SC - Toasting salamander.

[Philip & Susan Troy]

david friedman wrote:
> 
> >As for toasted cheese being made with a salamander, I believe this
> >practice post-dates period, probably coming into being in the 18th-19th
> >centuries when things like Mornay Sauce(more or less cheesy bechamel)
> >became common...
> 
> How about Digby's Savory Toasted Cheese (mid-17th c.)? He says at the end
> of the recipe, "You may scorch it at the top with a hot Fire-Shovel." He
> may be talking about a fire tool rather than a specialized cooking tool,
> but that is a near-period example of the technique.

Yup. But in Digby's recipe it seems to be mentioned more or less as an
optional afterthought (in spite of the name of the dish being "Savoury
Toasted or Melted Cheese"), and using a fire shovel doesn't really
indicate the technique was common enough to make it necessary to invent
a tool specifically for the purpose.

I'm wondering if perhaps the final toasting is sort of irrelevant, and
if perhaps Digby, or whoever "invented" the dish, was serving a dish of
melted cheese as a sort of counterfeit for real toasted cheese, actually
toasted before the fire, just as somebody might crisp frozen French
fries in the oven and still call them French fries.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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