[Sca-cooks] Couple of quick questions for the list....

[Kathleen Madsen]

Greetings, Maire!  I can help with the first two.
> 
> 1.  I'm trying to track down a particular kind of
> cheese I had in this astonishing salad in Santa Monica this
> past summer.  I suspect, but have not verified, that they
> may have been using a really fresh buffalo mozarella. It had
> a fresh taste, was fairly pale, and had a texture unlike any
> cheese I've ever eaten--a bit like a cow's milk
> mozarella, but somehow creamier? like a cross between a
> mozarella and a cream cheese? Definitely not chewy or
> crumbly....It was served as part of a caprese salad, made
> with heirloom tomatoes, organic evoo, and baby
> arugula....mmm......

That would either be Mozzarella di Buffula; i.e., buffalo milk mozzarella, or Burratta.  Burratta is only found in the summer months and can be quite difficult to get ahold of; it's mozzarella stretched around unpulled mozz. curd.  The texture of a real, hand-pulled mozzarella is absolutely devine - completely unlike the dry, chewy stuff we usually see in the grocery store.  As you bite into the "real" thing it kind of shreds and melts a bit and the moisture spreads across your palate, there's a slightly tougher outer layer to the mozzarella sack that allows it to hold it's shape.  You also normally find it in a container with a bit of water or whey to keep it moist, there's one that's sealed into a plastic pouch that I usually get here.  It just amazing with fresh tomatoes, EVOO, and fresh ground salt and pepper.  Yum!  I can forward a cow's milk recipe if you ever want to try making your own and Mozzarella Fresca has a great how-to video on mozz.
 pulling that you may be able to get to from their website.

> 2.  A friend is experimenting with one of His Grace's
> recipes from the "Miscellany," and has a question
> about one of the ingredients.  It's the meat-based
> recipe called "A soup called Menjoire," and the
> problem ingredient is the half-cup of hippocras.  It's
> unclear if this is referring to hippocras *powder* (I.e.,
> just the spices), or if it's intended to be half a cup
> of spiced wine.  We're both guessing that it refers to
> the wine, but we're not sure....
> 
I'd try sending David an email:  DDFr at best.com  He or Betty should be able to tell you pretty quick what the answer would be, and I know they'd appreciate the question.  I wouldn't be surprised if a clarification showed up in a later edition of the Miscellany.

Regards,
Eibhlin