Thoughts:

It’s another virtual potluck, AND a recipe from one of my favorite medieval cookbooks, The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi.  It reminds me of a Turkish dish I once had, called Çöp Şiş, where the meat on the kebab was spaced out with chunks of fat. It tasted amazing, and this is similar.

The bacon adds flavor to the tender beef. When I eat bacon, I like it like Tyrion: burnt and crispy, so in the future I would like to try using salt pork or some other type of cured pork. I used bay leaves, which imparted a great flavor, and I imagine sage would do likewise; I hope to try it in the near future… Yom. :)

This dish comes from Kate Quinn’s newest novel, the Lion and the Rose, the second in her series about the Borgias. Check out the other dishes in this virtual potluck below:

• Taking On Magazines, Venison in Brandy-cream sauce, Tortellini with basil-parsley filling
• Between the Sheets, Stuffed Endives, Blood Orange Torte
• Island Vittles, Potato Chips and Candied Walnuts
• Little White Apron, Beef en Brochette with Blood Orange, Fennel and Olive Salad
• Lost Past Remembered, Fish Pie with Orange
• Kate Quinn, Walnut and Pecorino Cheese Torte

Roman-style Tenderloin Recipe

Get the leanest part of the tenderloin, with the bones, skin, and gristle removed, and cut it crosswise in six-ounce pieces, sprinkling them with ground salt and fennel flour or coriander ground with common spices. Into each piece, set four lardoons of marbled salt pork. Place them in a press with that mixture and a little rose vinegar and must syrup for three hours. Then mount them on a spit with a rasher of bacon and a sage or bay leaf between each piece; cook them over a moderate fire. When they are done, they need to be served hot, dressed with a sauce of their drippings together with the compound that exuded from them in the press, which sauce should be somewhat thick and saffron-coloured. -The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi

• 2 beef tenderloins, of hefty thickness
• bacon or salt pork, cut into squares
• 1/2 cup must syrup, or grape juice
• 1/4 cup rose vinegar
• sage or bay leaves
• 1 tsp. fennel pollen
• hefty pinch salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Cut the tenderloin into large chunks. Place these in a deep dish, then pour the must syrup/grape juice, the vinegar, and the spices over. Press the meat down, and let marinate for several hours. Then, slide the meat onto long skewers, adding bacon and sage or bay leaves intermittently. Broil on low for just long enough for the meat to be done, turning once in the middle, about 15 minutes. Cover to keep warm, and cook the drippings and the marinade until it thickens.