SC - Kuskenoles (Part MMDCLXXVI or so)

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

>---------------------------
>
>Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 10:33:40 -0800
>From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
>Subject: Re: SC - Kuskenoles (Part MMDCLXXVI or so)
>
>At 7:40 PM +1100 1/26/98, Charles McCathieNevile wrote:
>
>>I placed the unspread section over the last one, and rolled a plate over
>>it to create a sort of ravioli effect (but the pieces were still pretty
>>much together - just had break lines like toilet paper.
>
>That sounds like my interpretation--and the only one of those you give that
>fits the original, including the picture. Were the number of sections in
>yours the same as in the picture?
>
>David/Cariadoc

Sometimes no matter how many test batches you make, the true essence of a
recipe does not become clear until it is made in quantity. This was the case
for Cuskenoles at our event this past weekend. Following are my amended
observations:

When cuskenoles are seperated from each other in thier sheets, they take far
longer to boil, roast and serve, since it is necessary to lift each one from
the pot individually. It would have been easier to leave them in the sheet
and allow the diners to tear them apart. You may recall that we discussed
this aspect of the dish a while back, in speculation of what the original
recipe really meant. It seems this is another case of modern prejudices (ie:
"hey! it's ravioli")  projected backwards and applied to old recipes.
Extrapolated: "If cuskenole are ravioli, then surely they are seperated just
like modern ravioli before cooking?"  Emphatically---Not.

Frozen cuskenoles (freezing is not a part of the original recipe) must be
cooked from the frozen state.

Cuskenole singly or in sheets will cook well and quickly at a boil in a
shallow pan. 

Use of a Ravioli press will produce something resembling the diagram in the
original. The resultant dumplings are square rather than rectangular. The
particular press we used produced sheets that were connected until cut
apart. Unfortunately, we cut them. We took the scraps from the press and
made many by hand as well. Hand-made, they use less filling.

After the entire experiment, I now believe that the cuskenoles are: 1)
Intended to be processed and cooked in a sheet,  and cut apart by the
diners. 2) Quickly made by hand in the methods described in the original. It
was actually faster and more efficient than using the ravioli press!

Aoife



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