[Sca-cooks] Smoked Meats in Northern Europe
Sandragood at aol.com
Sandragood at aol.com
Mon Oct 9 08:38:59 PDT 2006
In a message dated 10/8/2006 9:22:45 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
adamantius.magister at verizon.net writes:
I'm unsure of the extent to which smoking was actually used all over
period Europe.
There's that term again that everyone hates...;o)
The most common preservation techniques used in Europe were salting (either
dry salted or brined) and pickling (wine and vinegar) sometimes in combination
with other spices. For the most part they relied on simple ingredients.
Although we do know that sausages and hams were smoked as well as fish.
Smoke contains alcohols, acids, and other substances which inhibit bacterial
activity. Although the main use was for preserving meats, there are records
of smoked cheese in Celtic lands. Some non-European sources include smoked
fruits (China) and smoked olives kept in oil (Arab). A Chinese source has a
technique for smoking thin strips of pork that have been rubbed with crushed
garlic and marinated in vinegar. Smoking was usually, not always, used in
conjunction with other methods. Smoked hams were a combination of salting or
brining and smoking. The meat would be rubbed with salt or soaked in brine
for several days. The meat would then be hung in a chimney or smoke room to
dry.
nor can I recall any references to "if the meat be smoked do X", as there
are with, "If it be salt," or "if it be soused, do Y".
Some of this may be the fact that salted or pickled meat requires different
preparation i.e. soaking salted meat to bleach (remove) the salt from the
meat. In the example above, when referring to cooking methods, it is more
likely because the given method for salted meat gives better results than for the
fresh meat. For example, you would get a more succulent piece of meat from
boiling or stewing salted meat compared to roasted salted meat. This is due
to the fact that salting dries out the meat, even when brined. As you know,
boiling or stewing helps keep the meat moist while cooking. Smoked meat ,
unless salted, doesn't really require any special preparation and could be used
in place of fresh meat.
When referring to condiments or spices, this may be a personal preference of
the cook, or the person for which he was cooking, or the regional fad at the
time. I've seen French examples where they used mustard on salted meats and
another condiment for regular roasted meat in the same recipe. I think this
has to do with flavor preferences. Condiments were used to enhance a dish,
and something that enhances a salted dish might be overpowering to a regular
dish. Depending on the source, the use of smoked meat may have been limited,
thereby reducing the number of references on how to serve it. Depending on
the region of the cookbook would explain the lack of references in general,
i.e. references being found in French or German sources and not in English or
Spanish, or coastal recipes vs. inland.
Liz
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list