[Sca-cooks] Ham, Cold cuts, and Charcuterie

[pleves1 at po-box.mcgill.ca]

>
> Look for a copy of Jane Grigson's "The Art of Making Sausages, Pates,
> And Other Charcuterie". It's about as comprehensive as a book on
> French charcuterie written by an Englishwoman can get ;-).

Definitely will do so...

>
> >As well, 'Rillettes' comes up as a kind of cold cut in period; however, it
> >seems to designate a slightly different thing than what we call 'rillettes'
> >nowadays (according to the Centre d'Information sur la Charcuterie,
>
> Would that be kinda like The Education Council for the American Pork
> Packers Association? I ask only because trade associations aren't
> always too great in their grasp of history, and you sometimes run
> across things like date-century equivocation ('the 1500's is the 15th
> century, right??? No? What-evuh... what's the difference?")

Might be, actually - I've only just begun researching


>>
> We need a manuscript geek (possibly from the Midrealm? ;-)  ) to
> verify this, but I have a vague memory of hearing somewhere, being
> told, or having a note slipped under my door at midnight, about
> rillettes in period France. Possibly in Le Menagier, the English
> translation of which I have on hand (Powers -- but don't, in fact,
> which is why I'm working from memory) makes references to cracklings.
>

The C.I.C. mentions it is found in two sources, when I get back home I'll e-mail
them... one of them is Rabelais, but I don't recall which work (although
Rabelais mentions every possible kind of cold cut available, so it shouldn't
surprise anyone...). Possibly the term used is 'Rillon' in these works, two...
Or maybe the word signification changed in the meantime...

More info on this in the evening.

Petru