[Sca-cooks] Smoked fish and meat--questions

[Ariane H]

"Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com> wrote:

>Have you tried preserving water birds in their own fat- confits? I
>understand that if done properly, they combine a reasonable shelf life with
>immediate edibility.

In my experience, even though confit does keep up to a month and can be exquisitely delicious, you still do have to thoroughly reheat the meat before eating it...which means building the fire, etc., and I believe the goal is to find something that can be eaten with no preparation.

What about a pate or terrine?  They can be made with just about any kind of meat (muscle-meat in addition to or even instead of liver) - poultry or rabbit, as well as pork or wild boar.  I know it sounds like an extravagance, but if made with only enough fat as is required to keep it from spoiling, it doesn't have to be unhealthy.  I often find them in cans or jars (usually imported from France), which don't need to be refrigerated and have a shelf life of several months.  They same ought to go for homemade stuff as well, I guess, depending on how it's stored - in jars or maybe some kind of airtight ceramic container?  In any case, it wouldn't need any extra prep once you arrived at camp, you can just slice it and eat it with bread, or however you like.

Uunfortunately, I can't vouch for whether or not pates or terrines were made anytime within the SCA period.  It doesn't seem unlikely, I just haven't come across any references or recipes...anyway, just an idea I thought I'd throw into the discussion. :)


Vittoria

__________________________________________________________________
McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network.
Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial today!
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397

Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge.  Download Now!
http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455