SC - Marwick Arts Exhibition

[Stefan li Rous]

I suspect the term steak in this recipe means roast, as thick slices are
being cut from it.  The usage is Scandinavian as opposed to English.

Harleian 279 (Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books) has a recipe for "Stekys
of venison or bef." which has the instruction to "gredyl it up brown".  In
other words, cook it on a grate or a gridiron, as we would cook modern
steak.  My copy of the OED (I found one of the Compact OEDs) suggests that
the English usage is for slices of meat for grilling or frying.

The Bayeux Tapestry shows a banquet for William after his landing in England
with steaks being forked from the grill.

Bear


> One thing that caught my eye was the use of the term "steak". This may
> simply
> be an Americanism or my own parochial view though. I remember some
> agruments
> on the Ansteorra list and perhaps here though. So maybe this will shed
> some
> light on those previous discussions. Bear, you were doing some research on
> steaks.
> 
> > Danish, Codex K:
> > boil it well in a pan on hot embers without flame. And take a steak of
> hart
> > or deer, well larded, and cut into thick slices. And when the sauce is 
> 
> When I think of steak I think of slices of meat. I don't think of a steak
> as
> being other than sliced. In this paragraph "steak" seems to be more used
> as
> synonymous with "chunk of meat" or perhaps "roast" as it then specifies to
> cut it into thick slices. Also the second time "steak" is used as "steaks
> of
> hart, geese and ducks" seems to imply a more generic cut than I was
> thinking
> of. Perhaps it is my knowledge of meat cuts which is the problem.
> Comments,
> anyone?
> 
> -- 
> Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
> 
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