Cecil Rhodes, the English imperialist
and mining magnate who became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (South Africa/Namibia)
in 1890, allegedly said, when asked why he left England “The real fact is that
I could no longer stand their eternal cold mutton.”
I remembered
this quote while I was musing on writing another post on leftovers. ‘Leftovers’
is a sad word for what is not necessarily a sad phenomenon – indeed, many of
us, and I include myself in this – cook with the specific intent of having
leftover food. There are other words and phrases for the same concept of
course: but ‘scrap cookery’ sounds depressing, ‘secondary cookery’ does not
sound first class, and although ‘camouflage cookery’ sounds fun, there is a
deceitful edge to it. Then there is réchauffé cookery’ which might
sound posh, but is merely pretentious as it is simply French for ‘re-heated.’
The secret to success in re-purposing
your leftover dinner is of course, to have good ingredients and a good dish in
the first place. I came across an interesting concept the other day in What to do with the Cold Mutton: A Book of Réchauffés.
Together with many other approved receipts for the kitchen of a gentleman of
moderate income by P.K.S. (New York, 1865.)
As expected, the book includes many
recipes for minced leftover mutton, mutton hash, and re-stewed mutton, but it
goes one better too, and gives two ways of cooking the original mutton to resemble
venison. So, go forth, my friends, and ‘venisonise’ that sheep haunch or loin!
No. 146.—HAUNCH OF MUTTON TO TASTE LIKE
ROEBUCK.
Cut all the outer skin from the meat,
which must then be well rubbed with the best olive oil; put it next into a flat
pan containing a pint of vinegar, some thyme, parsley, sweet basil, three or
four bay-leaves, four cloves of garlic, some whole pepper, three or four
cloves, a little allspice, and a tea-spoonful of bay-salt. Place the meat so
that the under surface may be in the vinegar, and cover the upper side with
slices of onion; every morning turn the meat, putting the surface previously
covered with onions into the vinegar, and placing the sliced onions on the side
that was in vinegar the previous day. -When four days have elapsed, take the
meat from the pan, wipe it dry, and hang it up till the following day, when it
may be roasted for dinner exactly as venison is cooked.
No. 427 —LOIN OF MUTTON VENISONISED.
Bone a large loin of mutton, take the
skin off from the fat, and put the bones and the mutton into a stewpan with an
onion, a bit of thyme and parsley, a little whole pepper, and salt; add a pint
of red wine, cover the stewpan close, set it over a very slow fire for three
hours, then skim off the fat clear from the gravy, and send the mutton to
table. Serve with it, in a sauce-tureen, a sweet sauce made with currant jelly
melted in a little good gravy.
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