It has long been preached that Jesus and his Apostles had bread and water on
the night of the "Last Supper" George Leonard Herter, in his legendary
cookbook "Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices",
published in 1961, says that he had beef[probably mutton], boiled in water
seasoned with cinnamon, cardamon, allspice, nutmeg, bay, and garlic. He
suggests this may have been the genesis of corned beef. George L. Herter
wrote a now legendary series of books, including "How to Live with Bitch",
and "George the Housewife" in addition to his three volumes of cookbooks.
If you ever see any of these in a used book store, grab them. For the
rec.food.cooking junkies they are a great nighttime read. Every cowboy,
rancher, hunter, fisherman and farmer, slept with the Herter's catalogue at
his side when I was growing up. He was the first cousin of Christian
Herter[Secretary of State under Eisenhower], and was in my father's
elementary and high school class. Take a look and read the reviews at:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...rocess=default

Happy St. Pat's, Happy Easter,

Kent