SC - Graisse Normande?

[Bonne of Traquair]

Anyone else heard of it?

I'm currently reading "The Norman Table" subtitled 'The Traditional 
Cooking of Normandy' by Claude Guermont.  Chapter 1 is Basic Stocks and 
Sauces.  The first item discussed is "Graisse Normande":

	"Before proceeding to the recipes, it is worth taking a close look at 
some of the more fundamental elements of Norman cooking.  Cream and 
butter, for instance, are used so lavishly in the recipes of the 
province, that many assume they have always been a cornerstone of the 
cuisine.  Actually, it has only been in the past few decaades that 
butter has really been able to stake an uncontested claim to that 
position.  Before the chief cooking medium was a preparation called 
graisse normande.

	This rich mixture of fats and vegetables essences is one of the great 
characteristic flavores of the province. In Normandy it was once held in 
the same esteem as goose fat is today in southwestern France.  Although 
it is used rarely now, graisse normande was at one time considered the 
signature of the finer cooks of the region, with the proportions and 
types of fat varying from town to town and farm to farm. Many dishes 
would have tasted incomplete without it, and in the Manche region of the 
province, a soup was even created called Soupe a la Graisse."


His introduction to the buerre manie recipe does say that it is 
"classically based" and not really necessary to provincial cooking.  
That he doesn't make this point about the graisse normande indicates 
something I'm not going to run into in "classical" cooking. Something I 
might run into if I could read french recipes of the period?

The recipe will follow in another post.  Basically, a blend of beef & 
pork fat, slowly rendered and then simmered wth carrot, turnip, parsnip, 
leek, bouquet garni, salt and pepper.  Strained well, preserves for 
several months covered and chilled. Haven't got to the recipes, so don't 
know what he uses it in yet.


Lady Bonne



______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.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".

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