Title: Preservng-CMA-art
Subject: "Preserving Foods in the Current Middle Ages" by Hauviette d'Anjou aka Channon Mondoux.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: article, preserve, food, fruit, dry, canning, pickle, salt

Preservng-CMA-art – 6/10/05

"Preserving Foods in the Current Middle Ages" by Hauviette d'Anjou aka Channon Mondoux.

NOTE: See also the files: food-storage-msg, canning-msg, drying-foods-msg, Lrds-Salt-Exp-art, pickled-foods-msg, salt-msg, vinegar-msg, spices-msg.

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These files are available on the Internet at:
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Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be 
reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first
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                               Thank you,
                                    Mark S. Harris
                                    AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                         stefan at florilegium.org                                         
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Preserving Foods in the Current Middle Ages
by Hauviette d'Anjou aka Channon Mondoux

This paper is written to assist individuals in preparing foods for feasts by preserving. Whether the feast be one for camping or an event feast, these dishes will allow the maker to do so ahead of time and without need of ice to keep the dish. There are several period recipes for preserving foods, I have included a few here, but I have added the aspect of using modern canning methods as a way to utilize period recipes in order to ensure food safety and extend their shelf life. 

Period preservation methods include drying, salting, pickling and spicing, smoking and candying with honey or sugar. Modern methods include all of these and add high pressure canning, hot water bath canning, freezing and chemical preservation. In this paper I will cover hot water bath canning and modern pickling as well as a period recipe for preserving meat using spices and vinegar.

The following information is taken from the handbook "Canning, Freezing and Drying, Pickling and Smoking" edited by Sunset Books;

What happens when canning?
There's no special magic to canning. Fruits, vegetables or meats are packed into canning jars, which are fitted with self-sealing lids and then heated. Sustained high heat kills dangerous organisms that could cause food spoilage in the jars, it also causes the gases in the food and in the jars to expand, driving out most of the air left inside. Hot jams, jellies and other preserves are cooked first and then packed, hot, into hot jars. 

When a jar cools the vacuum created inside pulls the lid down against the jar mouth to make a tight seal. Unless the seal is broken, none of the organisms that can cause spoilage can enter.

What are the dangers of canning?

Nearly everyone has heard of the deadly form of food poisoning called botulism. It's a type of food spoilage that usually occurs in low-acid foods. The organisms that cause it have some peculiar characteristics; the thrive without air in sealed jars, can't be destroyed by being processed at the temperature of boiling water (212 degrees F) in a reasonable amount of time, and can't be easily detected when a jar is opened. 

Though botulism doesn't occur in acid foods such as tomatoes and other fruits, it can occur in virtually all vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish. That is why these foods must always be processed at 240 degrees F in a steam pressure canner. Botulism is caused by food that contains toxins produced by the bacterium Clostidium botulinum. It can be fatal. The spores are extremely resistant to heat, and they grow in jars of canned low-acid foods. 
Symptoms of botulism poisoning usually begin with 12 to 36 hours after digesting the contaminated food. They include double vision, inability to swallow, and speech and respiratory difficulties. Medical treatment should be sought immediately; there are antitoxins.  Other types of food spoilage that might occur if jars of food aren't sealed properly are more easily detected. If the food smells bad or is soft, discoloured, or moldy, discard it. When in doubt, throw it out

These canning cautions will help you guard against botulism:
1. Don't experiment or take short cuts in home canning. Use only tested, approved methods.
2. Use fresh, firm (not overripe) thoroughly washed vegetables and the freshest meats, poultry and fish. Can vegetables as soon as possible after they're picked.
3. Use jars and lids made especially for home canning, and discard jars that are cracked or nicked.
4. Don't overpack foods. Trying to get too much food into a jar may result in underprocessing and spoilage.
5. Never use sealing lids a second time. Once the sealant on the lids has been through the processing stage it is ineffective for sealing again, and therefore unsafe. Buy new lids.
6. Use only a steam pressure canner with an accurate gauge (have it tested annually.) Process for the full required time, and at the correct temperature. Follow directions exactly, and make adjustments for high elevation.
7.  Test each jar's seal before storing.
8. Never use -or even taste- canned food that shows signs of spoilage.
9. For added safety, before serving any home canned vegetables (not tomatoes), meats, poultry, or fish, bring to a boil and then hard simmer (205-210 degrees F) for 15 minutes. 

Fruit  

Wardens in Conserve

Original Recipe as found in "A Collection of  Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks" first compiled by Duke Cariodoc of the Bow and the Duchesa Diana Alena, Fourth Edition, 1987.
Source document: A  Proper New Booke of Cokerye (of the sixteenth Century), edited by Catherine Frances Frere, Cambridge 1913.

For to Make Wardens in Conserve
Fyrste make the syrope in this wyse, take a quarte of good romney and putte a pynte of claryfyed honey, and a pounde or a halfe of suger, and myngle all those together over the fyre, till tyme they weeth, and then set it to cole. And thys is a good sirope for manye thinges, and wyll be kepte a yere or two. Then take thy warden and scrape cleane awaye the barke, but pare them not, and seeth them in good redde wyne so that they be wel soked and tender, that the wyne be nere hade soked into them, then take and strayne them throughe a cloth or through a strayner into a vessell, then put to them of this syroope aforesayde tyll it be almost fylled, and then cast in the pouders, as fyne canel, synamon, pouder of gynger and such other, and put it in a boxes and kepe it yf thou wylt and make thy syrope as thou wylt wourke in quantyte, as if thou wylt worke twenty wardens or more or lesse as by experience.

Recipes under two names (pears in confit, and wardons [or pears] in syrup) can be found in Form of Curye (#136), an Ordinance of Pottage (#86, #65), MS Harley 5401 (#44, #60), MS Arundel 334 (#120), and both the manuscripts in Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (firstMS, Pottages Diverse #10; second MS, #96). 

Bartlett (Williams Bon Chretien) of ancient origin may or may not be pre-1600.

Adapted Recipe
Makes 4 quarts preserved fruit 
10 lb. firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored and sliced in half soaked in a 1 cup red wine/1 cup water solution. 
This substitutes for lemon juice in keeping the fruit fresh and adds flavour and colour to the pears. 

1cup honey		
1 cup sugar		10-20  cloves (depending on taste)
3 cups water		6-8 2 inch pieces of whole cinnamon		
1 cup white wine

Modern Canning Method
Combine the honey, sugar, water and wine. Bring to a boil. Add 10 cloves and 3 or 4 sticks of cinnamon.. In the meanwhile have 4 -quart canning jars cleaned, sterilized and ready with 2-3 cloves and 1-2 cinnamon pieces in each. Place 6-8 pear halves into each jar. Pour the syrup over each to within 1/4 inch from the top. Seal with proper canning lids (sterilized of course) . Place into a hot water bath and bring to a boil for 25 minutes. Remove, cool and store.

If you do not wish to use a modern canning method the above noted recipe easily converts by simply boiling the fruit in the syrup for 5 minutes, jarring and storing only 1 week in a cool place. Never take chances with canning of any type, if the food appears to have turned scummy or releases a bad smell upon opening or the seal is broken or bubbled DO NOT EAT IT. 

TO MAKE OF PLUMS PEARS OR APRICOCKS A PASTE Yt SHALL LOOK CLEAR AS AMBERTake white pear plums of faire yellow Apricock[s]. pare & stone them,then boyle them on a chafing dish of coles till they be tender. thenstreyne them and dry the pulpe in a dish. then take as much sugar as yepulp dos weigh & boyle it to a candy height, with as much rose water aswill wet it. then put your apricocks or pear plums in ye sugar, & letthem boyle together & keep it stirring. then fashion it upon A leaf ofglass into halfe apricocks, & put ye stone into ye syde. then put theminto a stove or warme oven, & ye next day turn them & close 2 of themtogether, & then put ye stones into them betwixt ye hollows. soe drythem out, & box them.

TO MAKE A QUIDONY OF APRICOCKS OR PEAR PLUMSTake 2 pound of apricocks or pear plums & put them into a deep dishwithe a pinte of fair water, in which boyle them tender. yn wring yeliquor from them thorough a fine cloth into A basin, & put into it a pound of sugar well clarified, & let it boyle in a [posnet] till itcomes to its full thickness, then [put it in yr] moulds, and soe box it.

Candied Orange Peel 

Original recipe: Le Menagerie De Paris 1393

To make Candied Orange Peel, cut the peel of an orange into five pieces and scrape away the loose skin inside with a knife, then se them to soak in good fresh water for nine days and change the water daily then boil them letting them come once to the boil only, in fresh water and this done spread them on a cloth and let them dry thoroughly then put them in a pot of honey until they be quite covered therewith and boil on a slow fire and skim. And when you think that the honey is cooked ( to try if it be cooked, have some water in a spoon and pour a drop  on the honey into the water and if it spreads it is not done and if the drop of honey remains in the water without spreading then it is done), then you must take out your pieces  of orange peel and set out a layer in order and sprinkle poudered ginger thereon then another layer and sprinkle etc, usque in infinitam, and leave them for a month or more and then eat them.

Redacted Recipe: Candied Orange Peel

 Combine 3 cups sugar and 1cup of water  or 3 cups of honey with 3-4 slices of  fresh ginger if desired. I chose not to add ginger as many of my  feast recipes included the spice and I was trying not to use overkill on the flavour.
Heat the syrup to a slow boil. Have ready 8 oranges peeled with the inner rind removed, boil for 15 minutes, remove dry and set aside.  The original recipe calls for soaking the peels in fresh water changed daily for 9 days, but for a quicker product I chose to only  boil the peels in order to remove any impurities and create a softer peel that would absorb more spice and sweetener.  Add the sliced orange peel to the syrup and bring to a boil, keep uncovered  until syrup is medium thick.(a drop will remain a soft ball when dropped into a glass of  cold water). Again bring the mixture to a boil, until the syrup forms a medium-hard ball in water. Remove the rind and let cool. Dip in granulated sugar and let dry. Powdered ginger can be sprinkled over the layers of peel if you like.  Store in a cool dry place.

This same method and basic syrup recipe was used for sliced ginger, anise seeds, coriander seeds and caraway seeds. However do not boil the seeds first, simply soak in the sugar water  or honey, boil and coat. .

Preserved Vegetables
The Menagerie de Paris provides us with list of vegetables and fruit that are preserved in a sweet-spiced brine. I have utilized the basic recipe in two versions and canned cauliflower and carrots. Cauliflower would have been a rare vegetable up until the late 1500's as it originated in the middle east, but appears to have been growing in the south of France much earlier. Although the form of carrots has changed (originally a fattish beet like vegetable to a long tapered one) they  are a mainstay originating from Roman inhabitation and were common to Tudor England.

Original Recipe
This is the Manner of  Making Preserves
....And when your preserves are ready, you can do what is required, according to the recipe which follows;

First, for every 500 nuts take a pound of mustard seed and half a pound of anise, a quarter and a half of fennel, a quarter and a half of coriander, a quarter and a half of carroways, to wit a seed which is eaten in comfits, and pouder them all up and then bray them in a mustard mill and soak them well in very good vinegar and set them in an earthen pot. And then take half a pound  of horseradish, to wit a root which is sold by herbalists and scrape it well and cut it up as small as you can and grind it in a mustard mill, and soak in vinegar, Item, take half a quarter of clove wood, called stem of cloves, half a quarter of cinnamon, half a quarter of pepper, half a quarter of ginger, half a quarter of nutmeg, half a quarter of grain of paradise and reduce them all to powder. .....
 
And then take twelve pounds of good honey thick and white and melt it onthe fire and when it is well cooked and skimmed let it settle then strain it and cook it again and if it scums you must strain again or allow it to get cold, then steep your mustard in good red wine and vvinegar in equal parts and put it in the honey. you shall moisten your powders with wine and vinegar and put them in honey, and boil your sedars awhile in hot wine, and aferwards put the saffron with the other things and a handfull of coarse salt......

Modern Adaption- this recipe is not an exact recreation of the dish, but utilizes most of the spices from it and the basic ingredients for the pickle.
Preserved Carrots
2-3 lb. of  4 in quartered carrots sticks or baby carrots 
2 cups of white vinegar
1/4 cup of salt
3 cups of water
1 cup of sugar 
3 tblsp of mixed pickling spice (anise, coriander, mustard, fennel, bay, pepper)

Mix the brine and bring to a boil. Place carrots into the brine and boil for only a few minutes. Remove carrots place into sterilized jars, seal, ready in a few weeks.

The Lord's Salt 

The source of these recipes are: The Icelandic Miscellany (15th C), Danish Manuscript- Codex K (late 13thC)and Danish Manuscript-Codex Q (14th C). The translation is by Nanna Rognvaldardottir.

Recipe no. 6:

Icelandic manuscript:
Quomodo temperetur salsum dominorum et quam diu durabit. Geroforsnagla skal
taka. ok muskat cardemomium pipar. canel. ingifer. sitt jæmn væge af hveriu.
utan canel. skal vera jafn þycktt vid alltt hitt annath ok svo micit steiktt
braud sem alltt þat er fyr er sagtt. ok skera þat alltt saman. ok mala með
stercku ediki. ok lata j legil. þat er þeirra sals ok um eitt misseri.*

*The scribe has erased "mi" from misseri and written "ar" (year) instead.

How to make a sauce for lords and how many days it keeps. Take cloves and
nutmeg, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, an equal weight of each, except
the cinnamon, which should be as much as all the others, and as much fried
bread as all the above, and cut it all together and crush it with strong
vinegar, and put in a cask. This is their sauce and is good for half a
year/one year.

Danish manuscript, Codex K:
Quomodo temperetur salsum dominorum et quam diu durat. Man skal takæ gørfærs
naghlæ. oc muscat. cardemomum. pipær. cinamomum thæt ær kaniæl. oc ingifær.
allæ iæfn wæghnæ. tho swa at kaniæl ær æm mykæt sum allæ hinæ andræ. oc slyk
tu stekt brøth sum allæ hinæ andræ. oc støt thæm allæ samæn. oc malæ mæth
stærk ædykæ oc latæ .i. en leghæl. Thæt ær hærræ salsæ. oc ær goth et halft
aar.

How to make a sauce for lords and how many days it keeps. Take cloves, and
nutmeg, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, that is canel, and ginger, an equal
weight of each, but the cinnamon should be as much as all the other spices,
and also fried bread twice as much as all the rest. Crush it all together,
and grind with strong vinegar and put into a cask. This is lord´s sauce and
is good for six months.

Danish manuscript, Codex Q:
Mæn sculæ takæ gærofærs naghlæ, muscat pipær. oc ingifær. af hwær theræ æm
mykæt af cinamomum. æssæ the æræ allæ samæn. oc tysæ æmmykæt af hwith
brøthæ. stækt æssæ thæt ær alt oc støthæ thæt samæn mæth æddik. thennæ salsæ
haldæ mæn goth i eth halft aar i en læghlæ.

Take cloves, nutmeg, pepper and ginger, an equal amount of each, and as much
cinnamon as all the others, and twice as much white bread, fried as it is
whole, and pound this together with vinegar. This keeps well for six months
in a cask.

Recipe no. 7

Icelandic manuscript:
Quomodo condiantur assature in salso supra dicto. Þat sem madur vill af
þessu salse hafa þa skal hann vella j ponnu vel a glodum branda lausum.
Sidan skal madur taka villi brad af hirti æda ra. ok specka vel. ok
steikina. ok skerra þat vel brentt ok j þann tima sem salset er kalltt. þa
skal þetta þar slæggiaz med. littlu salltti. þa ma liggia um þriar vikur.
Sva ma madur leinge verd veita. gæs endur. ok adrar villibradir. ef hann
sker þær þunnar. þetta er betzta sals er herra menn hafa.

How to use the above sauce. Take what you want to use of this sauce and boil
it in a pan on hot embers without flame. Then take some game, hart or roe,
and lard it well, and roast it, and cut it well burned*, and when the sauce
is cold, then place the meat in it with a little salt. Then it can be kept
for three weeks. In this way geese, ducks and other game can be kept for a
long time, if cut thin. This is the best sauce that the lords have.

The original says "brentt", burned, but that is probably an error - the
Danish text has "brethæ", broad, thick.

Danish, Codex K:
Quomodo condiantur assature in salso supradicto.
Thavær man wil af hænnæ hauæ. tha skal man wællæ hænnæ wæl .i. en pannæ ofnæ
hetæ gløthær utæn brandæ. oc skal man takæ brathæ af hiort ællær ra. wæl
spækkæth oc stekæ them wæl. oc skæræ them wæl brethæ. oc thæn timæ thæn
salsæ ær kald tha skal wildbrath .i. læggæs mæth litælt salt oc thæt ma
lygge thre ukæ. Swa mughæ man haldæ goth hiortæ brath. giæs oc ændær. of man
skæR them thiokkæ. thættæ ær the bæstæ salsæ thær herræmæn hauæ.

How to make use of the above sauce. When you want to use some of it, then
boil it well in a pan on hot embers without flame. And take a steak of hart
or deer, well larded, and cut into thick slices. And when the sauce is cold,
then place the game in it with a little salt and it can be kept there for
three weeks. In this way one can preserve steaks of hart, geese and ducks,
if cut thick. This is the best sauce that the lords have.

Danish, Codex Q:
Wilæ mæn syltæ thær nokæt i. tha latæ thæt wællæ. oc sithæn thæt ær full
kalt tha skulæ mæn stækt wild brath kalt hiort ra. gaas. æth annæn wild
bradh. skoræth i stykki læggæ thæræ i mæth lit salt. thæn sylt mughæ mæn
gømæ thre vkæ.

If you want to pickle something in it, then let it boil, and when it is
quite cold, then place in it fried game, cold hart, roe, geese or other
game, cut into pieces and placed in the sauce with a little salt. This can
be kept for three weeks.

My Recipe Recreation

In approaching this recipe I wanted to make a large enough quantity that I could use it as a "shelf item" and have the combined ingredients to keep on hand for future use. As such I  began with a fair quantity of Cinnamon Zeylanicum (the recipe specifies canel) and using a metric scale for accuracy, I weighed out the Cinnamon first to obtain the total weight that all of the other spices should be combined. The recipes asks for "an equal amount of each, but the cinnamon should be as much as all the rest". In this my dilemma was should my measurements be mass or volume. I chose mass and my reasoning is that most recipes are a prescription in their origin (see the definition of  "recipe") and as such the ingredients would have been obtained in weighted amounts. The volume of say ground nutmeg Vs cloves is substantially different and as such only weight would give me equal amounts of each. My justification for using grams in my experiment was that the scale I have is electronic and can convert to either metric or imperial, however when using ounces the scale can be out by as much a .2 of  an ounce, but would only be out by 1gm at the most. I have converted the quantities for those who do not have access to a metric measurement, but would suggest that when buying the ingredients that you simply buy in said quantities instead of trying to determine the quantities in dry measure. This will ensure fresh spices are used which may be instrumental in the preservative aspect of this recipe although there is argument that the spices used in the middle ages would have had a diminished strength due to the time spent in travel and the adulteration by middle men. Finally, I have rounded off the measurement to imperial since 1 ounce is equal to 28.35 grams and my  quantities of the spices were only 31g (greater than an ounce by 2.65 grams). 

Base ingredients: combine the following dry ingredients and use 1 cup to 3.5 cups vinegar per recipe
Cloves		31g or 1 ounce
Ginger 		31g or 1 ounce
Nutmeg		31g or 1 ounce
Pepper		31g or 1 ounce
Cardamom		31g or 1 ounce
Cinnamon		186g or 5 ounces
Pepper		31g or 1 ounce
Bread crumbs 	372g or 1.37 lb. (22 ounces)
Red Wine Vinegar 	3.5 cups

1.5 LB of venison steak (preferred a roast, but steak was all that was available)
2 TB lard
1 tsp. salt

Method;
Grind the spices and combine with the bread crumbs. Using a pestle, grind the dry ingredients together to ensure the crumbs are well inundated with the spices. Add the vinegar and further mash the contents of the bowl. 

Pour the spice/bread crumb/vinegar combination into a sauce pan and place over low heat. Stirring regularly, bring to a full boil for 1.5 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool thoroughly.

Meanwhile, remove any fat from the venison and spread lard over the surface. Place in an oven proof dish, into the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Using a shallow covered dish, pour half of the cooled spice mixture into it. Place the meat on top of this and then pour the remaining sauce over the meat, making sure that it is well covered. Put the dish in a cool, dry place (this dish is meant to be a preserved meat )and keep for up to  three  weeks (although there are a few people who have kept it for months and attest that it is perfectly safe I have yet to determine that).

A Discussion:

The Codex K and Codex Q state that the amount of bread crumbs "fried bread" should be "twice as much as all the rest" as opposed to the Icelandic Manuscript requiring  "as much fried bread as all the others". I chose to follow the earlier manuscripts and totaled the weight of all spices and doubled it for the amount of bread crumbs. 

The issue of "strong vinegar"  was discussed on the SCA Cooks list and I was advised to purchase a 7% vinegar that would be particularly strong and seemed to fit the recipes requirement (it calls for "strong vinegar"). However, I had been part of other discussions regarding making your own vinegar's as opposed to using commercially produced varieties and an unscientific conclusion was reached that since vinegar's would have been used fairly soon after inception and having been made using a suspected weaker "mother of vinegar" then the acidity level would have been lower than what we have available as the average vinegar today. As such, and considering I was unable to locate any vinegar's with an acidity level higher that 5%, I used a common red wine vinegar with a 5% acidity level. Red Wine vinegar was chosen as the best accompaniment to game. The quantity of  dry ingredients to vinegar was 1 cup dry to 3.5 cups vinegar. Anything less than 3 cups of liquid produced a gel like mass that was almost impossible to bring to a boil. The added .5 cup was to ensure coverage of the meat in the dish and to account for the thickening of the product during cooking. 

I combined the dry ingredients in a medium sized metal bowl and ground the ingredients together as much as was possible using a pestle . Taking 1 cup of the dry ingredients and pouring in  3.5 cups of vinegar I mashed the contents further. This sauce was then slowly brought to boil on low heat stirring regularly to prevent scorching . The recipe directs you to  "take what you want of this sauce and boil it in a pan on hot embers without flame" hence, the temperature was kept at 3 on the dial of an electric stove.

I was lucky to have venison available to me although not in a roast but steaks. The lady who translated the recipes, states that the word "stekae" actually means roast, not steak and is probably the root for the English word for steak. Since the roast is then further cut into "thick slices", I felt it sufficient to follow the spirit of the recipe using pre-sliced roasts. Not using a roast may have an effect on the texture of the meat in the end, since the centre and edges of the meat would cook simultaneously as opposed to varying times. In order to compensate to some degree I folded the steaks into a larger "piece" of meat and roasted them as such. Upon initial tasting, we found the venison to be on the dry side, as the sauce had yet to penetrate the meat. The next trial will be 5 days post the construction of the dish.

A modern analysis of the spices used in this dish

According to The Complete New Herbal, by Richard Mabey, Penguin Books;

Cinnamon bark oil is antibacterial, inhibiting E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus and thrush (Candida albicans)

Cloves are strongly antiseptic due to the high percent of phenols.

Black Pepper stimulates the taste buds and helps promote gastric secretions, in addition, I believe there is some research out there that says it is also a preservative of foods.

The Complete Medicinal Herbal, Penelope Ody tells us that;

Nutmeg is carminative (relieves flatulence, digestive colic and gastric discomfort), is a  digestive stimulant and antispasmodic, prevents vomiting, appetite stimulant, anti inflammatory  and is used as digestive remedy especially for food poisoning. Used in large doses (7.5g or more in a single dose) is dangerous producing convulsions and palpitations.

Cardamom is antispasmodic, carminative and a digestive stimulant.

Ginger is a circulatory stimulant, relaxes peripheral blood vessel, promotes sweating, expectorant, prevents vomiting, antispasmodic, carminative, antiseptic

The following are exerpts from the Florilegium, a website dedicated to information on all things medieval, but especially food. The Florilegium can be found at the following address http/www.florilegium.com.
It's founder is an SCA member and avid cook, Lord Stefan li Rous or Mark Harris. I would like to commend him for his work, it is an invaluable tool for cooks and those needing a source for information on medieval related topics.

For what it's worth, here's another recipe I dug up from *Apicius, Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome*, J.D. Vehling (Dover, 1977). The source isn't always terribly accurate (at least as far as the notes sections go--stick to the original recipes and you won't go wrong), but it's an excellent jumping off place. In fact, I found this whole thread so interesting that I did some research and taught a class on the subject, where I presented some of the foods I had preserved. Everything (and I mean everything) was scarfed with a rapidity dear to a cook's heart. 

>Book I, Recipe 11
>To keep cooked sides of pork or beef or tenderloins
>{Callum porcinum vel bubulum et unguellae coct ae diu durent} 
>Place them in a pickle of mustard, vinegar, salt and honey, covering the
>meat entirely, and when ready to use, you'll be surprised. 

Apicius was right. We were delighted. After three days, this was the most delicious beef.....sort of corned beef. We ate it cold. Yummmmmm. I started with a large piece of braised beef, which I drained and covered with the pickle, in a modern plastic air-tight tub. 

Jerked Meat 
Beef can be oven dried if you put it on a rack, rather than in a pan. However, there should be a pan under the rack in order to catch drips before they splatter the oven. The oven should be set at about 150 degrees F, and the meat tested about every hour. When it cracks instead of bends, its done. Of course, the thinner the stuff is sliced, the quicker it dries. One pound of beef should result in about 4 ounces of dried beef. Marinade recipes follow. 

Wine Marinade
1/4 cup red wine 1 tbs. red wine vinegar
1 tbs. olive oil
2 fresh cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs. minced onion
1 tbs. ground pepper
pinch of thyme
pinch of oregano
pinch of marjoram 

Soak 2 lb. of thin sliced beef (cut against the grain) in salt water for 30 minutes; drain and rinse. Marinate in the above mixture for 48 hours in a sealed container (refrigerated). Drain, rack and dry. 
The above marinade may also be used for chicken, but the chicken must first be boiled off the bone in the marinade, then boned, drained and dried. 

Hope this works out for you. The chicken looks like wood chips when you're done with it, but makes an outstanding stew when boiled for 5 minutes with chopped onion and green peppers, and a little rice thrown in to thicken. 

sweet venison jerky. 
Recipe? Cut your venison thin. Shake in some black pepper and a couple handful of dark brown sugar. Mix with your hands till the sugar starts pulling the juices from the meat. 
You can dry this in your "li'l smoker" like my dad did; but even in a dehydrator it's excellent. 

Putting food by
     Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan.
     New York : Dutton, [1991]
     vi, 420 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
     Reprint. Originally published: Brattleboro, Vt. : S. Greene Press,
     1973.  "A Janet Greene book."
     Includes bibliographical references (p. 395-404) and index.
     Call Number	LCCN		Dewey Decimal	ISBN/ISSN
     TX601 .H54 1991	91000179 //r91	641.4		0525933425

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/348-078/348-078.html
http://www.foodsafety.org/can1.htm
http://www.foodsafety.org/he/he210.htm
http://hammock.ifas.ufl.edu/txt/fairs/7162
http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/28/02883000.htm
http://www.home-canning.com/
http://www.freep.com/fun/food/qsafe20.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/1962/rff1.html
http://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/baked-goods/desserts/cakes/pumpkin-spice-jar2.rec
http://www.ohio.com/bj/stories/preserve29.htm 

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Copyright 2000 by Channon Mondoux, 6924 Angling Road, Portage Mi  49024. <channonmondoux at yahoo.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited and receives a copy.

To view more of Channon Mondoux’s work go to her website: www.rencuisine.com or email her at: info at rencuisine.com

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in
the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also
appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being
reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	Preservng-CMA-art	Page  of