SC - murri

[Philip & Susan Troy]

LYN M PARKINSON wrote:
> 
>  In the fake murri, is the honey cooked to scorch taste, and is the bread
> really burnt?  If I'm mis-reading, or getting impressions that are
> erroneous, I'd like to know.

You may be; I don't know. Caramelization of sugars and other
carbohydrates is a form of oxidation, and so is burning/scorching. I
think the difference between a lovely caramelization on the creme brulee
and the inedibly burnt toast is largely a matter of degree of oxidation.

I suspect that the use of terms like "scorch" are at the discretion of
the translator, and may not, in fact, represent an unpleasant degree of
burning. After all, murri has been likened to soy sauce and
Worcestershire sauce; neither of those taste burnt, do they? Perhaps
"scorch" just scanned better in the translation than "caramelize". It's
possible, given some care, to caramelize something pretty darkly without
actually making it taste really burnt: Cajun red and black roux come to mind.

Regarding the carcinogen question: IIRC, all Perry said was that the
method of production for murri was similar to that for soy sauce, and
that soy sauce production creates an edible byproduct, solid cakes of
cooked, ground bean meal which have been subjected to a controlled decay
with certain molds. Sound familiar? It's been determined that some areas
of China where soy sauce is produced have both a high incidence of
people eating these cakes (after draining off the liquid soy sauce) and
_also_ a high incidence of stomach cancer. (I think there's something
about this in Tannahill's "Food In History"; whether it has anything to
do with Perry's reasoning process, inspired it or was inspired by it, I
don't know.) In any case, the available information suggests that eating
the cakes may prove carcinogenic, and by extension, Perry theorized that
murri, made by a similar process, _could_ conceivably contain
carcinogens. Ultimately, however, he appears to have reasoned that
regardless of whether the cakes from soy sauce are carcinogenic, and
whether rotted barley is carcinogenic, soy sauce appears not to be, and
therefore, it seems highly unlikely that murri would be carcinogenic.  

Almost certainly an example of deliberate erring on the side of
conservatism, but erring nonetheless, I think.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com