[Sca-cooks] Pressure cooking

[Huette von Ahrens]

According to the Oxford Companion to Food, the
inventor of the pressure cooker was Denys Papin
(1647-1712), but that the first practical
applications were developed in the 20th Century.
The pressure cooker is a large pot with a 
sealed metal lid and a pressure valve in the
middle of it, which you have to release slowly
after your meal is cooked.  You cannot just open
up the pot or it will explode and you will
scald yourself and your food will have to be
scrapped off the floor, walls and ceiling.
Pressure cookers are very dangerous.

Putting a crust over a pot and putting the
chicken on something to raise if off from
the pot sound more like a steamer than a
pressure cooker.  The crust is porous and
wouldn't allow the pressure inside the pot
to build up.  But it would keep the steam
from escaping.  Try making a pie without
vent hole and see what happens.  It doesn't
explode, but it will leak all over the oven.

Huette

--- Michael Gunter <countgunthar at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> There was a question about the "pressure
> cooked" chicken and why not do it a
> period way. Well, that is period.
> 
> Capon Stwed from Two Fifteenth Century
> Cookbooks
> Take parcelly, sage, Isoppe, Rose Mary, and
> tyme, and breke hit bitwen thi
> hondes, and stoppe the Capon there-with; colour
> hym with Saffron, and
> couche him in a rethen potte, or of brasse, and
> ley splentes underneath and
> al about the sides, that the capon touche no
> thinge of the potte, and put
> thereto a pottel of the best wyn that thou may
> gete, and none other licour
> hele the potte with a close led, and stoppe hit
> aboute with dogh or bater,
> that no eier come oute; And set hit on the
> faire carcole, and lete it seethe
> easily and longe till hit be ynowe. And if hit
> be an erthen potte, then set 
> hit
> on the fire whan thou takest hit downe, and
> lete hit not touche the grounde
> for breking; And whan the hete is ouer past,
> take oute the Capon with a 
> prick
> then make a sirippe of wyne, Reysons of
> corance, sugur and safferon, And
> boile hit a litull; medel pouder of Ginger with
> a litul of the same wyn, and 
> do
> thereto; then do awey the fatte of the se3we of
> the Capon, And do the
> Siryppe to the sewe, and powre hit on the Capo,
> and serue it forth.
> 
> Basically, color Capon (in my case hen) with
> saffron and water. Get a big 
> kettle
> and put some broken up bamboo skewers in the
> bottom. Cover the poultry
> with parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme. Pour a
> good wine in the bottom of the
> kettle. Place the hen on the sticks so they
> don't touch the bottom or sides.
> Make a dough and place on the rim of the kettle
> and press on the lid. Turn 
> on
> the fire and let the hen cook in the steam of
> the wine and drippings.
> When done, remove the bird, pour off the liquid
> and to that add more wine,
> sugar, currants, and powdered ginger and let
> boil down to thicken.
> Serve the hen with the sauce.


=====
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they 
shall never cease to be amused.


		
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