As often happens with medieval recipes, the order of operations gets a little 
confused in places.  What you are doing is this.  First, partially cook your 
meat; if it is fresh, you may roast it; for salt meat, boil it.  Next, cut it 
into bite-sized pieces.  (Medievals never delivered meat in larger than 
bite-sized pieces to diners; it was cut up, either in the kitchen or at table 
by a carver, to simplify eating.)  Then put the meat and some peeled onions 
(the recipe says whole ones; I either use pearl onions or quarter regular ones) 
into a pot of strong broth.  Season.  (The straining part is to avoid lumps of 
cinnamon, which would be freshly ground in a medieval kitchen.)  Boil until the 
meat and onions are fully cooked, but not longer, or you will kill the spices. 
Then thicken, correct seasoning, color, and serve.
     
The list of ingredients above calls for a very fine cut of beef, which you may 
not be able to afford.  Be sure to try out your recipe on a small scale with 
any changes, including in cut.  Different cuts may need very different 
treatment; some inexpensive cuts may do far better initially boiled than 
roasted.  To retail a browner look, sear the meat in a pan before boiling.
     
This is wonderful!  I suspect it might be even better the second day, but there 
has never been any left over.  It looks undistinguished to a modern eye, 
though.  You might try leaving the outer slices out until you are ready to 
serve, and then arranging them artistically to make the point that it's roast, 
not stew.
     
Rappe
(Taillevent 27, 76/283)
     
This is a roast and fried beef in gravy with grapes.
     
In this, material in brackets is from alternative MS traditions; the 
 translation is Scully's; notes in curly braces are mine.  I have put the 
English first, with the French original after for comparison.
     
Receipt:
[Sear your meat on the spit, then]  fry your meat in bacon grease { note: 
literally lard }; steep bread in beef broth, strain and throw it over your meat;
grind ginger, infuse it in verjuice and wine, and put it over your meat; then 
get currants or verjuice grapes [boiled in water] and set the meat in this
[var: use these as a garnish when the meat is served in bowls].
     
[Mecter vostre grain halez en broches, puis] Mettez vostre grain souffrire en 
sain de lart; puis prenez du pain et mettez tremper en boullon de beuf et 
passez parmy l'estamine et gectez sur vostre grain; puis affinez gingembre, 
deffaictes de verjus et de vin, et mettez sur vostre grain; puis prennez de 
groiselles ou de verjus en grain et mettez dedans.
     
Amounts as I make it:
     
1 1/2 lb ribeye roast                4 T white grape juice + 
1 T lard or shortening                1/2 tsp lemon juice
3 slices bread                        1 T white wine 
1 cup beef broth (undiluted)        3 T currants
1 tsp ginger                        1 1/2 cup grapes
     
Step-by-step:
1.        Preheat oven to 550¡.
2.        Put in roast and turn down immediately to 350¡. 
3.        Roast 15 minutes to the pound.
4.        Cut into strips and fry in lard or shortening.
5.        When cooked, lower temperature and add other ingredients. 
6.        Soak bread in broth.
7.        Take bread out and squeeze through strainer into meat.  (Discard what
        won't go through the strainer.)  Alternatively, run it through the 
        blender until smooth.
8.        Mix grape juice, lemon juice, wine, and ginger until ginger dissolves.
9.        Add fluid and ginger mix to meat.
10.        Cut grapes in half.
11.        Add currants and grapes to meat.
12.        Increase heat and simmer until sauce thickens.  
     
Notes:
     
"Rappe", or "rapey" in English cuisine, seems originally to have referred 
dishes with fresh grapes as an ingredient or garnish; sometimes, we see raisins 
instead.  This rappe is roast beef with a gravy garnished with currants and 
verjuice (sour) grapes.  Verjuice grapes being no longer readily available, I 
have substituted table grapes.
     
Verjuice, which the recipe calls for, was sour fruit juice, usually (but not 
invariably) from verjuice grapes.  Sometimes you can find it in oriental food 
stores, or so friends tell me.  I have not been able to, and so usually use 
white grape juice, with some lemon juice added for tartness.
     
This is another dish that's so good, I've never had a chance to find out how it 
is on the second day.
     
Cheers,
     
- -- Katerine/Terry
     
============================================================================
     
To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to 
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".
     
============================================================================
     


============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================