[Sca-cooks] Beef stock

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

I just came home from the Top Quality Food Market with 5 pounds of
beef shin bones.  They are now roasting in the oven to prepare them
for stock.  I've never made beef stock before -- chicken, yes, but not
beef -- and I notice that most of the recipes online call for tomato
in some form or other among the stock ingredients.

That made me realize that I don't recall seeing any period
instructions for broth-making.  Thinking about Spanish cuisine -- the
form of period cooking that I know best -- I recall seeing recipes
that mention "pot broth".  That would presumably be the liquid left
over from boiling some meat or other.  However, that's a separate
thing from the more common "meat broth" and "chicken broth".

So, how did our ancestors make their stocks and broths?  And what
flavorings (if any) did they add in lieu of tomato paste?

Pondering soup on a cold and snowy evening...

p.s.  I love some of the signs that are posted in stores where the
employees' first language is not English.  "Lemon gress" is merely a
misspelling, but "chicken paws" took me aback.

-- 
Brighid ni Chiarain
My NEW email is rcarrollmann at gmail.com