Potted Beef (Beef in a Pot, Spreadable Preserve)
Beef long-cooked, finely pounded with butter and spices, packed into a pot and sealed with a layer of butter. Spread on bread for a cold meal or snack.
Beef long-cooked, finely pounded with butter and spices, packed into a pot and sealed with a layer of butter. Spread on bread for a cold meal or snack.
Nothing should go to waste in a well-kept house—that is a principle the economist embraces even in his pantry. The beef left from Sunday is cooked a little more, pounded fine with butter, a touch of mace and pepper, then packed into pots and topped with a lid of melted butter. Thus sealed, it keeps for days. Spread on a slice of bread, it is the discreet lunch of the busy scholar who has no time to come down to dinner.
- •Lean beef (or roast leftovers) — one pound (base)
- •Butter — generously (binder + seal)
- •Mace (or nutmeg) — a pinch (spice)
- •Pepper, salt — to taste (seasoning)
Potted Beef (Beef in a Pot, Spreadable Preserve)
Beef long-cooked, finely pounded with butter and spices, packed into a pot and sealed with a layer of butter. Spread on bread for a cold meal or snack.
Why this dish? Potted beef was a common household provision in Victorian homes: a way to economize leftover beef by preserving it under a layer of clarified butter, ready to spread. A frugal and sensible practice that suits Marshall's measured daily life.
Nothing should go to waste in a well-kept house—that is a principle the economist embraces even in his pantry. The beef left from Sunday is cooked a little more, pounded fine with butter, a touch of mace and pepper, then packed into pots and topped with a lid of melted butter. Thus sealed, it keeps for days. Spread on a slice of bread, it is the discreet lunch of the busy scholar who has no time to come down to dinner.
Ingredients (period version)
- Lean beef (or roast leftovers) — one pound (base)
- Butter — generously (binder + seal)
- Mace (or nutmeg) — a pinch (spice)
- Pepper, salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Beef for braising or roast leftovers — 400 g (base)
- Unsalted butter — 150 g (50 g for sealing) (binder + seal)
- Ground mace (or nutmeg) — 1 pinch (spice)
- Black pepper, salt — to taste (seasoning)
- Broth or water — 100 ml (cooking)
Method
- Cook the beef very gently in a little broth, covered, until it shreds (or use roast leftovers).
- Chop then pound the meat finely in a mortar (or blend) with 100 g of soft butter, mace, salt and pepper, until a smooth paste.
- Pack firmly into small pots, expelling air bubbles.
- Melt the remaining 50 g of butter, let the whey settle, and pour the clarified butter over the surface to seal.
- Let set in a cool place. Refrigerate and consume within a few days.
- Serve cold, spread on toast.
How it was made : "Potting" (sealing a preparation under clarified butter to isolate it from air) was a domestic preservation technique before refrigeration, applied to beef, ham, game, or shrimp. Mace and nutmeg, spices of the Empire, classically flavored these potted meats.
The contemporary twist : Present in individual small pots with a few gherkins and a slice of toasted country bread—a chic "English rillette."
Sources : Mrs Beeton, Book of Household Management, 1861 · Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, 1747
Alfred Marshall · Charactorium