[Sca-cooks] OT while everyone is at Pennsic

[Philip W. Troy & Susan Troy]

Ted Eisenstein wrote:
>
> >> I have to ask. "Fermented skate"? That produces images of
> >> either essence of sweaty feet, or sushi that's been sitting
> >> around too long. . .
> >
> >Properly fermented, sushi makes a lovely wine. But were you talking
> >about that?
>
> I was serious. What the hell is the skate that's being fermented?
> Is it really that fish-type thing? Or is it something else?

I _think_ that the "fermented" skate is just that, the
cartilaginous-skeletoned flatfish/ray, chilled to the right temperature
so that either a lactobacillic fermentation (as with brined sour or
half-sour pickles) or some kind of enzymatic breakdown, as with both
garum and hakaarl (sp? which is Greenland shark reduced to a rather nice
simulacrum of Brie cheese, I'm told), occurs. However, since Nanna says
you cook it, I think maybe it's more like the former.

> (How the hell can you ferment sushi?)

Sorry, I was messing with you. Sushi is a type and preparation of rice.
You either malt it and mash it, or innoculate a cooked supply with a
mold whose Japanese name I forget, but which converts the starch in the
rice to sugars. You then ferment it with yeast or wild airborne yeasts
to get wine. Otherwise you can eat it, frequently in small formed lumps
or rolls, which you can top with optional pieces of omelette, pickles,
or, if you feel like it, fish. Unfortunately, sushi seems to be
irrevocably linked in the American mindset to the raw fish garnish that
is not even really a part of what makes sushi sushi, let alone always raw.

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