Civé de veel [Veal stew] Taillevent  (1312-1395)  Great Cooks and Their Recipes:  From Taillevent to Escoffier  Anne Willan, Michael Boys (Photographer) 17

Civet, meaning stew, is still a common French dish, though we would call Taillevent's recipe a curry. The sauce is thickened with breadcrumbs or with a purée of peas, in much the same way that legumes are added to give body to curries in southern India. Grain of paradise is a pepper-flavored variety of cardamom, and verjuice is tart fruit juice. 

Roast on the spit or on the grill without cooking the meat too much, cut it in pieces and let it fry in fat in a casserole, and cut onion very finely and fry with it, then take toasted bread softened in wine and beef bouillon or purée of peas and bring to a boil with your meat; then prepare ginger, cinnamon, clove, grain of paradise and saffron to give it color, and dilute with verjuice and vinegar; and let it be well thickened, and plenty of onions, and the bread be browned, and all piquant with vinegar and highly spiced; and it should be yellow.

CIVÉ DE VEEL
 
 

	Imperial	Metric	Ingredient
THICKENING I:	3 slices	3 slices	bread
	¾ cup	1,75 dl	red or white wine
	1 cup	2  ½ dl	beef stock
THICKENING II:	¼ cup	60 g	dried split green peas, soaked overnight in water and drained
	1  ½ cups	3,75 dl	water
			salt
			pepper
STEW:	2 lbs	1 kg	piece boneless shoulder or leg of veal
	2 tbsp	2 tbsp	lard or oil
	4	4	medium onions, chopped
	2 tsp	2 tsp	ground ginger
	2 tsp	2 tsp	ground cinnamon
	½ tsp	½ tsp	ground cloves
	1 pod	1 pod	cardamom seeds
	pinch	pinch	saffron
			salt
			pepper
	2-3 tbsp	2-3 tbsp	verjuice (see below)
	2-3 tbsp	2-3 tbsp	vinegar

For the thickening: if using bread with wine and stock, beat the oven to 300°F/150°C. Bake the bread in the heated oven until well browned, about 30 minutes. Let cool and grind it to fine crumbs in a food processor or blender. Stir in the wine, let stand 5 minutes until the crumbs are soft, then add the beef stock. If using dried peas, simmer them, covered, in water until very soft, 1 ½ - 2 hours. Purée the mixture in a food processor or blender; it should be thick but still pour easily. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the stew: sear the veal over an open flame, preferably charcoal, so the outside is slightly charred; cut it in 1 inch/2.5 cm cubes. In a casserole, heat the lard or oil and fry half the veal until browned on all sides. Take out, fry the remaining veal and remove it. Add the onions and cook until soft but not brown. Put back the meat, pour over the bread and wine mixture or the pea puree, cover and bring to a boil. Stir a few spoonfuls of the sauce into a mixture of the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and saffron, and stir this mixture back into the meat. Add salt and pepper, cover, and simmer on top of the stove or cook in an oven heated to 325°F/160°C until the meat is very tender, 1-1½ hours. Stir in the verjuice and vinegar, adding more to taste (the amount needed depends on their tartness).

FOR THE VERJUICE:

Work tart grapes, tart apples, crab apples, or any other tart or unripe fruit in a food processor then strain to obtain the sour juice. Alternatively, chop the fruit and work it through a vegetable mill, then strain to obtain the juice.