SC - eggs?

[Stefan li Rous]

Chris wrote:
> 
> I was wondering if someone has a period resiepe for Rillette.  I am positive it is
> period.  It is very similiar in cooking style to Confit, which is one of the
> oldest known ways of preserving food.
> 
> Aaron Hawksmoor

Hmmm. Certainly the method for preserving rillettes is almost identical
for that used to preserve confit de porc, d'oie, or du canard. And yes,
it is old. Just how old appears to be unknown.

On the face of it, though, it seems as if you're looking for proof of
something you already seem to know, but on the strength of what, I don't
know. Certainly if there were period evidence of such a preservative
method being used, that would indicate the method was period.
Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any such evidence, nor any evidence
pre-dating period, either. The period recipes in English and French for
confits describe something very different, generally either candied
seeds or fruits preserved in spiced syrup. The oldest reference to
confit d'oie, etc., _that I'm aware of_, is probably 18th century.

I remember being told by someone that Taillevent's Viandier contains a
reference to rillettes, but upon checking the comprehensive Scully
translation I can't find anything even close, unless you count
"ribelettes", meaning rashers or lardons of bacon. 

For those who may not be up on all this stuff, rillettes, like the
Savoyard dishes of confit of pork, duck, or goose, are made from lightly
cured meat [usually pork, in cubes, but sometimes goose, rabbit, etc.]
cooked in its own fat until much of their water content has evaporated.
Confits are then sealed in pots of the fat covering and congealing over
the meat to seal out the air, while rillettes are shredded,
traditionally with two forks, pounded in a mortar and mixed with most of
the fat, with only a thin layer covering it in the pot. It is eaten
cold, as a kind of spread or pate.

The frequently-less-than-informative Larousse Gastronomique makes no
mention of the age of rillettes nor of rillons, their "big (i.e.
coarser-ground) brother".
   
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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