[Sca-cooks] Venison, not necessarily deer meat?

Johnna Holloway johnnae at mac.com
Thu May 19 17:48:05 PDT 2011


I did an article on Venison in 2009 for the regional newsletter.
My opening paragraph was:

"In this region of Pentamere where white tailed deer abound, it may  
come as a shock to learn that in the medieval period, venison wasn’t  
always the flesh of a deer. In fact venison might have been the flesh  
of any game animal killed by hunting or through the chase. Venison  
might extend to the flesh of a boar, a bear, a hare or rabbit, as well  
as the flesh of a deer. As late as 1672, Josselyn’s New England’s  
Rarities would record “Bears are very fat in the fall of the leaf, at  
which time they are excellent venison.” In Scotland venison could even  
refer to the flesh of a goat, although that meaning is listed as  
archaic and rare."
from Venison. Contributed by Johnnae llyn Lewis, CE which appeared in  
the Gauntlet, October-December, 2009.
Johnnae


On May 19, 2011, at 7:34 PM, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:snipped
>  But i began to wonder: does "venison" or spelling variations of it  
> in SCA-period English cookbooks merely mean some sort of more or  
> less generic "deer" meat, as i think most Americans assume, or does  
> it really signify what the French does - meat from any of several  
> large game animals?




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