Pork Stew
as served at May Revel 1999
Original sources
Not many, I have to admit. This started as something called "Elizabethan
Pork" in an old Sainsbury's Magazine, and then got altered almost beyond
recognition. The best I can say is that it uses period ingredients, is
easy to do at a revel (leave at the back of the stove for an hour or two
longer than planned and it won't matter), and both smells and tastes wonderful.
Recipe
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Pork, diced
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Bacon, chopped
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Other meat, also diced, to give it a bit of variety: rabbit works well,
and venison makes it extra rich.
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Onions, chopped
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Mushrooms, sliced
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Garlic, chopped
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Red wine (or red grape juice if you have alcohol-allergics to cater
for)
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Raisins
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Honey
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Herbs & spices: majoram, thyme, sage, rosemary, pepper, cumin, fennel
seeds
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Salt
Quantities of all of these are according to taste, price, and feel at
the time. Over-doing the raisins makes it extremely rich (we had too many
left from the baked apples and just put the lot in!)
It's a standard stove-top casserole recipe, really.
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Flour & brown the pork, and any other meat that needs it.
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Fry chopped onions
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Fry bacon
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Add the rest
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Bring to the boil, simmer for at least an hour and a half, preferably much
longer.
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Add more liquid as needed: you may prefer to use stock rather than yet
more wine, especially if on a tight budget.
Most recent revision 29th August 1999