[Sca-cooks] Discussion of usage of capsicum peppersin Asiainourperiod.

[Martin G. Diehl]

Elaine Koogler wrote:

Thank you for your response.  

> Martin G. Diehl wrote:
> 
> >"Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I'm pretty sure you're right: 
> >>Brown pepper = Fagara pepper = Sansho pepper 
> >>= Szechuan peppercorns = Flower Pepper.
> >>
> >>Adamantius
> >
> >FWIW, Black peppercorns and Szechuan peppercorns have
> >very different tastes.  i.e. substituting one for the
> >other in a recipe would change the resulting taste.
> >
> >My Chinese cooking instructor (Lucille Liang) 
> >observed that once when she was out of Szechuan pepper, 
> >she tried substituting Italian crushed red pepper 
> >(i.e. usually for pizza), but did not like the results.
> >
> >Vincenzo

> I don't think Master A was saying that black 
> peppercorns and Szechuan are the same.  

OK ... but I didn't know that I was claiming that Master 
Adamantius was asserting that black peppercorns and 
Szechuan peppercorns are the same.  

Then again, perhaps I wasn't following the thread 
closely enough, and was therefore inadvertently reaching 
towards some sort of obviously incorrect conclusion.  

[warning, meta meta recursion depth limit exceeded] <g>
[warning, parser breakdown predicted]

> Rather, he was saying that they are a form of flower 
> pepper, like Sansho, the Japanese pepper.  They have a 
> totally different kind of fragrance, and therefore a 
> different taste.  IMHO, neither is nearly as hot as 
> black pepper, for example!  It's a more subtle, complex 
> flavor.

OK ... I can agree with that since that is the point I 
was trying to make as a general case even if not among 
those exact ingredients.  Those statements were also 
intended as a cautionary comment about ad hoc, untested 
substitutions.  

To add a personal note ... 

I was discussing my preparation for "Chicken Verjus 
Amorosa" (Platina; "On Right Pleasure and Good Health") 
with Master Adamantius.  

I mentioned the effort and time needed to debone the 
chicken.  

He asked me why I didn't par-boil the chicken to make 
the deboning easier.  

I quickly (almost automatically) answered, "But, I 
shouldn't do that -- the recipe calls for raw chicken."  

In the discussion that followed, we were in good 
agreement that in that recipe (and, by extension, many 
other recipes as well) the resulting serving(s) would 
not be as close to the original taste as was possible.  

My experiences in making fruit cordials follows similar 
line of reasoning WRT the use of 'falls'.  

The common thread between those two is that 

(a) in cordials, we are extracting the fruit (or spice, 
herb ...) taste into the beverage; while 

(b) in cooking we are extracting the flavor of the main 
ingredients (meat and/or vegetables) into the sauce and/or 
infusing the sauce ingredients (wine, herbs, spices, ...) 
into the primary ingredients.  

In both cases, we are transferring taste among a set of 
specified ingredients -- If we vary the ingredients 
without prior testing, we will not create a faithful 
interpretation of the original recipe.  

BTW, here I am not speaking to any subjective assessment 
of the resulting taste(s) as being 'better' or 'worse'.  

Again, thanks for pointing out that my prior statement(s) 
were unclear.  I will always accept that feedback as well 
as observations that my facts were in error.  

> Kiri

Vincenzo

-- 
Martin G. Diehl

http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=MGD

Reality: That which remains after you stop thinking about it.
  inspired by P. K. Dick