SC - horseradish root

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Robin Carroll-Mann wrote:

> 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?

This type of hot-rock heating hasn't completely disappeared, even now.
(Or at least not till recently, and who knows? -- It may undergo a
resurgence.) Up till at least the nineteenth century, one mulled stout
in England by inserting a red-hot fireplace poker into the ale. This is
a little different from the procedure for producing mulled wine or cider
- -- nothing is added but the heat and the caramelized bits of sugar from
the ale itself. Tastes kinda like a toasted marshmallow in hot ale. An
acquired taste, perhaps, but fun.

A year or so ago I ran across a gadget in an antique shop which turned
out to be a tin-lined copper vessel looking a lot like a beer stein,
with a hinged lid with a notch on the edge, as if to allow the lid to
close neatly over some kind of utensil. The utensil was a simple iron
stick with a threaded business end to which a nut had been added, and
this was holding in place a lump of soapstone about the size and shape
of an egg, drilled through to receive the iron bar. It turned out this
gadget was specifically for the purpose of mulling beverages, to be used
by heating the stone end of the dipstick in a fire until glowing, then
sticking it into the stout, or whatever. The lid kept it hot and
probably limited foam overflow.

I ended up buying the gizmo in question as a housewarming present for a
friend who is an enthusiastic brewer. Of course, had I kept it myself I
would have included it in my inventory of Weird Kitchen Gadgets.

I wonder if perhaps the hot-rock thing in this recipe has to do with
protecting the ultimate consumer against off-flavors in reactive containers.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com