[Sca-cooks] Waffres

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Craig Jones. wrote:

> ""Craig Jones. wrote:
> ""
> ""> Ok,  I'm planning to redact this recipe over the next few days.
> My
> ""> guess is that "Take þe Wombe of A luce" is referring to the Womb
> of a
> ""> fish, which I'm guessing is Isinglass.  It would make sense for a
> ""> wafer recipe to include a gelling agent I guess.  Any opinions
> folks?
> ""
> ""
> ""Isinglass is derived from the swim bladder of the sturgeon, I'm
> pretty
> ""sure, and you can find large pieces of puffy fried fish maw (which
> is
> ""actually the swim bladder) in Asian groceries. It is one of those
> ""nearly-tasteless-but-with-an-interesting-texture ingredients much
> prized
> ""in Chinese soups.
>
> Hmmm, I can get both easily.  I'd prefer to use the Isinglass (more
> convienient to use, I don't have to grind it up, but it is more
> expensive). Opinions?
>
> ""Whether this recipe is referring to the swim bladder or the hard roe
> of
> ""the female luce (which is a pike of sorts, BTW), I don't know. It
> would
>
> Luce is a pike-perch, like a zander is it not?
>
> ""be tempting to assume the latter, and assume it is there as a
> substitute
> ""for cheese on a fish-day recipe, but the recipe also seems to call
> for
> ""cheese, so presumably that's not an issue.
>
> Caviar and cheese, what a concept.... I think I'd enjoy that combo. I
> doubt I could get luce roe so I'll have to choose.
>
> Choices:
>
> 1)  Use Lumpfish Caviar,
> 2)  Use Tarama paste,
> 3)  Use Salmon Caviar  -  ooo, and I'll have to buy a heap, and finish
>     the left overs with some smetana and blinis.....  hmmm... probably
>     will get squashed in the wafer iron.  I'll just have to eat them
>     ALL instead... :)
> 4)  Use Isinglass,
> 5)  Use Fish Maw,
> 6)  Omit altogether (as the control).
>
> I can see the bits of caviar gleaming as tiny red/black jewels
> throughout the wafer.  Sounds like I have a busy and yummy weekend
> ahead.....


Hmmmmm. I think, of the 6 options you mention, I would avoid the first three (they being both salted and from different fish), try perhaps isinglass first, if labor is an issue, otherwise try the fish maw (which also has the advantage of being slightly more measurable in terms of the recipe: you don't know how much isinglass represents the womb of a luce, while you might sort of eyeball it with the fish maw. I would also check the fish market for any fresh fish ovaries (hard roes as opposed to soft roes or milts, which are basically testicles of the fish). It might be spawning season for something down there, and it's sort of consistent with the idea of parboiling the "womb", then pounding it in a mortar to get a creamy cooked roe paste. Ever eat something like shad roe? Very rich, and the tiny eggs, when cooked, could be described as sort of fluffy/creamy. You know, this is interesting because I can't figure out why the fish "womb" is there at all. Usually you can get at lea
st some idea, but this seems a little strange, since it doesn't seem to be Lenten (in which case there would be no cheese). Perhaps it's for an out-of-Lent fish day. Omitting the "womb" entirely might serve as a control, but then of course you're recreating conditions clearly outside the parameters of the recipe. It might serve to help determine what each variant does, and perhaps how, but I wouldn't consider it a viable option in recreating this recipe.


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