SC - horseradish root
Robin Carroll-Mann
rcmann4 at earthlink.net
Sun Apr 22 20:52:54 PDT 2001
On 22 Apr 01,, LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> I followed your redaction until this part. The original recipe says to drop
> to red hot stones into the mixture and then allow to cool. I may be wreong
> but I was wondering why you decided to serve the sauce warm?
Ah. Here we have a difference of choice of words between two
translations. Vincente's translation, which was the one posted,
used the word "cool" in reference to the stones. Mine says:
"take two smooth pebbles from the sea or river, and cast them in the fire,
and when they shall be quite ruddy and red, cast them with some tongs
in the mortar in such a manner that they are extinguished there, and when
all this is done taste it for flavor..."
The Spanish is "que se amaten alli". "Amatar", according to the
1726 RAE dictionary means
1. An archaic form of the verb "matar", 'to kill'
2. To put out and to extinguish the fire, the light, thirst, hunger, etc.
"Se amaten" is the reflexive form of the verb, so a more literal
translation would be "so that they [the pebbles] extinguish
themselves there..."
I took this to mean that the heated pebbles will lose their red glow
and transfer their heat to the sauce. Since there is no instruction
to let the sauce sit until it is completely cool, I assumed it would
be served warm.
Now, obviously, the pebbles do cool off in the process of being
dunked in the sauce. Vincente, would you care to jump in and say
how you read this? Anyone else?
> Also if I am not
> mistaken the original also indicates that the suace is to be thinned with
> diluted vinegar as opposed to water alone.
My redaction calls for 3 TBS white wine vinegar -- although I
recommend reducing that quantity if one is using prepared
horseradish from a jar, as that already contains vinegar. I think you
may have missed that line. If something got lost in the cut and
paste, let me know, and I will repost.
> I am looking forward to your responce.
I would appreciate your comments on the culinary side of this.
Although I have heard of cooking with heated rocks, I understood it
was a technique that was used in cultures/situations where
cooking vessels that could be put on a fire were not available. This
is the only example I have seen in late-period cuisine. Why might
this technique be used, rather than setting the pot over some
embers?
> Ras
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
now at a new address: rcmann4 at earthlink.net
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