[Sca-cooks] An Evil Thought- Excercise in Intelligence

[Daniel Myers]

Ok, since I won't be able to attend pretty much anything at pennsic,
here's what I would have brought, along with the justification.


Curried Stuffed Beet Loaf

1 dozen medium beets
6 eggs
1 Tbsp. mild curry powder.
4 Tbsp. yoghurt
1 bunch fresh spinach
1/4 pound paneer, cut into cubes
4 Tbsp. achar (Indian mixed pickle)
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 sesame trencher bread (about 1/2 pound)

Wash, peel, and julienne beets.  Mix with eggs and form into two large
patties, about an inch thick.  Set aside.  Wash spinach leaves and mix
with paneer, yoghurt, onions, and curry powder.  Place mixture on one
of the beet patties and then cover with the other, pressing and sealing
the edges together to form a loaf.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes,
then carefully transfer loaf to the sesame trencher.  Garnish with the
achar and serve.

The original source:
> Two all-meat patties, special sauce, onion, pickle, lettuce, and tomato
> (vegetable? translator's query), on a sesame seed bun

Justification:
Obviously the word "meat" is a typo, since no one would actually eat
any animal products.  The word was most likely "beat" which is a
spelling variant for beet.  Beet patties must have been a relatively
common entree in that time period, since no instructions are given for
making them.  They were probably finely julienne-sliced beets with a
binder, the most likely binder being eggs (which were readily
available).

The fact that the recipe calls for two beet patties is a clue that the
other ingredients were meant to be a stuffing between them.

The word "lettuce" is a general catch-all term for green leafy
vegetables.  While the recipe probably used the leaves from the beets,
I substituted spinach because of availability.

The "special sauce" was a bit problematic, until I considered it in
connection with the pickle.  Since mixed pickle is from India the
"special sauce" is most likely also, and is therefore probably a curry.
  I used a readily available curry powder mixed with yoghurt.

An alternate version of the source is "Two all-beef patties, special
sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun." [from
"Advertisement", R. McDonald 1977]  (Note that the word "meat" here is
replaced with "beef", which is an obvious typo for "beet").  This
version includes cheese, so we can assume that it was sometimes
included depending on personal tastes and availability.  I chose
paneer, an Indian cheese, because it goes well with the pickle.

How's that?

- Doc


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  Edouard Who Is Not Lainie's Edouard (Daniel Myers)
  http://www.medievalcookery.com/
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