Medieval French Cooking: Une Vinaigrette (Beef & Onions in Spiced Wine Sauce)

Une Vinaigrette (Beef & Onions with Wine-Ginger Sauce)

“The Feast in the House of Levi” (detail), Paolo Veronese. Used here as period context for a Renaissance savory pie.

Context

Une Vinaigrette appears in medieval French sources and was translated by Terence Scully (1998). The dish layers beef (or lamb) with onions and serves it in a sauce of red wine, broth, breadcrumbs, and warming spices—ginger, grains of paradise, pepper, saffron, and vinegar. The result is both hearty and sharp, showing the medieval palate for savory meats balanced with spice and sour notes.

Humoral Qualities

In humoral theory, beef is heavy, hot, and dry, suited to those with strong digestions or balanced by moistening and cooling elements. The onions and wine add heat and sharpness, while the vinegar offers a cooling, cutting quality to aid digestion. The dish would have been considered appropriate in a main roast course, but could also appear earlier to stimulate appetite.

Provenance

The recipe for Une Vinaigrette comes from Le Viandier, one of the most important medieval French cookbooks. Traditionally attributed to Guillaume Tirel (called Taillevent), master cook to King Charles V of France, the text survives in several manuscripts from the late 14th and 15th centuries. It reflects the refined cooking of the French court, where sauces of wine, vinegar, and warming spices balanced the heaviness of roasted meats. Terence Scully’s 1998 edition (The Viandier of Taillevent, University of Ottawa Press) provides a critical edition of the extant manuscripts and the English translation used here.

Original French

Une vinaigrette. Prenez buef ou mouton et coupez en pièces, puis mettez-les à rostir au gril. Prenez oignons et taillez par rondelles, et friez en sain de lart bien cuit. Puis prenez bon vin vermeil et bouillon de buef, et mettez du pain blanc tosté et broyé pour lier. Mettez gingembre, graine de paradis, poivre et saffran, et un petit de vinaigre. Couliez vostre sausse, et mettez vostre viande et oignons dedans; ou les servez à part, et la sausse en un autre plat.

This passage is the basis for Scully’s English rendering: beef or mutton, roasted with onions, served in a sauce of red wine, broth, breadcrumbs, ginger, grains of paradise, saffron, pepper, and vinegar.

Original Text & Modern Translation

Original (Scully, 1998)

Modern Interpretation

Take beef or mutton and cut it in pieces, then put them to roast on the grill. Take onions and slice them into rounds, and fry them in grease until well cooked. Then take good red wine and beef stock, put therein white bread toasted and ground to thicken it, and season with ginger, grains of paradise, pepper and saffron, and a little vinegar. Strain the sauce and put the meat and onions therein; or serve the meat and onions separately, with the sauce in a dish.

Cut beef or lamb into chunks and roast or grill until done, but not overcooked. Slice onions into rounds and sauté them in butter, oil, or lard until golden. For the sauce, simmer red wine and beef broth with breadcrumbs until smooth. Add ginger, pepper, grains of paradise (or allspice), saffron, and a splash of vinegar. Strain the sauce and serve it either mixed with the meat and onions, or on the side as a dip. Excellent served on its own, or with rice or pasta.

Modern Recipe

Ingredients – Sauce

• 1 ½ cups red wine
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 slices white bread, toasted and ground into crumbs (manchet if available)
• 2 tsp. ginger
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. grains of paradise (or allspice)
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• Pinch of saffron (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Method – Sauce

1. Combine beef broth and wine in a saucepan; bring to medium heat.
2. Add breadcrumbs and whisk until thickened and smooth.
3. Stir in spices and vinegar; simmer several minutes.
4. Strain before serving for a smooth sauce.

Ingredients – Meat

• 1 ½–2 lbs beef or lamb, cut into chunks
• 4 medium onions, sliced
• 2–3 Tbsp oil, butter, or lard

Method – Meat

1. Broil or grill the meat until cooked through (do not overcook).
2. Sauté onions in fat until golden, or grill alongside the meat.
3. Combine meat and onions with sauce and heat through before serving, or serve meat and onions separately with sauce as a dip.

📜 Menu Placement

This dish is most suitable as part of the roast course, served alongside other meats and hearty dishes. Its vinegar-and-ginger sauce balances the heaviness of beef with sharp and warming notes. It could also be used earlier in the feast in smaller portions to stimulate appetite, but its weight makes it better suited as a main dish.

🥕 Dietary Notes

• Contains: Gluten (breadcrumbs), Meat
• Gluten-free option: Use gluten-free breadcrumbs.
• Dairy-free option: Choose oil or lard instead of butter.
• Allergen notes: Contains onion and wine; adjust if needed.

📚 Sources

• Terence Scully, The Viandier of Taillevent, 1998 translation.

Labels: Medieval, French, Beef, Onions, Sauces & Condiments, Roasted Meats, SCA Feast Planning, Period Techniques

📖 This recipe is part of the Ceilidh 2001 – Fourteenth-Century Italian Feast .
Explore all dishes from this reconstructed 14th-century Italian banquet.