Recipe Manuscript

To Collop Beef

Name: To Collop Beef
Prep time: PTPT20M
Cook time: PTPT3H30M
Yield: 8
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 2-2.5 kg beef sirloin or rump roast (boneless preferred); 3-4 L cold water; 115 g saltpetre (potassium nitrate) or 115 g curing salt (Prague Powder #1); 250-300 g coarse sea salt or kosher salt; 2 tsp ground cloves; 2 tsp ground mace; 2 tsp ground nutmeg; 2 tsp ground black pepper; 1 tsp whole coriander seeds (lightly crushed); Kitchen string or butcher's twine (to bind meat); Net bag or rack for draining; Oven-safe pot with lid

1725

From the treasured pages of Receipt book of Dorothy Stone

Written by Dorothy Stone

Culinary Enlightenment (1700 - 1800)European Intermediate Dinner Lunch Other

Original Recipe • 1725

Original Manuscript(circa Culinary Enlightenment, 1700 - 1800)

As inscribed by the original author's hand, transcribed with care by Lost Kitchen Scrolls

To Collop Beef

"Take a Sr-loyn or Canh of beef and bone it and lay it in pump water as much as will Cover it, put in 4oz of sall peter or Bay Salt 5 or 6 handfulls of white Salt let it lye in 3 days then take it out and Season the Inside of it with Cloves, Mace Nutmeg and pepper, a few Corian der seed, bind it up very close with a Courso tape. Bake it in the same pickle, when it is Baked take it out, and put it into a Nett, and hang it up to drain when it is cold Straine it, and put in the Beef so keep it Cover'd in a coole place for Use."

Note on the Original Text

The recipe is written in the direct, economic prose typical of early 18th-century English cookbooks, omitting measurements and precise timings, as cooks were expected to rely on experience and intuition. Ingredients like 'sall peter' (saltpetre) and 'Bay Salt' refer to common curing agents of the period. Spelling, such as 'Canh' (for 'chunk' or 'collop'), 'straine' (strain), and 'lye' (lie), reflects the fluidity of English orthography before standardized dictionaries. Recipe instructions also presume practical knowledge; for example, 'bind it up very close' would have been immediately understood as tightly rolling and tying the beef to keep its shape during cooking.

Modern Kitchen Interpretation

Recipe's Origin

Receipt book of Dorothy Stone - Click to view recipe in book

Title

Receipt book of Dorothy Stone (1725)

You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome

Writer

Dorothy Stone

Era

1725

Publisher

Unknown

Background

Step into the delicious world of early 18th-century kitchens with Dorothy Stone, where classic recipes and culinary curiosities await. Expect a charming medley of hearty fare, sweet treats, and the tasteful secrets of a bygone era.

Kindly made available by

Folger Shakespeare Library

Historical Background of the Recipe

Learn about old traditions

This recipe comes from Dorothy Stone, who flourished around 1725, a period when salting, spicing, and baking were key methods for preserving and flavoring meat before the age of refrigeration. Colloping, or slicing and curing beef, produced a spiced, self-preserving meat that could be sliced thin for cold service—making it a prized dish in English households for breakfast or supper, or as part of a cold collation. The detailed spicing and baking reflect both the tastes of the era and the need for safe storage. The beef would have been prepared in advance and hung in a cool larder, then brought out as needed—a delicious ancestor of modern corned or spiced beef.

Culinary Tools when the Recipe was Crafted

Tools and techniques from kitchens of old

In the early 18th century, the preparer would have required a large, sturdy bowl or cistern for the brining step, likely made of earthenware or wood. The spices were ground in a mortar and pestle. The coarse tape to tie up the meat might have been made of hemp or linen. The baking was done in a covered, deep dish or pot inside a wood-fired oven. Draining and drying the meat required a mesh or net bag, and the cooked beef would finally be kept cool in a larder or cellar, submerged in strained pickle brine.

Modern Kitchen Adaptation

Ingredients and techniques for today's cooks

ounces, cups, Fahrenheit

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

3 hrs 30 mins

Servings

We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!

Ingredients

4.5-5.5 lb beef sirloin or rump roast (boneless preferred)
3-4 quarts cold water
4 oz saltpetre (potassium nitrate) or 4 oz curing salt (Prague Powder #1)
9-10 oz coarse sea salt or kosher salt
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground mace
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp whole coriander seeds (lightly crushed)
Kitchen string or butcher's twine (to bind meat)
Net bag or rack for draining
Oven-safe pot with lid

Instructions

To recreate this 18th-century 'Collop Beef' for the contemporary kitchen, begin by taking about 4.5-5.5 lb of beef sirloin or rump and remove any large bones.
Submerge the meat in enough water to just cover it (approximately 3-4 quarts in a non-reactive container).
Stir in 4 oz of saltpetre (potassium nitrate) or, if unavailable, coarse bay salt or curing salt, and 9-10 oz of coarse sea salt.
Leave the meat to cure in this brine in the refrigerator for 3 days.
After 3 days, take the meat out and rub the inner surfaces liberally with ground spices: 2 teaspoons each of cloves, mace, nutmeg, black pepper, and about 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds (lightly crushed).
Roll or tie the beef tightly with kitchen string (substituting for 'coarse tape').
Put the meat, along with the brining liquid, into an oven-safe pot, cover, and bake at 300°F for 3-4 hours or until fully cooked.
Let the beef cool and drain on a rack or in a net bag (like a ham netting).
Once cold, strain the remaining cooking liquid and store the beef in it in a sealed container in the fridge.
Enjoy thinly sliced, served cold.

Estimated Calories

250 per serving

Cooking Estimates

It takes about 20 minutes to prepare the meat and brine. The dish then needs 3 days to cure in the fridge and about 3.5 hours to cook in the oven. Each serving is based on thinly sliced cold beef, with about 8 servings per roast. Each serving is estimated to have around 250 calories.

As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.

We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.