[Sca-cooks] Anneys in Counfyte: The Recipe Was Right
David Friedman
ddfr at daviddfriedman.com
Sat Sep 19 10:20:36 PDT 2009
>So, here are some comments
>
>>One piece of advice--your pan should be a dutch oven or equivalent.
>>If >you use a frying pan, the process of rubbing the seeds against
>>the >bottom to break up the lumps also squirts seeds out of the pan
>>onto the >stove, kitchen counter, floor, ... .
>
>I am curious how vigorously the seeds must be being stirred for them
>to squirt out of the pan. Were they being stirred with enthusiasm
>or with soft patience?
With enough force to break up the clusters of seeds.
>How many seeds were in the pan?
I started with an ounce, half the amount specified in the original
recipe, and was initially using a large frying pan.
>Perhaps there were too many. In my wok, depending on the size of
>the seed, I can use one of those small containers which have less
>than an ounce. However, once the sugar coating has begun to build
>up, I find that I need to divide the seeds into two or three
>different batches. If you have a wok, try that but be sure that the
>bottom of the wok is not sitting directly on the heat source. Use a
>"wok ring" or something to elevate the bottom off the direct heat.
We have an electric stove, which doesn't work as well with a wok as a
gas stove does.
>Also, the recipe that you cited mentions taking the pan off the heat
>from time to time. That keeps the pan within a temperature range
>where you can stir the seeds without burning yourself.
As I said in my post, I was stirring the seeds without burning
myself--that was part of the point. And I was indeed taking the pan
off the heat a good deal of the time.
> >One of the things I don't think I got quite right was the color.
>I >suspect, from the comment at the end of the recipe, that the
>candied >seeds are supposed to come out a nice white. I let the
>sugar get a >little too hot, so it ended up pale brown.
>
>Yes, a nice white is the desired color. Some problems are that when
>the sugar coating (the "charge") is initially applied, care must be
>taken to continue moving the seeds in the warm/hot pan until they
>are thoroughly dry. Adding charge after charge to a
>not-thoroughly-dried seed will result in a grayish color. If you
>got brown, then as you mentioned, you may have had too hot a syrup.
I did--the liquid sugar was browning.
But I wasn't using a syrup--no water is mentioned in the original
recipe, and I didn't use any. Just melted sugar, which makes it
harder to keep it white but not, I think, impossible.
And, if I'm interpreting it correctly, that may also make it a faster
process than the one you describe, since there is no water to be
dried away.
--
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com
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