The Banquets of the Hebrews

The Hebrews were nomads for an extended period, having come out of Chaldea to occupy the land of Canaan.  Prosperity and peace on the banks of the Jordan enabled them to partake of the pleasure of the table.
At first, they were simple pleasures, but when luxury and refinement were introduced, their banquets become very elaborate. At the time of the kings they sat down to table, but later adopted the habit of reclining on couches to eat. They perfumed their wine with essences, and when guests arrived for a banquet, holy water and perfume were poured over them, they were crowned with flowers, and took their places according to their ranks.
Music was made 'with the harp, the tabret and pipe'.  Women were not at first admitted to the feasts, but they were accepted in time and were handsomely entertained, the Sabeans from the desert putting bracelets on their wrists and crowns on their heads (New Larousse Gastronomique)

Today Hebrew Cooking.
A recipe from The Book of Jewish Food By Claudia Roden. It is cooking roasted stuffed breast of veal with Kasha ( buckwheat) and mushroom filling.  Based on that recipe, Veal Pot Roast served with mushroom is the cooking to complete the Ancient Banquets of the Hebrews as I could not cook and find a recipe from that time.
I choose a pot roast dish, because it is excellent for the season, delicious hot succulent veal served with mushrooms.

 Veal Pot Roast - Susy's Recipe

Ingredients

1.3 kg shoulder of veal- non-kosher meat

2 onions and 6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

Vegetable oil, to seal the meat

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 cup water-white wine?

Salt and white pepper

The pot, to pot roast the veal

The recipe and the cooking to be continued.

I am pleased that I can share one of Claudia Roden's recipes.  She includes funny stories that make the cooking book more interesting.

A woman goes to the butcher and says, 'I want you to cut me exactly two pounds of this meat.'  He cuts it, and it weighs just two ounces more, she says, 'Cut a little bit off, I want exactly two pounds.  '  He cuts a little bit more, and it is still no exact.  She asks him to cut a tiny bit more.  Then he cuts too much, and now it is a little bit less than two pounds.  So she asks him to add a tiny bit more.  When at last it is two pounds exactly the woman says, 'I wanted to see what two pounds of meat looked like, because I was told next door that I only had to lose two pounds to fit into the dress in the window.' (from The Book of Jewish Food)

I hope you have a good laugh, I thought it's funny.  

To Be Continued, Stay Tuned

Until Next Post

Susy