Cecina — Dried Meat of the Rider
A piece of beef (or, in times of scarcity, horse) rubbed with salt, lightly smoked, then dried for weeks in the dry wind of the meseta. Sliced thin: dense, salty, almost sweet from the prolonged drying.
A piece of beef (or, in times of scarcity, horse) rubbed with salt, lightly smoked, then dried for weeks in the dry wind of the meseta. Sliced thin: dense, salty, almost sweet from the prolonged drying.
Learn this, for it may save your life: fresh flesh betrays the soldier, it rots before the third dawn. But rub a piece of beef with coarse salt, let it sit a few days, pass it through the mild smoke of oak, and hang it in the cold wind of Castile — and you will have enough to hold a siege all winter. In bad times, when forage was scarce, we even dried the flesh of our fallen horses, for a warrior wastes nothing. Slice it thin as a leaf, chew it long: it will restore your strength on the road to Valencia.
- •Beef cut (shank, round) — a quarter (meat to preserve)
- •Coarse salt — in abundance (dehydration and preservation)
- •Oak smoke — — (flavor and preservation)
- •Dry cold wind — several weeks (drying)
Cecina — Dried Meat of the Rider
A piece of beef (or, in times of scarcity, horse) rubbed with salt, lightly smoked, then dried for weeks in the dry wind of the meseta. Sliced thin: dense, salty, almost sweet from the prolonged drying.
Why this dish? A warrior on campaign does not always find a kitchen. Cecina — salted, smoked, and wind-dried meat — is the provision that does not spoil, the one El Cid and his men carry on the long rides of the Reconquista, even into sieges where supplies run short.
Learn this, for it may save your life: fresh flesh betrays the soldier, it rots before the third dawn. But rub a piece of beef with coarse salt, let it sit a few days, pass it through the mild smoke of oak, and hang it in the cold wind of Castile — and you will have enough to hold a siege all winter. In bad times, when forage was scarce, we even dried the flesh of our fallen horses, for a warrior wastes nothing. Slice it thin as a leaf, chew it long: it will restore your strength on the road to Valencia.
Ingredients (period version)
- Beef cut (shank, round) — a quarter (meat to preserve)
- Coarse salt — in abundance (dehydration and preservation)
- Oak smoke — — (flavor and preservation)
- Dry cold wind — several weeks (drying)
Ingredients
- Lean beef cut (rump, round) — 800 g (meat)
- Coarse salt — 1.5 kg (for coating) (curing)
- Cracked black pepper — 2 tbsp (flavor (optional))
- Liquid smoke or smoker — optional (smoky note)
Method
- Bury the beef completely in coarse salt, refrigerated, for 24 to 36 hours (depending on thickness).
- Rinse quickly, pat dry with a cloth, and pepper the surface.
- Cold-smoke for a few hours if possible (or brush with a hint of liquid smoke).
- Hang in a cool, dry, ventilated place (cellar, ventilated fridge) for 3 to 6 weeks, until the piece has lost about 40% of its weight and is firm.
- Slice very thinly against the grain to serve.
How it was made : Cecina (from Latin *siccus*, 'dry') has been attested since antiquity in the peninsula; in the Middle Ages, it was the reserve meat of armies and peasants, salted and dried in the wind of the meseta. In times of siege or famine, all available meats were dried, including horse — a real wartime practice.
The contemporary twist : Served as thin slices on a board with a drizzle of olive oil and a few grilled almonds: the Campeador's tapa.
El Cid · Charactorium