[Sca-cooks] Rack of lamb

[Johnna Holloway]

Vinegar appears in numerous recipes so trying to separate out which are calling for the vinegar to be boiled with the meat is a complicated task.

Too often we find one like this recipe in Scappi on page 185 of the Scully translation that calls for boiling and then roasting but the vinegar comes in the sauce or garnish which is where vinegar is normally found in early recipes.

Recipe 98 Various ways to cook the breast of a domestic pig.
(Book II)

But if the pig is very old, the breast will be better boiled in salted water than roasted. When it has boiled it can be served with garlic sauce or mustard or any other sauce you like. After being taken out of the broth, it can also be sprinkled with pepper, salt, fennel flour and grated bread, and then roasted on a grill, and served dressed with a garnish made of rose vinegar, sugar and common spices.
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There is a traditional Portuguese/Macanese recipe for a porco bafassa that is twice-cooked by being simmered in a broth which contains vinegar and then oven roasted. See The Food of Love: Four Centuries of East-West Cuisine by Wendy Huton. Recipe can be viewed through Google Books.
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Vinegar is often called for in marinades because it is believed that it helps tenderize the meat. James Peterson in Meat says most marinades really don't do anything. Some even reduce the meat to mush. He says to use the acidic vinegars and citrus juices when it's the flavor being sought. 

Johnnae


On Feb 24, 2013, at 2:42 PM, David Friedman wrote about 
> *A recipe for spiced side of ribs by him, too: (Yahya bin Khalid al-Barmaki)*
> 
> Take a side of ribs of a lamb and boil it in extremely sour vinegar until half done. snipped I think next time I'll simmer for half an hour instead of 45 minutes before roasting. Is anyone here familiar with anything similar from period cuisine--boiling meat in vinegar, then roasting it?