SC - cream/herbs/custard

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Ian van Tets wrote:
> 
> Thanks all you people who now start discussing the curdling
> properties of herbs.  Why didn't you bring this up when I asked about
> nettles earlier?  It would have saved some effort with the dried
> ones.

I somehow managed to miss this entire thread. I encountered it first as
a full-blown examination of Lombardy Crustade. Sorry about that; I do
know that dried nettles are regarded overall as useless for any of the
standard culinary purposes, the ones I'm aware of being beer, cheese,
and soup. In all cases you need the fresh little shoots, so far as I
know.
 
> By the way, would the technique for Coeur a la Creme be appropriate
> to try for your custard?  I've left all my recipe books in storage,
> so can't give you any details, but think it is a soft, sweet cheese
> made from cream and just allowed to sit until it self-curdles.
> Perhaps someone might have a French book or two and be able to check?

The implication in the Crustade recipe is that the cream is fresh when
you start out, and the question overall, was why, and how, is the cream
thickened to the point that it will support an egg, or stand up in
peaks. Curdling it was just one of the possible explanations, which I
believe was considered only because of the presence of the parsley. 

Anyway, you're right about the Coeur a la Creme. It apparently has no
separate or artificial curdling agent added to it; good old wild
lactobacilli seem to do the trick. It bears a pretty strong resemblance
to mascarpone, actually, although I don't know offhand if mascarpone is
made the same way. The information, BTW, was gleaned from the Larousse
Gastronomique, which, unless the topic under discussion is demonstrably
and exclusively French, I generally use as a paperweight. 

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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