To make Alloes of beef

PERIOD: England, late 15th c. | SOURCE: MS Pepys 1047 | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: Beef rolls, stuffed with onions & herbs and roasted on skewers.

Facsimile of receipt from the original manuscript:
 

Transcription of original receipt:

To make Alloes (8.1) of beef

Take lene beef and cut hym in thyn pecys and lay hit on A borde then take sewet of motton or of beef and herbys and onyons hackyd small to gether then straw thy leshes of beef with powder of pepur and a lytell salt and strew on thy sewet and the herbys. And rolle them up ther yn put them on a broche (8.2) and roste them and serue them up hote.

Modern translation:

To make rolls (8.1) of beef.

Take lean beef and cut him in thin pieces and lay it on a board. Then take suet of mutton or of beef and herbs and onions hacked small together. Then strew thy slices of beef with powder of pepper and a little salt and strew on your suet and the herbs. And roll them up there in, put them on a spit (8.2) and roast them and serve them up hot.

(8.1) alloes - stuffed meat rolls, meant to resemble larks or small birds. Also spelled aloes & often translated as "veal birds," it is from the Old French word for "larks." See Hieatt, Curye on Inglisch, p. 169.

(8.2) broche - spit or skewer. See the definition for brocche in Austin, p. 122 and for broche in Hieatt, Curye on Inglysh, p. 174. The word survives today as broach.

Modern recipe: