SC - More On Baconn'd Herring Breakfasts (Long!)

[Cindy Renfrow]

>>
<snip>
>
>
Interestingly enough, we are back to the point of wondering
>whether baconned herring is herring with bacon or other lard added, or herring
>cured or otherwise treated like bacon. Scully seems to go for the former
>theory in the case of the salmon recipe quoted, while Pichon seems to espouse
>the latter idea. Scully does point out several instances of "baconner" used as
>a verb, as opposed to the use of "lard" as a verb, but also sez he believes
>baconner to be a corruption of another verb. The bottom line is that Scully
>says he feels the fish is to be larded, and cites a couple of other uses of a
>similar verb, but then he says he's not sure, it may be that the fish is to be
>studded, as with cloves or some such (boutonner). Pichon pretty clearly thinks
>the reference is to salmon being smoked, unless I'm vastly mistaken.

"Larded" seems unlikely, to me anyway, because the salmon is fish & the
lard is meat, & they seem to be mutually exclusive in most period recipes.
(At least the ones I can remember at the moment...) Also, a salmon is
described as being a  fat fish, rather than a lean one.  Do you typically
add fat to salmon when you cook it?

<snip>
>In any case, I'm still not sure I buy the Scully interpretation of the bit
>about the chine. He seems to feel a dual cooking process is involved, first
>roasting, then removing it from the bones and breaking it up, and simmering in
>water with wine and salt. Scully, of course, seems to attribute all acts of
>unknown motivation to medical theory: he says the second cooking process is a
>boiling, thus "exposing it to the warming and drying effects of wine and
>salt." I'm not sure I buy this, since even if salmon is unusally cold and
>moist, you'd think a roasting would be the way to counteract this. And, if
>wine and salt were really necessary, why spoil it with a cooling, moist
>cooking method like boiling? Yes, I know boiling is in fact really hot, just
>take it up with Galen, please, okay?
>
>I'm still inclined to think there is at least some possibility that the
>roasting is for the upper, back portion of the fish, and the boiling for the
>fatty rib and ventral area meat.

I'm inclined to agree with your first assessment:
>fresh SALMON [belly?] is smoked, (1) and keep the chine for roasting;

In other words, the salmon is divided & one part is smoked & the other part
roasted. A salmon is a big fish, after all.  The direction to
partially-roast & then simmer in wine, or other liquid, is found in other
recipes. In fact Aoife's   recipe for stwed beef does the same thing.  The
partial roasting (or broiling) brings out the flavor, & the simmering
tenderizes the flesh & adds other flavors.

>
>Regarding the footnotes, the first refers to an author named Du Cange,
>suggesting Du Cange uses the word "baco'. I have no access to anything written
>by Du Cange, but his name is mentioned in a footnote by Eileen Power in her
>translation of Le Menagier. It is, unfortunately, in connection with an
>entirely different passage so doesn't help us here, much. As for the third
>footnote, I haven't the foggiest idea who or what G.C. is.

G. C. is a work called "le Grand cuisinier de toutes cuisines".  I don't
any info on Du Cange -- does anyone have access to Attar or Bitting, etc.

>Well, I'm done for now. Now is the time for anyone wishing to translate this
>into poetry, or include lamb's lettuce in the recipe, to speak now or forever
>hold his/her piece (and you know who you are!!!) ;  )
>
>In wild hopes this has helped, instead of just making everything more
>confusing,
>
>Adamantius
>--
>Phil & Susan Troy
>
>troy at asan.com

lol!

Cindy
renfrow at skylands.net


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

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".

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