SC - Early Period A&S Entries

[Laura C. Minnick]

Greeting,

I am still working on translating Marxen Rumpolts 1581 cookbook.  He has 
several recipies for smoked meat and for smoked sausages.  Most of them 
specify hanging in the smoke AWAY from the heat. (cant quote exactly, dont 
have source at work) also mentions that the longer it hangs the longer it 
will last.  I will double check to see if he mentions chimeneys anywhere

Gwen Catrin von Berlin
Caerthe



Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 19:41:02 -0800
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
Subject: Re: SC - smoking

Richard Kappler II wrote:
> 
> My newest toy, _Fast and Feast_, talks about a piece of beef hung to 
smoke
> in the chimney in November (slaughter season), then hung in the chimney
> overwinter to be used for Easter supper.
> 
> This brings up several questions.
> The latest Mother Earth News (okay, not exactly a period resource) 
declares
> in their really KEWL build yer own sauna article, that the chimney is a 
19th
> century invention.  Now I know this to be far from the truth, but I 
suspect
> from my research its not too durn far.  Any ideas? When did we advance 
from
> the 'hole in the top of the thatched roof' thing to the 'brick in the 
hearth
> and oh by the way put a hole at the top of the bricks' thing?

Last I knew the archeolgical evidence would point to the presence of
chimneys fairly early- tile or clay at the least (Sweetie? Do you have
anything on that?) However, A) fires without chimneys have difficulty
getting a good 'draw' to pull the smoke away from the house. You really
need the siphon effect of the chimney to get the smoke out of your
cottage- and a great many houswifery manuals, etc., caution against
having a smoky fire; B) without a chimney, you have alot more problem
with sparks- and with a thatched roof, that can be disasterous; C)
there's a folk tale, one version of which is 15th c. (can't find it at
the moment, though I think from the _Heptameron_) that has husband and
wife swapping roles for the day. The fellow can't cope, eventually takes
the cow up onto the roof (thatch or sod) rather than out to pasture,
loops the tether around the chimney, passes it down through, and then
when indoors, he ties the end 'round his own meiddle. Of course, Bossy
loses her footing and slips off the roof, strangling, and the rope pulls
the husband up into the chimney, where he is stuck until the wife comes
home... 

Also loads of pix of places with chimneys...

Besides, the staff at TMEN has never been known for scholars...

> Secondly, being an avid smoker/ err, ummm... maker of smoked foods, I 
fully
> understand that it takes a good long while to smoke a thick piece of meat
> ('Lainie, Groucho puns would be appropriate here, doncha think?).  
Nah- too hard to light.

> Having
> said that, I also know that a whole side of beef smoked for 6 months 
would
> leave the outer bits inedible.  I suspect it was butchered and hung, but
> that doesn't really ring true either.  Comments?

Depends on how big the area is, is the meat directly in the stream, or
to the side, how big was the animal, was it gutted and split...

I really want a large chunk of ham now, and it's all your fault, Puck!

> curiouser and curiouser was, Puck

Afraid to ask what you're curious of,

'Lainie

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