presrvd-meats-msg - 12/25/19
Medieval and modern preserved meats.
NOTE: See also the files: pickled-meats-msg, Octo-Lutefisk-art, Meat-wo-Refrg-art, dried-meats-msg, meat-smoked-msg, Calontr-Jerky-art, Dried-Bef-Qan-art.
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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.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 19:59:12 EDT
From: UrthMomma at aol.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest,Smoked Meat and Fish
Questions
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> As I think I said in my original post, part of the objective is to
> have things that don't require cooking. At Pennsic this year, the
> encampment was down to just the four of us, and getting a fire going
> and cooking a meal over it is a good deal of trouble for two adults
> and two kids. So I thought it would be useful to have more things
> that could be eaten cold.
>
> We do use beef salami, and beef or turkey sausage, and apples, and
> bread, and melons, and ... . But I was looking for some more things,
> and smoked meat and fish seemed like plausible candidates that I
> didn't know enough about.
> --
> David/Cariadoc
In my experience, meats that are sufficiently preserved to survive Pennsic
without refrigeration are either a )canned, b)dry as jerky - they snap, c)
heavily salted and or sugared to a degree that direct consumption will cause
digestive upset, or d)a combination of b and c, such as dry sausages, which rely on salt, sugar, dryness and fat . Salt meats keep well, and age well, but our modern culture has mostly forgotten the process other than Smithfield
hams and proscuitto. Smoke alone is not a sufficient preservative. Add drying or salt, yes, smoke alone, no.
You can make your own cured meats and fish, salted and dried or brined, dried
and smoked, however you will need to soak the cured meat or fish overnight or
use it as seasoning for a pot of beans or peas or rice as it will be very
salty and your tummy will not enjoy the effects of direct consumption. I've
cured and smoked home butchered pork and you *really* want to soak the ham
overnight, pitch the soak water and start the simmer with fresh water. The same procedure goes for home cured "Devonshire ham" which is curing a leg of lamb the same way that you cure pork. If you use a curing agent with saltpeter, such as Tenderquick or your own concoction, the lamb will also be as pink as ham or corned beef. I also make a salted spiced beef, but it only cures for ten days in a fridge and is baked, pressed and sliced. It's dry, but I would not trust it in temps above 50 degrees for prolonged periods.
Salt beef was the usual method of preserving beef in period, dried beef in
the little jars is as close as you will find today's grocery, probably, and it's not the best by itself, again kinda salty. Again, fish can be pickled and smoked, aka "blind robins" but they also need to be really dried out or soaked in vinegar to withstand August in PA.
> From tales I remember from my father and grandmother of farm life in
> the days
before rural electrification, summer was a time for not a whole lot of
meat and what you had was cured meat : corned beef in a pickle barrel in the
cellar, smoked hams that you scraped the mold off of and cut a slice to make
red-eye gravy with, soaked a ham for Sunday dinner if the preacher was coming, ham hocks to cook with beans, chicken in early summer only if a rooster got too nasty or hens needed to be culled, otherwise you waited until the spring hatch grew big enough to eat the cockerels or until fall butchering time.
Potted meats (meats preserved in fat) were used, but were put down in late
fall at butchering time, keep in a cold cellar and were best used up before the weather got warm in the spring. Please see Koge Bog, published in 1616 in Denmark for very close to period methods of meat preservation that were still in use in livling memory.
http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/cooking/1616.html
Unless you can find a way to keep a meat pickle crock with a strong vinegar
and salt/sugar brine, you will have difficulty finding a way to have meat that is can be eaten without refrigeration *and* without cooking. We arrived on the first Tuesday of Pennsic this year. At Pennsic, I did eat out of such a concoction for the first several days with a small bit of ice. At home, a couple of days before we left, I sliced eye of round roast beef thinly. layered it in a quart mason jar with a few pinches of the spice mixture used in Lords' Salt per the Miscellany, and filled the rest of the jar with balsamic vinegar, 6% acidity, screwed down the top and kept the meat submerged in the vinegar. I kept it in the beer and pop cooler which ran out of ice and made it up to 70 degrees a couple of times. I even left it out on the table as couple of times for several hours. I ate all the beef, suffered no ill effects and reused the pickle for a batch of Italian sauage that I boiled up, cut into 1" chunks and threw it into the pickle and added more balsamic vinegar. Consumed that batch and threw out the last of it on the last Friday as I needed the space for packing small stuff. More experimention with cider vinegar, salt and sugar, spices and meats is needed. Section XI in Koge Bog gives some pretty good guidelines.
Way back before dirt, circa Pensic 2 or 3, Duke Andrew of Seldom Rest did similar experimentation with mixed pickle crocks of cooked polish sausage and vegetables. We ate it, we survived. Pickled eggs, pickled bolonga, pickled sausages are standard bar and beer carryout fare in Ohio. The pickle jars stand on the bar or on the carryout counters. The proprieter takes a pair of tongs and fishes out what you want and puts the lid back on. Pickled eggs, sausages and bolonga are available in local groceries in jars, even at Meijer's, a large MI, IN, OH chain.
Homemade summer sausage is another possibility, but be careful to get the
right amount of salt/curing agents (too much is really nasty) and to dry it out well, but not to cook out much of the fat. Over the last twenty-five years, I've made several hundred pounds of the stuff and made every mistake
there is.
Landjaeger sausage is also good in the summer if you can get it, as are a
number of the dry German sausages, but I don't know which ones are strictly beef, and any are heaven with a bit of Muenster cheese, a crusty hunk of rye
bread and a cold beer.
Dammit, now I gotta go find a good recipe for Landjaeger sausage.
Olwen Buklond
Barony of Sternfeld, Midrealm
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 00:23:41 -0400
From: Solveg <nostrand at acm.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Smoked fish and meat--questions
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Duke Cariadc of the Bow!
Greetings of Solveig!
> Someone came to Elizabeth's class at Pennsic with things he had
> smoked and said would keep. They were edible and reasonably tasty.
> Smoked salmon is good--but I'm not sure how long it keeps without
> refrigeration.
Kippered salmon tends to be drier than smoked salmon and should keep
Longer without refrigeration.
Solveig Throndardottir
Amateur Scholar
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Barbara Nostrand, Ph.D. | Solveig Throndardottir, CoM, CoS |
| deMoivre Institute | Carolingia Statis Mentis Est |
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 11:51:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: charding at nwlink.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Smoked Meats in general
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I have been reading a book called Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Thomas Keller, Michael Ruhlman, and Brian Polcyn
It goes thru the theory and practice of preserving meats. It covers some
of the questions that have been brought up on this topic. I am inspired
to do some preserving, as soon as the pigs at the farm down the road are
slaughtered.
M?va matb??arkona
Barony of Glymm Mere
Kingdom of An Tir
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:09:30 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Smoked Meats in general
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Oct 9, 2006, at 2:51 PM, charding at nwlink.com wrote:
> I have been reading a book called Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting,
> Smoking, and Curing by Thomas Keller, Michael Ruhlman, and Brian Polcyn
>
> It goes thru the theory and practice of preserving meats. It covers some
> of the questions that have been brought up on this topic. I am inspired
> to do some preserving, as soon as the pigs at the farm down the
> road are slaughtered.
Jane Grigson's "The Art of Making Sausages, Pates and Other Charcuterie" is another excellent one.
If the Keller book touches on any of the historical aspects, be aware
that he's a modern chef, just as Joseph Vehling was, and as when
Madeline Kammen said in one of her otherwise excellent books that
Taillevent cooked with chilis ("long peppers"), some of it may need
to be taken with *ahem* a grain of salt.
But for technique, most of these books will be just fine.
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 15:05:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kathleen Madsen <kmadsen12000 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Charcuterie and smoking
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
The Charcuterie book is actually by Ruhlman and Polcyn, Keller just provides the forward. My good friend and I have been experimenting out of this book
since November or December. The recipes are great, instructions are easy to follow, and they are in the correct quantities for the home cook. The only recipe I've tried that didn't work as it should was the salt cod, I ended up finishing the cod in a different manner that seems to have worked alright.
If you want something that's geared more toward the
professional then I would recommend "Professional
Charcuterie" by John Kinsella and David Harvey. It
also has a wonderful section on food safety.
Keller was supposedly going to open a french butcher
shop up in Yountville (next town north of me) but
those plans seem to have not come to fruition. A true
pity but at least we have one other good butcher in
the valley that's not too far away.
Anyway, I have only ever cold smoked foods and so they
were not preserved for long-term storage. The foods
that I prepared had to be refrigerated. Hot smoking
will preserve foods as the meat or fish will be
completely cooked all the way through but it does
present some textural problems - i.e., jerky.
Eibhlin
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 21:15:15 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Smoked Meats in general
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
There is a paper by Johanna van Winter titled
"The Role of Preserved Food in a number of Medieval Households in The
Netherlands." It appears in Food Conservation. Ethnological Studies which
was published by Prospect Books in 1988.
The author makes several points about food conservation which have bearing
on the conversations on smoking and salting and preserving that have
been going on.
The author makes the point that accounts are sparse prior to the 14th century.
What accounts that do exist are concerned with costs, so the records often don't say if the food was fresh or preserved in some manner. Salt for slaughtering is often recorded.
Sometimes it's recorded that it's 'meat bought per barrel' or 'dried plaice' or 'basket herring'. Red herrings or smoked herrings are mentioned. Also mentioned is the fact that in the 15th century herring was being gutted and salted on board the fishing ships allowing the ships to go farther out to sea and stay longer before returning.The author says that the accounts indicate "that there were various kinds of herring; smoked, salted and 'green', or almost fresh, herring among others." It's also mentioned that cod was split and dried on sticks and imported from Bergen in Norway.
This paper as The role of preserved food in Dutch medieval households is part of the new collection SPICES AND COMFITS - COLLECTED PAPERS ON MEDIEVAL FOOD which is being released by Prospect Books this autumn. See http://www.kal69.dial.pipex.com/shop/pages/newtitle.htm
Another collection that ought to be mentioned is Waste Not Want Not. Food Preservation from Early Times to the Present Day, edited by C. Anne Wilson. 1991.
This consists of papers from the 1989 Leeds Symposium.
Anne Wilson leads off with this paper "Preserving food to preserve life: the
response to glut and famine from early times to the end of the Middle Ages." pp. 5-31.
She discusses air drying, burial, parching, smoking, salting, preserving cream and milk, salted meat and dairy products, salted fish, cereals, pulses, sugar, spices, dried fruits, and wines.
There are a number of other books and papers of course. Wilson mentions a work called Fish Saving which goes into all the methods of 'saving' or
preserving fish.
Johnnae
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 13:28:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tony" <morganmacleod at excite.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] smoked meats
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Smoking and salting meats are excellent ways to preserve the meat
without refrigeration. If properly performed, the meat will last for
years safely although the organoleptic qualities may decline. The
purpose of both methods is to reduce the growth of spoilage bacteria
on and in the meat. Smoking the meat reduces the moisture level
below that at which pathogenic bacteria can thrive as does salting.
The smoking process slowly dries the meat, much like making jerky
except typically with larger cuts of meat and a higher moisture
content. The exact temperature is not really important as long as it
does not rise to the point at which true cooking actually occurs.
That is called BBQ and is delicious, but not the point of this
discourse. The quicker the meat dries, the less likely it is to
harbor bacteria so this should be considered. You may brine or sugar
the meat before smoking to decrease the survivability of pathogens.
If the smoke flavor from this long process is too harsh for you, then simply don't add the wood until partway through the process. While the wood smoke itself does have some antiseptic properties, the drying of the meat is what actually does the preserving and the smoke adds flavor. Care should be taken to keep the meat dry after it is cured or the bacteria will start to grow.
If traveling, simply wrapping the sliced pieces in butcher paper or
putting it in a plastic container will serve quite well. Depending
on your taste and texture preferences, you may wish to soak the meat
in water before consuming.
Morgan
Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:26:25 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] good fermented hard wine cured salami
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Aug 6, 2008, at 11:57 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<< What makes salami different from pepperoni? >>>
The short answer: pepperoni is seasoned with some form of mild chili
or hot paprika. In addition, while it may not be a defining characteristic, pepperoni is more often stuffed into a smaller-diameter casing than other salamis. and may therefore cure and dry faster.
<<< I've often found that the pepperoni I've had has often been more
greasy than the salami. Perhaps because much of the pepperoni I've
had has been cooked, while the salami hasn't. >>>
That's probably one reason; another might be that the pepperoni manufacturers are expecting you to eat less of it at a sitting, and make a cheaper product.
<<< What do you mean by "fermented hard wine cured salami"? Is that
"fermented, hard wine, cured salami"? or "fermented, hard, wine-
cured, salami"? If the later, and I suspect that is the case, what
does it mean to be "wine cured"? How is this done? Is the wine mixed
in with the ground meat and spices? Or is the salami soaked in the
wine for a while? >>>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 15:01:21 -0700
From: "Laureen Hart" <lhart at graycomputer.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Salami
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Adamantius answered the questions very nicely. Sorry for my lack of proper
punctuation...I was carried away with longing for salami...
The mold on the casing may have had more of a flavor or safety impact when
natural casings were used. I expect the mold could inhibit pathogens via
competition.
We had clients who loved the mold and clients who hated the mold. We ran
test batches in a separate green room and made product without mold. We did
extensive blind taste testing and no one could taste the difference, even
people who vehemently demanded their mold and scorned a non molded salami.
The exterior smell, before the casing was removed, was clearly different and
that may be what mold aficionados missed. After initial trials we ended up
selling almost as much non-molded salami as molded.
Our salami and pepperoni (and peppy) products where all fermented. A Lactic
acid starter culture was added and the chubs and sticks were put in a
temperature/humidity controlled room to ferment. The length of the ferment
was relative to the product and the size of the chub. We only made 2 sizes
of salami but a several different sizes of the pep products - little skinny
ones up through big pizza rounds.
After greening the products were moved to drying/aging rooms at a different
temperature. The pep products were turned around fairly quickly and the
salami was aged for a lot longer.
The main thing I miss is the acidity. It seems like most brands are bland in
that respect - They may have the proper amount of spice, but they lack the
sourness and complexity. While we had wine in our formulation I don't know
that there was enough to add appreciable sour. A few manufacturers cheat and
add lactic acid. While this is better than no lactic, bacteria contribute
other flavor notes than straight lactic. I think that is why Sourdough bread
that is made with bacteria is better than the stuff that is helped along by
addition of straight lactic acid.
Randell Raye
Acid fan
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 15:37:53 -0800 (PST)
From: Raphaella DiContini <raphaellad at yahoo.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] sorry ytpo- what is speck?
It's my understanding that speck is kind of the German version of prosciutto,
but perhaps cut a little thicker.
Raffaella
-------------------
<<< BLutwurst is made from Blood and speck.
Elisande >>>
What is "speck"?
Stefan
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2011 01:09:09 +0100
From: Ana Vald?s <agora158 at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] sorry ytpo- what is speck?
It's called sp?ck here in Scandinavia, it's more pancetta than prosciutto, you can't eat it raw as you eat ham or prosciutto but it's good to lard poultry or game.
Ana
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 18:10:23 -0800 (PST)
From: V O <voztemp at yahoo.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] sorry ytpo
Speck is like a "thick cut" bacon, a little harder, but I haven't seen it used in blutwurst. I wonder if that could be a regional speciality. The blutwurst I know is just that, blood sausage, I have usually seen blood and tongue sausage.
Speck is wonderful stuff! Think proschuto (sp?) but in thick chunks, which you cut off what you are going to use. Find a german deli, or there are some places I think you can get it online. We get it at the local farmers market, from a German Metzgar (butcher) who sells there.
Yumm!
Mirianna
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2011 06:03:42 +0000 (GMT)
From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] sorry ytpo
<<< What is "speck"?
Stefan >>>
It's basically unrendered pork fat, usually salted and dried or smoked. Today, Speck comes in two standard varieties, Bauchspeck (pieces of pork belly, a bit like streaky bacon) and R?ckenspeck (pieces of back fat, pretty much solid fat). in the past it is likely other bits of the animal were also used to produce Speck. I think that Yiddish also used speck to describe animal fats that weren't treif, but I don't know if that's still done. If so, it could be a problem like you get with Schmalz. Modern blood sausage made in North Germany uses R?ckenspeck, the back fat, cut into small cubes.
Giano
<the end>