Veal pie

Sabina Welserin- 1553

60 To make a veal pie

Take pieces of veal from the leg and boil them in water, about as long as it takes to hard boil an egg. Afterwards take them out and chop the meat small, and take suet from the kidneys and cut it small and chop it with the veal. And when it is finely chopped, then put it in a bowl and put some wine into it and an ample ladelful of broth , pepper and a little mace, which should be whole. Crush it a little by hand so that it in small pieces, put in it raisins and saffron and stir it all up together with a spoon, put cinnamon in it also, and taste it, however it seems good to you.


1 double crust pie shell

2 kilograms ground beef or veal
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 broth. preferably beef
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1 1/2 cup raisins, seedless
1/8 teaspoon saffrom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
salt to taste

Put meat, wine and broth in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer, Cook until meat is done, add spices and raisins and simmer until the raisins are plump and the broth is reduced. Adjust salt and spices to taste. Put into crust, cover and bake at
425 F. for 30 minutes or until the crust is completely cooked.


It is common in medieval recipes for the meat to have been cooked before being put into the crust to bake. This also allows for a period cook to prepare the bulk of the dish ahead and then assembled on site and baked.