SC - big spice question

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Wade Hutchison wrote:
> 
> I can't find flaw with Adamantius' logic, but I do have another
> wrinkle to add, from the world of brewing beer.  If the spice
> flavor does come from these essential oils, which are released by
> cooking the spices, then perhaps the variable between large
> batches and small batches would be the cooking time.  We all know
> that it just takes longer to get that big pot of chili (for example)
> up to heat, and cooked than it will for a whole series of smaller pots,
> each with their own burner.  This longer cooking (and heating) time
> could lead to more flavor being extracted from the spices, making it
> look like you really needed less to begin with.

Yup. This is a possibility I'd been meaning to address anyway. Cooking
time, especially if you add, for example, Margali's cloves to a pot of
cold liquid and bring a big pot of water, with or without honey, to a
simmer, as versus a small pot, might well be a factor. Other
possibilities might be specific gravity of the liquid, liquid pressure
(more in a big pot, somewhat, anyway) and (my own next best candidate
after cooking time) liquid pH, which ought to be pretty much the same
between different batches of mead made in the same place, but which
might still vary. 
> 
> The basis for this observation from brewing is the addition of hops
> to a beer.  The extraction of the only slightly soluble hop oils
> and resins is dependent on time and the amount of sugars in the
> wort (pre-beer).

And, I believe, pH. ;  ) Or is that more of a mashing issue? Either way
it probably applies...

  The more sugars there are, the less hop
> bitterness gets extracted for a given amount of boiling time.
> This could also lead to the fact that if the composition of the
> rest of the dish is not exactly the same in a larger size (more
> water?  more oils?) that would also affect the extraction of the
> spice.
> 
> For feast cooking, could the mineral composition of the water effect
> the spice flavors?  Many sites where we have events are on well
> water, which could have a different mineral profile than the city
> water you used to cook your test batch.

pH definitely affects chili heat in a cooked dish, so I wouldn't be
surprised. Mineral profile could well affect both pH and specific gravity.

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".

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