SC - Quantities of salt and spices used.

[david friedman]

snowfire at mail.snet.net wrote:
> 
> I'm reminded of a pub we stopped at in the middle of Salisbury Plain that had an
> authentic "made from scratch" Mexican menu.  But, they didn't use Masa Farina in
> the tortillas.  I lived in West Texas for a few years, so I had a tantrum (not
> really)!  - at least they had tortillas!  In Wales we tend to put everything
> between two slices of bread! (Potato chips, french fries...).

The first question that comes to my mind is pretty much the same one
that I asked (implied?) earlier: what the blazes were you doing eating
Mexican food of any kind in Salisbury Plain (yes, I know, it seems as if
you may not have had a choice)? BTW, there are subsets of Tex-Mex where 
wheat flour tortillas are not inappropriate...or were these made with
ordinary cornmeal?   
 
> It brings up another question I'd been meaning to ask the list however.  I'd
> learned (eons ago) that the word "trencher" originally was supposedly used for a
> piece of thick hard bread that the meat was served on.  One ate "the plate" as well
> as what was on it. As time went on it became an actual plate (wood, pewter,
> whatever).

Actually, more often one gave the "plate" to the poor or the dog to eat,
but some period recipes (and many in late period) do call for food to be
served on sippets of toast, which in turn would be served on some type
of actual plate or dish. The sippets would normally be soaked very
slowly in the sauce or broth to achieve a sort of bread pudding
consistency before being topped with the main part of the dish. 
 
> In Britain we have a habit of putting all manner of things "on toast" that
> Americans might think odd. (e.g. (canned) spaghetti on toast, scrambled egg on
> toast, baked beans on toast, sardines on toast, cheese on toast (not so odd?)) -
> you can even buy "toast toppers" in the supermarket - "chicken", "ham" etc.
> I'm wondering if this came from the trencher tradition?

Quite possibly a throwback to the sippet tradition, since, as I say,
trenchers seem to have been regarded by all but the coarsest and most
gluttonous as food for the poor, after the rich were through with them.

Sandwiches, BTW, probably also are an offshoot of such traditions.

This isn't exclusive to Britain, BTW, any more now than it was in
period. Plenty of French dishes are served, even today, on croutons (a
fried toast, normally), and you often find a piece of some kind of toast
under various American steak dishes (which could be due to French or
British traditions, I suppose). I actually have access to things like
baked beans on batch bread toast, as well as my favorite oddity, curried
chips on toast, in a few local restaurants, since my neighborhood has
quite a few recent Irish immigrants.

Adamantius
Østgardr, East
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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