[Sca-cooks] catching drippings

[vicki shaw]

Not sure I followed my own reasoning on the rose quote either, so I will
drop that one.  I think in the far recesses of my mind there was some logic
to the analogy.  Maybe what I meant was that meatloaf by any other name - or
hot dogs, or pizza - would still be meatloaf [if it were prepared the same
way] .   But, after reading your response I find that I agree with you.  A
good sausage with the right spices could be quite delicious in a good
quality bread roll with some condiments that would enhance the flavor rather
than drown it.

And same with meat loaf,  I think the name as it is does conjur up visions
of cafeteria food.  What my grandmother put in the sabbath dish that was
sent out to cook in the public oven was indeed a loaf made of meat, but the
herbs and spices mixed in with the meat and the fact that it cooked in a
bath of broth flavored by the other meats, the vegetables, the garlic ,etc.
made it sabroso (flavorful) and moist and delicious.

My tastebud jury is still out on pizza.  Have always been of two minds about
it. I have eaten the most mundane and the gourmet varieties, but I think for
me it is always a disappointment.  Like the smell of a bakery is the sum of
its breads, but no one bread ever tastes as good as the smell.

> I don't know. It depends on whether you consider the name contingent
> on quality level, rather than on the conceptual identity of the dish.
> Or if you are equivocating quality and concept: "Meat loaf sucks eggs
> because it is often made poorly, therefore, any high-quality mixture
> of raw meat, various binders and seasonings, not overworked by the
> hands and cooked until just exactly done, and not dried to a piece of
> plywood, would still suck eggs because it is meatloaf, and if the
> quality was high it would no longer be meatloaf." (Ask Olwen about
> pizza sometime. While I respect her right to her opinion, she fails
> to distinguish between fact and opinion, and between quality and the
> appreciation thereof.)   Meat loaf is meat loaf not because some
> people make it with TVP and it frequently turns up in school
> cafeterias, hospital menus, and TV dinners, but because it's a loaf
> made out of meat. If people took more care with preparation, it would
> not cease to be meat loaf. The main exception to this'd be hot dogs,
> because so few people make anything like their own, or even go to the
> trouble and expense of buying real ones, which are as good on a bun
> with their subtle spicings of coriander, garlic, and paprika
> (seasonings vary, but you get the idea) as the sausages of Vienna,
> Toulouse, and Frankfurt are with braised goose and weinkraut, or
> baked en brioche. It's just that hot dogs, over time, have earned
> (sometimes, but not always, with some justification) a degree of
> contempt. I think they were often still of fairly high quality when
> they somehow became relegated to second-class (or lower) food. Once
> that happened, there was no longer too much point in paying close
> attention to their manufacture, or in keeping to too high a quality
> standard, when it no sense, economically.
>
> >   a rose by any other name is
> >still a rose.
>
> I'm not sure I follow your reasoning. We seem to be discussing
> perceptions of elegance in foods. Do you feel that names are an issue?
>
> Adamantius
>
> >  > Satisfied? No. Can all those things be exquisite and subtle?
> >>  Certainly they can. Under the right circumstances, maybe more so than
> >>  judhabs. Unfortunately, we don't tend to want them to be, so they're
> >>  usually not. You might read Mark Bittman's stuff sometime, as an
> >>  example of simple but exquisite cookery and the care that can go into
> >>  it. Also John Thorne...
> >>
> >  > Adamantius
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