SC - Foiles of Parsley

[GARNER@admin.hnc.edu]

Marisa Herzog wrote:

> I have just one genuine question: why wouldn't sauce mean sauce?  I have not
> had time to go to my books, but I seem to remember that there were a variety
> of sauces that had vinegar or verjuice as the main ingredient.  Just curious-
> I have always been quite happy with my fish and chips and a bottle of vinegar,
> have even converted the husband off of ketchup when we are at the pub.
> -brid
> 

As Sigmund Freud reputedly said, sometimes a sauce is just a sauce. It's
something you pour over food to season it before eating. Like, for
example, vinegar or verjuice.

Interestingly enough, the word sauce is derived from the same root as
salt. It gets really interesting when you get into things like the
Lord's Salt recipe found in the "Icelandic Medical Miscellany" (actually
probably Provencale, as I recall): Lord's Salt is basically a spiced
vinegar. I don't remember if there's any salt in it at all. Some
tranlators prefer the term "salsa" for this type of thing, but that has
some peculiar associations for us moderns. There's a Spanish or
Andalusian recipe for eggplants and cheese that calls for Salsa Fina,
which is more akin to le Menagier's Fine Spice Powder than to either
salt or salsa. If I remember correctly, there's a reference in
Taillevent to some dish (is it squab or pigeon?) being eaten with no
other sauce but salt.

I suppose it's a case of sauce is as sauce does.

Adamantius, in under 1000 words this time... 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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