SC - Au Gratin (a semi-retraction)

[Stefan li Rous]

Adamantius replied to me:
> To get back to your question, though, some of the methods/tools of the
> batterie de cuisine of 18th-20th century "classical" French cuisine had
> recognizable beginnings in the seventeenth century, a few even earlier.
> Bechamel sauce, for example. Let's see, now. Frangipane. Puff pastry
> (ignoring the very real possibility that this is Islamic and very old
> indeed). Duxelles, a preparation of shallots and mushrooms used mostly
> in stuffings and sauces, traditionally thought to be invented by La
> Varenne, who was, I believe, chef to the 17th-century Marquis d'Uxelles.
> Sauce Robert, a version of which appears in Taillevent.
> 
> So yes, in short, some of this stuff is period, some slightly
> post-period, and a lot of it completely post-period.

Thank you for the clarification.
 
> Another aspect is that some foodie types can't just flip a switch and
> not be interested in the non-period culinary history. Some of us are as
> happy to read Ranhofer's recipe for Truffle Essence a la Delmonico
> ("Take two pounds of trimmed black truffles..."), as we are to read
> Utilis Coquinario. And I guess we do tend to go on a bit... ;  ) .

I was not objecting to discussing a non-period food item on this list,
although I'll admit that much of the discussion was over my head and
perhaps a bit esoteric. I have enjoyed a number of the non-period food
discussions here, such as the holiday dinner discussions and your
description of various chinese feasts with your relatives. For instance,
the thread on names has occurred before and I've got a file somewhere
of that info. It just isn't in the Florilegium.

I have however tasked myself with capturing the bits of period food
information that might be useful to others for the Florilegium. Because
of the volume of this list this often has to be done "on the fly" since
I seldom have the time, despite promises to myself, to go back and
look at old digest fragments. This thread had expanded more than I
expected yet I still didn't know whether it covered a period subject.
I wanted to get an idea of whether it was period, so I could go back
through the recent digests if needed, before they got too old and lost
in the mass of old digest fragments.

- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****