SC - Judge's Mouthfuls-a recipe

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> 
> Adamantius commented:
> > The recipes I've seen for modern Loukamades are for a soft yeast dough,
> > squeezed out and pinched off by the handful with oiled hands, in a
> > motion similar to milking a cow.  The purpose of this technique is, I
> > gather, to maximize the forming of a gluten membrane outside each piece,
> > resulting in an extremly crispy crust when fried. This wouldn't be
> > achieved, in theory, by using a spoon. Of course this is then obviated
> > by pouring a syrup over the whole thing. Go figure.
> 
> But would this pouring of syrup over the fried dough necessarily obviate
> the crispness? I would think it would matter how long it sat that way.
> Wouldn't it still be crisp, yet covered in sweet syrup if served
> immediately? I would think that it would only go really soft and squishy
> after a while soaking in the syrup. Maybe this is dependant upon how
> thick the syrup is.

Yes, that's true. They may well stay crunchy, even in milk, as the
saying goes. But not for too long, and while I've seen them made fresh
and to order in various places, I've also seen them sitting for a while
in the syrup, most frequently at an annual fair-sort-of-thing put on by
a local Greek orthodox church. What you should realize is that they _do_
stay pretty crisp in the syrup; syrup and water aren't the same thing as
far as that goes, any more than oil would have the same effect as water.
But it still isn't the same as the hot, freshly dipped article.

By the way, the above might go far toward explaining Apicius's seemingly
confusing instruction to fry dates in honey. 
 
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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