Book of Days Tales

The Feast of the Ass was observed on this date primarily in medieval France as a by-product of the Feast of Fools which celebrated all donkey related stories in the Bible. The 14^th January celebration focused on the Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13–23), in particular the donkey bearing the Holy Family into Egypt after Jesus’ birth. So, if you want to keep the Christmas story going a little longer, here is your opportunity. The feast was first celebrated in the 11^th century, inspired by the pseudo-Augustinian “Sermo contra Judaeos” c. 6^th century. In the second half of the 15^th century, the feast disappeared gradually, along with the Feast of Fools, which was suppressed around the same time as being irreverent. Feast of the Ass was not considered as objectionable as the Feast of Fools, but it did encourage a kind of mockery of the liturgy. Typically, a girl and a child on a donkey would be led through town to the church, where the donkey would stand beside the altar during the sermon, and the congregation would “hee-haw” their responses to the priest.

I am not sure about serving reindeer for Christmas dinner (even though it is common in parts of Scandinavia), or rabbit for Easter dinner, but a donkey stew for this feast is irresistible., Stracotto d’asino (stewed ass), is a specialty of Mantua where I lived for two years. It took some time to find a restaurant that served it because it is not a popular dish any more, and when I first tasted it, I was not impressed. It was all right, but not great. There was a horse butcher near my home that sold donkey on order so I bought some and experimented. Eventually I produced a stracotto that Mantovani all claimed was the best they had eaten – better than any in a local restaurant. Well – so much for my humility. My “secret” was to add cloves and allspice to the dish’s aromatics.  Allspice (pepe de Giamaica in Italian) is not easy to find because it is not used in Italian dishes, but I had some left from Christmas cooking, and it was a big hit with my Italian guests. If cooking donkey offends you, you could substitute beef, I suppose.

Stracotto D’Asino

Ingredients

600 gm donkey meat, cut in chunks
1 slice of bacon, cut in pieces
1 white onion, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 cup red wine
200 gm tomato pulp
butter
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced thin
salt
bay leaves
ground nutmeg, pepper, cloves, allspice and cinnamon

Instructions

Put the meat in a bowl with the onion, garlic, bay leaves and spices (to taste). Add the red wine, stir and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator. See the HINTS tab for marinating techniques.

Next day, strain off the marinade and keep it separate. In a heavy, deep skilled over medium heat fry the bacon. Add a little butter to the bacon fat and brown the meat and vegetables. Add back the marinade plus the tomato pulp, cover and simmer very slowly for at least 5 hours. Check the liquid level from time to time and add hot broth if needed. Cook until the meat is very tender and the broth is thick.

The stracotto can be served with macaroni, or as a second course with grilled polenta.