Stone Age Venison and Bulrush Stew is a re-constructed Ancient recipe for a classic stew of venison, bulrush (reedmace) shoots and mushrooms flavoured with water mint. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ancient version of: Stone Age Venison and Bullrush Stew.
(click this button to prevent the screen from sleeping so Cook Mode is 'ON')
The young stems of sedges (particularly the genus Cyperus as well as Typha latifolia) are edible. More importantly the are a source of vitamins and, perhaps more importantly, of carbohydrate. Which, before the advent of farming and grains (and well before the discovery of potatoes) would have been very rare. Of course, you could add burdock root to bolster the carbohydrate content.
This is intended to be a reproduction of a 'real' early summer stew from the stone age. As metal and even stoneware pots had not been invented yet, this would have been cooked in a pot made from the skin of the animal (not as mad as it sounds, as the fur on the outside of the skin blackens when placed on an open fire and makes a heat proof seal). Unless you lived near the coast there would be no salt. And pepper would not have been introduced to Britain 4000 years ago. Still, if you lived near the coast you would have had pepper dulse to spice up your stew and inland there would have been water pepper to provide spicy seeds.
We also know that our ancestors of this time did collect the seeds of various brassicas to act as a mustard-like spice, so I am going to add a few mustard seeds to this stew (without them its very bland). As this is a summer stew, field mushrooms, horse mushrooms and St Georges mushrooms can also be added.
This time of year is also the period for water mint (a British native), so I will add a few water mint leaves too.
You want to cook this recipe long enough so the bulrush stems have time enough to become very soft, resembling cooked cabbage in the final stages.
Ingredients:
500g venison, cut into bite-sized pieces
300g bulrush (Cyperus) galingale young shoots/stems, outer papery layers removed and cut into 4cm lengths then shredded
500g open-cap mushrooms, broken into pieces
1 bunch water mint, leaves removed from the stems and shredded
1 tsp black mustard seeds
Method:
Place the venison in your pot with about 2l water along with the bullrush stems and the black mustard seeds. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered for about 1 hour or until the meat is cooked all the way through. Now add the mushroom pieces and the water mint leaves.
Bring back to a simmer and cook for a further 60 minutes or until all the ingredients are tender and the stock has thickened.
Spoon into bowls (wooden for authenticity) and eat with a spoon.
