[Sca-cooks] Tips on Redactions

[Laura C. Minnick]

"Cindy M. Renfrow" wrote:

> Yet Gervase Markham includes a recipe, 'To recover venison that is
> tainted', (Best, p. 103), and there are plenty of recipes in other sources
> for hiding spoilage in wine & etc.  May,in the Accomplisht Cook, gives 3
> recipes to preserve tainted venison. But these methods don't involve
> spices, rather they call for pickling, or ale, vinegar & herbs, etc.
>  Since venison was a game meat, it couldn't be slaughtered the day of, it
> had to be taken one or more days before the dinner. The pictures I've
> posted from the Jagdbuch http://www.thousandeggs.com/jagdbuch.html  show
> mass-slaughter of game animals 20 to 50 at a time, & then having to haul
> them back to town, many miles away.

It occurs to me though, that we have recipes in many of our cookbooks,
for among other things, covering the taste when you burn something, or
have oversalted. Does this mean that they are anything but a last
resort? I certainly don't let things burn saying 'oh, I can always fix
it with Aunt Matilda's recipe'. I go to great lengths _not_ to burn
them! I don't think that the presence of such recipes indicates that it
was desirable or even common to attempt to eat tainted meat- on teh
contrary, I think they indicate that it was unusual and undesireable.

'Lainie