SC - Medieval Ribs? Or Barbecue Beef?

[Stefan li Rous]

Aoife quotes a recipe and then gives two interpretations:

>"17 Stewed Beef. Take Ribs of fresh beef, And (if thou will) roast it till
>it is nigh enough; then put it in a fair small pot; cast thereto parsley
>and onions minced, raisins of Corinth, powdered pepper, cinnamon, cloves,
>sandalwood, saffron, and salt; then cast thereto wine and a little vinegar;
>set a lid on the pot, and let it boil soakingly on a fair charcoal till it
>is enough; then lay the flesh, in dishes, and the syrup thereupon, And
>serve it forth."
>
>It is my contention that this is a recipe for meat that has been roasted,
>then cooked  with liquid till it is fallen off the bone, then served with
>the sweet-spicy liquid it was cooked in. There is the possibility, however,
>that this is "Ribs" as we modernly know them, with a sweet-spicy red sauce
>rather than modern tomato-based barbecue sauce, since there is no directive
>to remove the bones or strain them from the sauce.

If I'm understanding the replies about this, most favor serving this with
the bones as in the second interpretation.

I would go with the first, without the bones, because of the phrase 
"then lay the flesh, in the dishes,". It doesn't mention the bones,
or say lay the ribs in the dishes.

Do we have other medieval beef dishes served to the nobility with the 
bones left in place? Even for roasted meats, I thought that the carver
was there to cut the meat from the bones for the nobles.

I fear we may be getting caught up in making this look like modern
barbeque because that's what we want it to be.

More comments?

Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net
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