SC - Beef Barley Stew

[Stefan li Rous]

Brangwayna Morgan asked:
> marillian at hotmail.com writes:
> << My feast-o-crat gave me his proposed menu, consisting 
>  of Beef Barley Stew, bread, cheese and honey butter.  My first thought 
>  was... how boring!  I suggested he add some condiments and fruit, but he 
>  didn't like that idea because he thought it was too OOP. >>
> 
> Do we even have a period recipe for Beef Barley Stew????  Or honey 
> butter???

So far, the only evidence we seem to have for honey butter is as a
food for the sick or invalid. A recipe for this was recently posted. I
can't remember if it has been put in my files or not, but if so, it
would be in this file:
butter-msg        (97K) 11/10/00    Period butter. Making butter. Butter churns.

As far as Beef Barley Stew goes, yes we do have recipes for this. One
of the ones in my files is from Master Cariadoc's Miscellany. Much more
usual seems to be barley stews made with Hare, Rabbit, Veal or Chicken.

For instance, here  is are a pair of recipes from a message by Christianna.
While Digbie is post period, not that much, and there are others. This
was just the easiest to get. These are from this file in the FOOD section
of the Florilegium:
stews-bruets-msg  (65K)  5/24/00    Period stews and bruets. Recipes.

> From "The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt.
> Opened: etc"  Pub. posthumously by his son, 1669.  Pg. 124
> An Ordinary Potage
> 
> Take the fleshy and sinewy part of a leg of Beef, crag-ends of necks of
> Veal and Mutton.  Put them in a ten quarts pot, and fill it up with water.
> Begin to boil about six a clock in the Morning, to have your potage ready
> by Noon.  When it is well skimmed, put in two or three large Onions in
> quarters, and half a loaf (in one lump) of light French bread, or so much
> of the bottom crust of a Venison Pasty; all which will be at length clean
> dissolved in the broth.  In due time season it with Salt, a little
> Pepper, and a very few Cloves.  Likewise at a fit distance, before it be
> ended boiling, put in store of good herbs, as in Summer, Borrage,
> Bugloss, Purslain, Sorel, Lettice, Endive, and what else you like; in
> Winter, Beetes,  Endive, Parsley-roots, Cabbage, Carrots, whole Onions,
> Leeks, and what you can get or like, with a little Sweet-marjoram and
> exeeding  little Thyme.  Order it so that the broth be very strong and
> good.  To which end you mnay after four hours (or three) boil a Hen or
> Capon in it; light French-bread sliced, must be taken about noon, and
> tosted a little before the fire, or crusts of crisp new French-bread; lay
> it in a dish, and pour some of the broth upon it, and let it stew a while
> upon a Chafing-dish.  Then pour in more Broth, and if you have a Fowl,
> lay it upon the bread in the broth, and fillit up with broth, and lay the
> herbs and roots all over and about it, and let it stew a little longer,
> and serve it up covered, after you have squeesed some juyce of Orange or
> Limon, or put some Verjuyce into it.  Or you may  beat two or three Eggs,
> with part of the broth, and some Verjuyce, or juyce of Orange, and then
> mingle it with the rest of the broth.
> 
> Barley Potage  (page 125)
> 
> Take half a pound of French-barley, and wash it in three or four
> hot-waters; then tye it up in a course linnen-cloth and strike it five or
> six blows against the table; for this will make it very tender.  Put it
> into such a pot full of meat and water, as is said int he ordinary
> potage, after it is skimmed; and season this with Salt, Spice, Marjoram,
> and Thyme, as you did the other.  An hour before you take it from the
> fire, put into it a pound of the best Raisins of the Sun well washed; at
> such a distance of time, that they may be well plumped and tender, but
> not boiled to mash.  When the broth is enough boiled and consumed, and
> very strong, pour some of it upon sliced dry bread in a deep potage-dish,
> or upon crusts, and let it stew a while.  Then pour on all the rest of
> the broth, with the barley and Raisins, upon a Capon or Hen, or piece of
> Mutton or Veal; and let it mittonner a while upon the Chafing-dish, then
> serve it in.

- -- 
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 ****