SC - Where's the beef, or, where's the sacrificial lamb?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> 
> What is the definition of "vermicelli"? Is it period? If so, how close is
> the modern stuff to what you buy in today's store?

Vermicelli are, I believe, actually very long, thin worms used in early
scientific experiments. Modernly, the term also applies to a thin
spaghetti-ish entity thinner than spaghettini and thicker than cappelini
or angel-hair.  By extension, though, vermicelli is used in English as a
catch-all term for any really thin noodle, regardless of continent of
origin or language commonly used to name it. The noodles I was referring
to are actually dan mein, a lightly fried, very long Cantonese egg
noodle sold frozen in Chinese groceries. They are the noodle most
commonly used for real chow mein and lo mein, but are also excellent for
noodle soups because they're almost impossible to soggify or overcook,
and they resist sticking together.   
 
> I don't think I've had vermicelli before, but this past weekend when
> we went to a chinese/vietnamese resturant I decided to try a bowl of it.
> But the noodles in the bowl looked very similar to the white rice(?)
> noodles I had in other soups like Pho-boc before. I thought from seeing
> vermicelli in the package in the store that it was a long, very thin
> tannish noodle but this was pretty white. Is it a general class of noodles
> rather than a specific one?

See above. Essentially, yes. Or, rather, the definition differs by
language, culture, and situation. Yes, your Pho-boc noodles are probably
made from rice, but are probably fresh, rather than dried, which Chinese
restaurants sometimes favor for certain purposes. A common English name
for dried Chinese rice noodles is "rice sticks", but a
Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant may be using fresh rice noodles.

> I didn't get an answer before, so let me try again. What part of the
> pig are pork chops from? Is this cut of pork mentioned in any period
> recipes? I noticed several different types of pork chops in the store
> last time. It might be nice to try a period recipe with some.

Pork chops are almost always from the loin of the hog; very occasionally
they can come from the blade shoulder (as opposed to the "picnic"
shoulder, "arm" or "hand", all the same cut but with names varying by
location). It should be noted that a loin of pork doesn't exactly
correspond to a loin of beef. Pork loins are either side of the spine,
typically with some vertebrae structure, below the shoulder (the tip of
the shoulder blade is generally included in the loin), along the rib
area, the true loin, and through the sirloin. Essentially the primary
cuts on a hog (in the US) found on the back include the shoulder, the
loin, and the ham. The line where the front and rear ribs are joined by
cartilage roughly delineates the border between back and side and belly cuts.

Loin pork chops most often seem to come in two forms, unless there's
some special butchering going on: there's the rib chop, which
understandably looks like a smaller version of a beef rib steak, and the
loin chop --as in the true or "short" loin; never mind that they're all
from the pork loin-- these look like little Porterhouse or T-bone steaks.

The recipe for cormarye in the Forme of Cury specifically calls for pork
loin, and on approximately the same page the unknown author includes a
note defining a pork loin: IIRC it says "from the hip bone to the head"
or some such. Offhand I'm not aware of any recipes that call for chops,
but then I've been awake a long time.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com