SC - Period vinegar production

[Mark Harris]

Erin Kenny wrote:

> Part of the instructions state: add juice from bleta
> Which is defined:
> "Blette-Name given in some parts of France to white beet or chard."
> Larousse Gastronomique.]
> 
> I was wondering if anyone out there could tell me what relationship
> bleta might have to Swiss Chard.

Well, Blette is one kind of chard (French Chard, more or less) and Swiss
Chard is, well, Swiss Chard. They are close relatives (although not
identical), in the Brassica or cabbage family. For practical culinary
purposes they are interchangeable.

Blette, BTW, used to be a derogatory nickname given to the folk of
Provence by the rest of France, for their love of chard, which the rest
of the country finds amusing. One of the common methods of cooking chard
is to make a gratin of the stalks, with VERY heavy cream, like
Devonshire cream. Who says the French are dumb? I suspect this method is
very old indeed, but have nothing to support this claim at the moment. 

Adamantius