[Sca-cooks] Re: Shepherd's Pies

[Philip W. Troy & Susan Troy]

Bethra Spicewell wrote:

>   On topic tho -- IS there any evidence for casserole type dishes in
> (European) period ? The only ones I've found that come close are some
> of the Middle Eastern stuff.
>   Always looking for new ways to surprise friends and relitives with
> "ancient" food

What type of evidence there may be to support it, I don't know, but
there may turn out to be evidence for baked meat/whatever-in-sauce
conglomerations as ancestors of current types of cholent and/or
cassoulet. I suspect these may be rare or nonexistent in period largely
because of the relative dearth of ovens. Yes, you could make them up and
have the baker bake it for you, but there are other dishes where this is
unnecessary, so it's an additional bit of work.

There also seem to be a few Spanish recipes, which may or may not be
derived from Islamic originals, which involve some sort of gratineeing
with a fire shovel or some such.

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98