Subject: SC - Re: New Zealand cuisine

[Christina Nevin]

A while back on this list someone brought up their favorite idea of
how to roast a chicken. Basically it was to hang a chicken by a string
near the fire and twist the string tight. It would then unwind and
start winding up the other direction and then reverse etc until the
motion slowed down. At which time you wind the string up and start
again.

The thread is in the Florilegium. I believe in the chicken-msg file.
Oops no. It is in the roast-chicken-msg file. I have pasted the
first message of the thread below to help folks remember what I'm
talking about.

Anyway, at that time I don't believe anyone implied that it might be
a period method. However, in reading C. Anne Wilson's "Food and Drink
in Britain", there is a passage that makes me think it might be.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine exactly which years Wilson
is talking about as she skips back and forth through the years.

p 98
"Poor people, who could not afford a spit and its accompanying tackle,
hung their pieces of meat from a string in front of the fire, and
turned them by hand." 

- -- 
THLord  Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas         stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****

> Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 08:24:13 -0400
> From: Donna Kenton <donna at dabbler.com>
> Subject: Re: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #218
> 
> L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt wrote:
> > PPS. Lay it out on the table, folks: What's your best Pennsic/Camping Dish?
> > I'm leaving in two days, and I have a week before the meal plan kicks in.
> 
> If you've got a tripod, my favorite camping dish is "chicken on a
> string."  It's incredibly easy to roast the bird (about 20-25 minutes
> per pound, depending how close it is to the fire), and watching it twist
> back and forth on the string is mesmerizing.  You can put herbs and
> garlic in it (between the skin and the breast meat) and freeze it with
> the skewers already in it, so it lasts longer on the trip.  You'll need
> to adjust the cooking time if you start with a partially frozen bird.
> 
> Rosalinde
> - --
> Donna Kenton * Rosalinde De Witte * donna at dabbler.com *
> http://www.dabbler.com/