Name: Spiced Venison Stew with Herb Dumplings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: ½ tsp cubebs (or whole allspice); ½ tsp grains of paradise (or black peppercorns); 2 cloves; 1 cinnamon stick 5-8 cm long; 1 blade mace; 1 tbsp chopped chives; 2 pinches / 40-60 saffron strands, crushed; 500 ml / 17 fl oz / 2 cups venison or beef stock; 1 ½ tbsp plain flour; salt to season; 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage; 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley; 2 tbsp boiling water; 250 g / 9 oz / 2 cups stale white breadcrumbs (not dried); 1 pinch / 20-30 saffron strands, crushed; 1 tsp sugar (optional); 800 g / 1 ¾ lb stewing venison or beef, cubed; 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 2 onions, chopped; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; well flavoured meat or vegetable stock or salted water to cook; ½ tsp salt; 3 eggs, beaten

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Fool's Gold

By Sam Bilton

Published 2022

About

This stew is adapted from the recipe ‘Beef y-Stywyd’ in Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks (Harl. MS 279). The dumplings are inspired by the recipe for ‘Jusshell’ in Forme of Cury (1390).

Ingredients

For the stew:

1 cinnamon stick 5-8 cm long
2 cloves
1 blade mace

Method

For the stew:

Grind the whole spices (except the saffron) to a fine powder in a spice mill (or use a pestle and mortar). Mix with the vinegar then rub the spice paste into the meat and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight.
The following day heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium hea