Mutton Stew

NOTICE - This article was submitted by the author for inclusion in the Arts and Science Archives of the Barony of Dragon's Laire. Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author. Please check with the author first for permission to reprint this work in any other venue.. ----Thank you, Rycheza z Polska, webminster (The webminister can assist you in contacting the author.)

Editor's Note: This work is one of several posted on this site generated as documentation for our Baronial A&S Competition. It is offered here as both an example of competition documentation and to assist others in their research efforts. Standards for other competitions may be different.

¶ Take faire (1-1) Mutton that hat

ben roste, or elles Capons, or suche oþer fless

, and mynce it faire(1-4); put hit into a possenet (2), or elles bitwen ij. siluer disshes; caste thereto faire(1) parcely, And oynons small mynced; then caste there-to wyn (3), and a litull vynegre or vergeous (4), pouder of peper, Canel (5), salt and saffron, and lete it stue on þe faire(1-4) coles, And þen serue(6) hit forthe; if he have no wyne ne vynegre, take Ale, Mustard, and A quantite of vergeous (4), and do þis in þe stede of vyne or vinegre.[i]

Take a good amount of (1-3) mutton that has been roasted, or else Capons, or such other meat. Chop it in medium size pieces (1-4) and place in pot (2), with a good amount (1-1) of (parsley, onions minced small, add wine and a little vinegar, pepper, cinnamon (5), salt and saffron. Let it stew over moderate (1-4) heat. Then serve (6). I you have no wine or vinegar, take ale, mustard and lemon juice (4). Do this instead of wine or vinegar.

I purchased 2 legs of lamb, this being much more readily available than mutton. The lamb was de-boned and roasted for approximately 2 hours. This left the lamb quite rare, which was a choice I made, since the lamb would be cooked a second time during the stewing process.

The lamb was cut into about 1 ½” chunks, large enough to be speared by a knife for eating, but small enough to fit on a spoon.

I took two bunches of parsley and chopped them rather roughly, so that it would still have some consistency after being simmered for a period of time. Three yellow onions were peeled, and diced into small pieces.

When originally reading the recipe, I had an impression of a lamb stew. It quickly became apparent that I had misinterpreted this, the recipe is indeed for lamb, or mutton, stewed in juice flavored by spices.

I chose to make both versions mentioned in Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks. It would be interesting to compare the tastes between the wine version, and the ale version.

I divided the meat between two large saucepans, 2/3 into the wine version and 1/3 into the ale version.

For the wine version, I used approximately 6 cups of red wine, an inexpensive Merlot, that is slightly dry. I chose red wine vinegar, about 3 tablespoons. The pepper, cinnamon,

salt and saffron, I measured from my palm. I then adjusted to taste as it cooked, adding a little more pepper. I used a medium grind pepper for the “pouder of peper”.

For the ale version I used about 3 ½ - 4 cups of Scottish Ale, which is darker ale with good flavor. A distinction is made between using Ale and Beer. In The Art of Cookery In the Middle Ages Terence Scully quotes Andrew Boorde (c.1490-1549) on the difference between ale and beer.

“Ale is made of malte and water: and they the wich do put any other thynge to ale then is rehersed, except yest, barme or godesgood, doth sofystical theyr ale. Ale for an Englusshe man is a naturall drinke… Barly malte maketh better ale then oten malte [malted oats] or any other corne [grain] doth. It doth ingendre grose humoures, but yette it maketh a man stronge….

Bere is mad of malte, of hopes, and water: it is a naturall drynke of a Dutche man. An now of late dayes it is moche used in Englande to the dtryment of many Englysshe men…”[ii]

I chose to use lemon juice in place of vergeous. Scully also speaks on the subject of substitutes for jerjuice, “ Alternatives , if not substitutes for verjuice had to be on hand in most kitchens. Recipes are common enough in the course of which the writer gives advice on how to make an ersatz verjoice, ‘…if it is the time of year in which you do not have any.’ For instance in the Tuscan Libro della cocina the author advises, “Should there be a want of verjoice, you can use lemon juice, orange juice, or rose water.’”[iii]

I was quite liberal with the lemon juice, using the juice of a large ½ lemon, per the direction of a quantity as opposed to a little in reference to the spices, and vinegar. Again, I measured the spices from the palm of my hand, adjusting to the less quantity of meat.

Both versions were cooked on medium heat, they both came to a boil and continued to bubble pretty hard for about 1 hour. I judged them done by the tenderness of the meat, and the resulting flavor. I thought that the final product had an interesting sweet yet tart taste. I must confess to a preference for both the appearance and the taste of the recipe made with ale over the wine recipe.

The Recipe comes from Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55.

The recipe can be found in Cookery Book II. Harleian MS. 4016, ab. 1450 A.D. Folio 4b Page 72.

The forward to the book gives information on the sources for this book, and the recipes,

“The Ancient Cookeries edited in this volume have been copied from Harleian MSS. 279 and 4016, in the British Museum. The first MS. was copied, and partly prepared for the press, by the late Mr. Faulke Watling, of the University of Oxford, but his untimely death prevented his seeing it through the Press. This MS. is divided into three Parts, the first, headed Kalendare de Potages dyuers, containing 153 recipes: the second Part, Kalendare de Leche Metys, has 64 recipes, and the third Part, Dyuerse bake metis, 41 recipes. This MS., besides the Cookery, contains the Bills of Fare of several Banquets which are noticed more fully below. The date of this MS. is about 1430 or 1440, and has been given a little too early on pages

1 and 5. This has been collated with Ashmole MS. 1439, in the Bodleian, noted as A. in the text.” [iv]

“The MS. that we possess was presented to Queen Elizabeth by Lord Stafford, and afterwards belonged to the Earl of Oxford, being purchased at his sale; it is now in the British Museum.”[v] (4)

Glossary - Definitions are from Glossary Of Medieval & Renaissance Culinary Terms

(1) fair(e), far(e), fayre, faier, feyre =
1- the opposite of foul. Good, clean, nice, beautiful, clear, pure, free of blemish, etc.
2- completely, fully
3- a good amount.
4- moderately, not too much

(2) Possnet, posnet = presumably a small saucepan used for making possets. (Sip)

(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make Quodiniack of Plums... put them into a Posnet with a pound and a halfe of Brasill Sugar...then put it again into the Posnet...
(A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1636) - To make printed Quodiniacks of Quinces, a ruby colour... put them into a Posnet with three... and put it into a faire Posnet, and let it boyle..

(4) verjuice, verious, v⁹ions, v⁹ious, v^-ions, v⁹iaws = Sour juice, usually from specially grown unripe grapes. Also made from crabapples, sorrel, gooseberries, or any other sour item according to the season. Flandrin et al. mention the addition of salt as a preservative. Lemon juice is a modern substitute. (Viandier)

(5) Canel, Canelle, cassia = Cinnamomum cassia, Lauraceae, also called Cassia. This inexpensive type of cinnamon is the cinnamon most commonly found in U.S. markets. (TTEM) "canelle, fleur de canelle, and cynamome appear in Le Viandier. 'Cassia buds' were used in the Middle Ages (Grieve), so I think the identification is easy. Rosengarten similarly identifies canelle with 'cassia', and cynamome with 'cinnamon'.)" (Viandier)

Bibliography

Austin, Thomas (Ed.). (1991). Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55. London: Oxford University Press (on line) http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/c/cme/cme-idx?type=HTML&rgn=TEI.2&byte=3356093
Scully, Terrance (1995) The Art Of Cookery In The Middle Ages. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press
Renfrow, Cindy. Definitions are from Glossary Of Medieval & Renaissance Culinary Terms
http://www.thousandeggs.com/glossary.html#V

[i] Austin, Thomas (Ed.). (1991). Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Cookery Book II. Harleian MS. 4016, ab. 1450 A.D. Folio 4b Page 72.

[ii] Scully, Terrance (1995) The Art Of Cookery In The Middle Ages. pg.?

[iii] Scully, Terrance (1995) The Art Of Cookery In The Middle Ages. pg.?

[iv] Austin, Thomas (Ed.). (1991). Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books

[v] Austin, Thomas (Ed.). (1991). Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books