SC - Late-period is NOT Medieval

[Michael F. Gunter]

Mark Harris wrote:
> I didn't say I didn't like truffles. I said I don't understand paying
> what to me are exorbiant prices for them.

Truly they are exorbitantly priced, and I wouldn't dream of paying what
is usually demanded for them, except in small quantity, every couple of
years, if that. I can only say that with those stated restrictions, they
seem worth it to me, given the infrequency and small quantity I buy. Of
course, if one has no experience with them, I can see how any money
spent on them seems kind of silly. Of course, the reason they cost what
they do is that the demand for them is so high that the supply has
dwindled severely. If the black truffle were an animal in the US, it
would probably be protected as an endangered species in the blink of an
eye...


> I've never tasted any. As I've
> said, I'm expanding my food tastes, in part due to the SCA. Ten years
> ago, I would not have even considered pickled herring, did not eat salads
> or mushrooms and had never had venison. I can't taste much differance
> between a ten dollar bottle of wine and one costing three times as much
> or more. Whether a disadvantage or advantage your food training and
> perhaps inclination puts you ahead of me in this area. I wonder how
> much your being in New York(?) affects your outlook, although perhaps
> you are there because of it rather than the other way around.

I was born and raised in New York, which does have certain advantages
for those people looking to research the eating habits of various
cultures other than the standard Anglo-American. Part of this has to do
with sheer size (of population, at least). On the other hand, there are
plenty of people in New York with quite narrow scopes of what they would
consider acceptable foods. This is just an area that I have always been
curious about, rather than intimidated by. As I've mentioned at various
times on this list, there are a few foods that I have no interest in
even trying, but although they are very few indeed, my prejudices, and
my aversion-in-advance to them, are very emphatic. Those Philipino
fermented, fertilized duck eggs, f'rinstance.

However, an ethnically diverse population is a feature of many, many
places that have local groups in the SCA.
> 
> I'm happy to learn from you even if I don't always understand your
> choices.

And I am equally happy to try to explain them. Please, my little jibe at
you was not intended to offend. I'm sorry if it did, and am glad to hear
that you are trying to broaden your horizons. So am I. Just not with
Philipino fermented, embryonic duck eggs...or those of any other
culture,either.
> 
> Probably the closest thing you'll find would be some kind of brawn,
> which, in (relatively late) period, would be a boneless whole, small
> pig, or a piece thereof, with some skin on it, brine-cured or "pickled",
> rather like corned beef or some such, rolled up, tied in a bundle, and
> braised.
> 
> >>>>>
> But Spam isn't pickled is it? I'm not quite sure how corned beef is
> processed.
> <<<<

Some meats are cured dry-salting, some by immersing them in brine. Some
dry-salted meats lose enough of their water content so that the salt in
which they are covered becomes a brine. Salt-cured meats that do not get
subsequently smoked, are often spoken of as "pickled". Salt pork is one
of them, especially when the brine sours a bit, due to lactobacillic
action. The sour flavor you taste in things like corned beef and some
salt pork is the acid produced by the bacteria in the brine. This is
fairly similar to the pickling process of some cucumber pickles,
sauerkraut, and the dreaded kim chee, as no vinegar is involved.

Anyway, at least some of the meat used to make Spam is not cured and
smoked, but salted-cured or pickled as described above.

> >>>>>>
> So what are souse meats? And a description of head cheese would be nice.
> I've heard the term before, but I'm not real clear on what they are. I
> assume it is not a pig's head packed with cheese. Are either period? I
> would assume so, but...

Souse meat is an Appalachian term for such pickled meat, usually pork
heads, trimmings, etc., simmered, picked off the bones, packed into a
crock or loaf pan, and covered with the cooking liquid, boiled down
until a bit syrupy. It gels as it cools, and cements the meat together
into a loaf that can be sliced. In other words, head cheese, more or
less. There is a German term for a similar dish, known as suelze, which
I suspect may have been brought to North America by the Amish, and ended
up in the Appalachians by that route.

Head cheese is made in the same way. Some recipes specifically call for
only the head of the pig to be used, and some call for other parts as
well. FWIW, neither brains nor eyeballs end up in head cheese. It is
mostly the rather meaty jowls and the tongue, with some of the gristly
bits and skin, these last two parts being cooked until quite soft, as
one might do with pig's feet. Again, it is all held together with the
jellied stock in which it was cooked.

Both head cheese and souse meat are descended from period meat dishes,
specifically brawn. I have not seen any period recipes, descriptions, or
references to the dishes in their modern forms, though.
 
> I remember having some sort of ham loaf that was served at our medieval
> wedding and at a prior SCA event. I think I was told it was medieval.
> I'll have to see if I can chase down the recipe and any referances. It
> was finer grained than spam and I think drier. It was good, but I've
> not had it since.

As I say, I'm not aware of any such dish, but I'd be reluctant to say
whether it is or is not period.

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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