[Sca-cooks] online glossary

[Philip & Susan Troy]

"Cindy M. Renfrow" wrote:
>
> New words for you:
>
> BLUE = a cooking method involving poaching an unscaled fish in an acidic
> water, making the outer skin turn bluish.  (Seton)  Documentation?

As far as I know, this is a comparatively modern concept, and may not
actually belong in this glossary. Larousse gives no date (which only
suggests there is as much reason to assume the method is modern as to
assume it is period), but the method appears in both French and German
cuisines. It seems to be common in eastern France. The bluish culprit is
actually the layer of slime coating the skin of the fish, which is part
of why the fish has to be unscaled, extremely fresh, preferably alive,
and handled at a minimum.

 > Candlemas

Isn't this February 2nd, at least in the modern ecclesiastical calendar?

> Civet

This is a toughie. Among other modern usages, this is probably a
derivative of civey, which was at one time named for, and characterized
by, the possibility of thickening a sauce with finely chopped onion,
cooked till very soft. Some period recipes for civeys (for example, hare
in civey) also call for blood as an additional thickener; nowadays the
dish, which is now sometimes called civet, is mostly characterized by
thickening and enriching the broth with the reserved blood of the
critter you're cooking. It will coagulate if boiled, and turn very dark,
but if heated properly it will assume a velvety texture similar to a
stirred custard, and acquire a deep russet shade almost like a
mole-poblano-type sauce.

> farsure

That which is farced, forced, or stuffed, into something. I believe the
infamous cuskynole recipe uses this term, and it seems still to be in
use as of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Not to mention more
recently still.

> fusty

Hah. Can you tell me where you saw this? Or where whoever saw it? I'm
drawing a complete blank.

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com