Hunter's Beef (Spiced Beef)
A heavily spiced and corned round of beef, cured over seven days with saltpetre, pepper, and hot spices, then wrapped in fat and baked in a pastry crust. This traditional preservation method creates an intensely flavored beef roast.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds Round of beef (Good quality round cut)
- 2 pounds Coarse salt (Divided into portions for curing)
- 2 tablespoons Saltpetre (potassium nitrate) (Finely ground; use pink curing salt as modern substitute)
- 4 tablespoons Black pepper, finely ground (Divided for multiple applications)
- 1 tablespoon Ground allspice (Part of hot spice mixture)
- 1 teaspoon Ground cloves (Part of hot spice mixture)
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon (Part of hot spice mixture)
- 1 tablespoon Brown sugar (Moist brown sugar preferred)
- 4 lemons Lemon rind, finely pared (Avoid white pith)
- 4 lemons Fresh lemon juice (From the same lemons as rind)
- 1 tablespoon Brandy or other spirit (For mixing with lemon rind)
- 1 pound Beef fat or suet, thinly sliced (For wrapping the beef)
- 4 cups All-purpose flour (For pie crust)
- 1.5 cups Water (For making coarse pie crust)
