Re- SC - Advice, please!

[Marisa Herzog]

                      RE>Re- SC - Advice, please!-                 8/7/97

<snip.
Thank you. But I'm afraid this raises another beginning cook question 
from me:

>     Add ground ginger and saffron seeped in stock, together with a good
grinding of pepper.

What does this mean? I'm assuming it means to take the ginger and the saffron
and put them in the stock and soak them for awhile. <snip>

well, from the very long (but really cool and informative) note from "the
spice guy", he suggests that saffron should be soaked in a small amount of
liquid for about ten min before use- I assume to release the flavor rather
than just dumping it into whatever you are cooking.  So I would just soak the
saffron, and add it and it's liquid to the recipe.

and some more useless info from my herb library:
  saffron crocus- crocus sativus (I have seen bulbs for order in some flower
catalogues!)
  meadow saffron (common crocus?)- colchicum autumnale
  false saffron (safflower?)- carthamaus tinctoris

fennel- foeniculum vulgare
anise (aniseed, sweet cumin)-pimpinella anisum
  both were highly prized and used by the Romans.  Charlemagne in the 800's
had all the herbs in St. Gall's (anybody no where St. G's is?) monastery
planted on all of his royal estates- which spread both of these throughout
Europe.  He also apparently said something to the effect of "these are good
and useful", making them and their use popular.
woo woo! Go Charlemagne!
- -brid

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