[Sca-cooks] Tapioca

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Also sprach Seton1355 at aol.com:
>--
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>Have you ever tried:
>_International Exhibition_
>           1876
>John  McCann
>Steel cut
>Oatmeal
>
>It comes in a metal can with a pry-off lid.  I can get it at Wegmans for
>$5.79 and it costs a bit more at gormet food shops.  It is WONDERFUL oatmeal.
>Not slimy in the least. After you pry off the lid you will see that the
>oatmeal is really little round pellets.  When you cook it up  (it takes half
>an hour) it is chewy and oatmeal-y and just wonderful stuff.
>
>Phillipa
>  > Adamantius, who doesn't mind real oatmeal...

McCann's is pretty much the standard by which real oatmeal is judged.
No, it's not slimy, but it has a thick starchy substrate which, in
late period and post-period dishes from various parts of the world,
is actually allowed to get cold and gel. This is sort of the raison
d'etre for the dish; it is considered a good thing. (See
"flummery"...)

BTW, _I_ can get it for $3.79 a tin in my otherwise abysmal local
supermarket ;-) . They also sell a quick-cooking McCann's, which is
closer to rolled oats than I'd like, but still infinitely better than
anything made by, say, Quaker. It even comes in those junky little
flavored single-serving packets.

On a slight tangent, it should be noted that I don't have any kind of
problem with caviar or other fish roe products (I have a weak spot
for botargo and shad roe, for which the season has just about ended).
I just don't care for tapioca. It probably brings me back to my less
sophisticated, childhood ur-preferences.

Now tapioca fans (and alas that such a species exists in these
enlightened times!) will have a field day at a good, large, Chinese
grocery (probably other Asian cultures as well, but I'm not sure).
But you can get all manner of tapioca in different colors, sizes, and
shapes, generally among the shelves where dried pasta is kept.

Adamantius