SC - Mock Sturgeon

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

>LrdRas at aol.com wrote:

>> The lack of critique is somewhat disturbing. :-( 

>> (which by the way, is absolutely out of this world with brown mustard.
>> :-))
>> quite to the contrary of what was expected by the armchair enthusiasts
>> among
>> us.
>>
>> <end of rant>
>>
>> al-Sayyid Ras al Zib
>
>sorry, have been sick since sunday, havent been able to be verticle
>enough to sit at computer til today-
>sonds yummy, i am glad it came out well, and can i have some of the
>leftovers;-)
>margali
>

Sorry, Tootsie. I was off in space for a while, too. 'Tis the season to be
barfy........

Now that we're normal again, I can read a recipe without shuddering. Here's
what occurs to me:

This is a fancy recipe for brawn. I speak of later period Brawn, which is
made from coice gobbets including the head of a PIG, rather than veal. Why
the head (anticipating newbie questions)---well, because it makes a great
jelled stock/aspic (which Ras excells at, BTW). He substituted trotters for
the head, which also make a good jell. In fact, any knuckle or joint will do
the same thing. But I digress.

What I see from all this is Veal Brawn, which, because of it's unique color,
can be made to the mold of (to resemble) the fish it is named for. Could
this be where our copper fish-shaped molds originally came from? Interesting
thought.

Brawn is traditionally served with mustard sauce. Good intuitive guess
there, Ras.

Earlier in our period in England, the word Brawn was used to refer to any
red or dark game meat off of the joint (already carved, possibly leftover
from the day before. Sometimes also referred to as Broke Brawn), thus making
this all very confusing indeed. Many folks shy awy from Brawn type dishes
because they look suspisciously like head cheese (a vastly inferiour modern
product whose jelly has very little color). Head "cheese" is meat, pressed
and  then molded in aspic a lot like the cheese process, and so it got that
unfortunate name (not to mention it was made from--you guessed it--the head.
Waste not, want not). 

Brawn, or choice gobbets, some from the head, in savory Aspic is another
animal, though. It is delicate, meaty, tender, and succulent, and melts in
the mouth. A good grainy or brown mustard is just what the doctor ordered.

I hope this works well with your future menus. I served Brawn several years
ago at a large feast (a small serving at each table, with oatcakes and
mustard sauce, as an appetiser). Half of the folks raved. The other half
refused to eat it----the barbarians. It was wonderful, though. Sometimes you
have to take risks with your tastebuds.

Cheerio

Aoife     

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