[Sca-cooks] REC: LARDED MILK... please read all the way through

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Seton1355 at aol.com wrote:
> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> So I'm quietly sitting in my living room listening to the rain come down and
> reading Scully's _Early French Cookery_.  I come across this recipe:   P.
> 241, ** Larded Milk**.  Larded Milk?  Am I weirded out because I am Jewish
> and was raised kosher and THAT is why it never in a million years occureded
> to me to lard some milk?  Or is it just a weird recipe???
> Phillipa

<snip>

> It is a refreshing change to be given a recipe which actually wants milk to
> curdle! We are sure we are not the only cooks who have, through a second's
> lack of attention, have an egg and cream custard curdle unintentionally.
> Though these directions seem rather complicated, the dish is really not a
> difficult one to make.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cheese.

There are quite a few variants on this recipe in many different sources,
some of which call for pork fat, some which don't. My opinion is that
the pork fat is, to some extent, almost incidental as a flavoring,
instead of being necessary in the way larding might be needed for
certain cuts of meat. You see, most recipes call for a
two-or-even-three-color stack of curds that is supposed to fancifully
simulate a slice of bacon. You know, kind of stripey. I guess if you
don't eat bacon the imagery may escape you. Perhaps a better translated
recipe title would be, Bacon From Milk, rather than Larded Milk.

> The _Menagier_ calls for whole eggs, and uses cloves and pinenuts pricked
> into the slices of larded milk before frying them.
>
> (OK, I am already lost.... this is soooo werid, I can't even imagine it)
>
> The *Viandier's version of this recipe calls for just cloves.
>
> Yield: about 10 - 12 finger sized slices.
>
> 3 C whole milk
> 3-4 strips bacon
> pinch saffron
> 3 eggs lightly beaten
> 1/4 C wine
>
> Boil milk with bacon and saffron.
> Add eggs & wine & cook until curdled.
> Remove bacon and set aside.
> Line a sieve with muslin.
> Pour mixture into seive draining off as much liquid as possible.
> Line a loaf pan with cheese cloth.
> Place bacon strips on bottom.
> Add egg mixture  & flaten down evenly w/ the back of a spoon.
> On top place several layers of absorbant toweling, then a heavy object.* to
> squeese out the liquid.
> Repeat process until most of the moisture has been absorbed and  mixture is
> firm.
> Turn our onto a slicing board & slice.
>
> 10-12 cloves
> 10 - 12 pinenuts
> 1-2 tsp sugar
>
> Prick with cloves & pinenuts.
> Fry on a griddle.
> Garnish with sugar and serve.
> * We use another loaf pan and press down with our weight.

> QUESTION:
> Using this process, is one left with curds and *that* is what is fried up?

Exactly. A pressed cake of absolutely fresh, slightly sweet and
otherwise rather bland curds, spiced, garnished and fried. Think of the
Mexican and Indian recipes involving fried queso blanco and panir,
respectively. The bacon this version of the recipe calls for might be
said to improve the flavor and texture, but I think the reason why it is
so named is because of the fact that you slice it and fry it like bacon,
especially in some of the variants in which it is colored and striped.

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