To Collar Beefe Spring Garden Way

This recipe hails from a collection spanning 1675 to approximately 1750, a time when preserving and flavoring meats with brine, spices, and wine was an essential culinary technique in England. The 'collaring' method—rolling and tying meat into compact shapes—helped both with preservation and creating a striking presentation at the table. Linked with women such as Rose Kendall, Anne Cater, Elizabeth Clarke, and Anna Maria Bold, the cookbooks of this era offer a glimpse into upper- and middle-class English kitchens. Recipes such as this beef collar were likely served at festive occasions or as centerpiece dishes for special gatherings.

The original recipe would use large earthenware pots for brining and baking, a lidded ceramic dish, and kitchen linen or cloth tape to tie the beef collars. Cooks would rely on large bread ovens, often fueled by wood or coal, providing slow, gentle residual heat for overnight roasting. Knives for butchery, mortar and pestle for grinding spices, and sieves for sifting were standard. Mixing was done by hand, and chopping the herbs and mixing the spices would have been a fragrant, tactile affair, often overseen by experienced cooks or housekeepers.