SC - Cassoulet

[Philip & Susan Troy]

marilyn traber wrote:

> We found the salt level in the flavor was unacceptable, and the original
> french version did not cure the legs first. Mavis the Bewildered made
> this discovery doing it the frugal gourmet way, which includes the cure.
> I am planning on raising geese this spring, and in the fall knacking
> them, removing the wings and legs to confit and roasting the rest to
> freeze for further recipe components. There is a great potato/turnip
> recipe calles pommes landaise where you cut the neeps and slices of
> prosciute or westphalian ham into 1/4" dice. Panfry in goose fat with
> black pepper and cinnamon. Yummy.
> 
> margali

It's perfectly possible to salt them only to the point where they exude
some of their moisture, over a period of a day or two, without making
them unacceptable salty. If you add too much salt to a dish, you can't
very well be surprised that it is too salty. If, on the other hand, you
add just the right amount, the preservative effects of the confit
process will be increased dramatically, and most people would prefer the
flavor and the color as well. You're supposed to rinse the salt off the
outside of the meat, also, and pat it dry with a towel, before cooking.
Then, of course, the salt the meat has absorbed will to some extent
season the fat it is cooked and stored in, so even less of the salt ends
up in the meat.

I'm curious about the claim that the original French method (which
appears to have been Basque and Savoyard, and called for pork, BTW) did
not cure the meat. Was the discovery which was made by the lady you
mention that the original version of the dish was not cured, or that the
dish was unpleasantly salty if cured? I had understood that the original
version was for slightly cured pork.

Dealing with geese in quantity sounds like fun. At least more so than
chickens, I suspect. Will these geese be properly fattened for lovers of
goose liver?

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================