SC - Medieval Ribs? Or Barbecue Beef?

[david friedman]

Aoife gives a 15th c. recipe for Stewed Beef in Mistress Sincgefiu's (Cindy
Renfrow's) translation:

> "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.

Here is a related recipe, also 15th-c. English. It lacks the currents and
the optional direction to roast the meat, uses just vinegar instead of wine
and vinegar, and thickens the sauce with bread. We have interpreted it as
meat off the bone in a thick sauce.

Beef y-Stewed
Two Fifteenth Century p. 6/52

Take faire beef of the ribs of the forequarters, and smite in fair pieces,
and wash the beef into a fair pot; then take the water that the beef was
sodden in, and strain it through a strainer and seethe the same water and
beef in a pot, and let them boil together; then take canel, cloves, maces,
grains of paradise, cubebs and onions y-minced, parsley and sage, and cast
thereto, and let them boil together; and then take a loaf of bread, and
stepe it with broth and vinegar, and then draw it through a strainer, and
let it be still; and when it is near enough, cast the liquor thereto, but
not too much, and then let boil once, and cast saffron thereto a quantity;
then take salt and vinegar, and cast thereto, and look that it be poynant
enough, and serve forth. [end of original; spelling modernized]

about 1 lb+ beef
3 medium onions
1/4 c chopped parsley
1 bouillon cube
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t mace
1 t sage
1/8 t whole grains of paradise (grind)
1/8 t whole cubebs (grind)
4 slices bread
pinch of saffron
1 t salt
2 T vinegar

Add fresh water to cover meat and bouillon cube, bring to a boil, add
parsley, onion, and spices. Simmer about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, put bread
to soak in water and broth from the meat. At the end of 45 minutes mush up
the bread and add that, the saffron and salt, and vinegar, bring to a boil
and serve.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


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