Collar of Flank of Beef
Source: Mary Randolph, 1824
History
The 'collar of flank of beef' recorded in Mary Randolph's The Virginia House-Wife (first published 1824) is an example of 'collaring' — a preparation in which a flat cut of meat is cured, spread with herbs and spices, then rolled, bound, and boiled. As printed, the flank is rubbed with 'saltpetre and common salt,' cured ten days, skinned, spread with 'parsley, sage, thyme chopped fine, pepper, salt and pounded cloves,' rolled, sewn in a cloth, bandaged with tape, boiled five or six hours, then pressed under a weighted board for twenty-four hours before slicing. Collaring is not original to Randolph or to America: it is a long-established method in which 'the meat is laid out flat... herbs and spices are spread on top, it's then rolled, tied, wrapped in a cloth, and boiled,' the name thought to come from the coiled shape resembling a collar. A 'Collar of Beef' appears in English print cookery at least as early as Robert May's The Accomplisht Cook (1660), and 'Recipes for collared meats go back to Elizabethan times and were popular through the Georgian and Regency eras'. The record does not document a specific medieval 'galantine' or 'rollet' ancestry, nor any social-status meaning attached to it in early-republic Virginia.
Ingredients
- flank of beef
- a large portion saltpetre
- common salt
- parsley
- sage
- thyme
- pepper
- salt
- cloves
- cloth
- tape
- green pickle
- parsley sprigs
Instructions
- Rub the flank of beef well with a large portion of saltpetre and common salt. Let it remain for ten days to cure.
- Wash the meat clean and remove the outer and inner skin along with the gristle. Spread it out on a board.
- Prepare the filling: chop parsley, sage, and thyme fine, then mix with pepper, salt, and pounded cloves.
- Cover the inside of the beef with this herb mixture. Roll it up tightly, then sew a cloth over it and bandage with tape to secure.
- Boil gently for five or six hours until tender.
- When cold, lay it on a board without undoing the bandages. Place another board on top and weight it down heavily. Let it remain for twenty-four hours to press.
- Remove the bandages, cut a thin slice from each end, and serve garnished with green pickle and sprigs of parsley.