[Sca-cooks] Terminology, was Sauce Foyot

[A F Murphy]

OK, it's my turn to ask the questions...

For them of us as are not classically trained chefs, or diners, what Is
a Sauce Foyot? Something made with Béarnaise, I gather... I think I've
met Béarnaise...

I am quite as Celtic as Adamantius, and agree about the power of all
words, and especially names. But this presents a problem to those who
may have only seen a name misused, and know not what they do. I mean, I
had no idea that Beef Bourguignon required glazed pearl onions... learn
something new every day! (No, I've never made it, or thought I made it,
though I do make a good stew...)

Have you any suggestions about ways to remedy this? Other than reading
all of Escoffier - or, how hard would that be, anyway? You know, bearing
in mind that those of us who might want to do this are apt to be those
of us already a bit overextended?  Is there a handy-dandy dictionary
that is easy to get hold of and reliable that you would recommend?

Anne

The real St. Martha was just a woman with drop in guests who wanted a
little help in the kitchen...



Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> Also sprach Gorgeous Muiredach:
>
>> <SNIP a good explanation of Bearnaise>
>>
>>> Is there another, significantly different, version, that is
>>> still Bearnaise sauce?
>>
>>
>> You know Master A, I like you :-)
>>
>> It's one of my pet peeves, this using a classical name yet screwing the
>> recipe around so much it hasn't much to do with the name anymore...  If
>> you're doing Beef Bourguignon and aren't putting in a garnish of glazed
>> pearl onion, lardon and sauteed mushrooms, why don't you just call it a
>> beef stew?  :-)  <shrug>  'Nuff Muiredach, 'nuff...
>
>
> I am, in part, of Celtic ancestry, a member of a race whose
> comparatively recent belief in the power of the written word is
> exceeded only by its ancient belief in the power of the spoken or
> sung word. Words are the tools of the poet, the magician, the
> physician, the lawyer, and the king. Words are magical tools, and to
> screw with them invites peril.
>
> Escoffier's main contributions to the kitchens of his distant
> posterity (to borrow a couple of words from Robert Graves) are to the
> terminology of staff organization -- the brigade system, and to the
> organization of related dishes, such as Great and Small, or Mother
> and Daughter, sauces. This isn't just some egomaniac primadonna's
> arbitrary decision, but the result of years and years of teaching
> other cooks in the simplest and most efficient way he could devise,
> as yet, it seems, unimproved upon.
>
> Who am I, after spending most of my career as a garde-manger and line
> cook, to mess with such a perfect creation?
>
> Note that I'm not averse to changing a recipe now and then. I've
> never been accused of hidebound, reactionary, uncreativity, but the
> names exist to describe certain things, and if you make up your own
> sauce, make up your own name for it.
>
> Dot's all...
>
> And with Saint Lawrence (or is it Saint Martha? Or the Dagda?) medal
> in hand, here endeth the lesson ;-)
>
> Adamantius
> --
> "No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes
> deserves to be called a scholar."
>     -DONALD FOSTER
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