[Sca-cooks] Brawn in peuerade - Pre-Redaction Questions

[Barbara Benson]

Greetings,

I am doing research for an event I am cooking for in February. The other night as I was reading through Two 15th Century
Cook Books I came across this (what I have come to find out) fairly done receipt.

.xxxij. Auter brawn en peuerade.--Take myghty brothe of Beef or of Capoun, an þenne take clene Freysshe Brawn, an sethe
it, but not y-now; An if it be Freysshe Brawn, roste it, but not I-now, an þan leche it in pecys, an caste it to þe
brothe. An þanne take hoole Oynonys, & pylle hem, an þanne take Vynegre þer-to, and Canelle, and sette it on þe fyre, an
draw yt þorw a straynoure, and caste þer-to; þen take Clowys, Maces, an powder Pepyr, an caste þer-to, and a lytil
Saunderys, an sette it on þe fyre, an let boyle tylle þe Oynonys an þe Brawn ben euyne sothyn, an nowt to moche; þan
take lykoure y-mad of Bred an Vinegre an Wyne, an sesyn it vp, an caste þer-to Saffroun to make þe coloure bryth, an
Salt, an serue it forth.

Here is what I have translated:

Take mighty broth of Beef or Capon, and then take clean Fresh Brawn, and seethe it, but not enough; and if it be Fresh
Brawn, roast it, but not enough, and then slice it in pieces, and cast it to the broth. And then take whole onions, &
peel them, and then take Vinegar there-to, and Cinnamon, and set it on the fire, and draw it through a strainer, and
cast there-to; then take Cloves, Mace, and powdered Pepper, and cast there-to, and a little Saunders, and set it on the
fire, and let boil till the Onions and the Brawn be enough seethed, and not too much; then take liquor made of Bread and
Vinegar and Wine, and season it up, and cast there-to Saffron to make the color bright, and Salt and serve it forth.

Now, I was reading through it, having never seen anyone else's redaction and came up with what I thought I would try. I
then got online and looked for other redactions, and it seems that what I thought would be the way to do it has not been
the way it was interpreted.

Here is what I thought:
Take your broth and bring it to a boil on the stove.
Take your fresh beef and roast it in the oven until about half done.
Take beef out of oven and let sit to reabsorb juices.
Slice beef and cast into simmering broth.

Here is where my thought process diverged. After the recipe says to cast beef into broth there is a period. I took that
as an ending. Then:
Take onions and peel them.
Put them in a pan with some vinegar and some cinnamon, probably cover with aluminum foil.
Put it into the oven and cook until soft.
Take onions out of oven and put into blender, puree.
Add onion puree to broth.
Add cloves, mace, pepper, saunders.
Cook some more.
Take bread crumbs and mix with wine and vinegar (more wine than vinegar) add Salt and Saffron.
Add bread mixture to beef & onions.

It seems everyone else that I can find online took the instructions to mean that you are to put the onions directly into
the broth and beef. I think it is saying that you cook the onions up and then "put through a strainer" meaning force the
onions through a sieve to achieve onion puree. Then add the onions to the broth.

What I would like to know is if this is an equally valid interpretation of the instructions? If not, why?

Glad Tidings,
Serena da Riva