Title: pork-msg
Subject: Use of pork in period. Period pork recipes.
Author: Mark S. Harris
Company: Motorola
Keywords: medieval, pork, recipe, period, pig, livestock, bacon

pork-msg - 10/18/10

Use of pork in period. Period pork recipes and redactions.

NOTE: See also the files: roast-pork-msg, roast-meats-msg, sausages-msg, 
pig-to-sausag-art, livestock-msg, meat-pies-msg, sauces-msg, whole-pig-msg.

************************************************************************
NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

Date: Fri, 07 Nov 1997 08:54:51 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - green bacon??

Mark Harris wrote:
> Aoife commented:
> > I'll get some real green bacon, unsliced if we
> > do the dish at Investiture. This time we used the leanest el-cheapo bacon we
> > could find, and it worked out fairly well.
> 
> Huh? Pray tell, what is this *green bacon*? 

Usually dry-cured pork belly (for American or "streaky" bacon) or
boneless loin (for "back" or "Canadian" bacon), that has not been
smoked. Often a bit of sugar is added to the dry rub of salt and
saltpeter. Sometimes a brine is used instead of a dry rub, but that's
more likely to be referred to as "corned" or "pickled" instead of
"green".

Adamantius

Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 22:45:03 -0800
From: salbert at polarnet.com (S.Albert)
Subject: SC - frozen pomegranate seeds

Crystal of the Westermark asked:
>Help, please. The feast I was planning did not happen. I have two gallon
>sized ziplocks (TM) of frozen pomegranate seeds. Any suggestions on what
>I can do with them that would not be expensive? I hate to throw them
>away, but as they will leak on thawing I don't want to just put the
>seeds out with the fruit bowls for people to nibble on (people get so
>grumpy about stains on garb).
>
>If there is a big dish I could make I
>could feed people at the upcoming Western Crown Tourney.

Oh, Crystal, had I your problem. I'm out of fresh juice and the local store
is having problems getting the Knudsen juice (next best substitute I've
found) which they just got for me last summer!

Following is a Spanish recipe we found when doing a feast some years ago. I
make no claims of it being "in period," but it's very tasty. It has an odd
kind of pinkish gray color, but nobody seemed to mind.

Morgana
___________________________________________
Pork with Pomegranate Sauce

1.5 pounds pork loin, cut into 6 steaks
1 tbs. shortening
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
seeds of 1-2 pomegranates
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 c half-and-half, room temperature
salt and pepper

Saute pork in large sillet in the shortening and small amount of olive oil
until golden brown on both sides. Remove and set aside. In the same oil and
shortening mixture, cook onions until carmelized. Add the seeds, juice,
wine and half-and-half and reduce over medium-low heat until thick. Return
pork to skillet, turning so it is well coated with sauce. Heat through,
adding a small amount of water if sauce has thickened too much. Salt and
pepper to taste.

We used pork tenderloins, sliced thin, to feed more people at feast. It's
good with various kinds of grains.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Morgana yr Oerfa, Baroness      *     Sharron Albert
Winter's Gate/Oertha/West       *     salbert at polarnet.com

Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 18:39:24 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Pork Loin in Wine Sauce

I got energetic for supper last night.  Here's the results.
Bear

Cormarye.  Take colyaundre, caraway smale grounded, powdour of peper and
garlec ygrounde, in rede wyne; medle alle thise togyder and salt it.  Take
loynes of pork rawe and fle of the skyn, and pryk it wel with a knyf, and
lay it in the sawse.  Roost whan thou wilt, & kepe that that fallith therfro
in the rostyng and seeth it in a possynet with faire broth, & serve it forth
with the roost anoon.

Curye on Inglysch IV. 54.

Having a boneless, 2 pound pork loin roast handy, I took 1 teaspoon
coriander, 1 teaspoon caraway, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and crushed them in a
mortar.  I added them to 1/2 cup burgundy along with 3 cloves of minced
garlic and 1 teaspoon salt.  I marinated the pork in this for about 1 hour.

The meat was cooked in a covered roasting dish with the marinade and about
1/2 cup chicken stock at 350 degrees F until a meat thermometer showed an
internal temperature of 170 degrees (about 1 hour 20 minutes).

I choose not to make the sauce, although I did dampen the served meat with
some of the drippings.

The meat cooks up moist with a delicate flavor enhanced by the marinade.  I
believe the flavor would be improved by a longer marinating time, at least 4
to 6 hours in my opinion.

The marinade is quick and easy to make and produces a better flavored pork
roast than many modern recipes.  I will experiment with it further in the
future.

Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 10:47:07 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - More Pig Questions

kat wrote:
>Hi all; kat here, with some more questions about that pig we're
>spit-roasting this coming November.  I appreciate any and all input from
>our on-list pig roasting experts!

Here is a recipe for marinade/basting sauce for wild boar from Menagier de
Paris (late 14th c.) I've only tried it on a smallish tame pork roast (I am
not a pig roasting expert), but it was very good that way.

Bourbelier of Wild Pig
Menagier p. M-23

First you must put it in boiling water, and take it out quickly and stick
it with cloves; put it on to roast, and baste with a sauce made of spices,
that is ginger, cinnamon, clove, grain, long pepper and nutmegs, mixed with
verjuice, wine, and vinegar, and without boiling use it to baste; and when
it is roasted, it should be boiled up together. And this sauce is called
boar's tail, and you will find it later (and there it is thickened with
bread: and here, not).

3 lb pork roast         1/8 t cinnamon  1/2 t pepper (rounded)  1 c wine
about 60 whole cloves   1/8 t cloves    1/8 t nutmeg    1/2 c vinegar
1/4 t ginger    1/4 t grains of paradise        (verjuice)

Preheat oven to 450°. Stud roast with whole cloves, baste with a mixture of
the remaining ingredients, then put into oven. Immediately after putting it
in, turn oven down to 350°. Roast meat 1 hour 45 minutes (for this size
roast), basting every 15 minutes.  Boil down remaining marinade a bit and
serve with roast.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook

Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 12:09:04 -0000
From: Christina Nevin <cnevin at caci.co.uk>
Subject: SC - Re: Redaction Challenge

Speaking of redactions, a couple of weeks ago I tried two different
redactions for Cormarye. I'm not a great fan of pork roast (except for the
crackling) as I usually find it too bland, but they were on special at my
local supermarket, so.... anyway, the first Cormarye redaction was from "The
Medieval Kitchen" by Redon et al, and the other from Terry Nutter's website.
I found the MK version very tasty but extremely strong (possibly because I
cooked the pork in the sauce). Definitely a 'blast your tastebuds' time.
With TN's version, even though it doesn't say so, I decided to marinate the
pork for an hour or so before cooking, which seems to be what "Take loynes
of pork rawe and fle of the skyn, and pryk it wel with a knyf, lay it in the
sawse. Roost it whan [th]ou wilt" implies. I liked TN's version much more -
it was subtler in taste, and the mixture of flavours didn't 'fight' as much.
Both resulted in nice sweet meat however. I served the TN redaction at a
dinner party, and my guests loved it. (Thank you Terry)

I just got "The Medieval Kitchen" three weeks ago and have been going
through it. I recommend it highly, definitely well worth the money! I
haven't made a recipe out of it I didn't like yet.

Lucretzia

Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 17:13:42 -0600
From: LYN M PARKINSON <allilyn at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - brawn--was payn ragoun

>> if you actually look at a recipe for brawn, most of which seem to
occur in later period,<<

There are early brawns, though.

3 or 4 brawns are in Ordinance of Pottage, (15th C.),Brawn ryal, brawn
Sypres, brawn bruse #89, and Brawn in confyte # 65,.and Brawn ryall in
lentyn #90.  These do not call for jelly; they seem to me to be a period
form of 'lunchmeat', resembling the consistency of modern liverwurst,
being served in slices.  This is the way I plan to do them for a summer
event lunch. In my practice versions, I want to try coating some pretty
molds with aspic, molding the finished brawn, and turning it out on a
platter.  I originally thought of making a vegetarian 'brawn' and molding
it in a fish mold, but have decided that is judgemental and rude.  If
they choose not to eat fish, I'm not going to serve them a fake one!

Brawne also appears in Curye on Inglysch, (1390 thru 1400's) and is
referred to in the glossary as "the 'braun' of a fowl is breast (white)
meat."  Brawne Freturys, menu I, meat fritters.  Brawn in Gredowse
(Egerduse), Broken Brawn, Menu 2, Brokon Brawne, Menu 1, meat, evidently
served in pieces.

Two Fifteenth C. cookbooks has Fried Pork, Vol. I, pp. 136-7.  These seem
to be batter-dipped slices of cooked pork, fried.  Vol. II, pp 256-257 is
for Brawn in comfyte and is the same as 'Pottage'.  Brawn en Peuerade, p.
224, is again cooked pork slices finished up in a syrup, 'as pottage
should be', and p. 225, Browne in egurdouce, is beef, capon, or pork,
cooking it i the broth, seasoning, and serving with the liquor, so this
is now moving towards the brawns that are served in jelly, which move
forward to the galentines and the head cheese.

I've been working, lately, primarily with the earlier English corpus, so
haven't done comparative searching for French or Italian or German
brawns, but there may well be some out there.

Allison
allilyn at juno.com, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Pittsburgh, PA
Kingdom of Aethelmearc

Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 20:16:38 EDT
From: Mordonna22 at aol.com
Subject: SC - For Submission to the Chronus

FROM MORDONNA’S KITCHEN

CORMARYE
(Pork roast with spiced wine sauce)
from “Curye on Inglysche” Five MS collections of fourteenth/fifteenth century
recipes, edited by Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler. Oxford University
Press, 1985 IV, 54

Take colyaundre, caraway smale grounden, powdour of peper and garlec
ygrounde, in rede wine: medle alle thise togyder and salt it.  Take loynes of
pork rawe and fle of the skyn, and pryk it wel with a knyf, and lay it in the
sawse.  Roost it whan thou wilt, & kepe that that fallith therefro in the
rostyng and seeth it in a possynet with faire broth, & serue it forth with
the roost anoon.

My translation:
Take coriander, caraway small ground, powder of pepper and ground garlic, in
red wine:  meddle all this together and salt it.  Take raw loins of pork, and
flay off the skin, and prick it well with a knife, and lay it in the sauce.
Roast it when you will, and keep that that falls therefrom in the roasting,
and boil it in a pot with fair broth, and serve it forth with the roast later.

My adaptation:
8 large pork chops (bone in)
2 tsp coriander seed
2 tsp caraway seed
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef stock

Grind coriander, caraway, garlic, pepper, and salt together in a coffee or
spice mill.  Add to wine, and stir well.  Place pork in a sealable container
( I used a gallon sized zip close plastic bag). Add wine and spices and allow
to marinate over night. Grill over a hot fire, until the pork is done in the
center.  Save any drippings and mix in a small pot with the beef stock and
bring to a boil, and serve over the pork.

I served this at a Household pot-luck at Crown Tourney and it was well
received.

Mordonna the Cook is head cook for House Warrior Haven.  She is from late
sixteenth century Ireland and can read and write.  She has studied all the
great chefs of history.  She is a widow.  She is the alter ego of Anne
Francoise DuBosc, an early 14th century French noblewoman who can neither
read nor write, and who has never learned to cook.   Pat Griffin is a
customer service tech for Conair Corporation, an avid cook, and has been in
the Society for three years and four Estrellas.

Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 09:28:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: cclark at vicon.net
Subject: Re: SC - For Submission to the Chronus

Mordonna wrote:
> ... Grill over a hot fire, until the pork is done in the
>center.  Save any drippings ...

I was just looking at some period pictures in _Fast_and_Feast_ by Bridget
Ann Henisch, and it looks to me like it might be better to grill/roast
*beside* the fire, not over it. That way the drippings pan can go next to
the base of the fire, with the heat going up away from the pan and the
drippings going only into the pan and not into the fire.

The spatial arrangement would be something like this:

         meat
flames

 wood     pan

But I haven't yet started learning to cook with fire, so take this to be no
more than a hypothesis.

Alex Clark/Henry of Maldon

Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 13:23:20 EDT
From: Elysant at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Wild Boar REC ?OOP

Boudicca wrote:
>  Help! I have happened upon a breeder of wild boars in my area and I want
>  to cook a leg of wild boar for a Shire pot luck on Sat. the 18th
>  Any suggestions for herbs spices etc?
>
>  I currently have sage, rosemary thyme oregano, mint, chives, garlic, etc.
>  growing in my herb garden.

I don't know if this would help you Boudicca, but I do have a recipe for
"Cutlets of Wild Boar" - from a book Food and Cooking in Prehistoric Britain
by Jane Renfrew, published by English Heritage ISBN 1 85074 079 8.

Unfortunately, even though the author is trying to provide the reader with a
sampling of dishes that would have been eaten from the Bronze Age on in
Britain, she does not cite the source for this particular recipe. :-(  It is,
however, placed within a group of meat dishes she features from Mrs. Beeton's
Cookery and Household Management 1960 Ed.

Elysant

"Cutlets of Wild Boar"

Saute the cutlets in oil or butter until tender, and arrange them on croutons
of fried bread.  Pour over them the pan juices mixed with a little thick
cream and a few crushed juniper berries (1 - 2 per cutlet).  Serve with
unsweetened apple sauce.

(Incidentally, this recipe is very similar to an OOP dish I make "Pork Chops
and Cream Corn" with cream corn substituted for the cream, and without the
croutons and juniper berries.)

Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 17:05:56 EDT
From: Mordonna22 at aol.com
Subject: SC - More Boar

Here are two recipes for Boar found in “Ancient Cookery “ from the collection
of the Royal Society as found in Cariadoc’s “Collection”  (Please forgive any errors in transcribing these.   They are not the clearest copies in the book, and my eyes are not what they used to be.)

Recipe 315, Boor in Brasey
Take the ribbes of a boor while thai byn fresh, and parboyle hem tyl thai byn
half sothen, then take and roste hem, and when thai byn rosted, take and chop hem and do hem in a pot, and do thereto gode fresshe brothe of beef and wyn, and put thereto clowes, maces and pynes, and raisynges of Courance, and pouder of pepur, and take onyons and mynce hem grete, do hem in a panne with fresshe grees, and fry hem and do hem in the potte, and let hit wel sethe al togedur, and take brede stepet in brothe, and drawe hit up and do thereto, and colour hit with saunders and saffron, and in the settynge doun put thereto a lytel vynegur medelet with pouder of canell, and take other braune and cut smal leches of
two ynches of length, and cast into the pot and dreue up tone with tother,
and serue hit forthe.

Recipe 316, Bore in Egurdouce
Take fressh braune and sethe hit, and kerve hit with thynne leches and lay
three in a dysshe, then take dates and raisynges of Courance and wasshe hem clene, and bray hem in a mortar, and in the brayinge cast thereto a few clowes,  and draw hem up with clarre or other swete wyne, and do hit in a pot, and let hit boyle, and do thereto a gode dele of sugur or honey, and ginger mynced, and in the settynge doun, put thereto pouder of canel and vynegur medelet togedur and colour hit with saunders and saffron depe, then take pynes or almaundes blaunched and frye hem in faire grees,  and then take hem up and let hem drie, and when thow wilt dresse up thi braune do the pynes in the pot and poure the
sirip thereon, and serve hit forthe.

Mordonna

Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 06:21:57 PDTFrom: "Kristine Agnew" <kmagnew at hotmail.com>Subject: SC - Re: wild boar (yum!) The boar was a hit! Thank you to all who gave advice! This is how I endedup cooking it...I had 2 cuts, a butt roast and a 1/2 leg. I braised the buttroast in beer, along with garlic,apples,rosemary,sagethyme and a little salt. Mmmm,Mmmm! The second cut I roasted in the oven afterrubbing it with a mixture of herbs,salt and garlic, at a temp.of 300 degreesF.(which is what the breeder recommended). After about an hour, I removed theskin and started basting it with homemade apple butter and oil mixedtogether. The pan juices I strained, added a bit of red wine vinegar and drybread crumbs and made a sauce to accompany the meat. I spoke with thebreeder yesterday morning and she told me that the animals for sale by lawhave to be castrated before a certain age, or kept a specific distance awayfrom the sows. The meat tasted quite a bit like pork but a bit different. Boudicca :0)

Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 10:23:20 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - fylettys in Galentine and endored?

>Unfortunately I have only vol. 1 old.
>
>Thanks Frederich

Here you go.

Harleian MS. 4016
75 ffelettes in galentyne.  Take faire porke of [th]e fore quarter, and
take of the skyn, and put [th]e pork on a faire spitte, and roste it half
ynogh; and take hit of, and smyte hit in peces, and cast hit in a faire
potte; and [th]en take oynons, and shred and pul hem, not to small, and fry
hem in a pan with faire grece, And then caste hem to [th]e porke into [th]e
potte; And then take good broth of beef or Motton, and cast thereto, and
set hit on [th]e fire, and caste to pouder of Peper, Canel, Cloues & Maces,
and lete boile wel togidur; and [th]en take faire brede and vinegre, and
stepe the brede with a litull of [th]e same broth, and streyne hit thorgh a
streynour, and blode with all; or elles take Saundres and colour hit
therewith, and late hem boile togidur, and cast thereto Saffron and salt,
and serue hit forth.

75 filets in galentine.  Take fair pork of the fore quarter, and take off
the skin, and put the pork on a fair spit, and roast it half enough; and
take it off, and smite it in pieces, and cast it in a fair pot; and then
take onions, and shred and peel them, not too small, and fry them in a pan
with fair grease, And then cast them to the pork into the pot; And then
take good broth of beef or Mutton, and cast thereto, and set it on the
fire, and cast to powder of Pepper, Cinnamon, Cloves & Maces, and let boil
well together; and then take fair bread and vinegar, and steep the bread
with a little of the same broth, and strain it through a strainer, and
blood  with all; or else take Sandalwood and color it therewith, and let
them boil together, and cast thereto Saffron and salt, and serve it forth.

FILETS IN GALENTINE

 3 to 4 pounds boneless pork loin roast
 1 or 2 large onions, sliced
 2 Tablespoons lard
 1 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh beef or mutton broth
 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
 2 teaspoons sandalwood chips
 dash pepper
 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
 1 or 2 slices bread  (Optional:  use pumpernickel bread.)
 3 whole cloves
 1/4 teaspoon mace powder
 pinch saffron, crumbled

Place the pork roast in a roasting pan and broil for 5 minutes.  Turn and
broil 5 minutes more.  Turn and repeat, for a total of 20 minutes under the
broiler.  Take the meat out of the oven, and slice it into small slices.
Set aside.

Melt the lard in a 6-quart dutch oven over medium heat.  Fry the onions in
the lard until they are transparent.  Add the pork, broth, pepper,
cinnamon, mace, salt, whole cloves, and saffron to the pot.  Cover and
bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the meat
is tender and cooked through.

Warm the red wine vinegar in a small pot.  Add the sandalwood chips and let
them soak until the vinegar is deeply colored.  Pass the vinegar through a
fine strainer into a bowl to remove the sandalwood chips.  Discard the
sandalwood.  Add the bread and 1 cup of the cooking liquid to the vinegar.
Pass this mixture through a strainer or food mill, and add it to the pork
mixture in the pot.  Return the pot to boiling.  Skim the fat.  Adjust the
seasoning if necessary.  Reduce heat and simmer 5 or 10 minutes, or until
you are ready to serve.  Remove the cloves before serving.  Serve hot.

Serves 6 to 8.

(Excerpted from "Take a Thousand Eggs or More", copyright 1990, 1997 Cindy
Renfrow.)

Regards,

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"

Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 23:22:37 -0700
From: Lilinah biti-Anat <lilinah at grin.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe 4-Weekend of Wisdom

>OK, but why is salt pork used over fresh?  Didn't they have fresh?  Were they
>on a long sea voyage? I always understood that salt anything was saved for
>when you didn't have fresh something.  And having a pig for meat seems common
>enough.
>Phillipa Seton

I gather from reading the commentary in the Medieval cookbooks i have that:
they liked the flavor...

...like modern Americans putting salt pork into pork and beans, or
hammy bits into split pea soup.

The modern French use - ok, now i've forgotten the word, is it
gammon? - similarly.

These cured porky bits are used to add richness and flavor. 'Course i
could be wrong, but that's the impression i've gotten in reading
several books on medieval cuisine. But i'm still wet behind the ears,
medieval cuisine-ly speaking...

Anahita

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 12:10:02 -0400
From: "Knott, Deanna" <Deanna.Knott at GD-CS.COM>
Subject: SC - RE: sca-cooks V1 #1708

Someone asked about salt pork.  I was reading Platina the other night and he
mentioned another reason for salting pork.  It goes back to the medieval
theory of the four humors.  Platina says that pork is (to paraphrase) by
its very nature cold and moist.  He goes on to say that pigs should not be
given water the day before they are slaughtered to make their meat more dry.
Curing the meat in salt, which is warm and dry, causes the cold and moist
nature of the meat [to be neutralized].

Avelina
East Kingdom

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 19:07:01 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe 4-Weekend of Wisdom

lilinah at grin.net writes:
<< These cured pork bits are used to add richness and flavor. 'Course I
 could be wrong, but that's the impression I've gotten in reading
 several books on medieval cuisine. But I'm still wet behind the ears,
 medieval cuisine-ly speaking... >>

That is definitely what their purpose was in the leek recipe, IMO. Leeks and
pigs are both harvested at the same time of year so the use of fresh pork
would seem logical. Using salt pork chine could have served no other purpose
than flavor and it did add a wonderful flavor that turned a spiceless insipid
combination into a wonderful and tasty treat. :-)

Ras

Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 00:18:50 +0100
From: Thomas Gloning <Thomas.Gloning at germanistik.uni-giessen.de>
Subject: SC - tripe and pig trotters

Ana wrote:
<<< Both pig trotters and tripe are really widespread in the kitchens of
Italy, Spain, France and Germany during the Middle Age. -- In France, in
Paris, in the wellknown restaurant "Au pied du cochon", serves pig
trotters in different ways. They claim their recipes are from 1300.
(...) -- I am sure Thomas have a lot of tripe and pig trotters recipes
from the south of Germany. >>>

There is one recipe for pig trotters in the porc-section of the
'Enseignements' (around 1300):
"Les quatre piez e les orilles e le groing en souz de parresil e
d'espices, destrempé de vin aigre." (ed. Lozinski 1933, page 181 line
22-23).
Could be something like: 'The four pig trotters, the ears and the mouth,
over it parsley and spices tempered [moderated] with vinegar'.

Well, I do not really have "a lot" of tripe and pig trotters recipes,
but there are some, e.g. in Doris Aichholzer's new edition of three
southern German recipe collections (15th century). -- There are much
more recipes for other kinds of intestines (or is "tripe" a general term
for 'intestines'?).

The 'Menagier' mentions "tripes" several times, together with the
"tripperie" (the shops of tripes or more general of intestines) and the
"tripier", the merchand of tripes (you can search for these expressions
in the electronic Menagier, that Cindy Renfrow put on the web.)

The 15th century cookbook/dietetic of Meister Eberhard says about pig
trotters: "Vnd das pest an dem swein das sein die fuß, das maul, die
oren vnd der zagel" ('and the best of the pig are the trotters, the
mouth, the ears and its tail'; this is the text I put on the web
recently).

It seems to me that these dishes were eaten, but not very often
documented in cookbooks. They are also mentioned in other sources, e.g.
in a German chronicle (16th century), where two of the guests were
throwing tripes after each other. Thus it seems, that eating tripe is
not worth mentioning, but throwing tripes clearly is.

Thomas

Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2000 11:13:47 -0500
From: "Michael F. Gunter" <michael.gunter at fnc.fujitsu.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Cooks adapting/Creating Recipes WAS: saffron (a really long time ago)

David/Cariadoc
<< The problem with modern cooks taking a recipe and
 then making their own variants is that we know a great deal less
 about medieval cooking than a medieval cook did, hence do not know
 just what variations would or would not have seemed appropriate to a
 medieval cook. Varying a period recipe, especially doing it to fit
 our tastes, is likely to mean changing it in ways that make it more
 like a modern recipe, hence less medieval.
  >>

I agree with this, especially after doing a recipe for Pomme Dorre
(golden apples) The original recipe directs you to (see for yourself);

Hauviette
the following is my work on this recipe.

Pommes Dorre Recipe # 440
Take felettes of pork, and rogte hom half raw, and bray hom, and in the
brayinge caft therto a few zolkes of eyren, and a few clowes; and when
hit is brayed, do hit into a veffel, and put therto pouder of pepur ynogh, and
colour hit with faffron; and do therto fugre or honey clarified, and a few
raifynges of corance, and medel al togeder; and then fet a panne over the
fire with water, and let hit boyle,and make rounde pelettes of the greneffe
of an ey of the fame ftuff, and caft hom into the boylynge water, and fethe
hom, and then do hom on a fpit, and rofte hom; and in the rothynge, edore hom
zelow with zolkes of eyren, and flour, and faffron, medeled togeder, and
fome grene if thouw wyl with royft of herbes endorre hom, and ferve hit
forthe.

Source, Ancient Cookery- a 15th Century manuscript , found in "Collection
of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks" first compiled by Duke Cariodoc of the
Bow and the Duchess Diana Alena, 6th Edition.

Pommes Dorre

Take fillets of pork, and roast them half raw, and grate them and in the
grating put a few egg yolks and a few cloves and when it is grated put it in
a vessel and add ground pepper and colour it with saffron, and add sugar or
clarified honey, and a few currants and mix this together; then bring a pot
of water to boil, and make balls the size of an eye, and put them in the
boiling water and bring to a boil, then put them (the meat balls) on a spit
and roast them, and while they are roasting, coat them with a yellow mixture
of egg yolks , flour and saffron, well mixed, and some green if you want,
made of herbs, coat them (and allow the coating to roast) and serve them
forth.
________________

A Discussion
I have thought about the multiple cooking steps in this and many other
medieval recipes. At first glance these steps may seem to serve a culinary
purpose, such as par-roasting to make the chopping easier, or additional
cooking to ensure that the meat is well done, or even to reduce the use of
fuel by using boiling water which was a standby at all times in the medieval
"kitchen" I believe however that the medieval cookbooks  we are reading from
are those intended for the highest of tables and the cooks had an alterior
motive to the multiple cooking steps.I have cooked this recipe using both a
roasted meat and a raw ground meat as the starting point and did not find a
significant difference in taste. I will admit that ground pork resulted in a
somewhat "springier" consistency than the pre-roasted then ground pork. What
pleased me after working with the recipe and following it's original
instructions was that it turned out wonderful, despite doing what most
modern cooks would see as unfit to creat a meatball dish.

Let’s consider the Galenic idea of  balancing humors. A major consideration
of the medieval cook was to prepare food  for the health of those who would
consume it. If we analyze the above period recipe,it should be noted that
pork is considered to be cold/moist. As the meatballs are boiled, this
increases the coldness/moistness, therefore by par-roasting the meat first
you are balancing this process. If the par-roasting isn’t done, the end
product could be too cool/moist and result in a disruption of the bodily
humours of the person feasting on it. This theory needs to be expanded by
analyzing other recipes as to the degrees of  moist/dry, hot/cold in order to
determine how effective it is. For now, it’s an interesting idea that fits
this situation.

The endoring can be done over a grill or barb-b-que or using the oven at a
hot temperature (450 degrees). The grill is much more efficient as you do not
have to keep opening the door to the oven, and is also more true to the
original recipe. However, in the winter, I admit, standing over a grill, is
not my idea of a great time but I did do it for this vigil, and I felt the
results were justified. You may choose to use the oven and by all means
don’t feel guilty.

A Redacted Recipe- Pommes Dorre

1 lb boneless  pork (butt ends seem to have enough fat, loin is too
    lean) or for convienence, ground pork
2 egg  yolks
2 cloves
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground white pepper
3-5 strands of saffron, crushed
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp currants (optional)

Endoring paste
5 egg yolks
5 strands of saffron (gold) or 1/4 cup pureed parsley (green)
1/8  cup unbleached all purpose flour

If using ground pork, eliminate the roasting and grinding.
Roast the pork steak for 10-20 minutes at 350 degrees so that it is half
cooked. Cut into chunks. In a food processor, finely grind the meat. Add
the egg yolks, spices, and if using, the currants. Blend well.
Bring a pot of water to boil and form 3 inch balls of the meat mixture.
Carefully drop the balls into the boiling water, allow to come to a boil
again and cook for 3 minutes. Remove and thread onto either a  metal or
bamboo skewer.

Brush the egg paste onto the meatballs, allowing to cook between coats.
Roast the meatballs well to ensure that the egg paste is cooked. Serve hot or
cold. Makes 25-35 meatballs.

Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2001 10:10:29 -0500
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Brawn Question

To Sowce a Pigge (known as Pickled Pork or Brawn)..from Dining with William
Shakespeare.

The original is from Dawson's "the Good Huswifes Jewel":
"Take white Wine and a little sweet broth, and halfe a score nutmegs cut into
quarters, then take Rosemarie, Baies, Time, and sweet margerum, and let them
boyle altogether, skum them very cleane and when they be boyled, put them in an
earthen pan, and the syrop also, and when yee serve them, a quarter of a pig in
a dish, and the Bays and nutmegs on top."

1.5 lb. boned loin of pork
1/3 yard cheesecloth
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups dry white wine
3 bay leaves
1 nutmeg, broken up
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 1/2 tsps. salt

Remove all but a think covering of fat from the pork.  Roll the meat  up tightly
in the cheesecloth and tie it as you would a roast, then make a knot in the
cheesecloth at each end.

Put the broth, one cup of wine and the seasonings into a 2-quart saucepan with a
tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil.  Add the pork roll, lower the heat to a
simmer, and cook, covered, until a fork will easily penetrate the meat--2 - 2
1/2 hours.  Remove the meat from the cooking broth and put it into a glass or
stainless-steel bowl.  Pour the second cup of wine over it, add the herbs from
the cooking broth, and as much of the broth as is needed to completely cover the
roll.  Cover the bowl, let cool, then refrigerate.

Marinate for at least a week, turning it once a day.  To serve, remove the
cheesecloth covering, and slice the meat about 1/4 inch thick.  Arrange the
slices on a shallow serving dish and spoon a litle of the sousing liquid over
them with some of the spices.  Serve with a sauce of prepared mustard, to which
a little vinegar has been added (I used a german mustard and white wine
vinegar...yummy!!!).

Kiri

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 11:12:18 -0500
From: "Bethany Public Library" <betpulib at ptdprolog.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Brawn Question

Kiri wrote:
>A Collar of Brawn and Mustard
>(Pickled Pork with Mustard Sauce)

I've made this for feasts, and please take my advice: Use pan release for
your molds. It sticks dreadfully. And garnish, garnish, garnish. It look a
bit dull on the plate. I used chives and chive flowers. And I told people it
was pork in aspic. It made them feel better about what they were eating.
"Head cheese" didn't do it justice. But it's yummy with oatcakes. It's yummy
on it's own, too.

I've run across several varying descriptions of Brawn, btw, from roasts, cut
roasts (broke brawn) to the above dish. I've come to feel the word (Brawn,
Braun, etc.) means simply meat, esp. pork in earlier times.

Aoife

Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 13:09:30 +1000
From: "Craig Jones & Melissa Hicks" <meliora at asiaonline.net.au>
Subject: SC - To boile pigges feete and petitoes

I haven't been keeping up over Easter (Rowany Festival followed by a
friend's wedding yesterday) so I apologise if this has come up recently.

A friend of mine found the following recipe from: Thomas Dawson (1596) The
Good Huswifes Jewell, Falconwood Press edition p7.

To boile pigges feete and petitoes
Take and boyle them in a pint of vergice & bastard, take foure dates minced
with a fewe small raysons, then take a little time and chop it small and
season it with a little synamon and ginger and a quantity of vergice.

His question:  what are petitoes?  Are they potatoes?  White potatoes?
Sweet potatoes?

I suggested that sweet potatoes would be a best-guess given this source was
written late 16th Century in England.

Does anyone have any other ideas or thoughts?  Please ....

Mel.

Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 08:06:52 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - To boile pigges feete and petitoes

James Prescott wrote:
> At 13:09 +1000 2001-04-22, Craig Jones & Melissa Hicks wrote:
> > A friend of mine found the following recipe from: Thomas Dawson (1596) The
> > Good Huswifes Jewell, Falconwood Press edition p7.
> >
> > To boile pigges feete and petitoes
> > Take and boyle them in a pint of vergice & bastard, take foure dates minced
> > with a fewe small raysons, then take a little time and chop it small and
> > season it with a little synamon and ginger and a quantity of vergice.
> >
> > His question:  what are petitoes?  Are they potatoes?  White potatoes?
> > Sweet potatoes?
> 
> Check the OED under "pettitoes", which gets nearly a column's worth
> of print.
> 
> "The feet of a pig, esp. as an article of food; pig's trotters; in
> earlier use the word seems to have included the heart, liver, lungs,
> etc., not only of the pig, but of calves, sheep, and other animals."

>Thorvald

In general usage until the early 20th century or so, they refer to the
slightly smaller, less meaty, front feet, as opposed to the rear feet,
which are the trotters. At least, so says Malachi McCormick.

Adamantius

Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 12:32:01 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler1 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Seekin Recipe ideas
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

wildecelery at aol.com wrote:
> The Student Groups at dartmouth College is hosting a small feast 20-40
> poeple on Novemeber 12. The feastocrat is hoping to do a Christmas or
> Yulke theme... does anyone have simple recipes with solid
> documentation that are inexpensive to prepare, easy to find the
> ingredients for, and simple to vary the quantity on?
>
> -Ardenia
>
> (Just helping with the recipe search)

One of my favorites for a feast at this time of the year is Pork Brawn.
It's a late-period dish that was customarily served at Twelfth
Night...it can be prepared ahead of time (in fact, it has to be) and,
depending on the price of boneless pork loin, can be relatively
inexpensive. I got my recipe out of "Dining with William Shakespeare",
and the original came from Thomas Dawson, /The good Huswifes Jewell./

*A Collar of Brawn and Mustard
(Pickled Pork with Mustard Sauce)*

1 1/2 # piece of boned loin of Pork
1/3 yard of cheesecloth
2 1/2 cups veal or chicken broth
2 cups dry white wine
3 bay leaves
1 nutmeg, broken up
1/2 tsp.. thyme
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Remove all but a thin covering of fat from the pork. Roll the meat up
tightly in the cheesecloth and tie it as you would a roast, then make
knot in the cheesecloth at each end.

Put the broth, one cup of wine and the seasonings into a two-quart
saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil. Add the pork
roll, lower the heat to simmer, and cook, covered, until a fork will
easily penetrate the meat—2 - 2 ½ hours. Remove the meat form the
cooking broth and put it into a glass or stainless steel bowl. Pour the
second cup of wine over it, add the herbs from the cooking broth, and as
much of the broth as is needed to completely cover the roll. Cover the
bowl with a plastic bowl cover, set aside until cold, then refrigerate.

Marinate the pork for at elast one week, turning it once a day. To
serve, remove the cheesecloth covering and slice the meat about 1/4 in
thick. Arrange in a shallow serving dish and pour a little of the
sousing liquid over them, with some of the spices. Serve with a sauce of
prepared mustard to which a little vinegar has been added.

Original: To Sowce a Pigge: Take white Wine and a little sweet broth,
and halfe a score nutmegs cut into quarters, then take Rosemarie, Baies,
Time, and sweet margerum, and let them boyle altogether, skum them very
cleane, and when they be boyled, put them in an earthen pan, and the
syrup also, and when yee serve them, a quarter of a pig in a dish, and
the Bays and nutmegs on the top. – Thomas Dawson, /The good Huswifes
Jewell./

Lorwin, Madge. /Dining with William Shakespeare,./

Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:06:21 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pork chops

On Sep 6, 2010, at 8:59 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<< Are pork chops a modern cut of meat? Or just something we haven't  
discussed before. Doing a search on "pork chop" in the Florilegium  
turns up no recipes, either period or redactions.

Does anyone have a favorite medieval recipe using pork chops? These  
are often relatively cheap at times. >>>

OED lists pork chop as
1. A thick slice of pork, esp. one adjacent to a rib and usually  
served with it (cf. CHOP n.1 2b).

?1752 S. MASON Narr. Life & Distresses 70 He had some Pork-chops drest  
for him and his Friend.
  1789 J. O'KEEFE Little Hunch-back I. iii. 12 I'd rather eat even a  
pork chop here below, than partake of the finest feast that was ever  
prepar'd above for Mahomet's table.

If one looks up chop, you find
 b. spec. A slice of meat, usually mutton or pork, including  
generally a rib, intended to be cooked and served by itself.

a1640 MASSINGER City Madam III. i, A chop of mutton, Or a pint of drum- 
wine.
1663 PEPYS Diary 9 July, Had a chop of veale.
1693 W. ROBERTSON Phraseol. Gen. 417 A cut or chop of meat.

So you might look for recipes that features slices or ribs of pork.

Something like this from the 1675 The Accomplish'd lady's delight  
might work although this deals with a leg and not the ribs.

187. To broyl a Leg of Pork.
Cut your Pork into slices very thin, ha|ving first taken off the  
skinny part of the Fillet, then hack it with the back of your Knife,  
then mince some Thyme and Sage exceeding small, and mingle it with  
Pepper and Salt, and therewith season your  Collops, and then lay them  
on the Grid-Iron; when they are enough, make sauce for them with  
Butter, Vinegar, Mustard, and Sugar, and so serve them.

Collops can be
2. A slice of meat fried (frixa) or broiled (carbonella); a slice for  
frying or broiling. Still dial.

c1440 Promp. Parv. 88 Colloppe, frixitura, in frigo, assa,  
carbonacium, carbonella.
1468 Medulla Gram. in Cath. Angl. 72 Frixa, a colop, or a pece off  
flesch.
1583 STANYHURST ?neis I. (Arb.) 24 Soom doe slise owt collops on spits  
yeet quirilye trembling. 1611 COTGR., Griblettes, Collops.
Or
 b. Without any reference to mode of cooking: A slice of meat.

1577-87 HOLINSHED Chron. II. 19/1 If a man, saie they, had eaten a  
collop of Adam his leg, he had eaten flesh.

Johnnae

Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:51:31 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pork chops (OOP)

On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 7:47 PM, Stefan li Rous asked 
<<< "What is your favorite period pork dish?" and Why? >>>

Pork can be really simple.
from Le Viandier de Taillevent
(France, ca. 1380 - James Prescott, trans.)
The original source can be found at James Prescott's website

Roast pork. Eaten with verjuice. Some make a sauce (to wit, add  
garlic, onions, wine and verjuice to the roast drippings in the pan).  
In a pie; eaten with verjuice.

Verjuice and drippings is somewhat akin to a vinegar BBQ sauce and we  
know those are still appreciated and eaten.

More involved are the instructions for smoked pork

from Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin
(Germany, 16th century - V. Armstrong, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website

58 To make smoked pork. Take a quarter of a pig and salt it especially  
well, so that it is entirely white with salt, and let the salt  
dissolve in a cellar. And when it is dissolved, then skim off the  
water and pour it over again, do that two or three times a day, and  
when it has laid in salt for four weeks, hang it up and smoke it  
fairly slowly, until it becomes thoroughly dry and fairly hard. Let it  
hang in the smoke for eight days, after which hang it in a chamber  
into which air comes. It keeps for the entire year.

I've done corned pork which is a salted pork in brine rather like  
corned beef and I've done smoked pork where we smoked pieces of pork  
roasts in a smoker for several hours. I've never smoked the meat until  
hard, but then again keeping it for a year wasn't the point.

Johnnae

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	pork-msg	Page  of