The vegetables used in pickling (cauliflower, cucumber, cabbage, marrow and courgettes (zucchini), mushroom, small onions, unripe tomatoes, etc.) are sliced if necessary and soaked in a brine or in cold water. They are then rinsed, put into jars and the covered with the spiced vinegar. They can also be cooked in vinegar with spices. Fruits (plums, cherries, apples, pears, peaches, etc.) are cut into small pieces and usually cooked for a short time so that they will soak up the vinegar. Eggs and walnuts can also be pickled. The best salt to use is a coarse sea salt, as this gives the best flavour.
Malt, wine, cider, or spirit vinegars may be used. The spices inhance the flavour and also act as preservatives. The classic formula is as follows: 4 1/2 cups vinegar, add a stick of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of cloves, 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds and 2 or 3 bay leaves. Bring this mixture to a boil and steep for 3 days. The vinegar is then strained and used either cold fpr vegetables that should remain crisp, or hot for fruit that should be a little softer. Mixed pickles mat combine any number of vegetables or fruit, but some are are pickled on their own.
Pickled may also descibe pork or beef that has been preserved by steeping in brine to which saltpetre has been added and then boiled. A good example of this would be "corned beef", which is consumed in great portions on the east coast od Canada.
There are two main types of hors d'oeuvres: hot and cold. Hot hors d'oeuvres include vols-au-vents, croquettes, rissoles, kromeskies, fritters, fritots, etc. These are, in fact, more likely to be served at dinner after the soup, but they may also appear at luncheon.
Cold hors d'oeuvres include the following: fisgh or seafood which can be either marinated, smoked, in oil, or in vinegar; vegetables; various types of charcuterie; fish roes; various raw vegetables; stuffed or jellied eggs; mixed salads; stuffed grapefruit, etc. They are arranged in hors d'oeuvres dishes, being small and usually oblong or rectangular.; at least two are used together, so that different foods can be displayed without mixing them. These dishes can be arranged in fours or sixes in a ring or some other pattern, to present the hors d'oeuvre as attractively as possible.
France had adopted and modified the Russian custom of serving an assortment of hors d'oeuvres as a small meal preceding the main one. Under the name on hors d'oeuvre à la russe, these snacks are arranged and served to the guests at the table.
A canapé is a cracker or small slices of bread or toast cut in various shapes and garnished with savory foods, such as cheese, meat, purees, foie gras, or relish
The origin of the word canapé is a curious one. In ancient Greece, a 'konops' was a mosquito. Hang curtains around a couch to keep the mosquitos away and they called it a 'konopion'. The Romans adapted this word as 'conopeum', which shows up later in Medieval Latin as 'canopeum�, and from there makes its way into Middle English as 'canope' as the name for the curtain, and eventually spelled canopy. The French used the word 'canapé' for the couch, rather than the curtain. Some thought a piece of toast topped with a savory food looked like a couch (canap�) and so the word took on an additional meaning in French, and we have now borrowed the word into English.
The average weight of a hen egg is 2 ounces. The shell weighs about 12% of the total weight of the egg and is made of a calcareous porous substance which is pervious to air, water and smells. It is lined with a delicate pellucid membrane which seperates its self from the shell at the larger end of the egg to form an air pocket. The size of this pocket is in inverse proportion to the freshness of the egg, the fresher the egg the smaller the air pocket.
The albumen, or white of the egg, is a thick viscous transparent liquid containing half the 14% protein content of the egg; it is also a high percentage of water and some mineral substance and is 58% of the total weight of the egg.
The yolk of the egg (30% of its weight) is an opaque soft substance which congeals in heat. The yolk is composed of albumins, fats containing vitamins, lecithins, nucleins, chlorestins, and mineral substances including a ferruginous pigment called haematogen, which gives it its colour. It also contains the remaining proteins and all the fats, together with iron, sulphur and vitamins A, B, D and E.
Eggs are a nourishing and perfectly balanced food, fairly low in calories (76 Cal per 100g); they supply all the amino acids essential for human nutrition and are easy to digest provided they are not made up into rich dishes. However, those on a low animal fat diet should restrict their consumption of egg yolks.
The invention of leavened bread is attributed to the Egyptions who cooked flat cakes made of millet and barley on heated stones and might have discovered fermentation by chance, with a piece od dough which had become sour. At the time of the Exodus, the Hebrews did not take with them any leaven, hence the tradition of unleavened bread to commemorate the crossing of the Red Sea. The Greeks cooked loaves made of rye or oats, or sometimes wheat, on a grid or in a kind of oven; the Romans cooked their bread in household ovens, made of brick and earth and often flavoured it with the seeds of poppy, fennel, or cumin or with parsley. From Italy, the use of bread spread throughout the Roman empire. The Gauls kneaded barley beer into the dough and obtained a well raised bread of good quality.
Bread, in one form or another, has been one of the principal forms of food for man from earliest times. The trade of the baker, then, is one of the oldest crafts in the world. Loaves and rolls have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. In the British Museum's Egyptian galleries you can see actual loaves which were made and baked over 5,000 years ago. Also on display are grains of wheat which ripened in those ancient summers under the Pharaohs. Wheat has been found in pits where human settlements flourished 8,000 years ago. Bread, both leavened and unleavened, is mentioned in the Bible many times. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew bread for a staple food even in those days people argued whether white or brown bread was best.
Further back, in the Stone Age, people made solid cakes from stone crushed barley and wheat. A millstone used for grinding corn has been found, that is thought to be 7,500 years old. The ability to sow and reap cereals may be one of the chief causes which led man to dwell in communities, rather than to live a wandering life hunting and herding cattle.
It was the Middle Ages that the bakery trade began to develop; from this time, bread became very varied and many different kinds were produced. These included hall bread, for distinguished guests; hulled bread (made from bran), intended for servants; wholemeal bread, with a well cooked crust, kept for making breadcrumbs; and trencher bread, used as plates for cutting up meat. Soft or queen's bread was enriched with milk and egg yolk; German wheat bread had a very light coloured crumb; chapter bread was flat and very hard; Gonesse and Melun loaves were supplied for a long time to the best bakeries of Paris; and variegated bread was made of alternating layers of brown and white bread.
In the 17th century a new method of fermentation was developed, using salt, milk and beer barm, to manufacture finer loaves made in longer moulds. For a long time, the quality of bread depended on the flour used and therefor on its colour: white bread for the rich, black bread for the poor.
The consumption of bread has become almost universal. Made from wheat, rice, maize (corn), or rye, bread is usually baked in an oven, but certain breads of North Africa are cooked in oil, in a earthenware vessel and some Chinese breads are steamed. In Scandinavia there is a large variety of bread, which are often made from rye. Germany makes many types of rolls, including pretzels, which are salted and flavoured with cumin or poppy seeds. German black breads are made from a mixture of rye and corn. In Mediterranean countries, loaves are often made from a compact white dough, sometimes kneaded with oil. In France the baquette is the most popular bread, but a wide varity of wholemeal and white breads are available as well as many regional variations.
Bread like wine is the only food that is present on the table from start to the finish of the meal. It constitutes the traditional accompaniment to all dishes. It is also the basic ingredient for sandwiches, canapés, toast, croutons and breadcrumbs. It is also used in the makings of other foods.
A good bread must have a crisp crust. an attractive golden colour and a soft crump. Growing stale too quickly is a sign of bad quality, as are tastelessness and insipidity. A good quality brean can be kept for quite some time in a box, preferably of wood (but never in a plastic bag). If it is cut, it should be stored with the cut side against the wood (or a slab of marble). Bread freezes well if it is hermetically packed.
Most bread should be served fresh but not hot. Rye bread, however, should be slightly stale and large farmhouse loaves are best left until the day after they have been baked. Loaves should not be cut until just before serving. The slices should not be too thin, in order to retain all the flavour of the bread; baquettes and other long loaves should be cut in small sections. Bread is best served in wicker or cane baskets.
Plain salads consist of a basic ingredient, either raw or cooked, but always served cold with a cold dressing. The basic ingredient can be a vegetable, meat or shellfish and the range of these is very varied.
Mixed salads are more elaborate dishes combining various ingredients of contrasting, but complementary flavours, textures and colors. Mixed salads can include exotic ingredients such as truffle, foie gras, or lobster medallions, but should always be decorative. The accompanying dressing should blend rather than mask the flavour of the ingredients. Mixed salads are served as starters, but can also be served with hot or cold roasted meats. In addition to all the regional specialities, chefs often create their own salads, producing an immensely wide range.
A sauce for a salad that are usually based on vinaigrette, mayonnaise, or other emulsified product. Salad dressings and sauces have a long and colorful history, dating back to ancient times. The Chinese have been using soy sauce for 5,000 years; the Babylonians used oil and vinegar for dressing greens nearly 2,000 years ago; and the ever-popular Worcestershire was derived from a sauce used since the days of the Caesar. Indeed, early Romans preferred their grass and herb salads dressed with salt. Egyptians favored a salad dressed with oil, vinegar and Oriental spices. Mayonnaise is said to have made its debut at a French Nobleman�s table over 200 years ago. In the Twentieth Century, Americans went a step further in salad development - making it a fine art by using basic dressing ingredients (oil, vinegar or lemon juice, and spices) and Yankee ingenuity, to create an infinite variety of sauces and dressings to make salads the best ever. "Store bought" dressings and sauces were largely unavailable until the turn of the century. Many of the major brands of dressings and sauces available today were on the market as early as the 1920�s.
Durum wheat is grown in Italy, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Russia and North and South America. It is a hard wheat, high in gluten, which is ground into semolina. It is a popular belief that the 14th century explorer Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy from China, but in fact the first known reference to pasta can be traced to Sicily in the Middle Ages, when the island was under Arab domination. It had been a basic food in Italy for many years, particularly in naples nad Rome, before Catherine de' Medici introduced it into France under the Empire.
Even when cooking pasta in small batches, a large pan must be used as plenty of boiling water is needed for the pasta to swell and yo move around freely. (4 pints (2 letres) of boiling water per 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) of pasta.) Otherwise, all the released starch will make the pasta sticky. A tablespoon of oil added to the cooking water can help prevent this from happening. Sprigkle small, or short pasta in the rapidly boiling water and add the long ones, such as spaghetti, a little at a time, graduallyand not breaking the strands, then cook to "al dente".
The range of sauces for pasta is very large. The most commonly used are thick sauces based on tomatoes and often contain ham, ground meats, seafood, cheese, anchovies, chicken, mushrooms, vegetables, etc. In Italy pasta is usually served as a main dish, whereas in France it is an accompaniment to a main dish.
Drying is an important operation in pasta making and care must be taken to ensure that the pasta will mature and keep well. Fresh pasta, on the other hand, must be eaten quickly befor it dries out. Fresh past (noodles, spaghetti, ravioli, cannelloni and lasagne) is made by small business or in the home. It may be made with flour instead of semolina and always contains eggs.
Popular legend would have us believe that Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy following his explorations of the far east in the late 13th century. But the history of pasta can be traced back much further. Certainly there is written evidence of a dried noodle type food in China 3000 years ago and a Lasagne type product in Italy during the Etruscsan (a civilisation which migrated to Northern Italy in approximately 12 century BC) time. Etruscan tomb drawings shows what appears to be natives making a pasta type food. And Greek mythology suggests that the Greek God Vulcan invented a device that made strings of dough - maybe an early form of spaghetti?