SC - Noemi's recipe challenge

[Varju at aol.com]

Thank you all for the information on bay leaves.  I can see why my memory on
bay leaves was vague. :->

Now here is the reason I asked.  I have mentioned several time here that I
have one period recipe, which is also the first and only redaction I have
ever done.  I thought it would be interesting, to present the list with the
same information I started with and see what happens.  I will then post my
version so we can do a comparison. 

The source for this is again _The Cuisine of Hungary_ by George Lang.  He
begins the book with a history of cooking in Hungary and mentions that four
dishes served at the wedding feast of King Matthyas Hollos (Matthias
Corvinus) in 1475 were recorded and can be found at the Munich State Library.
 Unlike the other two recipes from this source Lang does not merely translate
the text, he listed the ingerdients, and stated what modern Hungarian it
seemed to be similar to.  The following is what I started with.  (This is a
direct quotation, I am not responsible for any odd ideas included.)

"One of the most interesting version of takany is the ancient dish of sour
vetrece (savanyu vetrece), which was already mentioned as a part of the
dinners of King Matthias in the fifteenth century.  In this type of ragout,
beef is cooked with smoked bacon, garlic and black pepper: later bay leaves,
mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar and grated lemon rind are added, and
finally sour cream.  The only flavors lost over the centuries are mace,
ginger, and saffron."


To be fair I will provide everyone with the next step I took, which was to
find all of the tokany recipies I could and find one that would give me an
idea of appropriate amounts for the main ingredients and cooking times.  I
chose marjoranas tokany (marjoram tokany) because it was simple and I had
made it before.


Marjoram Tokany

2 lbs. beef
1/2 c. unsalted butter
4 medium sized onions, finely sliced
1 Tbsp. fresh marjoram, finely chopped
salt and pepper
1 c white wine
1 1/2 c. diced bacon
1 c. sour cream

Cut the beef into strips about 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch.  Melt the butter in a
pan, add onions and cook over low heat until soft.  Increase heat, add beef
and brown onions and beef together.  Add marjoram, salt and pepper, stir, and
add white wine.  Leave to simmer until beef is half cooked.

Meanwhile fry the bacon lightly in its own fat, then add to the beef and
onion mixture, together with the sour cream.  Simmer gently until the beef is
cooked, reducing the liquid towards the end of cooking time if necessary.

from _A Little Hungarian Cookbook_ by Gretel Beer

Next, assuming the ingedients listed by Lang are all you have to work with,
what do all of you come up with?

Noemi
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