#scullery

Today, we’ll be looking at a recipe from Le Ménagier de Paris - The Goodman of Paris - and recreating some grilled steaks from the 14th century. This book isn’t explicitly a cookbook, but moreso a glimpse at everyday life in Paris in the 1300s - including descriptions of social norms - a relative rarity for medieval literature!

In any case, let’s now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like my recipes, consider supporting me on Patreon!

Ingredients (for two steaks)
2x cuts of beef (I used striploin, but other cuts work just as well. Adjust cooking time as necessary)
3tbsp red wine vinegar
2tbsp Seville orange juice (or 2tbsp orange juice + 1 tsp lime juice)
pepper
salt
cinnamon
oil or fat (for cooking)

Method
1 - Prepare the Meat
To begin with, we need to deal with our meat. Start by seasoning each side with some salt and freshly-ground black pepper. The original recipe claims that venison could also be used here - but since that’s a bit outside of most people’s price ranges, beef is a common substitute!

In any case, when your meat has been seasoned liberally, set this aside while you make your basting sauce.

2 - Make the Sauce
Next, cut an orange in half, and juice it using a juicer. Or just crush them in a bowl by hand - whichever method suits you. Seville oranges are also known as sour oranges, but if you can’t get your hands on any then regular oranges would work just as well! Just add another teaspoon or two of lime juice to your regular orange juice.

Next, toss in a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar (or malt vinegar, if it’s more your style) and mix everything to combine.

3 - Cook and Baste the Meat
Moving to the stove, place a liberally oiled frying pan over a medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, place a cut of meat onto the pan, and let it cook untouched for about 3-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your meat. When one side is cooked, flip it over and let the other side cook away. Over the cooked side, pour a little of your sauce over it. Be very careful at this stage, as the oil could spit violently if it comes in contact with the water!

Cook each steak to the doneness you desire, before taking them off the heat, and letting them rest for a few minutes. This is to improve the texture of the meat, and let the juices inside rearrange.

When they’re done, serve them up with a bit of cinnamon, and dig in!

The finished dish is super succulent, and has a wonderful sauce - it has a slight sharpness that really suits the beef here. Though this is a very simple way of cooking - using few seasonings and aromatics - it can be combined with a multitude of other side-dishes (such as onion soup or a pottage of some kind).