[Sca-cooks] Regarding the Size of Rissoles

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Barbara Benson:
>Greetings,
>
>It is always interesting when someone relatively new to the whole
>cooking gig starts playing with recipes. Especially when the recipe is
>one that you have worked with long enough to consider it a given.
>
>Whenever I have made rissoles for a feast I have used won ton wrappers
>for conveniences sake, but even when I have seen them done from
>scratch they always seem to be about that same size. This good gentle
>asked me why everyone makes them so small? He thinks that it is
>unnecessary extra work because you need to have at least 3 - 5 per
>person to have a serving. He wants to make them more the size of a egg
>roll so that 1 - 2 would be a meal.
>
>I think it is a very interesting idea - and my question here is
>weather or not anyone has seen anything in a period source that states
>or implies how big a rissole should be or was in period?
>
>Barring that, what size would you make them and why?

I'm not aware, offhand, of any dimensions given for rissoles in 
recipes, although cuskynoles, which have been argued to be a variant 
of rissoles, are measured at three fingers wide by a palm-and-a-half 
long, which, using my hand, is about 2.5 inches by 5.5 inches. A 
little larger footprint than an egg roll, but not much, and also 
flatter, I suspect, so probably an approximately similar volume and 
mass.

Other factoids to throw in the mix would be that whenever I've seen 
rissoles used as an entree, an entree serving seems to be three or so 
(in the Alec Guinness movie "The Captain's Paradise", a plate of 
rissole, mash and, I believe, sprouts is something of a plot element, 
and it''s shown in closeup, although these are not, of course, 
medieval rissoles), and then there's the consideration that there's 
probably a practical size limitation on how much cold filling will 
cook and/or reheat before the pastry burns in the frying oil. You can 
adjust the oil temperature up to a point to address this, but there 
are limits.

I'd make them about the size of a Scotch Egg, myself, and for me, the 
preferred commercial wrapper is an empanada wrapper.

Adamantius

-- 
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itself."
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