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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Heaven: Cauldron Bubble: 2012 recipes
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
Thanks! Remind me again (I know I've read it here somewhere) what a waxy potato is.
New potatoes, and ones described as suitable for salads (I'm not sure what the variety names would be where you are). If you did use a floury one, it wouldn't be a disaster - it would just break up a bit more and thicken the sauce.
Aha! I thought so! We have 'new red potatoes' and they are delightful in so many dishes!
That reminds me that I neglected to make my annual new potato and fresh early crop green beans last fall. That has been a long time favorite of the family.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
If you cut a potato and boil it, it goes a bit fuzzy at the edges. (Cells break up and release starch into the water). Floury potatoes go fuzzy faster, waxy slower.
So a waxy potato is more likely to remain intact through cooking, especially when cut into small pieces. When raw they are translucent and a bit slimy feeling, and the cut surfaces are smooth. Floury potatoes are more granular, break up more easily, and often white and rougher in appearance when cut. Also when roast or fried floury potatoes tend to absorb more fat which makes them crispier - especially if parboiled before.
The very flouriest potatoes tend to be used for baked, roast, and mashed potatoes, and purees and smooth soups. Medium-floury for chips and largish boiled potatoes. Waxy for smaller boiled potatoes, and often for salads (tho you can get a different kind of salad with floury), and sometimes for chunky soups and broths.
Potato varieties are different in different countries. In Britain the classic floury potato for roast Sunday dinner is King Edwards.
Maris Piper is one of our most common varieties, maybe the most common, its medium-floury and often used for chips, but also roasting and boiling and mash.
Common waxy potatoes are Maris Peer and Charlotte. (Lots of British vegetable varieties have "Maris" in the name because Maris Road was the address of the old plant breeding reasearch centre in Cambridge)
Also it makes a difference when the potatoes are harvested - new potatoes tend to be firmer and waxier than the same variety might as an early or maincrop. Jersey Royals are our best-known new potato variety (though expensive and I expect we actually eat far more of some other varieties)
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
My potatoes-in-pots experiment is getting off to a promising start; first leaves have emerged! (Irish Cobblers.)
I planted some wax beans today and cleaned up another veg bed...also started transplanting my tomatoes, until an unexpected thunderstorm brewed up and I had to scurry inside.
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
It's always a source of consternation when a recipe calls for "floury potatoes" or what not. I call potatoes by their color. Gold for mashed, brown for roasted.
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by tessaB:
I have been given a sour-dough starter for a cake recipe called the Herman the German Friendship Cake. Has anyone tried this as I cannot believe that something that festers for ten days on my kitchen worktop will actually be good to eat. I have had it for a couple of days now and it is taking up valuable space so should I persist or bin it?
It's probably a bit late now, but persist, then bin it.
Herman was doing the rounds at our office not so long ago. It had a fermented, almost beery sort of flavour which was quite interesting and a dense, moist texture. I didn't opt to take a batch home but I'd think it would go well with raspberries in some shape or form and cream.
You do have to watch it - it can grow quite vigorously in the course of a day.
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Emma Louise
Storm in a teapot
# 3571
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Posted
I'm growing a herman at the moment....
Posts: 12719 | From: Enid Blyton territory. | Registered: Nov 2002
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Emma Louise:
I'm growing a herman at the moment....
I wonder if any of the Herman starters doing the rounds of today's Mums are divisions of the ones I gave away 25 years ago...and how long they had been going before I was given mine. ![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif)
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
So, why do my hash browns always turn into unappetizing grey mush? ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif)
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
So, why do my hash browns always turn into unappetizing grey mush?
Are you talking about cooking commercial or from scratch? If you are making your own you need to be aggressive about getting rid of juice from potatoes. I grate potatoes and leave them in a sieve or colander to drain. Sprinkled with a little salt to stop browning and to aid draining. Anywhere up to an hour. Then squeeze very hard several times to get rid of as much liquid as possible before proceeding with rest of recipe.
I recently made patties from daikon radish which came in my vegetable box. Did the same, added onion etc and some coriander and cooked. really nice and quite different.
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Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
Thanks. I'll try salting and straining them next time.
It took a lot of ketchup to make my hash browns edible tonight. ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
Thanks. I'll try salting and straining them next time.
It took a lot of ketchup to make my hash browns edible tonight.
More than straining potato in colander. squeezing in hands very hard. More than once.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
So, why do my hash browns always turn into unappetizing grey mush?
Another way to avoid that is to nuke the potato the day before. Put it in the frig. Get it out when you want to fix your hash browns, peel and grate it. Heat up your oil and/or butter. I like a few tablespoons of finely diced onion in mine, so I throw those into the oil first to get tender. Put on the grated potato in an even layer, salt and pepper to taste, fry til golden brown on the bottom. Flip for a little color on the other side. Serve!
But then squeezing the bejeebers out of raw potatoes might be therapeutic. Not that you'd need it. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
For the not-dissimilar rosti, I put raw potato through the grater that produces very thin fries. Spread these out on a couple layers of paper kitchen towel, and blot thoroughly with some more, then into a well-oiled pan. This breaks up a fair bit when you turn it, which is fine, as it maximises the amount of crisped surface.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Mary LA
Shipmate
# 17040
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Posted
Firenze I make rosti the same way -- I use small amounts of potato and work fast so that the potato doesn't blacken -- Zach, that blackening might be the cause of your grey mush.
I once tried to make a substantial rosti for six good friends in a giant Le Creuset frying pan. As I grated away by hand on a box grater, chatting and taking time out to check the lamb in the oven, changing music etc, the raw potato oxidised because of ferri-chlorogenic acid in the potato. The resulting blue-black gloop was too off-putting for anyone to eat.
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“I often wonder if we were all characters in one of God's dreams.”
― Muriel Spark
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Beethoven
Ship's deaf genius
# 114
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Posted
I'm coming to the pool of wisdom and experience that is the SoF recipe thread, as I'm wanting some suggestions of new salads to try. Mr Beets likes fruity salads - so florida salad, or I do a cucumber/avocodo/fish salad - but I'm short on ideas. Does anyone have any suggestions of interesting (but preferably not too fiddly!) salads I can try?
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Who wants to be a rock anyway?
toujours gai!
Posts: 1309 | From: Here (and occasionally there) | Registered: May 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Chicory, walnut, apple and blue cheese with a lemon juice and walnut oil dressing.
Avocado, shallots, cherry tomato and coriander dressed with lime juice, sugar and hot pepper sauce.
Hot beetroot and potato with a peppery vinaigrette.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
Diced pears, diced English cucumber, chopped fresh parsley, chopped romaine lettuce, tossed with balsamic or champagne vinaigrette, and just before serving shave Romano cheese with a peeler all over the salad.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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Lynn MagdalenCollege
Shipmate
# 10651
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
So, why do my hash browns always turn into unappetizing grey mush?
Another way to avoid that is to nuke the potato the day before...
For how long? Do you *fully cook* the potato or just partially? Inquiring minds and all ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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Erin & Friend; Been there, done that; Ruth musical
Posts: 6263 | From: California | Registered: Nov 2005
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
Arabic salad is always a treat. Chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and parsley with a simple dressing of salt, lemon juice, and olive oil.
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
I actually fully cook it. I discovered a cold baked potato's use as hash browns when I baked one too many potatoes for a casual get together one night and used the potato for breakfast the next day. It never seems over-cooked to me. YMMV.
ETA: Cross posted with Zach. This reply is for Lynn, of course. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
[ 18. June 2012, 19:30: Message edited by: Lyda*Rose ]
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Celeriac, carrot and radish in a light mayo.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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infinite_monkey
Shipmate
# 11333
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Posted
I think this thread has gone a whole page without me mentioning 101 cookbooks... Seriously, though, her salads are awesome. I'm eating one (the kale market salad from this week) right now.
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His light was lifted just above the Law,
And now we have to live with what we did with what we saw.
--Dar Williams, And a God Descended
Obligatory Blog Flog: www.otherteacher.wordpress.com
Posts: 1423 | From: left coast united states | Registered: Apr 2006
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Beethoven
Ship's deaf genius
# 114
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Posted
See, I knew this was the place to ask! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) Lots of lovely ideas there to keep me going for a few weeks (and longer, since he just bought a tray of beetroot plants at the weekend which I presume I'm meant to be putting in the veggie patch soon...).
Thanks, all
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Who wants to be a rock anyway?
toujours gai!
Posts: 1309 | From: Here (and occasionally there) | Registered: May 2001
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Beethoven, I don't know if this would suit but it went well with my pork and fennel sausages this evening. Quantities are for just me. There was some left over. One small grated carrot. About 10 cm of raw daikon which was left from my patties the other day. A very small whole fennel raw, trimmed and finely chopped. About the same amount of lebanese cucumber also finely chopped. Combine in bowl. I squeezed juice from half a large navel orange over it and drizzled some good oil. Sausages, mushrooms, tomato were cooked and the salad blended beautifully with the fennel in sausages.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
This week I was given a copy of Mrs Cleland's Scottish Cookery , first published 1755.
The recipes tend to be terse: 'To roast a Leg of Mutton with Cockles. Stuff it all over with Cockles and roast it. Put Gravy under it'. There are creatures that have dropped off the menu - Tench, Pike, Larks; techniques - potting and collaring; animal parts - feet, brains, udders, testicles, eyeballs (actually, these are eaten today - it's just that we call them burgers); and desserts made with potatoes or oatmeal, roses, gillyflowers and violets.
Despite the lack of timing or temperatures or recognisable quantities (things tend to come in chopins and mutchkins), I'm minded to try something out of the book. Anyone else experimented with period recipes?
[ 28. June 2012, 20:34: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
I have a cookbook of medieval recipes, but I've never had the nerve to try one. They say things like, "Add a goodly quantity of cinnamon, but not too much." This is in a recipe for a meat dish.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
many years ago I picked up a booklet of supposedly Roman recipes from somewhere like Chedworth. There wasn't much that I could get the ingredients for, but I do remember cooking one dish. Rabbit, IIRC, but definitely including a good quantity of honey. It didn't go down well.
I like to think that my tastebuds are a bit more adventurous these days, but I still find honey too dominant if used in any recipe and really wouldn't want to eat it in a meat dish.
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zappa:
Probably the aromatic additives to mediaeval dishes were designed to offset the taste of slightly decomposing meat!
This is not necessarily the case. A well-managed estate would have had a supply of fresh produce such as game and fish year round. And processes such as salting, pickling and preserving were well understood. What is more probable is that they liked the taste: Norman (ie ruling class) cuisine was influenced by north African/ near Eastern food - all that crusading, you know.
If you were a peasant, you'd be living off spelt bread and vegetables anyway.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
I've done a bit of Roman cookery and have a recipe book for that one, and also various historic recipes from a National Trust cookbook.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Mary LA
Shipmate
# 17040
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Posted
I have a copy of Traditional Country House Cooking edited by C Anne Wilson, which has a number of 17th- and 18th-century recipes from places like Glamis Castle in Scotland, Erddig Hall in Wales. Although some recipes (not the Quaking Bag Pudding, Calf's Head Hash) look good for winter, there is so much oatmeal in everything (mackerel stuffed with oatmeal, a green goose stuffed with oatmeal) I haven't tried many of the recipes.
We get very clean and plentiful offal out here in a farming community so I might try the Fricassee of Tripe with lemon juice, a blade of mace, grated ginger and marjoram.
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“I often wonder if we were all characters in one of God's dreams.”
― Muriel Spark
Posts: 499 | From: Africa | Registered: Apr 2012
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
I've become very fond of sweet, fried plantains at Caribbean and Central American restaurants. Not so much the starchy variety. ![[Frown]](frown.gif) Does anyone know what kind of plantains or what kind of cooking technique to use to cook delicious, sweet plantains?
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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infinite_monkey
Shipmate
# 11333
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Posted
I just made some an hour ago. Basically, plantains come in two forms: green, and ripe. The green ones make the starchy fried guys, the ripe ones make the sweet fried guys. The riper (we're talking black outside) the plantain, the sweeter the fried guys.
Slice 'em on the diagonal, then get a skillet and some oil (canola, sunflower--whatever you have with a decent smoke point) and go nuts. I wish I could be more specific, but I don't use a recipe--just get the oil hot but not scorching, and use enough oil that the plantains start out, at least, able to float on top. Fry until one side looks done-ish when you peek with a slotted spoon or flip thing, then flip and fry some more.
Then blot 'em with a paper towel and salt 'em if you like.
Tasty!
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His light was lifted just above the Law,
And now we have to live with what we did with what we saw.
--Dar Williams, And a God Descended
Obligatory Blog Flog: www.otherteacher.wordpress.com
Posts: 1423 | From: left coast united states | Registered: Apr 2006
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
Oh, boy! Thanks, i_m! I think I can do that. Now off to the store tomorrow to find ripe plantains. The peanut oil I have on hand should do nicely for the frying. One of the restaurants I enjoy adds a spoonful of crème fraiche and a sprinkle of cinnamon when plating, so I might experiment.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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Cottontail
Shipmate
# 12234
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Despite the lack of timing or temperatures or recognisable quantities (things tend to come in chopins and mutchkins), I'm minded to try something out of the book. Anyone else experimented with period recipes?
I had a go last Christmas at a period recipe for Six Minst Pyes of Indifferent Bignesse. (Sorry, it's a Daily Mail link!) I was charmed to learn that 'Indifferent' here means 'of the same size'.
I cheated considerably, because I declined to make them with real mince, substituting apple instead. (Marcus Waring in the Mail seems to have gone for the read thing, though, and liked the results.) But the pastry was authentic, as was the seasoning and all the other ingredients.
Once a friend had supplied me with a translation of the whole, the main issue was the quantities. The original seemed designed to feed a banquet: I had to cut the measurements down to one-sixth of their original size, and it still made a huge quantity of individual mince pies. Also, there were some processes that seem redundant now: I didn't feel the need to 'seethe' (boil) the butter in some water and then skim it off, but simply melted the butter instead. But it worked pretty well on the whole.
I look forward to hearing about your experiments.
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"I don't think you ought to read so much theology," said Lord Peter. "It has a brutalizing influence."
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
I'm eyeing the wonderfully named Beef Ollops. Essentially, it seems to be thin slices of beef, seasoned, rolled and then braised with butter. Add to the juices white wine, lemon and beurre manie . The main difficulty is with the spices - pepper, salt, cloves, mace and lemon zest Ok - but what exactly are 'sweet herbs'? They go into just about everything, so they must have been a recognised culinary item - but what would they have included? Rosemary? Thyme? Basil? Savory? Parsley?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Anna B
Shipmate
# 1439
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
I have a cookbook of medieval recipes, but I've never had the nerve to try one. They say things like, "Add a goodly quantity of cinnamon, but not too much." This is in a recipe for a meat dish.
Moo
Ooooh, I'm quite fond of cinnamon with meat. Very Middle Eastern. I make Christmas sausage with pumpkin-pie spice---easy to use, and so tasty if I do say so myself.
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Bad Christian (TM)
Posts: 3069 | From: near a lot of fish | Registered: Oct 2001
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Mary LA
Shipmate
# 17040
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
The main difficulty is with the spices - pepper, salt, cloves, mace and lemon zest Ok - but what exactly are 'sweet herbs'? They go into just about everything, so they must have been a recognised culinary item - but what would they have included? Rosemary? Thyme? Basil? Savory? Parsley?
I did studies once on medieval and Renaissance gardens and "sweet herbs" referred to sweet-smelling herbs such as rose petals, dianthus (pinks), lavender, sage, bay, thyme in flower, tansy, peppermint, parsley and citrus leaves, along with sweet marjoram at a later stage as Italianate gardens became fashionable.
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“I often wonder if we were all characters in one of God's dreams.”
― Muriel Spark
Posts: 499 | From: Africa | Registered: Apr 2012
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mary LA:
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
The main difficulty is with the spices - pepper, salt, cloves, mace and lemon zest Ok - but what exactly are 'sweet herbs'? They go into just about everything, so they must have been a recognised culinary item - but what would they have included? Rosemary? Thyme? Basil? Savory? Parsley?
I did studies once on medieval and Renaissance gardens and "sweet herbs" referred to sweet-smelling herbs such as rose petals, dianthus (pinks), lavender, sage, bay, thyme in flower, tansy, peppermint, parsley and citrus leaves, along with sweet marjoram at a later stage as Italianate gardens became fashionable.
Yes. Violets are good too!
Also I suspect that "sweet herbs" implied fresh leaves and flowers rather than dried, or than seeds.
Being in London I can buy most of those things though some of them in specialist shops or from the so-called "farmer markets". And you can buy dried rose petals from Turkish shops, but fresh needs a garden. If buying from a modern supermarket with a restricted range of fresh herbs I guess basil could stand in for marjoram, and rosemary and mint would work. Or maybe visit the garden centre
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
This week I was given a copy of Mrs Cleland's Scottish Cookery , first published 1755.
The recipes tend to be terse: 'To roast a Leg of Mutton with Cockles. Stuff it all over with Cockles and roast it. Put Gravy under it'. There are creatures that have dropped off the menu - Tench, Pike, Larks; techniques - potting and collaring; animal parts - feet, brains, udders, testicles, eyeballs (actually, these are eaten today - it's just that we call them burgers); and desserts made with potatoes or oatmeal, roses, gillyflowers and violets.
Despite the lack of timing or temperatures or recognisable quantities (things tend to come in chopins and mutchkins), I'm minded to try something out of the book. Anyone else experimented with period recipes?
Yes! I went through a medieval phase a couple of years ago and enjoyed it a lot. The lack of given quantities didn't bother me - in fact I found it quite liberating. "Take eyren, and putte with thisse, thatte or the other..." Your average medieval will have adapted the recipe as needs arose ("sooth, we have no eyren this morn, for we did kill ye hen yestre'en for that rost fowle dish"), in any case.
Go for it. You're an experienced enough cook to be able to judge what would be a sensible amount, and what would make a good equivalent. Rose and violet essence can be got, with a little trouble: they're still used in Middle Eastern cooking, along with orange flower water - many desserts or sweet things involve them.
Incidentally, to add to Moo's post, I've also cooked meat with cinnamon, both Middle Eastern and medieval style. It's good. A bit of cinnamon bark, along with a few other things, will add a delightful richness, and is easy to identify if you want to take it out. Allspice is another great thing to add to a stew or casserole too. I like it very much.
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Firenze, you might find this interesting for an idea of "sweet herbs".
I've tried several recipes from the Boke of Gode Cokery (though not this particular recipe), among other things, and enjoyed the process a lot.
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Mint, thyme, rosemary, sage, lavender and marjoram I can supply from the garden: parsley and basil can be readily got locally.
Should I come to ollop some beef, I will probably go with a seasonal selection, on the grounds that Mrs Cleland would have had to go with whatever was being hawked round the Luckenbooth that day.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
From A Recipe book in the Tudor Fashion the herbs used in A Fine Beef and Herb Pottage as quoted from Gervase Markham The English Huswife are:
quote:
Violet leaves, succory, strawberry leaves, spinage, Langedebeef, Marygold flowers, Scallions and a little Parsley
and the Tyneham Recipe book which is quoted in Dorset Food by Jo Draper, and has recipes dated to 1763, suggests Beef Olives using similar ingredients only suggests marjoram in the way of herbs.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Allspice is another great thing to add to a stew or casserole too. I like it very much.
Jamaica Pepper, as she calls it, turns up a lot. As does Spinage, which is distinct from the sweet herbs. Mace, which is a spice I've never used, is also omnipresent. There's also a surprising frequency of lemons and oranges.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Allspice is another great thing to add to a stew or casserole too. I like it very much.
Jamaica Pepper, as she calls it, turns up a lot. As does Spinage, which is distinct from the sweet herbs. Mace, which is a spice I've never used, is also omnipresent. There's also a surprising frequency of lemons and oranges.
Allspice, Jamaica Pepper or Pimiento (not pimento) - all names for the same spice. It goes very well ground up in terrines, or sprinkled over pork or chicken before cooking. Try it instead of pepper in the Beck Bertholle and Child dry pork marinade. Madame put a few into this week's quinces and that with some honey, lemon peel and light apple juice was a great combination.
[ 30. June 2012, 23:06: Message edited by: Gee D ]
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Mace, which is a spice I've never used, is also omnipresent.
I cheat and use nutmeg, in smaller quantities.
quote:
There's also a surprising frequency of lemons and oranges.
There's usually a preponderance of some kind of acidic note - they liked their flavours in those days (and had no fridges to stop food going off) and what you're describing with all the herbs and spices sounds like a descendant of medieval/Elizabethan style still going strong. Verjuice crops up a lot in earlier recipes, which is a bit of a catch-all term for the juice of unripe fruit.
I'm guessing that your recipe book was written by someone in the privileged position of having access to an orangery, and not short of a bob or two with all that mace.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by Zappa:
Probably the aromatic additives to mediaeval dishes were designed to offset the taste of slightly decomposing meat!
This is not necessarily the case. A well-managed estate would have had a supply of fresh produce such as game and fish year round. And processes such as salting, pickling and preserving were well understood. What is more probable is that they liked the taste: Norman (ie ruling class) cuisine was influenced by north African/ near Eastern food - all that crusading, you know.
If you were a peasant, you'd be living off spelt bread and vegetables anyway.
Well that buggered up a good theory ![[Disappointed]](graemlins/disappointed.gif)
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and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
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chive
Ship's nude
# 208
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Posted
I love rabbit. I mentioned this to a colleague some months ago and last night she brought me in a rabbit that her husband had shot. I am the world's worst cook. The truth is that nine meals out of ten for me consist of toast. What the hell do I do with this rabbit that's a)easy and b)tasty so poor Thumper didn't die in vain?
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'Edward was the kind of man who thought there was no such thing as a lesbian, just a woman who hadn't done one-to-one Bible study with him.' Catherine Fox, Love to the Lost
Posts: 3542 | From: the cupboard under the stairs | Registered: May 2001
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
Never cooked one. But I hope she gave it to you skinned and cleaned. ![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif)
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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