SC - Dried currents

[david friedman]

Hi all from Anne-Marie
Cessera says:
> Actually, meatloaf as we know it began during WWI when there were food
> rations and such. 

Check it out! The text is from my work in progress, so please dont reprint
without permission. Hopefully the citations transfer ok...footnotes
probably didnt so if you need the citation info let me know.


RAMEQUINS OF FLESHE: MEAT LOAF IN PERIOD
	There are many recipes in the primary sources that involve minced meat
with herbs and spices, sometimes encased in pastry, sometimes not. le
Viandier de Taillevent has them roasted on spits (T195 "Hedgehogs") or
packed into small clay pots (T196 "Spanish Pots").  Epulario has numerous
such dishes as well, some encased in pastry (E9 "To make pies of Veale,
Capon, or any other flesh"), or encased in casing (E30 "To make good
Sausseges").  le Menagier a Paris has the quaintly named "Balls", painted
bright green with a parsley sauce (M34). Chiquart’s du Fait de Cuisine has
pastry versions as well (C50  "Nurriz pasties"). This particular recipe is
from le Cuisinier françois, and is in the same chapter as a number of other
dishes called "ramequins". Interestingly enough, the other ramequins in
this chapter specify that the resultant food stuff is to be placed on
toasts, while the Ramequin of Fleshe does not. If you follow the recipe as
it is stated, you end up with a meat loaf that any kid could recognize. If
you infer that the toasts were omitted in error, you end up with...a
hamburger. 
	Where la Varenne says to "season as it ought", I chose to use some of  the
seasoning directions in the directly preceding ramequin recipe (V39 p101
"Ramequin of Kidney"). To whit:
You may make tosts of Kidney of veal thus, take the Kidneys, mince it very
well with some beefe suet, a little Spinage, a few sweet herbs and some
grated bread, season it with nutmeg, beaten cloves, and mace, ginger and
salt, then break in three or four eggs to bind it, then spread it on your
tosts, and pass it through the pan, dish it and put to it the Juyce of
lemons and a little sugar and serve. You may use some Currants if you
please. 

Ramequin of Fleshe  (V40 p102)
Take what meat you will, mince it very small, and after it is minced, allay
it with an egge, and season it as it ought, rost them in the panne, and
serve with the juice of a lemon.
Our version:
1 1/2 lbs of ground or finely minced meat. Use lamb, or a mix of veal, beef
and pork, or whatever. 
2 eggs
1 c. coarse bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. mace
1 tsp. sage (fresh if you have it)
1 tsp. marjoram (fresh if you have it)
2 T minced onion
1/2 lemon, cut into slices for garnish
lemon juice
Combine all ingredients except the lemon and the lemon juice into a loaf.
Bake in a 8x4x2 loaf pan at 350o until done through, about 40 min. to an
hour. until the juices run clear when you stick the loaf with a knife.
Serve with slices of lemon on top, and drizzle the servings with lemon
juice to taste.
Serves 4.




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