[Sca-cooks] Re: Rotten meat and spices...

[smcclune at earthlink.net]

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Stanifer <jugglethis at yahoo.com>

This was not relegated strictly to the poor.  Bear in mind that there were no methods of
refrigeration available in medieval times (no reliable methods, at any rate), so even the wealthy
would have to deal with rotten or 'off' meats from time to time.  Probably more often than we
think.  
<<<

Yes, but .... refrigeration isn't the only way to preserve meat.  They could (and did) smoke, pickle/"sowce", and salt meat.  They could even bake it into a coffyn or turn it into sausage to preserve it.  We have recipes telling us how to do all of these things.  Do we have any reason to believe that they would have preferred the taste of "off" meats to any of these?

Now, granted, all of these methods of preserving meat would affect the taste.  I don't have my sources with me here at work, but I know I've seen recipes for salted meat that tell you to wash it well before using it.  After you've done that, adding some spices to give it some flavor -- any flavor! -- makes sense.

Given the number of recipes to which we have access, if it were the case that the spices were being used to cover up the "off" taste, I think more recipes would mention that.  Instead, many say to start with a "fair" or fresh piece of meat, or else a piece of salted/preserved meat.  

Having said that, I do seem to remember seeing one recipe somewhere that said something about making old meat new again by washing it in wine, but of course, I can't find it now!

Still, that's one out of hundreds, so while they might have tried to pass off old meat as new once in a while, I can't help but feel that it was the exception rather than the rule.

Just my two pence ....

Arwen
Caerthe, Outlands
(Denver, CO)