[Sca-cooks] Sweating meat

[JIMCHEVAL at aol.com]

Interesting. Never read an account by anyone who'd actually tried  this.

Just to be clear, Anthimus wasn't implying that the meat was steamed  
(though Romans did do that), just that the meat would seem like it had been  
cooked that way. Probably, when he talks about cooking it far from the fire,  
he's referring to the stove-like set-up found in some Roman kitchens:

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This  large rectangular block held a grill, sometimes in the middle, 
sometimes to one  side. Either way, this would have left room to put the meat at 
some distance  from the heat under the grill.

Probably this method was still being used  under the Franks in the 
Gallo-Roman part of France (which stayed pretty Roman  for over two centuries) and 
possibly also in the royal or upscale kitchens which  produced some semblance 
of Roman food (like that of Theuderic at Metz, Anthimus'  host and reader).
 
Jim  Chevallier
_www.chezjim.com_ (http://www.chezjim.com/) 

A  History of Coffee and Other Refreshments in Early Modern France 
by  Pierre Le Grand d'Aussy  

 
In a message dated 4/10/2013 12:24:12 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
galefridus at optimum.net writes:

I have  done this many times with whole beef brisket and plates of beef 
short ribs,  and once or twice with lamb shoulder. Nevertheless, the meat is 
decidedly NOT  steamed, since it is cooked with dry heat (hot smoke, 
actually). I had thought  that hot smoking was a relatively modern technique, but I 
will have to read  Anthimus and reevaluate, I  think.