A friend of mine also dwelling some time in Spain,
having certain Jews at his table, did set brawn before
them, whereof they did eat very earnestly, supposing
it to be a kind of fish not common in those parts;
but when the goodman of the house brought in the head
in pastime among them, to shew what they had eaten,
they rose from the table, hied them home in haste,
each of them procuring himself to vomit, some by oil
and some by other means, till (as they supposed) they
had cleansed their stomachs of that prohibited food.
With us it is accounted a great piece of service at
the table from November until February be ended, but
chiefly in the Christmas time. With the same also
we begin our dinners each day after other; and, because
it is somewhat hard of digestion, a draught of malvesey,
bastard, or muscadel, is usually drank after it, where
either of them are conveniently to be had; otherwise
the meaner sort content themselves with their own drink,
which at that season is generally very strong, and
stronger indeed than it is all the year beside.
It is made commonly of the fore part of a tame boar,
set up for the purpose by the space of a whole year
or two, especially in gentlemen’s houses (for
the husbandmen and farmers never frank them for their
own use above three or four months, or half a year
at the most), in which time he is dieted with oats
and peason, and lodged on the bare planks of an uneasy
coat, till his fat be hardened sufficiently for their
purpose: afterward he is killed, scalded, and
cut out, and then of his former parts is our brawn
made. The rest is nothing so fat, and therefore
it beareth the name of sowse only, and is commonly
reserved for the serving-man and hind, except it please
the owner to have any part thereof baked, which are
then handled of custom after this manner: the
hinder parts being cut off, they are first drawn with
lard, and then sodden; being sodden, they are soused
in claret wine and vinegar a certain space, and afterward
baked in pasties, and eaten of many instead of the
wild boar, and truly it is very good meat: the
pestles may be hanged up a while to dry before they
be drawn with lard, if you will, and thereby prove
the better. But hereof enough, and therefore
to come again unto our brawn. The neck pieces,
being cut off round, are called collars of brawn, the
shoulders are named shilds, only the ribs retain the
former denomination, so that these aforesaid pieces
deserve the name of brawn: the bowels of the
beast are commonly cast away because of their rankness,
and so were likewise his stones, till a foolish fantasy
got hold of late amongst some delicate dames, who
have now found the means to dress them also with great
cost for a dainty dish, and bring them to the board
as a service among other of like sort, though not without
note of their desire to the provocation of fleshly
lust which by this their fond curiosity is not a little
revealed. When the boar is thus cut out each
piece is wrapped up, either with bulrushes, ozier,