Winter Survival Food: Beef Stew
TLDRThe video discusses preparing and cooking beef stew in 18th century America during the harsh winter months. It details how people preserved meat by salting, smoking, or drying it and stored root vegetables like onions and potatoes for meals when fresh food wasn't available. The host shares period recipes for beef ragout and discusses key stew ingredients like carrots, turnips, and mushrooms. He imagines the comfort of simmering beef stew after coming in from bone-chilling temperatures outside, noting the scents and aromas were likely similar even if recipes weren't exact. Overall, the video aims to recreate hearty warming meals people relied on to nourish them through isolating winters long ago.
Takeaways
- 😀 The winter months in early America were extremely harsh, requiring preparation with proper shelter, warmth, dryness and stockpiled food
- 👨🌾 People preserved food like meat, potatoes and onions to survive the winter when fresh food was scarce
- 🥩 Methods of preserving meat included salting, smoking, drying and potting in clarified butter
- 🥧 Standing crust pies and potted meats were two popular preservation methods frequently used
- 🍲 Finding stew recipes in period cookbooks requires searching for words like 'ragoo' rather than 'stew'
- 📖 An early beef stew recipe called for flour to thicken the sauce, carrots, turnips and mushrooms
- 🇫🇷 An French dish called 'Beef a la Daube' was a beef stew made with bacon, herbs and vegetables
- 🔥 The smell of simmering stew when coming in from winter chores must have been incredibly comforting
- 🍽 While not exactly like modern beef stew, the smells and flavors were likely very similar
- 😋 The slow-cooked, spiced and tender beef paired with vegetables makes for a hearty winter meal
Q & A
What made winter especially challenging for people in early America?
-The isolation, need to rely on themselves and stored resources, and harsh weather conditions like subzero temperatures made winter very difficult in early America.
How did people preserve meat to have protein through the winter?
-People preserved meat by salting, smoking, drying, and potting it to keep through the winter months when fresh meat was not available.
What are standing crust pies and how were they used?
-Standing crust pies were meat pies baked in a tall crust. The walls were discarded after baking and the pie crust served as storage for the meat filling.
Why was it hard to find stew recipes in 18th century cookbooks?
-Stews were not referred to as stews in 18th century cookbooks. Dishes resembling stews were called 'ragouts' instead.
What ingredients would people have stored to make beef stew in winter?
-Onions, carrots, turnips, mushrooms and cured or preserved beef would have been stored and used to make beef stew in winter.
How did the video creator make the 18th century beef recipe accessible today?
-He adapted methods like larding to be more approachable, used modern beef, and adjusted some steps to be more convenient while still making an authentic dish.
What aromas might you smell walking into a home after doing chores in winter?
-Fresh herbs, simmering meat, onions, and other vegetables creating warm, comforting smells.
How did the finished 18th century beef dish compare to modern beef stew?
-It had a similar flavor profile but looser texture without a thickened gravy-like sauce like in modern stew.
Why did the video creator follow the original recipe instead of combining everything?
-To stay true to the 18th century technique even if it wasn't necessarily better than just making it all together in one pot.
What insights does the dish provide about 18th century cooking?
-Spices and flavor were still important. They often made one-pot meals. Names of dishes differed from modern terms.
Outlines
⛄️ Surviving the Harsh Winters in Early America
This paragraph discusses the difficulties of surviving the harsh winters in early America, including the need for warmth, shelter, food and dealing with isolation. It talks about storing enough food during the growing seasons to last through winter. It mentions some methods of preserving meat like salting, smoking, drying and storing in pastry shells or potting.
🥘 Finding an Early Beef Stew Recipe
This paragraph discusses the author's search for an early beef stew recipe in 18th century cookbooks. It notes that stews were referred to as "ragoo" back then. It introduces the recipe they will be making - Rump of Beef a la Daube from 1772, which involves stewing the beef with bacon and spices, then layering it with a vegetable ragoo.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Winter
💡Food preservation
💡Beef
💡Stew
💡Root vegetables
💡Isolation
💡Fireplace cooking
💡Herbs
💡Spices
💡Comfort food
Highlights
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Transcripts
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