SC - OOP - Eggplant

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Allison wrote:
>What is miso, and what is in it?

Miso is a salted soy bean product common in Japan made a little bit 
like cheese, in that there are special molds which turn the salted 
soy beans in to miso.

It contains miso, salt, water, the lacto-bacillus and molds that make 
it into miso - some also have wheat or rice or barley...

- ----- quote -----
Miso is made from dried soybeans, which are soaked, steamed and 
crushed, then combined with water, salt, and a mold that works in 
much the same way that a sourdough starter jump-starts bread. Rice or 
barley may be added to the bean mixture, which is left to mature and 
ferment, traditionally in large wooden barrels, for several months or 
years. The end result is a paste roughly the texture of peanut 
butter. It may be sweet or salty, mellow or robust, mild or pungent, 
red or white, or dozens of shades in between. Japanese food expert 
Elizabeth Andoh has likened regional distinctions among miso to those 
among the wines and cheeses of Europe.
- ----- end quote -----

Similar products with different names are made in Korea and China. It 
results in a sort of paste, varying from pale beige to yellow, to 
medium red-brown to extremely dark brown, depending on what is in it, 
how long it is fermented, and how long it is stored.

White miso is very soft, more fluid than many other misos. Because of 
its flavor - which is lighter, sweeter, and less salty than 
thraditional miso - white miso has been very popular since the mid 
1970's. It is made by a quick fermenting chemical process because you 
can't get a miso of this color, flavor and texture by the traditional 
methods.

More traditional misos are darker, thicker, saltier, and often chunkier.

Misos may contain, in addition to soy bean, rice, wheat, or barley, 
in different quantities, which affects the fermenting process and 
final flavor and texture. Miso with rice tends to be softer and 
milder, miso with barley tends to be darker, drier, and more strongly 
flavored.

It *may* be period, but documentation is lacking. I have several 
books by William Shurtleff & Akiko Aoyagi devoted to various soy 
products and they have extensive bibliographies, but most of the 
information has not yet been translated out of Chinese, Japanes, or 
Korean, into a European language.

Miso - along with kombu (kelp) and katsuoboshi (dried fish flakes) - 
forms the basis of the standard soup served in most Japanese 
restaurants - called miso shiru

The dish being described and the recipe given in this thread are 
distinctly modern.

>This may be OOP, but eggplant recipes
>begin to appear in Andalusia and Catalania, from the books we have,
>gradually making their way into Italy via Naples, it seems.  Much
>grilling was done as a cooking method--especially, I would think, for
>traveling meals or farmers' meals, so  knowing some good techniques might
>be a good thing to practice as grilling season is almost upon us.  We've
>had some great Spanish recipes translated, recently, and could make the
>interpolation of Spanish flavorings rather than Japanese.

I can't think of anything Spanish that is like miso...

There's a cool web site, Miso On-Line
It is illustrated with wonderful old wood cuts and ink paintings of 
the miso making and selling process a couple centuries ago.
http://www.miso.or.jp/miso-e/index.html
by The Miso Health Promotion Committee
although i haven't noticed any wild claims in English - there's much 
more in Japanse, including recipes that i can't read, which aren't on 
the English side of the site :-(

For a couple photos of traditional miso making today
http://www.cjn.or.jp/hatchomiso/index-j.html

For an American website
http://www.soyfoods.com/soyfoodsdescriptions/miso.html

Anahita al-shazhiyya