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Venison-Steks-art - 9/16/18

 

"Stekys of Venson (Venison Steaks)" by Mistress Leoba of Lecelade.

 

NOTE: See also the files: venison-msg, exotic-meats-msg, meat-smoked-msg, p-marinating-msg, rabbit-dishes-msg, sausages-msg, spit-roasting-msg, sauces-msg.

 

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Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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Stekys of Venson (Venison Steaks)

by Mistress Leoba of Lecelade

 

xxxj. To make Stekys of venson? or bef – Take Venyson or Bef, & leche & gredyl it vp broun; þen take Vynegre & a litel verious, & a lytil Wyne, & putte pouder perpir þer-on y-now, and pouder Gyngere; & atte þe dressoure straw on pouder Canelle y-now, þat þe stekys be al y-helid þer-wyth, & but a litel Sawce; & þan serue it forth. MS. Harleian 279, Leche Vyaundez, xxxi.

 

To make steaks of venison or beef – take venison or beef, and slice it and fry it brown; then take vinegar and a little verjuice, and a little wine, and put powdered pepper thereon enough, and powdered ginger; and at the dresser strew on powdered cinnamon enough, that the steaks be all covered therewith, and but a little sauce; and then serve it forth.

 

Venison was the status meat of medieval Europe. It was associated with the noble pastime of hunting; to serve venison was an indication of status, as it meant a lord had been granted exclusive rights to the hunting in a particular area (Wilson, 1973, 92). It might also be given as a gift, and to avoid waste, venison was also sold in towns for the luxury market (Hammond, 1993, 39).

 

Venison would have been the high point of any feast; it was traditionally served with frumenty (Hieatt et al, 1996, 47), a porridge-like dish made from grains, which would have soaked up the meat juices.

 

Ingredients

 

·      500g venison  

·      40mL wine vinegar     

·      1/4 tsp pepper

·      20mL verjuice

·      30mL wine     

·      1/2 tsp ginger

·      1/2 tsp cinnamon       

·      Salt to taste    

 

Method

 

1.     Separately grind or grate the spices

2.     Slice the venison into fine strips.

3.     Heat some oil or fat in a pan, and quickly fry the venison strips until they are browned. Transfer to a serving plate.

4.     Mix together the vinegar, verjuice, wine, pepper and ginger. If desired, heat the sauce briefly.

5.     Sprinkle the venison with the cinnamon, then drizzle the sauce over the top.

6.     Serve with frumenty (recipe here.

 

Notes

 

1.     Venison is a very lean meat, and although there are recipes for venison pottages (stews), I find venison is better suited to quick frying recipes such as this, or roasting, where the meat can be constantly basted to keep it moist.

2.     The cinnamon that is sprinkled over the steaks was the recommended accompaniment for slices of venison (Brears, 2008, 454).

3.     If possible, try and get whole dried ginger that you have to grate yourself, rather than the ready powdered stuff. It smells and tastes much stronger.

 

 

Further Reading

 

Austin, Thomas (ed.). Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks

Brears, Peter (2008). Cooking and Dining in Medieval England.

Hammond, Peter (1993). Food and Feast in Medieval England.

Hieatt, Constance, Hosington, Brenda and Butler, Sharon (1996). Pleyn Delit.

Wilson, C. Anne (1992). Food and Drink in Britain.

 

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Copyright 2017 by Christine Lawrie. <clawrie1 at bigpond.net.au>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited.  Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

 

If this article is reprinted in a publication, please place 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.

 

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Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
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Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org