In article >,
zxcvbob > wrote:

> David Friedman wrote:
> > My family does historical recreation (SCA), and one issue is how to keep
> > meat at a week long camping event without a (modern, inconvenient)
> > cooler. Currently we have one solution that involves preserving meat in
> > spices and vinegar, from a roughly 13th c. source. Other than that we
> > use beans, eggs, cheese, etc., which don't have such a serious spoilage
> > problem.
> >
> > Historically, smoking was used to preserve food--but as far as I can
> > tell, the smoked foods currently available in the supermarket use it for
> > flavor, and require, or say they require, refrigeration. I was wondering
> > if people here could point me at sources for smoked meat that would keep
> > without refrigeration, or suggest other solutions to the problem,
> > preferably ones that don't involve too large an investment of time and
> > effort.
> >
>
>
> What hostoric period?

SCA is pre-seventeenth century and, in practice although not in the
rules, almost all post classical antiquity, and mostly European.

> How historically accurate do you want?

That isn't an all or nothing issue--more accurate is better. I would
prefer to have instructions that were actually written down before 1600,
as in the case of the one process we currently use. But modern
instructions for a process that we have good reason to believe was used
before 1600 would be a lot better than nothing.

> How much lead time do you have before you need it (hard salami, for
> instance, does not require refrigeration but it takes a long time to
> make.)

A lead time of months wouldn't be a problem.

> Would you object to adding sodium nitrite to an otherwise
> authentic old recipe?

I would be interested in trying to do without--are there good reasons to
add the nitrite?

I should add that my persona in the SCA is a North African Muslim, so
although ways of preserving pork are interesting, they aren't
immediately useful.

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