Happy St. Patrick's Day! I made this today:
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Medieval Corned Beef
British Isles - Medieval
(Honey-basted roasted corned beef.)
City/Region: Ireland
Time Period: c. 1100
URL: https://www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/medievalcornedbeef
Corned beef’s popularity fell in medieval Ireland because most of the good corned beef was sent overseas to England. Pork was cheaper to raise, so many ate bacon and cabbage until the Irish Potato Famine, when many immigrated to America. The neighborhoods where they tended to move to were serviced by Kosher butchers, who didn’t have any bacon, but did have plenty of corned beef. This recipe is derived from a poem written around 1100, which describes how corned beef was prepared. The main difference between this medieval preparation and modern versions is the honey. The combination of corned beef's saltiness and honey's sweetness is so wonderful. Delicious!
“Tender corned beef…and honey in the comb, and English salt…He rubbed the honey and the salt into one piece after another.”
— Aislinge Maic Con Glinne (The Vision of Mac Con Glinne), c. 1100
Ingredients:
4 lbs (2 kg) corned beef brisket (my brisket was only 3 pounds...)
1/4 cup (85 g) honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
(I added 1 shot of Jamison's Irish Whiskey because...)
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C).
2. In a large pot, cover the corned beef with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, then drain. Repeat at least once. This process will help reduce the corned beef's saltiness. After you’ve boiled the corned beef at least twice, place it on a large piece of foil.
3. Mix the salt and the honey, then brush it generously all over the corned beef. Wrap the corned beef in the foil and place it on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Roast in the oven for 1 hour per pound.
4. 30 minutes before the corned beef is done, open the foil and raise the temperature of the oven to 400°F (205°C) to brown the top.
5. Slice and serve it forth with Cabbage Pottage.
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Cabbage Pottage
British Isles - Medieval
(Cabbage cooked with leeks and onions.)
City/Region: Ireland | England
Time Period: 14th Century
URL: https://www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/cabbagepottage
“Caboches in potage. Take caboches and quarter them, and seeth them in gode broth with oynouns mynced and the whyte of lekes slit and carved small”
— Curye on Inglysch, 14th Century
Finding a historical recipe from Ireland is really hard, and finding a medieval Irish recipe is basically impossible. I started with a medieval English recipe from a few hundred years after the corned beef description. I adjusted it to match the ingredients we know were available in Ireland around 1100. The cabbage pottage is simple to prepare and has a mild flavor, though there is a touch of heat from the onions and leeks. The simplicity of the dish pairs perfectly with the complex Medieval Corned Beef.
Ingredients:
1 large head of cabbage, quartered
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 leeks, sliced into half rings
2 cups beef broth (I ended up using 4 cups...)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper, optional
Instructions:
1. Leeks can have dirt and silt in them, so swish the sliced leeks in a large bowl of water to clean them.
2. Combine the vegetables in a pot and sprinkle them with the salt and optional pepper.
3. Pour in the beef broth and bring it to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Serve it forth with Medieval Corned Beef.
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Happy St. Patrick's Day!
