Italian (Medieval) – Italian Salted Beef (Medieval Beef: Vaccina Salpresa Alessata, servito con Petrosemolo)

 

Medieval Beef: Vaccina Salpresa Alessata, servito con Petrosemolo - Italian Salted Beef

Originally Published September 28, 2021

Vaccina salpresa alessata, servito con petrosemolo Salted pressed beef, boiled served with parsley

I first ran across this recipe after receiving Scappi's book. Originally it was planned to be served as part of a four-course meal at a site where the kitchen facilities were not optimal and at least two of the courses would need to be prepared ahead of time and served cold. This is very easy to make. As noted, I did not use curing salt because the amount of time I was curing the meat was not a very long time compared to Scappi's recipe where the meat is to be cured for long-term storage. Three days is an optimal time to brine and infuse the meat with the flavors of garlic, fennel, black pepper, and coriander. The spices that I chose are not in the recipe. Fennel and black pepper were quite common, throughout the book. Coriander was chosen because I would be garnishing it with parsley, and I think the flavor of Coriander pairs well with parsley. Garlic as a personal choice was chosen. It is not commonly used in Scappi's book.

Original Recipe: To lightly salt and boil every cut of the said animal, chapter 4, Scappi

I find that the shoulder and breast of the said animals are more appropriate than the others. When the cow or bull is dead and skinned without being skinned, one cuts it into the said layers in many pieces, and one puts it in slat in a ceramic vessel or wood, the which has been well washed, because if the salt is not cleaned, and if it is full of dirt it will have a bad smell, and when the pieces are places one on top of the others one covers the vessel with a wood cover, adding above a weight that holds everything well pressed until it has made the salt solution, and the summer when it has been curing for four days, and in the winter for eight, one pulls it out of the vessel, as much as you want to cook, rinse it in fresh water, and put it to cook in water without salt, and make sure above all that it is well skimmed. When it is cooked one can serve it hot or cold at every time with garlic sauce or mustard in plates. And if you want to make it in the same day that the animal is killed, take a piece of the shoulder or another part, and put it to boil in strong salted water until it is well cooked. And serve this in the same way that it is said above.

Ingredients

2 pounds beef brisket or flank steak

1/2 C. salt

OPT: 1/2 Tbsp. pink salt (sodium nitrite)

2 Tbsp. coriander

2 Tbsp. cracked black pepper

1 Tbsp. each garlic powder and crushed fennel

Instructions

1. Trim and clean the beef, removing connective tissue and most of the fat.

2. Prepare the brine by adding the salt and spices to a quart of water, bringing it to a boil, and allowing it to cool to room temperature.

3. Once cooled, place the meat and the brine into a ziplock bag, and refrigerate for three to seven days turning the bag daily. 4. When you are ready to cook the meat, remove it from the brine and pat it dry with a paper towel.

5. Grill each side for 2 minutes on direct heat. Then move to indirect heat and allow to cook to your liking. 6. Allow meat to rest until room temperature, but preferably cold, slice thin and then serve on a bed of lettuce garnished with parsley.

Note: Scappi has two sets of instructions in the recipe. The first recipe is how to prepare the meat through a salting process. The second is how to cook it when it is fresh.

And if you want to make it in the same day that the animal is killed, take a piece of the shoulder or another part, and put it to boil in strong salted water until it is well cooked. And serve this in the same way that it is said above.

Also, note that Scappi instructs you to serve the meat with mustard as a sauce.

This is an excellent dish that can be prepared ahead of time and served at a feast, or as part of a dayboard or camp meal.

Sources:

"The Opera Of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570)". Google Books, 2022, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Opera_of_Bartolomeo_Scappi_1570/oF2jsqrWtEkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover. Accessed 18 July 2022.

Kitchen Adventures – Kirschen - Cherries Stewed in Wine (GTOD Vigil Recipe)

Original German (Ein New Kochbuch by Marx Rumpolt)

Kirschen/ die dürr seinn/ seß zu mit halb Wasser unnd halb Wein/ magst sie kalt oder warm geben.

Cherries/ that are dried/ set to (cook? Or soak) with half water and half wine/ (you) may serve them cold or warm.

Recipe:

1 pound frozen cherries
1½ cups red wine
1½ cups water
½ c sugar

Dried cherries are a bit more expensive then the frozen cherries, s I opted to use frozen cherries for this particular recipe.  However, at some point in the future I would like to try this with cherries thtat have been dried. 

To make, simply combine all ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the sauce has reduced and cherries begin to break down.  

Sources: 

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek - Digitale Bibliothek, M. (2022). Rumpolt, Marx: Rumpolt, Marx:Ein new Kochbuch ( 1587) - Digitised Book from the copyright-free holdings of the Bavarian State Library Munich [Germany] 2007-2022 Image-based Similarity Search. Retrieved 20 April 2022, from https://bildsuche.digitale-sammlungen.de/index.html?c=viewer&bandnummer=bsb00090475&pimage=1&v=2p&nav=&l=en

DFG-Viewer: Ein new Kochbuch
"DFG-Viewer: Ein New Kochbuch". Dfg-Viewer.De, 2022, http://dfg-viewer.de/show?tx_dlf%5Bdouble%5D=0&tx_dlf%5Bid%5D=http%3A%2F%2Fdaten.digitale-sammlungen.de%2F~db%2Fmets%2Fbsb00090475_mets.xml&tx_dlf%5Bpage%5D=394&cHash=fe888b8427aa3211b8dbd29c1f6ded66. Accessed 25 Apr 2022.

Italian (Medieval) – Vaccina salpresa alessata, servito con petrosemolo -Cold salted beef lightly spiced

To lightly salt and boil every cut of the said animal, chapter 4, Scappi

I find that the shoulder and breast of the said animals are more appropriate than the others. When the cow or bull is dead and skinned without being skinned, one cuts it into the said layers in many pieces, and one puts it in slat in a ceramic vessel or wood, the which has been well washed, because if the salt is not cleaned, and if it is full of dirt it will have a bad smell, and when the pieces are places one on top of the others one covers the vessel with a wood cover, adding above a weight that holds everything well pressed until it has made the salt solution, and the summer when it has been curing for four days, and in the winter for eight, one pulls it out of the vessel, as much as you want to cook, rinse it in fresh water, and put it to cook in water without salt, and make sure above all that it is well skimmed. When it is cooked one can serve it hot or cold at every time with garlic sauce or mustard in plates. And if you want to make it in the same day that the animal is killed, take a piece of the shoulder or another part, and put it to boil in strong salted water until it is well cooked. And serve this in the same way that it is said above.

Ingredients

2 Pounds beef brisket or flank steak 
1/2 C. salt
1/2 Tbsp. pink salt (sodium nitrite)

2 Tbsp.  coriander

2 Tbsp. cracked black pepper 

1 Tbsp. each garlic powder and crushed fennel

Trim and clean the beef, removing connective tissue and most of the fat. Prepared the dry rub by mixing together all ingredients.  Rub the cure over all of the meat surfaces and place in a ziplock back.  Refridgerate for 7 days, turning the bag daily. 

I chose to "brine" my meat instead and omitted the pink salt.  I placed the dry rubbed meat into a ziplock bag and then covered it with water.  I allowed it to sit for three days before cooking.  I rinsed the meat very well, dried it with a paper towel and then cooked it on a grill. 

Alternatively, you can cook your meat in a slow cooker on low overnight. Allow meat to cool, slice and serve garnished with parsley or on a bed of greens. 

A Book Of Cookrye (1591) (Eisands with Otemeale grotes)

Eisands with Otemeale grotes - A  Book Of  Cookrye (1591) 

Eisands of otemeal grotes is one of those recipes that I knew I had to create when I first ran across it while doing research for a cook’s gathering in 2015. This interpretation was a very long time in coming. The Cook’s Gatherings were my first attempt at trying to bring about cook’s gild in the area where I live. It was a very short lived adventure and that saddens me. There does not seem to be as much interest in cooking in my area as I would like there to be. Interpreting this recipe required a lot of research. My first stumbling block evolved around *how* to cook it. My second was where to locate the main ingredient (oatmeal grotes).

I tackled my second roadblock first. I needed to determine what oatmeal grotes were and determine what the closest thing to them was I could purchase. Fortunately I had done some basic research into oatmeal when I interpreted the recipes from Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430)  for .xxiiij. Drawyn grwel and vij. Gruelle a-forsydde. Oatmeal has a long history and you can read about it in both of those articles. During my research into oatmeal I discovered there are a variety of ways that oatmeal can be prepared. Oat Groats are the hulled whole oat berry. They appear to be very similar to grains of rice, barley or wheat berries. The oats that I used were steel cut oats, which is essentially the whole oat berry that has been chopped into pieces but not rolled. Steel cut oats are sometimes referred to as Scottish or Irish oats, but these oats tend to be ground rather then cut.

The other variety of oats and the one that most people are familiar with are rolled oats, which are whole oats that have been steamed, rolled flat into flakes and then dehydrated. This method of making oats did not appear until long after our period and should not be used if other kinds of oats are available. Quick oats are the cousin of rolled oats, but they are much quicker in cooking due to a longer steaming period before dehydration and being chopped into smaller pieces. These are the least nutritious of the varieties of oats that are available on the market today.

The first roadblock took a little bit longer to overcome. I needed to determine what cooking method was used. Was the dish baked? Steamed? Cooked on the stove top or boiled? Each of these cooking methods would produce a very different result. My first attempt was to cook it on the stovetop similar to an oatmeal custard, but the directions are very specific on liquid to oat ratio and there was not enough liquid to sufficiently cook the oats. The same problem revolved around baking the dish like bread. There simply was not enough liquid. Returning to the source, I discovered that the recipes prior to and after involved boiling the puddings. The result? A delicious pudding that is similar to your classic boiled Christmas plum puddings.

When I think of a pudding, I think of a custard like dish made of chocolate or vanilla or coconut. However puddings can trace their origins to approximately 1300 and meant “a kind of sausage” where meat and suet were stuffed into the stomach or intestines of an animal and boiled to be kept and served as needed. This recipe bridges the gap between those earlier dishes and the more modern ones that emerged in the mid 1600’s. It involves food that has been boiled or steamed in a bag or a sack. At the time this particular recipe was popular puddings could be either savory or sweet, meat or grain based.

Eisands with Otemeale grotes. Take a pinte of Creame and seethe it, and when it is hot, put therto a pinte of Otemeale grotes, and let them soke in it all night, and put therto viii. yolks of egs, and a little Pepper, Cloves, mace, and saffron, and a good deale of Suet of beefe, and small Raisins and Dates, and a little Sugar.

Eisands with Otemeale grotes. Take a pinte of Creame and seethe it, and when it is hot, put therto a pinte of Otemeale grotes, and let them soke in it all night, and put therto viii. yolks of egs, and a little Pepper, Cloves, mace, and saffron, and a good deale of Suet of beefe, and small Raisins and Dates, and a little Sugar.

Eisands of Oatmeal Groats.  Take a pint of cream and heat it, and when it is hot, put thereto a pint of oatmeal groats, and let them soak in it al lnight, and put thereto eight yolks of eggs, and a little pepper, cloves, mace, and saffron, and a good deal of suet of beef, and small raisins and dates, and a little sugar. 

Interpreted Recipe                                                                            Serves 8 (six if you aren't into sharing!)

1 pint cream (whole milk)
2 cups steel cut oats, or oat groats
¼ cup of shredded suet or butter (I used butter)
1/3 cup dates halved and quartered (My dates were kind of dried out so I placed a handful in the blender and added a 1/4 cup hot water and then blended them into a puree which is probably why my pudding is so dark. Mea Culpa!)
1/3 cup currants or raisins
8 egg yolks (or four whole eggs) beaten
1 tsp. Le Menagier's "Fine Spice Powder" 
Pinch of saffron
¼ cup granulated sugar

I heated the cream and butter together in the microwave and then poured it over my oats, mixing it together, along with the dates, raisins, sugar and spices and two of my four eggs and here I diverge greatly from the recipe.  I cooked it on the stovetop to hasten the absorption process until it became very thick.  At which point I beat the remaining eggs tempered them and added them to the "dough".  Make sure it is thick and dough like. 

If you choose not to take the "shortcut" heat up the cream and the butter and pour them over the oats and let them sit preferably overnight.  Add remaining ingredients and then move forward.

While I was precooking the oatmeal I had placed my cloth into approximately two gallons of water I was bringing to boil.  I was using my canning pot which has a metal trivet in the bottom to keep the pudding from the bottom and possibly burning.  Once the dough was made (and I say dough because that is the consistency you should be aiming for with your oat and egg mixture) I removed the cloth, placed it into a bowl, added the dough and then tied it up. I used rubber bands to keep it secured and you will want to secure the cloth as close to the pudding as you can.  

Make sure that your water is at a full rolling boil before adding your pudding.  Turn heat down to medium and cook for approximately four hours.  My pudding floated so I trapped it beneath a wire sieve so that it was fully submerged during the cooking period.  You will want to check your water about every hour (or less) to make sure that the pudding is still fully submerged.

Once the pudding is cooked, remove it from the boiling water; give it a quick soak in cold water so you can handle it right away or allow draining and cooling before untying. It can be served warm or cold, but if you try to cut it when it is too hot it will crumble on you.  Although the recipe does not call for it, you could serve it with a sauce made from butter and sugar. 

With the exception of the very long boiling period, this was a very easy dish to put together and the fact that it can be served cold is a saving grace.  If you wanted to serve this at a feast, I would suggest making it a day or two before in small batches and then either warm it up, or serve it cold.  I got approximately 16 slices out of this recipe, so it would easily serve eight people, or as part of a much larger feast, up to 16. This is a perfect breakfast food.  The oatmeal becomes rice-like in texture, and to me it tasted very similar to a rice pudding (which I love).  It slices like a cake or quick bread and I could see it being served with some butter as a portable breakfast meal. Did I mention I could not stop eating it?  Neither could my taste testers who have made me promise to make this again.  This would also make a very nice camp "dessert", requiring nothing more than to make sure that it is covered with water while it cooks.