[Sca-cooks] Corn Bread

[Mark.S Harris]

Elizabeth said:
>    I can still remember Terry Nutter, Lady Angharad, arguing this point
> back in Black Diamond:  her arguement was: you find a turkey, bring it
> back to the cook & cook says:  "it's a bird!  It's a BIG bird!  Let's
> treat it like a (swan, peacock, other large fowl).  You hand the same
> cook a potatoe--or more convincingly, an ear of corn,  and poor cook says
> "Prithee, thou cross-gartered Varlet, what manner of object is this?"
> (Add appropriate nose wrinkle as necessary)  Maize looks nothing like any
> old world vegetable, and without the Native Americans about to show you
> how to use it, it's useless.  Now my understanding is that Squanto did
> not make it to Europe until post 1600.
>
>    If the Spaniards brought back South American recipes, where are they?
> I think you have to be in contact with a group of people on their turf,
> as it were, before you incorporate their food into your life.

This makes a lot of sense. I can certainly draw examples from my
own experiences. I've been going into various oriental and ethnic
markets after some of the comments on this list. Some items are
labeled pretty clearly or I know what they are and how to use
them. Some are labeled only in those strange metric measurements
or the directions use those strange metric measurements. With
appropriate measuring cup or a conversion table, I can handle those.

Then there are the packets that look somewhat familar but all the
instructions are in a foriegn language and/or alphabet. Well, it
looks like Ramon noodles. Let's put it in boiling water for awhile
and see what happens.

But there are totally unrecognisable fresh ingredients that I have
no idea what to do with them. Or the familar items in a strange
combination or preservation technique. Pickled beets or pickled
bamboo shoots. There were a LOT more. I just can't remember them
off the top of my head. Including many different types of noodles.

I think I can understand how the Spanish cooks felt. And *I* have
access to oriental cookbooks if I want them.

Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net