FW: [Sca-cooks] Too much spice.

[Cindy M. Renfrow]

Hi!  I went thru my old correspondence & found this by Terry Nutter from 1997:

"Hi, Katerine here.  Derdriu writes:

>Actually, Markham gives a recipe for salvaging spoiling venison.  My account
>is through work, so I don't have the book available, but I can post more on
>the recipe tomorrow (if I remember).

I'm not familiar with that particular recipe (I don't do much work that late),
but I'll lay strong odds the salvage doesn't involve slapping on a sauce
and eating the bad parts.

Salvaging is not the same as covering a bad taste.  I do know an earlier
such recipe, and it's revealing about the actual nature of the attitude.

Recipe number 58 from Diuersa Servicia, the second collection reproduced in
Curye on Inglysch, describes what to do with a joint of venison that has
just begun to show signs of going bad in spots.  (It is explicit, by the
way, that it should only have bad *spots* which have *begun* to show.)

It starts by cutting away the bad spots.  Next, you soak it in cold water,
then bake it slowly in the hearth for three days and three nights.  After
that, you apply saltpeter to the area around where you cut out the bad
bits, then soak overnight in rainwater.

I am not a microbiologist (or for that matter a culinary hygienist); and I
am modern enough to want to just throw the thing out and do without venison.
But my impression, from reading the recipe and thinking about it, is that
even by modern standards, this ought to just about turn the trick.

And leave no taste of rot to cover.

Recipe number 57 describes how to prevent venison from turning (essentially,
how to dress and salt it).  They are *very* clear about not exposing it
to air before salting.

There are similar recipes in other collections, including one that preserves
venison by immersing it completely in honey, and then sealing the container.
They all look, from a modern standpoint, like preservation techniques.

The whole business, both of preventing rot and of dealing with a joint some
spot of which has begun to turn, involves a lot of time and effort.  No
one would go to all that trouble if s/he thought that it were okay just to
slap on a little mustard to cover the nasty taste.  The clear presumption
is that eating bad meat is a bad idea.

Cheers,

-- Katerine/Terry"

Also this by Elizabeth, same thread:

"Adamantius commented:
> Some Southeast Asian curries will also keep for several days at
>room temperature, depending on how close to the period European ideal
>you want to stick.

There is a period Islamic dish (13th c. Andalusian) with a lot of vinegar
in it which is supposed to keep several days; we have made a try or two at
the dish and found it pretty good, but haven't tested the preservation.

The Dish Mukhallal
Take the meat of a plump cow or sheep, cut it small, and put it in a new
pot with salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, plenty of saffron, garlic peeled
and diced, almonds peeled and split, and plenty of oil; cover it with
strong, very pure vinegar, without the slightest bit of water; put it on a
moderate charcoal fire and stir it, then boil it. When it cooks and the
meat softens and it reduces, then put it on the hearthstone and coat it
with much egg, cinnamon and lavender; color it with plenty of saffron, as
desired, and put in it whole egg yolks and leave it on the hearthstone
until it thickens and the broth evaporates and the fat appears. This dish
lasts many days without changing or spoiling; it is called "wedding food"
in the West [or the Algarve], and it is one of the seven dishes cited as
used among us at banquets in Cordoba and Seville. (end of original)

Elizabeth of Dendermonde/Betty Cook"

I found the message Adamantius mentioned from me, 1998:

"Hello! I found these in Plat's Delights for Ladies, 1609:

24. Flesh kept sweet in summer.
You may keep Veal, Mutton, or Venison in the heat of Summer ix or x daies
good, so as it be newly and fair killed, by hanging the same in an high and
windy room (And therefore a plate cupboard full of holes, so as the winde
may haue a thorow passage, would be placed in such a room, to auoid the
offence of Fly-blowes) This is an approued Secreet, easie & cheap, and very
necessary to be knowe and practised in hot and tainting weather. Veale may
be kept ten daies in bran.


19. How to keepe powdered [salted] Beefe five or six weeks after it is
sodden, without any charge.
When your Beefe hath beene well and thoroughly powdered by tenne or twelve
dayes space, then seeth it thoroughly, dry it with a cloth, and wrap it in
drie clothes. placing the same in close vessels and cup-boards, & it wil
keep sweet and sound two or three moneths, as I am credibly informed from
the experience of a kinde and louing friend.

#20 goes on to say to keep Beef at sea, take this salted beef (soaked 9 or
10 days in brine), put it in barrels pierced full of holes, tie the barrels
to the stern of the ship & fling them overboard!! "which, by his infinite
change and succession of water, will suffer no putrefaction, as I suppose"
But he hasn't tried it.

#15 preserves shelled oysters in a pickle made of their own juice, white
wine vinegar, salt & pepper.

#16 preserves cooked Salmon in a close vessel, immersed in wine vinegar,
with a branch of rosemary.

#17 (already discussed?) preserves fried fish in oil.

#18 preserves small pieces of roasted beef in a barrel with wine vinegar."

HTH,

Cindy/Sincgiefu