SC - Brawn Question

[Philip & Susan Troy]

david friedman wrote:
> 
> >     And, the question is thus... I recognize every meat mentioend therein,
> >except for the first one.  WHat is Brawn?
> 
> In general, I think it means muscle meat--not from a specific kind of
> animal. I'm not sure if it has a narrower meaning in the passage you
> quote.

The seasonal nature of brawn in the quoted passage, in conjunction with
info on the seasonal nature of animals such as capons, etc., suggests
that it is considered not to be the meat of those animals discussed,
which may well support the boar idea. I suspect at some point the
meaning had changed. I agree that fourteenth and fifteenth century
English recipes seem to suggest it is the meat of various animals,
usually specified when it matters, such as the brawn of capons teased
into "doust".

If I had to guess at when the earliest recipes I've seen appear to be
referring to boar or even some other pigmeat (and usually the whole
animal is involved), I'd say that the mid-to-late sixteenth century is
when the shift occurs from "brawne of capons or pigeons" to " to roull
up a piglet into a collar of brawne".

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com