[Sca-cooks] Pate = Period?

[Robyn.Hodgkin at affa.gov.au]

There are definitely recipes that come out as pretty much pate; there is a rather scrummy chicken and rosepetal one that my friend Bess makes, however it is not made with the livers as modern pates are.

Kiriel

Modern Braun/Brawn, at least in my family, is a very different beast from the period recipes I have seen - I suppose the best description is a meat based aspic made from boiling bits of pigs (mum used to use a pigs head). It ends up like a really solid jelly with lots of meaty bits in it, that you slice and make sandwiches from. (sample recipe below) I can see how this developed from the medieval Brawn, being the meat of boar in recipes such as Brawn en Peuerade.

Salted pig's trotters - 3*
Lean belly of pork - 675g (1½ lb)
Boned rabbit - 450g (1 lb)
White wine vinegar - 1 tsp, or lemon juice
Mustard powder - ½ tsp
Cloves - 4
Grated nutmeg - ¼ tsp
Salt and freshly ground pepper

* If you cannot obtain trotters ready salted add a piece of collar bacon weighing 225g (8 oz) together with the fresh trotters.

METHOD

Wash the trotters and let them soak for at least 3 hours, together with the bacon if you are including it.

Put the trotters and bacon in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring slowly to the boil.  Skim and simmer for 2 hours.

Add the belly of pork and rabbit and cover with more boiling water.  Simmer for 2 hours or more, until the meat is tender enough to leave the bones.  Take out the meat with a slotted spoon.

Trim and chop the meat, while it is still hot, into small pieces - about 2 cm (¾ inch) or less across, having first removed any bones.

Allow the liquid to get cold and skim off the fat.  Strain into a saucepan, let it boil for about 1½-2 hours to reduce to an almost syrupy consistency.

Return the chopped meat to the liquid, add the vinegar, spices, more salt if needed and pepper.  Simmer for a further 15 minutes.

Rinse out three 600 ml (1 pint) moulds or basins with cold water and fill them with the brawn mixture (or allow to cool slightly and put into containers ready to freeze).

Allow to set overnight and serve sliced.  Delicious in the summer with green salad and home-made bread. Warm the mould with a little running hot water to remove the brawn from the mould.


>-----Original Message-----
>From: AnnaMarie [mailto:wolfsong at ida.net]
>Sent: Thursday, 28 November 2002 2:46 PM
>To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>Subject: [Sca-cooks] Pate = Period?
>
>
>I've just finished what is probably one of my better chicken liver pate
>concoctions and am wondering how period pate truly is?
>
>I made this one with butter, sweet onion, bosc pears, pear
>brandy, cardamom
>and nutmeg.  It's truly yummy hot but now I'll probably dip in
>at breakfast
>to see how the flavors blended.
>
>I've heard of "braun" (sp) and it looks like pate but what is the
>difference?
>
>Kristianne
>off to make the salmon mousse....
>
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