Wednesday, September 14, 2011

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 ABAISSE= a term used in French cookery for a sheet of rolled-out pastry. Hence, abaisser means to roll our thin, as for a pastry base. The term abaisse is also used for a biscuit (cookie) or a slice of sponge cake on which a filling such as jam or cream is to be spread.

ABALONE= See ormer.

ABATTOIR= An establishment where livestock are slaughtered for their edible products (meat and offal) and their by-products (leather, bristles, horsehair, horns). Until 1950, slaughtering was often carried out in France by butchers themselves on their own premises. But since 1972, for reasons of hygiene, it has had to be done in a public abattor. EU regulations have further reduced the number of abattoirs throughout Europe and imposed strict controls. From the gastronomic point of view it is rather less desirable less than a century ago, beef cattle from normandy, limusin or the nevers region would make their way slowly on foot for a distance of 200 to 400 km (125 to 250 miles) before being slaughtered in the big town, and this made their meat firmer and more tasty. Rules govern the intake of live animals, and also the inspections of the viscera (internal organs) and the carcass. If all the inspections are satisfactory the carcass is branded as conforming to legal requirements, either national or for exchanges between EU countries. Present –day abattoirs are becoming increasingly better equipped, incorporating cutting and sometimes packing departments, deep-freeze units or workshop for processing and cooking the meat, particularly park. Scientific research is constantly leading to improvement. Slaughtering in former times. In the past the relationship between people and their livestock was much more intimate. “The meat of Greek animals is god-given… For the Greeks, matters relating to butchery, religion and cooking were all mixed up in what they called thusia and what we call sacrifice….The moment when the sacrifice begins, after the procession, the moment when the blood spurts out, belongs to the gods… The altar and the earth receive it all, then with a special implement and vessel it is collected and spread over the altar… The principal ritual act is the extraction of the noble viscera, essentially the liver; then comes the cutting up of the animal, horizontally, according to a strict procedure. According to the nature of the parts, they are grilled (particularly the viscera, whose perfume is offered to the gods), cooked on a spit or boiled (the manner of cooking preferred by the Greeks, particularly as fresh meat, already naturally tough and more so when cut in this way, is difficult to eat when roasted). The portions of meat are placed on the table as an offering to the gods, and afterwards they are at the priest’s disposal… The priest also receives that part which, at the start, contained the whole animal: the skin… in taking their fill of the edible parts men recognized, at the same time as they replenished their energy, the inferiority of their mortal state… in the language of Homer, to express the idea of the slaughter of livestock, there are not verbs other than those relating to offering up sacrifices to the god. (la Cuisine du sacrifice en pays grec, by M. Deteienne & J.-P. Vernant, published by Gallimard.) Even today, in some Greek villages, the public killing of livestock is practiced as part of popular orthodox rites, followed by the distribution and consumption of the meat, boiled in large cauldrons with vegetables and herbs. This is called kourbani.

ABLUTIONS AT THE TABLE. = The custom of rinsing the fingers in the course of a meal. The origin of the word (from Church Latin ablutio) is a reminder that ablution was originally a ritual practice; the person offering up a sacrifice had to purify his hands before officiating at the ceremony. Table ablutions were customary in ancient Greece and Rome, when food was taken by hand directly from the plate, as is still the practice today in the East. In Europe, since the introduction of forks, the ewer – a basin used for washing the hands – is no longer needed, and finger bowls appear on the table only with such foods as asparagus, artichokes and sea food. Linked to the practice of ablutions is that of the mouth rinse, still current at the beginning of the 19th century. In the Far East it is customary to offer to each guest, on changing from one course to another, a damp perfumed towel.

ABONDANCE. = An Alpine cheese from Savoie 9and an AOC one ) made from unpasteurized cow’s milk (minimum 45% fat content). It is molded when half-cooked and the crust is rubbed with salt. Made since the 16th century, Abondance takes its name from the valley where it originated and the and the and the local breed of dairy cows. It is round, 8-9 cm(3-31/2 in) thick, weighing 7-12 kg (15-26 lb), with a colour varying from oche to brown. The taste is subtle and nutty, with great fruitiness. The best cheese is made from the milk of Alpine herds. 

ABOUKIR= a French dessert made of a sponge cake cooked in a charlotte mould, then cut horizontally in slices which are sandwiched with chestnut cream. The cake is iced with coffee fondant icing and decorated with chopped pistochio nuts. Aboukir almonds are glazed petits fours made a blanced almonds is pressed. They are glazed by holding them on a skewer and dipping them into caramel or briskly boiled sugar. 

ABRICOT-PAVS =A fruit from the West Indees, the size of a small melon. Its only resemblance to the apricot is the colour of its flesh, which is, however, firmer than apricot flesh. After removing the thick skin and the harder white parts, the pulp is used to make jams, sorbets and fruit juices. 

ABSINTHE. =A famous, or infamous liqueur, Absinteh take its name from an aromatic plant (see Artemisi), which contains an alkaloid used since ancient times as a tonic. Wornwood is the principal one of 14 herbs which are macerated in gape spirit, but hyssop and mint are also include. it is famous for its green colour, and was called the fee vertee (‘green muse’) in France (Although the Swiss make a blue one). The liqueur absinthe was first made commercially by H.I. Permod in 1797. Absinthe may be served with water (as pastis are). However, a big part of the old absinthe ritual was first to balance a sugar lump on a special flat, pierced spoon over the glass and pour the spirit over it. The liqueur was hugely popular in French from the middle of the 19th century, and was taken up by the avant-garde poets and painters. It use spread to London and Luisiana. Absinthe contains a powerful drug, which has serious effects on the nervous system, and its manufacturer and sale were prohibited by law in France on 16 March 1915 and subsequently across Europe. However, it was never banned totally and has crept back in the 21st century as a specialist drink. Period and the various forms of pastis are now flavoured with aniseed. In his Grand Dictionnaire de cusine, Alexandre Dumas relates the following anecdote: “De Musset’s fatal passion for absinthe, which incidentally perhaps gave his poetry its bitter flavour, caused the Academie to make a modest pun. De Musset was, in fact, missing many of the sittings of this august body, aware that he was in no state to attend. “One day one of the distinguished forty members said to another: “Really, do you not think that Alfred de Musset absents himself rather too often?”

ACCOLADE,= EN in France this describes the presentation on the same plate of two similar kinds of foods, leaning against each other, usually poultry and game birds. In former times meat and fish might also have been served in this manner.

ACCOMMODER. = A French term meaning to prepare a dish, including the preceding operations as well as the seasoning and cooking.

ACETABULUM= in Roman times, a vessel for storing vindegar (acetum in Latin). The word also indicated a measure equivalent to 275 ml (9 fl oz). The Romans used wine vinegar, plain or strongly seasoned with pepper, but in non vine-growing regions they made vinegar from fruit (figs, pears or peaches). 

ACETOMEL. = A syrupy mixture of honey and vinegar used in sweet-and-sour preserved fruits (such as grapes or quartered pears or quicnes0. The name comes from two Latin words, acetum (vinegar) and mel (honey).

ACHAR. = An Indian term for a pickle. Relished throughout the Indian subcontinent, in Reunion Island, Indonesia and the West Indies and brought to Europe by the English in the 18th century, achar is made from a mixture of fruit and vegetable which are chopped and steeped in a spicy sauce, often oil – based and frequently flavoured with saffron. Exotic achars may be made from palm hearts, limes, dates rose petals, ginger and bamboo sprouts, but onions, pumpkins, cauliflower and caperas can be used in the same way. Some achars are very shapr-flavoured and piquant; others are milder and even sweet. 

RECIPE
Vegetable achar with lemon Cut thin-rinded lemons into quarters and remove the seeds. Cut some carrots, sweet (bell) peppers and seeded cucumbers into strips about 4 cm (1 ½ in) long, and cut some thing green beans and cabbage leaves into tiny florets. Steep the lemons and the vegetables separately in coarse salt. After 12 hours, was the lemons and soak them in cold water for 24 hours, changing the water several times, then boil them in water until the quarters have become soft. Drain and dry them. When the vegetables have been steeping for 36 hours, dry them too. Finely mince or grate some onion and fresh root ginger (or use a blender). Add cayenne pepper, vinegar and powdered saffron, then some best-quality olive oil. Place the lemon quarters and vegetables in a jar and cover with the aromatized oil, Seal and store in a cool place. 

 ACID =The term denotes a taste sensation (it is one of the four fundamental flavours – see taste, flaour) – as well as a chemical function. Any substance is acid which, in a water solution, can give off hydrogenions. The degree of acidity is defined by the hydrogen potential (pH), the scale of which varies from 0 (very acid) to 14 (very alkaline), 7 being the pH value of pure water, which is neutral. Mineral acids, which are generally ‘strong’ such as sulphuric acid), may be distinguished from the ’weak’ organic acids, such as citric and malic acid in fruit, phosphoric acid in cheese, meat and fish, and tartaric acid in wine. In addition to organic acids, foods contain other assimilable acids; ascorbic acid, amino acids and fatty acids. Culinary applications Acid foods and those to which acid (such as acetic acid or vinegar) is added are more easily preserved, for many micro-organisms do not develop when the pH value is low. Also the vitamin C7 content is better preserved in an acid environment. A weak acid, such as lemon juice, prevents artichoke hearts, avocadoes, sliced apples, bananas, chicoy (endive) and peeled potatoes from going black through oxidation. Acids help proteins to coagulate, which is why vinegar or lemon juice is used in a court-bouillon and in the cooking liquor of a blanquette or of poached eggs.

ACIDULATE =To turn a liquid or a dish slightly acid, tart or piquant by adding a little lemon juice, vinegar or the juice of unique fruit. Acidulate also means to make sour cream by adding a few drop of lemon juice to fresh cream.

ACRA Also known as akra. = A savoury fritter made by mixing a spiced puree of vegetables or fish with fritter batter. Acras, which are popular in the Caribbean, are served very hot as a starter, or with punch as cocktail snacks. Acras are also known as miranades and bonbons a I’buile, as well as ‘stamp and go’ in Jamaica and surullitos in Puerto Rico. They are most often made with salt cod, but alevin (baby salmon), mackered and crayfish are also used, as well as breadfruit, aubergines (eggplants), palm hearts, Caribbean cabbage, pumpkin and other vegetable.

RECIPE 

Salt-cod acras Place about 500 g (18 oz) salt cod in cold water for 24 hours to remove the salt, changing the water several times. Make a fritter batter with 200 g ( 7 oz, 1 ¾ cups ) plain (all-purpose) flour, a pinch of salt and enough water to obtain a thick batter, then leave it to stand for 1 hour. Place the desalted cod with a little cold water and a bay leaf in a saucepan; cook gently for 10 minutes. Drain and flake the fish, then mix it with a 4 teaspoons olive oil, salt and cavenne pepper. Finely chop 2 shallots and 4-5 chives, then add these to the cod. Stir the cod mixture into the batter. Stiffly whisk 2-3 egg whites and fold gently into the mixture. Drop spoonsfuls of the mixture into hot oil and deep-fry until crisp and golden, turning once. Drain and serve hot. 

ACROAMA =A spectacle which livened up a banquet in Roman times: acrobats, flute players and dancers, mimes and parodies, even combats between men or animals. Of Greek origin, the name meant ‘that to which are listens’. The acroama tradition continued in different forms, through the medieval story-tellers, jugglers and mountebanks, to become a musical entertainment or accompaniment.

ADVOCAAT= A liquer made with beaten egg yolks, sugar and spirit, served both before and after meals. The best-known brands are made in the Netherlands. It is sometimes used in mixes, especially the snowball (with fizzy lemonade). 

AFRICA =See Black Africa, North Africa, South Africa.








AFRICAIEN,= Ã L’ The French term is used to describe an accompaniment of olive-shaped potato pieces, which are browned in butter, and two other vegetables – cucumber, aubergine (eggplant) or courgette (zucchini) - which are sliced and either sautéed in oil or steamed. This accompaniment is served with large joints of roast mutton, which may be flavoured with powdered rosebuds (as in Tunisia) or with a combination of herbs and spices, including thyme, bay, cumin, cloves or coriander (cilantro). The sauce for dishes served a l’africaine is a rich demi-glace flavoured with tomato. 

AGAPE= A meal that the early Christians took together. The word comes from the Greek agape, meaning love, and was originally used to describe a frugal meal. After the mass the faithful would come together to share a light meal of bread and wine, the aim of which was to recall the ideals of sharing and charity preached by the Christians.

AGAR-AGAR =A viscous substance, also known as Bengal isinglass and Japanese or Ceylon moss, agar-agar is an extract of seaweed from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the vegetarian gelling agent - and produces a firmer jelly which does not melt as readily as gelatine. It is principally used in the food industry, in desserts, ice creams, sauces and canned soup. It comes either in the form of small transparent crumpled strips of various colours, or in loaves or powdered from. When dissolved in water over a low heat, its gum blends with the water, on cooling, it sets to a jelly. Called Kanten in Japan, it is added to soups. 

AGARIC =To psalliote Any of genus of field and woodland mushrooms with a white cap, pink then brownish gills, and a stalk bearing a single or a double ring. According to the species, the flesh may be tinted with pink, reddish-brown, brown or yellow. The group includes many edible mushrooms (see mushrooms) with a delicate flavour and smell, often on aniseed.

AGAVE =The Latin and popular name of a family of large plants with enormous spiked fleshy leaves, originating from Mexico, of which Magvey is one type. The fermented sap is sued in several Latin American countries to make fermented drinks, such as pulque, mescal and tequila.

AGEING =Vieillissement The process of keeping a wine with the intention of improving its qualities of taste and bouquet. Most wines spend a period of time in tank after fermentation, but the ageing process usually refers to a period spend in wooden casks, often oak, which allows a gentle form of oxidation to take place, as well as interaction between the wine and wood. Bottle ageing is also an important phase in the maturation of many fine wines, such as traditional red wines of Bordeaux, top-quality Sauternes, vintage port and fine wines from around the world, particularly those made from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Wines such as Sherry, Madeira and Vin Doux Naturel are age in the presence of air to promote controlled oxidation which is an important part of their flavour development. 

AGEING OF MEAT =The slow change that takes place in a meat when it is left for a period of time and reaches a state in which it is suitable for consumption or further processing. After the animal is killed, the flesh is still warm and it passes through a stage known in France as pantelante (twitching). Then rigor mortis sets in. in the next stage, rassise, the flesh becomes more tender and flavoursome as the sinews are less taut and the muscles relax. The speed and intensity with which meat ages is influenced both by the quality of the meat (which is affected by the animal’s diet) and the ambient temperature. See hanging. 

AGNES SOREL =A French garnish consisting of cooked button mushrooms, breast of chicken and pickled ox (beef) tongue, cut according to the dish being garnished (omelette, fried or braised veal, or supreme of chicken). In Agnes Sorel soup the garnish is cut into thin strips and added to the thickened soup. Mistress of the French King Charles VII, Agnes Sorel was a celebrated cook who gave her name to several dishes. ‘To attract and keep the attentions of Charles VII, she engaged the best chefs of the time. She had a no hesitation in making personal appearances in the kitchens. Two of her creations will go down to posterity; woodcock salmis and her little timbales.'’(Christian Guy, Une Histoire de la cuisine francase, published by les Productions de Paris.) RECIPES Agnes Sorel tartlets Fill tartlet cases with a layer of creamed chicken puree, containing choped truffles if desired. Surround with a border of small rounds of cold cooked chicken breast and pickled ox (bee) tongue. On each tartled place a mushroom cap which has been cooked in a white court-bouillion. Warm through in a preheated oven at 160o C (325o F, gas 3 ) for 10 minutes. Pour cream sauce over the mushrooms before serving. Agnes Sorel timbales Butter a dozen dariole moulds, put a very thin layer of chopped truffles in half of them and in the other half a similar layer of chopped cooked pickled ox (beef) tongue. Prepare 500 g (18 oz) chicken mouseline (see forcemeat) and flavour it with a few spoonfuls of soubise puree; the mixture should be thick. Cover the base and sides of the moulds with the chicken mousseline. Fill the centre with a salpicon of chicken and truffles, bound with a little reduced Madeira sauc, then cover the tops of the moulds with a final layer of chicken mousseline. Place the moulds in shallow pan and cook in bain marie for 12-15 minutes. When ready to serve, turn out of the moulds and arrange on a dish; serve with Madeira sauce separately. AGRAZ = A sorbet made from almonds, verjuice and sugar, popular in North Africa and Spain (its name is the Spanish for verjuice), Agraz, which has an acid flavour, is served in large sorbet glasses and may be sprinkled with kirsch.

AGUARDIENTE = An alcoholic spirit from a Spanish-speaking country. In vine-growing regions (like Argentina, Chile and Spain) it is made from grape must, and so is the equivalent of the French marc or the Italian grappa. Spanish ones range from the crudest local Galician spirit to the sophisticated range of anis spirit, sold under brand or regional names. Like grappa they may also be fruit-flavoured (see anisette). Aguardience my also be made from distilled sugar-cane molasses called caña in the Mediterranean and Central America.

AID = A French way of serving flatfish fillets (brill or turbot). It is distinguished from preparations a la florentine by the addition of paprika to the Mornay sauce and the spinach. 

AIGO BOULIDO = Provencal name for a soup made from boiled water (hence its name, which may also be spelled bouido or bullido) and garlic. It is one of the oldest culinary traditions of this region, where they have the saying I’aigo boulido suavo lo vito (garlic soup saves one’s life). 

RECIPE
Aigo boulido Bring 1 litre (1 ¾ pints, 4 1/3 cups) water to the boil. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and 6 crushed garlic cloves. Boil for about 10 minutes, then add a small sprig of sage, preferably fresh, one quarter of a bay leaf and a small sprig, preferably fresh, one quarter of a bay leaf and a small sprig of thyme. Remove at once from the heat and leave to infuse for several minutes, remove the herbs. Blend I egg yolk with a little of the cooled soup, then stir it back into the soup to thicken it. Pour the soup over slices of bread which have been sprinkled with olive oil. Aigo boulido with poached eggs. Poach some eggs in aigo boulido stack. Place a slice of bread in each hot soup plate and top this with a poached egg. Ladle the soup over and sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve. If preferred, 2 chopped and seeded tomatoes, a small sprig of fennel, a pinch of saffron, a piece of dried orange zest and 4 sliced cooked potatoes may be added to the basic aigo boulido stock. In this case serve the poached eggs separately on the potatoes and pour the flavoured soup over the slices of bread sprinkled with chopped parsley. 

AIGUEBELLE = A plant-flavoured liqueur made at the Aiguebelle monastery near Montelimar, France. 

AIGUILLETTE = The French name for a long narrow fillet, taken from either side of the breastbone of poultry (mainly duck) and game birds. This separates easily from the undesrside of the breast meat and is a popular chef’s item for small dishes. An aiguillette can also be a thin strip of any meat. In France the tip of a rump of beef is called atiguillette baronne.

RECIPE 
Jellied beef aiguillettes
Put 1 calf’s foot and some veal bones in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Drain, then cool them and wipe dry. Slice 575 g (1 ¼ lb) new carrots and 1 large onion, quarter 2 tomatoes and peel 2 small garlic cloves. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a flameproof casserole and brown 1.25 kg. (2 ¾ lb) slivers of beef aiguilettes which, if possible, have been larded by the butcher. Add the sliced carrots and onion, the calf’s foot and the veal bones; continue to cook until the onions are coloured. Remove any excess oil with a small ladle, then add the tomato quarters, a bouquet garni, a small piece of orange zest, a pinch of salt, pepper (a few turns of the pepper mill), a dash of cayenne pepper, 250 ml (8 fl oz, 1 cup) dry white wine and 500 ml (17 fl oz, 2 cups) water. Cover and slowly bring to the boil, then place the casserole in a preheated oven at 180oC (350oF, gas 4 ). Cook for about 2 ½ hours or until the meat is tender, stirring the meat from time. In a large uncovered pan, simmer 30 small peeled button onions with 25 g (1 oz, 2 tablespoons) butter, 2 teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar, a pinch of salt and just enough water to cover them. Cook until the onions in the caramel which has formed. Drain the aiguillettes (reserving the cooking liquid) and arrange them in a deep dish or terrine with the sliced carrots and the small onions. Set aside until cold, then refrigerate. Remove the bones from the calf’s foot and cut the flesh into cubes, strain the cooking liquid back into a saucepan, add the calf’s foot cubes and boil for about 10 minutes, then strain. Dissolve 15 g (1/2 oz. 2 envelopes ) powdered gelatine in the minimum of water, then add the strained cooking liquid and 100 ml (4 ft oz, ½ cup) Madeira; check seasoning, then leave to cool until syrupy. Coat the aiguillettes with the setting liquid, then refrigerate until set and ready to serve. 

AILLADE =A feature of the cuisine of 
Southern France, which varies according to the region where it is made. In Provence, it is either a vinaigrette sauce with garlic or a slice of bread rubbed with garlic, soaked in olive oil and grilled (broiled) (pain a I’aillade). In languedoc, the aillade from the Toulouse area is a variation on aioli mayonnaise made with blanched and ground walnuts, while in the region of Albi aillade is another name for aioli. RECIPE Aillade sauce Peel 4 garlic cloves, crush or finely chop them and place in a basin with salt and pepper. Gradually blend in 2 tablespoons olive oil, stirring well, Mix in 2-3 teaspoons vinegar, a few springs of chopped parsley and, if desired, 2 tablespoons chopped shallots and chives. 

AILEE =A French condiment of the consistency of mustard, made with breadcrumbs, ground almonds and garlic, mixed with stock. The origin of ailee is uncertain, but it is likely that it originated in Paris, where in the 13th century no fewer than nine merchants are known to have dealt in it.

AIOLI,= also known as ailloli, A Provencal emulsion sauce of garlic and olive oil, best known in its mayonnaise form with egg yolks. The provencal name comes from ail (garlic) and oli (dialect for oil). The Spanish alioli of raw garlic pounded with oil was first recorded by Pliny in the first century AD in Taragona (on the east coast), it too is now made with added yolks. Leon Daudet maintained that the use of garlic in the food of Mediterranean peoples went back to the beginning of cooking, and he considered the culinary use of garlic had achieved its peak of perfection in aioli. Frederick Mistral, who in 1891 founded a journal entitled L’Aioli, wrote epitomizes the heat, the power, and the joy of the Provencal sun, but it has another virtue – it drives away flies’ Aioli is served with cold poached fish, bourride (fish soup), hard-boiled eggs, salad, snails or cold meats. But when a Provencal talks of a grand aioli, which is eaten only two or three times a year, he means a sumptuous dish which, as well as the sauce, includes poached salt cod, boiled beef and mutton, stewed vegetables – carrots, celery, green beans, beetroot (beef), cauliflower and chick peas – and, as a garnish, snails and hard-boiled eggs. RECIPES Aioli Peel 4 large garlic cloves (split them in two and remove the germ if necessary). Pound the garlic with 1 egg yolk in a mortar or blender. Add salt and pepper and, while pounding or blending, very gradually add 250 ml (8 fl oz, 1 cup) olive oil, as for a mayonnaise. The sauce is ready when it is thick and creamy. The bulk of the sauce is sometimes increased by adding 2 teaspoons mashed boiled potato. Aioli without eggs Cook a whole head of garlic, unpeeled, in a hot oven for about 30 minutes. Peel the cloves and mash to a puree. Add salt and pepper and thicken like a mayonnaise working in 150 ml (1/4 pint, 2/3 cup) olive oil and 150 ml (1/4 pint, 2/3 cup) groundnut (peanut) oil. Cod aioli Cook 575 (1 ¼ lb) small potatoes in their skins in salted water. Keep a little of the cooking water and thicken it with 100 g (4 oz, ½ cup ) aioli (made with egg yolks). Coat the potatoes with the aioli sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Poach 1 kg (2 ¼ lb) soaked and drained salt cod in a mixture of water and milk. Arrange the cod on plates and put the potatoes on top. 

AISY CENDRE. = A soft cheese from Burgundy made with unpasteurized cow’s milk (minimum 45% fat content), with a washed crust. Made in farms in the Monthand region of the core d’ Or, it is a round cheese 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and from 3-6 cm is matured beneath a layer of ashes of vine shoots, from which it acquires its name and its powerful earthy flavour.

ALBACORE =in cuisine, canned white tuna, and also the two fish from which it comes, of the family scombroidae. In French-speaking countries albacore refers to the yellow-finned tuna, the most gaily coloured of the tunas, a fish that can reach 2 metres (6 ft) long and a weight of 200 kg (440 lb.). it is fished in the tropical waters of the Atlantic, and off the African and Japanese coasts. Its lightly-pink flesh provides the greater part of the white tuna that is canned in Japan it is cooked as sbibi. In Britain, America and Australia albacore is Tbunmus alalunga (germon in French). From this comes the canned white tuna of the highest quality. Known as the long-fin (sometimes the white) tuna, it is half the size of the other – it rarely reaches 1 metre (3 fit). It swims in the warm waters of the world and is an eminent sporting fish. The flesh can be tried, poached or braised, but raw is highly prized in Japan for susbi and sasbini. 

ALBERT =An English sauce dedicated to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, husband and consort of Queen Victoria, it is made from a white consomme seasoned with grated horseradish, thickened with breadcrumbs and enriched with cream and egg yolks, Mustard thinned with vinegar or lemon juice is added to give a final piquant touch. This hot sauce accompanies joints of braised beef. The name Albert is also given to a method of serving sole, dedicated to Albert Blazer, maire d’hotel at Maxim’s between the World Wars. 

ALBIGOEOISE,= A L’ This garnish, named for the town of Albi, consists of stuffed tomatoes and potato croquettes; it accompanies joints of meat. The term is also applied to methods of preparing dishes using products from sought-western France. RECIPE Shoulder of lamb a lalbigeoise Bone the should and fill the bone cavity with a stuffying of half sausagemeat and half chopped pig’s liver, seasoned with garlic, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Roll the shoulder as for a ballotine and tie to secure. Weight the stuffed joint. Brown the rolled shoulder in very hot fat, then place it in a roasting dish; surround with quartered potatoes (or whole small new potatoes) and 12 blanched garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with a little melted fat. Cook the lamb in a preheated oven at about 200oC (400oF, gas 6), allowing 20 minutes per 450 g (1 lb), plus 20 minutes more. Sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve. This dish is traditionally 
cooked and served in an ovenproof earthnware dish.

ALBUFERA, A LA D’ = The name given to several baute cuisine (notably chicken and duck) dedicated by Careme to Napoleon’s Marshal Suchet, Duc d’albufera (the name of the lake at Valencia, near which he won a victory over the English).

RECIPES 
Albufera sauce
Prepare a supreme sauce using 500 ml (17 ft. oz. 2 cups) thick rich children veloute sauce, 400 ml (14 ft oz, 1 ¾ cups) white chicken stock, 400 ml (14 ft oz, 1 ¾ cups) crème fraiche and 50 g (2 oz, ¼ cup) butter. While the sauce is cooking, sweat 150 g (5 oz ) sliced sweet (bell) peppers in 50 g (2 oz, ¼ cup) butter. Allow to cool, then puree the peppers in a blender. Work in 150 g (5 oz, 2/3 cup butter and press through a sieve. Reduce the supreme sauce to 500 ml (17 fl oz. 2 cups), then add 3 tablespoons veal stock and 2 teaspoons the pepper butter, Rub through a fine sieve. Serve the sauce hot. Chicken a la d’albufera Half-cook some rise in a white stock and add a salpicon of truffles and fole gras. Stuff a chicken with this mixture and poach in the white stock. Arrange it on a serving dish, surrounded with an Albufera garnish – pickled ox (beef) tongue, sliced and sauteed calves’ sweetbreads and mushrooms. Coat with Albufera sauce. Ducklings a la d’Albufera Dress and truss 2 young ducklings. Cut 12 pieces of smoked Bayonne ham in to heart shapes. Put into a saucepan 50 g (2 oz, ¼ cup) best butter, the pieces of ham, them the ducklings, a bouquet garni, an onion stuck with 2 cloves and half a glass of Malaga (or another Muscat) wine. Cover the contents of the saucepan with a circle of buttered paper. In a restaurant this is cooked by placing the pan on a paillasse (brick hearth with charcoal fire), with flames above and below but not too fierce, so that the ducklings cook without frying. At home cook in a preheated oven at 200oC (200oF, gas6). After 20 minutes, turn the ducklings and remove the onion and the bouquet. After a further 20 minutes, train them, untruss and place on a serving dish. They should be well browned. Garnish with thins slices of ham. Skin off the fat from the juices in the pan and add 2 tablespoons financiere* sauce with the fat removed. Add 2 punnets of lightly fried very small mushrooms and coat them with the sauce. Sirloin a la d’Albufera Aloyau a la d’albufera (from Careme’s recipe) Braise a sirloin joint. Make some turtle sauce, add a little butter and some of the beef juice, then stir in a plateful of sliced and sautéed calves. Sweetbreads, a plateful of sliced pickled ox (bee) tongue and some mushrooms. Spoon some of this ragout round the beef and then cook to reheat. Garnish the dish with slices of young rabbit fillet a la d’Orly (egged, crumbed and deep-pried) and 10 skewers laid on the beef, each assembled as follows: first a fine double cockscomb, a slice of young rabbit, a la d’Orly, a cockscomb, a large glazed truffle, a cockscomb, and finally a glazed black truffle. Serve more ragout in two sauceboats.

ALCARRAZA =A porous earthenware vessel used for cooling drinks. The name is Spanish and derives from the Arabic al karaz (pitcher). It was introduced into France in the 18th century. The Alcaraaza is suspended, preferably in the shade, in a draughty place. Liquid oozes out through the porous surface of the vessel and evaporates, thus lowering the temperature and cooling the contents of the pitcher.

ALCAZAR =A Franch gateau made with a base of enriched shortcrust pastry covered with a layer of apricot marmalade and topped with a kirsch-flavoured almond meringue mixture. The gateau is decorated with apricot marmalade and lattice of almond paste. It keeps well for two or three days. 

RECIPE
Alcazar gateau Line a flan tin (pie pan ) with 250 g (9 oz) pate sucee (see pastry), Prick the base and spread with 2 tablespoons apricot marmalade or jam. Whisk 4 egg whites and 125 g (4 ½ oz, 1/2 cup) caster (superfine) sugar over heat to a stiff meringue, then fold in 50 g. (2 oz, ½ cup) ground almonds, 50 g (2 oz, ½ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour) flour and 2 tablespoons melted butter mixed with 1 tablespoon kirsch. Pour this mixture into the prepared flan case and cook in a preheated oven at 200oC (400oF, gas 6) until the top has browned. Turned the gateau out of the tin and cool it on a wire tray. Using a piping bag with a flutted nozzle, pipe softened almond paste into a lozenge-shaped lattice over the top of the gateau and then as a border around the edge. Replace it in the oven to brown the almond paste. Over a low heat reduce 200 g. (7 oz, ¾ cup) apricot marmalade or jam and fill each of the lozenge shapes, then place half a pistachio nut in the centre of each one. If desired, the border may also be glazed with apricot jam and coated with chopped roasted pistachio nuts.

ALCOHOL. = The common name for ethanol. The word was fist used by alchemists who derived it from the Arabic al kohl., which came to mean any product that represented concentration or the essence of any raw material. From that it came to be known as the product of distillation. In the Middle Ages alcohol was considered an elixer of life (acqua vitae, from which it acquired the name eau-de-view) and was mostly reserved for therpeutic use. It came to be used as a drink towards the end of the 15th century, when it was infused with all kinds of herbs and plants. Finally, the invention of the rectification process and the continuous still transformed it into a product for the mass market. Ethanol is produced by the action of yeast on sugars during the fermentation process. These sugars are the naturally occurring sugars in fruit such as grapes, pears, apples and berries or are obtained from starch sources such as cereals, potatoes and sugar beet, modified by the action of malting enzymes into fermentable sugars. The source of the fermentable sugar gives each products its own character – grapes ferment into wine, pears into perry, apples into cider and cereals into beer. Distillation of these liquors creates another range of drinks such as brandy, eaux-de-vie, marc and whisky. Vegetable substrates usually pass from fermentation to distillation into products such as vodka and gin. In some parts of the world fermentable sugars are provided by plants such as sugar cane, agape and palm, which in turn produce rum, tequila and various alcoholic liquors. The alcoholic content of a wine or spirit is now usually measured as the percentage by volume of pure ethanol in the liquor, measured at 20oC (69oF). This has largely replaced the Gay-Lussac scale. Alcohol has antiseptic properties and nutritional value, but it becomes toxic when there is more than a certain amount in the blood. Alcoholic drinks may be drunk on their own or with soft drinks. They are also widely used in cooking. For example wine, beer and spirits can all the used in savoury and sweet recipes. 

AL DENTE =An Italian expression (meaning literally ‘to the tooth’) indicating the correct degree of cooking for pasta, which must be removed from the heat and drained while it is still firm enough to bite into. The expression may also be applied to certain vegetables, such as green beans, which are served while still retaining crunchiness. 

ALEMBIC =Apparatus used in distillation. The name derives from the Arabic al’inhiq (distilling vessel). The traditional alembic, made of copper, comprises a boiler (called a cucurbit) in which the mixture to be distilled is heated, a cap where the vapours collect, and a bent pipe that carries the vapours to the serpentine, a spiral coil passing through a cold bath, where they condense. This type of alembic, known as charentais, discontinu, or a repasse (because the alcohol passes through it twice), is used for distilling most of the great eauxde-vie or alcoholic spirits, but alembics of the continuous distillation type are also used - for Armagnac, for example – and double-towered alembics, in which the alcohol does not have to pass through twice, are used in industry.

ALEXANDRA =The name given to several French disches (chicken consomme, parmentier soup with vegetables, fillets of sole, sautéed chicken, potroast quail, noisette uotlets and tournedos steak), served with a sauce and garnished with a thin slice of truffle and with asparagus tips (if the sauce is white) or quartered artichoke hearts (if it is brown). Alexandra is also the name of a cocktail based on crème de cacao (chocolate liqueur).

RECIPE
Sautéed chicken Alexandra Joint a chicken and saute the joints in butter until cooked. Remove and keep them hot. Add 100 ml (4 fl oz, ½ cup) white stock to the saute pan and cook briskly to reduce it, then add 1 ½ cup) white stock to the saute pan cook briskly to reduce it, then add 1 ½ oz, 3 tablespoons) butter, then strain the sauce. Arrange the chicken in a dish, coat with the sauce and garnish with buttered asparagus tips. 

ALGAE =Simple plants which constitute the flora of the seas, lakes and coasts. According to their pigmentation, algae are classified as green (including ulva or sea lettuce, chlorella, chondrus), brown (including fucus and laminaria), red (porphyra) or blue-green (primitive organisms resembling bacteria ). Some of them are edible. Ancient Britons, the Irish, the river-dwellers in Chad and the Mexican Indians all appear to have been very early collectors of algae, with which they made bread and a type of pancake. In the Far East algae have always had particular gastronomic value. Their present day role in the food industry worldwide on account of their gum content (see agar-agar, emulsifer, gelling agent) makes growing them big business. Algae are quite used in Celtic cookery in Europe, the most common being porphyra, rhodymenia and chondrus, (see carrageen, laver, sloke.) Chondrus is used as gelling agent for desserts on both sides of the atlantic. In Japan six kinds of algae are commonly eaten, constituting 10% of total food production. These algae are either taken from the sea or cultivated along the coasts. Nori, known as laver in the west, is dried and compressed into violet-coloured leaves, then used for wrapping balls of rice or fish. It is also used in powdered form as an iodized condiment, Dried kombu (kelp) is used to season stocks (principally dashi), rice and vegetables. It is also cut into strips and made into little ‘nests’ which are fried and served with vegetables. Wakame (used for mismo soup) and bijiki are used to make soups and to colour various dishes. 

ALGERIENNE,= A L’ This French garnish consists of sweet potato, either as croquettes or sautéed, and chopped tomatoes seasoned with garlic. It is served with large or small pieces of meat (paupiettes) as well as sautéed chicken. Sweet potato puree is used for the soup crème algerienne. 

ALHAGI =The Latin name of a small Meditarrnean shrub also called camel’s thorn. It has edible seeds that, in intense heat, exude a sugary substance which can be shaken from the bush. This may be the manna (from the Hebrew manhu, ‘what is it?’) mentioned in the Bible. 

ALI-BAB =One of the dishes named in honour of Henri Babinsky (born Parish, 1855, died Paris, 1931), whose pseudonym it was. A professional engineer from the Ecole des Mines, he published Gastronomie pratique under this name in 1907. During his travels throughout the world prospecting for gold and diamonds, he collected many recipes and cooked for his travelling companions. His book was republished several times with various additions, including an interesting study on treatment for obesity among gourmands (1923). This well-documented and humorous work is still of great interest historically and gastronomically, though of limited practical use.

RECIPE 

Ali-bab salad Turn some peeled shrimps in mayonnaise, arrange them in a mound in the centre of a serving dish or salad bowl and sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs. Surround with the following; courgette (zucchini) matchsticks, blanched in salted water; sweet potato, cut into small balls and boiled; hard-boiled (hard-cooked) egg cut into quarters; small tomatoes, peeled, seeded and quartered. Sprinkle the salad with vinaigrette and serve garnished with nasturtium flowers. 

ALICIA =Sermonlina made by the ancient Romans from a variety of semi-hard wheat known as zea, which was crushed in a wooden mortar. After sifting, it was divided into three categories according to its fineness, and whitened by the addition of crushed chalk. Alica was used to prepare gruels, cakes and special bread with raisins known as Picenum bread.

ALIGO= A dish from the Auvergne region of France, made from potatoes, garlic and Cantal cheese. The cheese used must not be fully ripe; fresh Tomme cheese may be used instead, the best being Tomme de Planeze. The most difficult part of the preparation is mixing the cheese with the cooked potatoes, either as a puree or simply mashed with a fork. A sweet aligot may be made by pouring a generous helping of run over the aligot in a gratin dish, and setting light to it.

RECIPE 

aligot smoothly mash 1 kg (2 ¼ lb) soft fondant potatoes (cooked very slowly in butter in a covered pan), add 1-2 crushed garlic cloves, I tablespoon bacon fat and sufficient milk to make a puree. Turn the puree into a bain marie, add 575 g (1 ¼ lb) thinly sliced fresh Laguiole cheese and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the cheese is evenly blended into the potato. The aligot is cooked when a smooth flowing elastic puree is formed. 

ALIGOTE =A white grape with high acidity, grown in Burgundy and in part of Eastern Europe. Dry and assertive, it is the traditional base for the apertif Kir or vin blanc cassis. 

ALIZE PAQUAUDE = also known as Alise Pacaude. A traditional Easter griddle cake from the Vendee region of Franch, also caled gache vendeenne. It is made with bread dough enriched with butter and eggs, sweetened and flavoured with orange-flower water, and can weight up to 2 kg (4½ lb). The cake is supposed to be made on Easter Saturday, and the dough is left to rise for only 2 hours. The name means ‘badly risen’.

ALLEMANDE =A white sauce, described as ‘German’ to differentiate it from the brown espagnole ‘Spanish’ sauce, although both these basic sauce are of French origin. Made with veal or poultry stock, allemande sauce and eggs; made with a fish or mushroom fumet, it is served with fish. 

RECIPE 

allemande sauce (from Careme’s receipe) Prepare some veloute; pour half of it into a sacuepan with an equal quantity of good chicken consome containing some mushroom skin and stalks but no salt. Place the pan on a high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until it boils. Then cover the pan and simmer gently for about an hour to reduce the sauce; skim off the fat and return it to a high heat, stirring with the wooden spoon so that it does not stick to the pan. When the sauce is thoroughly reduced and well thickened, it should leave a fairly thick covering on the surface of the spoon. When poured, it should make a coating similar to that of redcurrant jelly at its final stage of cooking. Remove the saucepan from the heat and make a liaison of 4 egg yolks mixed with 2 tablespoons cream. Put this through a sieve and add a knob of unsalted butter, the size of a small egg, cut up into small pieces. Pour this a little at a time into the veloute, taking care to stir with the wooden spoon to thicken as the liaison blends in. When completely thickened, place the allemande on a moderate heat, stirring all the time, and as soon as it has begun to bubble slightly, remove from the heat and add a dash of grated nutmeg. When well blended, press through a sieve. Allemande sauce based on fish stock This sauce is prepared in the same way as that based on meat stock except that the meat stock used in the preparation is replaced with a rich fish stock. This sauce may also be flavoured with a concentrated mushroom stock. allemande sauce based on meat stock Using a wooden spatula, mix together 2 or 3 egg yolks (according to size) and 400 ml (14 fl oz, 1¾ cup) white meat stock in a heavy-based saucepan over a low heat. Then stir in 500 ml (17 fl oz, 2 cups) veloute. Bring to the boil, whisking constantly to prevent the sauce from sticking, and constantly to prevent the sauce from sticking, and reduce until it coats the spatula. Check seasoning. Cut 50 g (2 oz, ¼ cup) butter into small pieces and mix into the sauce. Place in a bain marie, topping up the water from time to time. This sauce may be flavoured with a fumet of truffle or mushrooms. 

ALLEMANDE, A L = This French description is applied to a dish served with a white allemande sauce (see above). Alternatively it describe a method of preparing marinated game inspired by German cuisine: haunch or saddle of venison, saddle of hare or rabbit roasted with the vegetables from the marinade. A sauce to serve with the game is prepared by deglazing with the marinade.

RECEPI

calves’ brains a l’allemande Poach the brains in a court-bouillon, drain them and cut each into 4 slices. Coat these with flour and cook with alemande sauce. 

ALLONGER =The Franch term for extending a sauce, for example adding a liquid (water, stock, wine or bouillon) to a sauce that is too thick or reduced too much. The sauce is thus made thinner, but it flavour is less concentrated.

ALLSPICE = A spice, also known as Jamaican pepper and (in France) as power giroflee, that is ground from the unique berries of Pimenta officinalis, a tree which grows in the Carribbean, Honduras and Mexico. Allspice has a strong odour of nutmet, cinnamon and cloves, which is why it is sometimes mistaken for a mixture of different spices. It is used to season sausages, salt beef and portk, pickles, sauces, soused herrings, stuffings and even Christmas cake. 

ALLUMETTE =A small pastry strip (the French means ‘match’) cut from a long rectangle of puff pastry. They are topped with a savoury spread, garnished and baked. If this savoury is to be served hot, the spread whether made from one item (cheese, anchovies or shrimps) or a mixture, may be sandwiched between two lavers of pastry. Iced allumetes are a small individual pastries. According to Lacam, a pastrycook called Planta, who came from Dinard but was of Swiss origin, created these when using up some leftover icing (frosting). Allumette potatoes are very thin matchstick-shaped fried potatoes. Allumette potatoes Cut some potatoes into small matchsticks 5 mm (1/4 in) thick, using a variety that does not disintegrate in cooking. Wash and dry them, then plunge into very hot fat and cook without letting them change colour. Drain, then plunge them back into the hot fat and cook until just golden. Drain and serve. Iced sweet allumettes Roll out some puff pastry to a thickness of 3 mm (1/8 in), and cut it into strips 8 cm (3 in) wide. Spread with a thin layer of royal icing (frosting). Cut the strips into 2.5-3 cm (1 - 1 ¼ in ) lengths and place them on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 180oC (350oF, gas 4 0 until the icing turns cream-coloured (about 10 minutes). Savoury allumettes Roll out some puff pastry to about 5 mm (1/4 in) thickness, and divide it into strips 8 cm (3 in) wide. Spread these with the chosen well-chilled filling, and top, if desired, a pastry strip or a selected garnish. Cut the bands into rectangles 2-3 cm (3/4 – 1 ¼ in) wide, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at about 200oC (400oF. Gas 6) for 12-15 minutes. Serve very hot. Savoury allumettes can be prepared with the following fillings.
 with onchovies Anchovy butter filling, garnished with anchovy fillets (may be served cold).
 a f’andalouse Chicken filling with paprika and a salpicon of lean ham and onions cooked slowly in butter.  a la chalonnaise Chicken fillinc with cockscombs and kidneys and diced mushrooms. 
 a la chavetter Fish filling with crayfish butter, garnished with crayfish tails and truffles. 
 a laecarlate Veal filling with a salpicon of pickled tongue. 
 A la florentine Spinach gently cooked in butter, mixed with bechamel sauce and grated Gruyere; dust allumettes with Parmesan cheese before baking. 
 a la toscane when giving the last 3 folds to puff pastry, sprinkle with very finely grated cheese. Dust allumettes with parmesan cheese before baking.

ALMOND =the fruit of the almond tree. On France the term is more loosely used for the almond kernel and is extended to the kernels within the stones, pits – of such fruits as the apricot and peach.) the outer layer of the almond is oval, green and velvety to the touch, it encloses a thick-shelled nut containing one or two seeds. Originating in Asia and known by the Romans as Greek nets, it was explained by the Arabs for a range of culinary possibilities. Almonds were widely used in the Middle Ages to make soups, as well as sweet desserts (see blameange). There are two varieties of almond both rid in sugar, albument and oil: the edible sweet almond and the bitter almond, which has a very strong taste and poisonous in large amounts, containing hydrocyanic acid. California supplies half the world crop of almonds, followed by Spain and Sicily. The so-called Jordan almond (along, flat and slender -- and the best cocktail almond) is in fact from Spain, the name being a corruption of Jardin (a garden). French almonds grow in Provence and Gorsica. Fresh almonds appear early in the year. They are opened with a nutcracker and eaten for dessert. But almonds are mainly used dried and are served salted with apeitifs. Dried bitter almonds are used in small quantities to flavour cakes, pastries and confectionery and to made an essence. Dried sweet almonds whole, flaked (silvered), ground or made into paste or cream - are used in making cakes, biscuits (cookies), sweet and various sweetmeats. Celebrated among these are the sugar-coated dragee’s and various forms of nougat. They flavour drinks like orgeat and Amaretio di Sarrano, and make a fine-quality oil, used in baking. In cooking almonds may be accompany certain fish, in particularly troust, or meat such as chicken or pigeon. They are used as ingredients in such preparations as couscous, rice dishes, stuffings, pounded sauces with garlic, and compound butters. 

RECIPES 

blanched almonds Put some dried almonds into a strainer and plunge into a saucepan of boiling water, then take the pan off the heat. As soon as their skin gives under the finger, drain some of the almonds, peel them straight away and plunge them into cold water. Do the same with the rest of the almonds, a few as a time. Drain and blot them, then dry them in a sieve over a very low heat; they must not go yellow. Store in a box or well-sealed jar, away from the light. chopped almonds Whole blanched almonds may be chopped by hand or in a blender. Flaked (slivered) almonds are thinly sliced lengthways by hand. salted almonds Heat some sweet blanched almonds in the oven until they turn slightly yellow, turning them once. Then fry them until golden in butter in a saute pan with a pinch of saffron, cayenno pepper and ginger. Drain on a cloth. To store, when cold, coast with a clear solution of gum Arabic and dust with fine salt. toasted almonds Spread flaked (silvered) almonds on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven, without any fat, until lightly brown. 

ALMOND MILK =A liquid preparation used on ground almonds. In the Middle Ages almond milk was a soup made with crushed almonds, balanced onions, wine and spices, heated with water until it thickened. The soup was served hot, either as a main dish or as a course between savoury dishes. Later on, almond milk become almost synonymous with blancmange, a cold dessert made from ground almonds and sugar, which are stirred into hot milk and then strained, setting to a jelly when cooled. This dish, which is not a popular as it once was, is now set with gelatine and is used as a base for cold desserts or sundaes, finished off with fruit and ice cream. The Freanch term latt d’mande is also used in classic patisserie for a round cake made from a paste coated with an apricot glaze, topped with a thin layer of almond paste, glazed again, iced (frosted) and then decorated with chopped roasted almonds.

RECIPE 

almond milk jelly Soak 3 leaves of gelatine in a little water. (3/4 oz, 1 ½ envelopes of dissolved powdered gelatine may alternatively be added to the hot milk). Blanch 250 g (9 oz. Scant 2 cups) sweet almonds and 15 g (1/2 oz 1 tablespoon) bitter almonds in 500 ml &17 ft. oz, 2 cups) water for 2 minutes – or use all sweet, nuts. Drain and skin the almonds and pound them thoroughly in a mortar, adding a few drops of iced water to prevent the nuts turning into oil. When the paste is completely smooth, strain the gelatine liquid into the almond paste (reserving the leaves) and stir. Stretch some muslin (cheesecloth) over a bowl and pour the mixture on the cloth. Twist and squeeze the muslim to obtain 500 ml (17 fl oz., 2 cups) almond milk. Pour the milk into a saucepan. Crush the leave of gelatine and add to the almond milk, together with 200 g (7 oz oz 1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring continuously. Then strain through a fine sieve. Spoon into individual dishes or into a ring mould. Chill until set.

ALMOND PASTE = A confectionery preparation consisting of ground sweet almonds mixed with their own weight of icing (confectioner’s) sugar and a little glucose syrup. Almond paste was traditionally prepared by adding the ground almonds to a sugar syrup, then crushing the mixture. Colored and flavoured, almond past is sold in slabs or as individual sweets in the form of vegetables, fruits and animals (see marzipan). It is also used to fill sweet (candies), chocolates and dried fruits (such as dates and prunes) served as petits fours. Almonds paste is used extensively in patisserie, particularly for decorating or covering cakes. Granulated almonds paste – in which half the icing sugar is replaced with caster (superfine) sugar, and egg yolk often replaces the glucose syrup – is used for coating cakes and petits fours.

RECIPE Almonds paste Grind 250g (9 oz, 2 cups) blanched sweet almonds in a blender, in small quantities, as they turn oily if too many are worked together. Cook 500 g (18 oz., 3 cups) caster (superfine) sugar, 50 g (2 oz., 1/3 cup) glucose and 150 ml (1/4 pint, 2/3 cup) water to the ‘small ball’ stage (see sugar). Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the ground almonds and stir briskly with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes granular. Leave to cool completely, then knead the paste by hand in small quantities until it is soft and easy to work.

ALOXE-CORTON = A commune of the Cote de Beaune in eastern France which produces some of the greatest Burgundy wines : both red and white are equally good, which is rare. It s reputation is centered on two grands crus, both situated on the hill of corton, is planted with vineyards on three sides and includes the grands cruz, Corton for red wines and Corton-Charlemagne for whites, Red wines are made only from the Pinot Noir grape and those from Corton may be described as such or may annex the name of their specific vineyard, such as Bressandes and Renardes. Each vineyard produces wine with its own particular characteristics; overall, the red wines of Cortons are of exceptional quality—dense and tannic when young maturing to fine wines with excellent aromas and fine palates. Corton-Charlemagne is the largest white grand cru appellation in Burgundy. The wines, made only from Chardonnay grapes, are refined, concentrated and capable of long ageing. Of a total vineyard area of 265 hectares (655 acres), over half is grand cru. The reminder is given the communal appellation. Aloxe-Corton and produces notable, but not exceptional, red and white wines.

ALSACIENNE, A L’ =This French description is given to dishes garnished with sauerkraut, ham, salted bacon and/or Strasbourg sausages. This garnish goes with roast or braised pork, fried pheasant, braised duck and goose. A l’alsacienne is also used to describe timbales (pies and terrines containing foie gras), as well as fruit tarts covered with an egg mixture.

RECEIPE 

Fried eggs a l’alsacienne Fry some eggs in goose fat, then arrange them on a bed of braised sauerkraut, alternating them with half-slices of ham. Surrounding with a border of demiglace sauce. Pheasant a l’alsacienne Truss the pheasant and cook it (unbarded) in butter in a flameproof casserole, turning until it is lightly brown, about 25 minutes. Braise some sauerkraut and bacon rashers (slices) in goose fat and put the sauerkraut in the casserole, placing the pheasant on to of it. Cover and cook in a preheated oven at 190oC (375oF, gas 5) for about another 25 minutes, or until the pheasant is tender. Cut the pheasant into portions. Slice some heated saveloys and cut up the hot bacon. Make a bed of sauerkraut on a hot serving dish, and garnish with the pieces of pheasant, bacon and saveloy. Soft-boiled or poached eggs a l’alsacienne Cook the eggs. Put layer of braised sauerkraut on a dish and place the boiled or poached eggs on it, alternating them with large strips of bacon which have been cooked in their own fat. Coat with a demi-glace sauce. MANDINE An almond-based fancy pastry, of which there are several French kinds. It may be a tart or individual tartlets made with enriched short crust pastry, filled with a mixture of whole eggs, sugar, ground almonds, flour and melted butter, flavoured with rum and sprinkled with flaked (silvered) almonds. After cooking, the top is glazed with apricot jam and decorated with crystallized (candied) whiteheart cherries. A classic variation is to make a sponge cake with sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, ground almonds, flour, stiffy whisked egg whites and butter. The mixture is poured into a savarin (ring) mould and, after cooking, is iced with white fondant (frosting). The flavour of an amandine cake may be enhanced with lemon peel or bitter-almonds essence. Tarteleties amandines are small almond cakes, attributed to the pastrycook-poet Raguerneau, whose receipe edmond Rostand gives in verse in Cyrano de Bergeac.

AMANITA =A genus of mushrooms including some edible as well as many poisonous, indeed deadly, speciees, the latter include A. phalloides (death cap), A. verna and a Virosa (destroying angel). The most sought-after edible species is A. caesarvea, the Italian orange (see Caesar’s mushroom). Two other species are regarded as delicacies, both eaten cooked, Amanita rubescens is called ‘the blusher’ because’ its reddish-brown cap turns purplish-red in contact with the air Amanita naglnata is Frances’ common grsette, named for its dedicate grey cap, which is ribbed around the edges. Common under beech trees, it is one of the best wild fungi.

AMARANTH =Plants of the Amaranthus family have a wide variety of good use. One was used to make a red food dye from the purple flower (the name comes from the Greek and means ‘unfading’). This was synthesized to make the food dye E123, which was banned everywhere by the late 1970s. A relative of spinach (and similar flavour), varieties are eaten in India, Africa (where they may be called ‘bush green’s) and South-east Asia. There are two sorts of Chinese spinach’, eaten fresh or salt-pickled. The better, and very early, one has red stems and is known as red in snow’.

AMARETTO DI SARANNO =An Italian liqueur flavoured with apricot kernels, almonds and aromatic extracts. It may be used to flavoured fruit salads and whipped cream.

AMBASSADEUR =Also known as ambassadrice. A dish involving very elaborate preparation, typical of classic cuisine on a grand scale. For large joints ambassdeur of ambassrice garnish includes antichoke hearts studied with duxedles, and duchess potatoes piped into roasters and browned in the oven. The dish is accompanied by grated horseradish served separately Ambassadeur soap is made with fresh peas. 

RECIPES

Ambassadeur soup To 1.5 literes (2/14 pints, 6 ½ cups) Saint-German soup, add 3 tablespoons shredded sorrel or a mixture of sorrel and lettuce softened in butter together with 1 ¼ tablespoons rice cooked in consommé, and finally some sprigs of chervil. Boiled or poached eggs ambassdrice Bind a mixture of chopped truffles and foie gras with a well reduced demi-glace flavoured with sherry. Fill puff pastry tartlet cases with this mixture and arrange the eggs on top. In the centre place a bunch of asparagus tips. Coat with supreme sauce. Chicken ambassadrice Use a veloute sauce to bind a mixture of chopped lamb’s sweebreads, truffles and mushrooms; stuff a good-sized chicken with this mixture. Cook the chicken until tender in a flamerpoof casserole with a puree of vegetables cooked in meat stock. Arrange the fowl on a round dish and surround it with tartlets filled with sauteed chicken livers (formerly cockscombs and kidneys would have been added). Place a thin slice of truffle on each tartlet. Deglaze the casserole with Madeira and veal stock, and coat the fowl with this sauce. Chicken croutes ambassadrices Fill some small croutes with chicken puree. Top each with a thin slice of truffle and 1 teaspoon vegetable mirepoix”, Eggs en cocotte ambassadrice Butter some remekin dishes and spread the bottoms with a layer of foie grass puree sprinkled with chopped triffle. Break an egg into each remekin and cook in a brain marie. Coast with supreme sauce flavoured with sherry and garnish with hot asparagus tips. Supremes of chicken ambassadeur Sauce the supreme in butter. Fry some coutons in butter and cover them with the supremes, each garnished with a think slice of truffle. Surround the croutons with mushrooms cooked in cream and with buttered asparagus. Coat lightly with supreme sauce.

AMBERGRIS =A waxy substance of greyish colour, giving off a strong masky scent, which is secreted in the intestine of the sperm whale and collected from the surface of tropical seas, where it floats. The Chinese were the first to use it as a space. Throughout the Middle Ages it was sued in ragouis, pies, custards and jams. Ricbelieu was particularly fond of ambergris pastilles, and hot ambergris chocolate was a very popular drink in the 18th century. Supposedly having aphrodistack and restorative qualities,. Today ambergris is almost entirely used in perfumery. 

AMBRE =A French cake with almond flavoured crème mousscline and chocolate cones, Square or rectangular, depending on its size, amber (amber) has become'’ a classic. Since it was created in 1986 by the French pastry chef Luciern Peltier. 

AMBROSIA =In Greek mythology, ambrosia was the food of the gods and gave them immortality ancient authors are rather vague as to the nature of ambrosia, implying only that it was solid (while nectar, on the other hand, was liquid). This mysterious substance is described by the poet Ibycus as nine times sweeter than honey’. The name ambrosia was also given to an aperinf liqueur with a sweet taste, for which laroasse menager gives the following recipe. Macerate for one month in 10 liters (17 paints 10 ½ quarts) old eau-de-vie, 80 g (3 oz) container 20 g (3/4 oz) cloves and 20 g. (1/4 oz) aniseed. Decant and filter it, then add 5 litres (8 ½ pints 5 ½ quarts) white wine and finally a syrup made with 5 kg (11 lb) sugar in 6 litres (10 points, 6 ½ quarts) water.

AMERICA =see United States of America. 

AMERICAINE, A L’ = This description is given to a classic French dish of shellfish, chef known as Peters who settled in Paris about 1860 after having worked in America. The term is also applied to fish garnishes containing thin slices of lobster tail and americaine sauce, as well as to dishes consisting of egg and grilled (broiled) poultry or meat – chicken, steak, kidneys -- garnished with tomatoes and bacron. A Pamericalne or a l’armoricaine. The description a lamericaine applied to lobster has given rise to much controversy, and continues to do so many claiming that a l’armoricaine is the only valid name. Armorica is an old name for Brittany and a French regional origin has been claimed for the best French lobster dish. But the region is scarcely associated with tomatoes, essential to the dish. Cummonsky received the following letter from a Monsieur Garrique, a restaurateur, on this subject. I think I can tell you the exact name given to this dish by its inventor. “As you quite rightly say, lobster a l’americane was created in France and, of course, by a Franchman, Peter, Horn in Sete and whose real name was Fraisse. ‘l knew Peters about 1900, when at about 78 or 80 years of age he was living quietly with his wife in the Roe German-Pilon. One evening when he felt in a confiding mood, he talked to me about this famous lobster. On returning to Paris from America where he had been a chef in Chicago, he founded the Peters restaurant; if I remember correctly, this was a little before 1860. ‘Now one evening when dinner was long over, eight or ten customers turned up almost at closing time and insisted that Peters serve them dinner on the pretend that they had only one hour to spare. ‘Peter, who was kindness itself, agreed to return to his kitchen, not without wondering anxiously what he was going to be able to serve to them. “While they are eating the soup and the hors-d’ocuvre.” He said to himself ‘I’ve got time to prepare a fish dish.” But there was no fish. There were only some live lobsters, reserved for the following morning but there was not enough , time to cook them in a court bouillon. It was then that Peters, in a flash of inspiration, throw into a pan some butter, tomatoes, crushed garnish, .. then some white wine, a little of and finally a good helping of brandy… when it was all boiling. Peters said to himself . “There is only one way to cook the lobster quickly – that is to cut it into pieces and throw them into the sauce.” This he did, and the result was marvelous. He enthusiastic customers asked the great restaurant what this exquisite deals was and what he called. And Peters still under the influence of his recent stay in America, said without thinking. Lobster of Famericaine!” Peters himself gave me the recipe and it is the one I always use. As far as the history of the creation of this famous dish is concerned, I believe is to be completely authentic, as Peters was the soul of frankness, honesty and goodness. RECIPES Boiled or poached egg a l’americaine fry some croutons and top them with boiled or poached eggs and slices of lobster a l’americane. Cover with the americaine sauce in which the lobster was cooked (not all the sauce produced will be required for this dish). Fried eggs a Pamericaine Fry the eggs and garnish with slices of bacon and grilled (broiled) tomato halves. Scrambled eggs a l’americaine Add cubes of smoked bacon fried in butter to some beaten eggs. Mix them together and cook. Arrange them in a mound and garnish with slices of grilled (broiled) bacon and small grilled tomato halves. Additional recipe See lobster. 

AMIRAL, A L’ =The term used to describe a French garnish for such superior fish dishes (good enough for an admiral) as poached sole, fillets of sole, stuffed turbot or braised salmon. It contain some of the following ingredients; fried oysters and mussels, crayfish tails or whole crayfish, mushroom caps and truffle slices. The dish is coated with nantua sauce. RECIPE Consommé’ a l’amiral Lightly thicken a fish consommé with arrowroot and garnish with small pike quenelles in crayfish butter, poached oyster halves, julienne of truffles cooked in Maderna and sprigs of chervl.

AMOURETTE =French for the delicately flavoured bone narrow of bee, mautton or veal. Amourettes may be prepared and dressed like calve’s brains they can be cut into small pieces and used in filling for croutes, timbales, tarts and vol-auvent or used as an ingredient for salads. RECIPES Preparation Clean the amourettes in cold water, remove the membranes, poach for a few minutes in a court-bouillon and allow them to cool. Amourettes au gratin Butter a gratin dish and cover the base with mushroom duxelles. Arrange the cold cooked amourettes on the mushroom layer and sprinkle with a little lemon juice. Cover with duxellies sauce and scatter with golden brekscrumbs. Pour melted butter over and brown in the oven or under the grill (broiler). Amourette fritters. Marinate the amourettes in a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice seasoned with chopped parsley, sale and pepper for about 30 minutes. Drain, cost with fritter batter and cook them in boiling hot oil until crisp and golden. Drain, then salt the fritters and serves them piping hot on a napkin, garnished with fried parsley. Serve with a well-seasoned tomato sauce. 

AMPHICLES. =A probability fictional chef of ancient Greece, noted for his opposition to very complicated dishes and the excessive use of spices. For him, a hate had to be served rare, roasted on a spit and barely seasoned with fenel. He would cook red mullet in a fig leaf and lark in a winve lead, among cinders. A defender of natural foods and apposed to the disguising of natural flavours the disguising of natural flavours, Amphicles can still serve as an example. He is probably an invention of the al be batthelemy (author, in 1788, of Voyage du penne Anacharsts en Grace an IV siecle de l’ere vulgate) included and embellished by Proper Montagne in his dictionary.

AMPHITRYON. =A person whoentertains guests at his table. According to mythology, Zeus wishing to seduce the mortalakmene, took on the appearance of her husband. Amphitryon, and gave her a son, heracles. In Moliere’s comedy inspired by this fable, the servant Sosie, embarrassed at having to serve two masters and deciding finally for the one who guarantees him board and lodging says. The real amphirvon is the host who provides dinner. But the provide dinner is not sufficient ; one has to know the art of how to do it. Rimond de la Reymiere was one of the first to indicate in his Manuel des amphoriones (1880) the rules of correct behavior at the table according to him, tact in necessary, as well as generosity, organization, a good chef and the appreciation of good food. More recently, Auguste Michel, in the Manuel de amphitryons aud debut on x slecle and Maurine des Omblaux, in l’Amphryon d’angourd ‘but (1936), have brought these rules into accord with modern tastes. Although the term is hardly used nowadays, one rule, decreed by Brilliant Savarin, remains unchanged. To invite someone to be our guest is to undertake responsibility for his happiness all the time that he is under our roof.

AMPHORA. = A Greek or roman two-handled jar (the Greek word means carried from both sides) that was used to store oil and wine. Some amphorae (psykters) had double walls between which iced water was poured to keep the contents of the jar cool. The staminos, sometimes compared to a cooking pot, was also used for storing wine it had a fairly narrow mouth with small horizontal handles, and was very popular in the 5th century BC. Amphorae used for transporting wine were closed with clay corks and scaled with pitch or plaster. A label indicating the vineyard, the year, the capacity either tied to the pur or engraved on it. 

AMPHOUX,= MADAME 19th-century French distiller. She owned a distillery in Martinique (Carribean) and the liquiurs des lies made from vanilla, tea, cocoa and coffee) were named after her. These liquero were very fashionable at the time of the consulate and the Empire Balzae refers to them several times, notably in La Vielle-File ‘Finally. Mademoiselle sacrificed three bottles of the celebrated liquers of Madame Amphoux, the most illustrious of overseas distillers, a name dear to lovers of liqueurs’; and, futher on: ‘Bless may soul, there is nothing but liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, which are only brought out on high days and holidays.’ 

ANCHOV = A small sea fish, maximum length 20 cm. (8 in), with a greenish-blue back and silvery sides. The anchovy is very abundant in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It lives in tightly packed shoals and is fished for the coming industry. When solid fresh – which is rare – it may be fried, while the usual Italian and Spanish method is to marinate the split-open raw fish. Anchovies are sold layered with salt, as whole fish in oil, in jars or cans as fillets (or rolled round a caper) in oil, and in piguant sauce. These must be stored in tehrefrigerator once opened. Salted anchovies may be sold whole, and need filleting. Skinning and washing under water. In asia, salted, then sun-dried, they are the principal fermented fish product. Anchovies also constitute such traditional seasonings as ready-cooked anchovy butter, bottled English anchovy sauce and the spread gentleman’s relish. In ancient times, anchovies were used to make a condiment (garum). There has always been a European trade in anchovies, which were transported in special small casks called barrots. They are a characteristic feature of the cuisines of southern Europe. In Italy they are used in sauces like that of bagnat cauda, in pasta sauces like the tomato, garlic and caper alla putanesca, and for pizza toppings in the south Jansson’s Temptation’, an extremely popular Swedish dish, is a gratin of anchovies and potatoes. See also kika, sprat. RECIPES anchovy fillets a la portugaise Cut desalted anchovy anchovy filillets into thin strips. pLace a layer of tomato sauce cooked in oil in the base of an hors d’oeuvre dish and arrange the anchoy fillets on top in a crisscross pattern. Garnish with capers, chopped pursley and lemon slices with the skin and pitch removed. Moisten with a little olive oil before serving. Anchovy filelts a la sileslenne Poach some fresh soft herring roe in stock and then either rub through a line sieve puree in a blender. For 300 g (11 oz) roe, add 2-3 choped shallots and a few sprigs of parsley (chopped). Place the mixture in an hors d’oeuvre dish and arrange a lattice of pickled anchovy fillets over the top. Make a salad with diced potatoes, dessert (eating) apples and beetroot 9beet0 moistened with a well-seasoned vinaigrette, and arrange it around the puree. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Anchovy fillets a la suledoise Cut desalted anchovy fillets into thin strips. Arrange them on a layer of diced dessert (eating) applies and beeroot 9beet) seasoned with vinal grette. Garnish with parsley sprigs and with the yolks and whites of hard-boiled (hard-cooked) eggs, chopped separately. Moisten with more vinaigrette. Anchovy filelts with hard-boiled eggs Cut desalted anchovy fillets into thin strips and arrange them in an hors d’oeuvre dish. Garnish with small black Nice olives., hard0boiled (hard-cooked) egg whites and yolks (chopped separately), capers and chopped parsley. Moisten with a little olive oil. Anchovy puree Add 2 tablespoons desalted anchovies to 150 ml (1/4 pint. ½ cup) well-reduced bechamel sauce and mix in 2 blender. Then rub the mixture through a sieve. Stir in some heated butter just before serving. Anchovy puree may be used in frcters, vol-au-vent and rissoles. Cold anchovy courstades Flatten some well-wiped anchovy fillets previously desaled in milk. Spread them with anchovy butter containing chopped tarragon and roll them up into paupiettes. Put a layer of pureed tuna fish with mayonnaise in the base of some very small puff pastry cases and then place an anchovy paupiette on top of each. Pipe a rosette of anchovy butter on each paupiette and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Cold anchovy sauce Throughly desalt 6-8 anchovy fillets by soaking them in milk. Drugs, wipe and puree them in a blender with 1 tablespoon capers. 100 ml (4 fl oz. ½ cup) oil, the juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper. Serve as a dip with an assortment of raw vegetables - small artichokes, cauliflower florets, small sticks of carrot and seeded cucumber, thins slices f green or red sweet (bell) pepers, small quarters of fennel or raw mushrooms – o or with fish poached in a court-bouillon, either hot or cold. Fried anchovies Take fresh anchovies, remove the heads and gut (clean) by pressing with the thumb. Wipe, but do not wash the fish as their flesh is very fragile. Dip them in milk, then drain, and roll each one in flour. Plunge the, a few at a time, into very hot fat, then drain, dust with fine salt and arrange them in a pyramid on a napkin. Garnish with fried parsley and quarters of lemon. Fried eggs with anchovies Fry some slices of very stale round sandwich bread in butter. Cover each of these croutons with a fried egg and 2 desalted anchovy fillets arranged in the form of a cross. The fillets may be moistened with noisette butter. Freezing anchoves After preparing and cleaning, arrange fresh anchovies in layers separated by plastic sheets and place inside large plastic bags. Then seal each bag, place in a freezer box and put into a freezer. When the fish are frozen, remove the bags from the boxes and place in a second bag to prevent the strong smell of the fish from escaping. Then label the bags and replace in the freezer for storage. Hard-boiled eggs stuffed with anchovies reduce some desalted anchovy filelts to a puree in a mortar or blender. Halve some hard-boiled (hard-cooked) eggs and remove the yolks. Mix the yolks with the anchovy puree and a little mayonnaise, replace in the egg cases. Dip some anchovy fillets in oil and roll each around a stoned (pitted) black olive. Place one on each egg case. Hot anchovy sauce Add 2 tablespoons anchovy butter to 200 ml. (7 fl oz, ¼ cup )bechamel sauce. Check the seasoning. This sauce can be served with any fish poached in a court-bouillon. Hot anchovy toast Fry some scale breadcrumbs in butter. Toast some sliced sandwich bread and cut it into rectangles. Garnish the toast with desalted anchovy fillets, sprinkle with the fried breadcrumbs and brown in the oven or under the grill (broiler) for a few minutes. Marinated anchovies Prepare 500 g 818 oz) fresh anchovies as in the recipe for fried anchovies. Lay them on a plate, dust with salt and leave for 2 hours. Pat the anchovies dry, then fry in very hot oil just long just long enough to stiffen them. Drain and place them in a dish. Pre pare a marinade as follows. Add 5-6 tablespoons fresh oil to the oil in which the anchovies were cooked. Fry a medium onion and a carrot (both finely sliced) with 3 unpeeled garlic cloves and add 100 ml (4 ft oz., ½ cup) vinegar and an equal quantity of water. Season with salt and add a sprig of thyme, half a bay leaf, a few parsley stalks and a few crushed peppercorns. Boil for 10 minutes and pour the hot marinade over the anchovies. Leave to marinate for 24 hours, serve on a hors d’oeuvre dish garnish with slices of lemon. Soft-boiled or poached eggs with anchovies take some small warm bread or pastry cases and place either a soft-boiled or a poached egg in each. Coat with anchovy sauce. Place a desalted anchovy fillet rolled into a ring on each egg. Other recipes See barquette, brioche (filled savoury briothes), butter (flavoured butters), canope, dortois, fritter, mayonnaise, olive, omelettes (cooked with their flavouring), pannequet, puree, tournedos.

ANCHOYADE =Also known as anchoiade. Al Provencial dish consisting of a puree of anchovies mixed with crushed garlic and olive oil, and sometimes a few drops of vinegar. It is usually served with raw vegetables and may also be spread on slices of bread and heated in the oven. At draguignan, amchobyade a la dracenoise is an anchovy puree mixed with onions and chopped hard boiled (hard-cooked) eggs. The mixture as spread in a thick layer on slices of home-baked bread moistened generously with olive oil and browned in a hot oven. 

ANCIENNE, A L’ =The description a l’anclenne is given to certain fricassees (thicken or lamb) or white stews (turkey, veal or lamb) in which the garnish includes small sliced onions and button mushrooms (see bonne femme). This term, widely used in bourgeois cookery, may also be applied to braised dishes (sweetbreads, beef or fowl) and to pastry cases (pied shells) baked blind and filled with ragouts of cockscombs and kidneys or quenelles of truffes and mushrooms. See beatilles, feuilleton, talmouse. RECEPIS Scrambled eggs a l’ancienne Toss some diced mushrooms and truffles in butter. At them to some scrambled eggs and place the mixture in a flan case (pie shell ) which has been baked blind. Garnish with chicken kidneys in a sherry-flavoured veloutte sauce with cream. Surround with fried stockscombs and sherry-flavoured supreme sauce. Soft-boiled or poached eggs a l’ancienne Arrange the eggs on a bed of rice that has been cooked in meat stock. Coat them with veloute sauce and place between each egg 1 tablespoon julienne of truffles bound with ah highly reduced Madiera sauce. 

ANCIENT GREECE =The Homeric heroes apparently feasted on shoulder of mutton or roasted chine of pork, flavoured with oregano and cumin, and on olives, figs, walnuts, goat’s cheese and cakes made with flour and honey. Vegetables, which were difficult to grow in the dry soil, are rarely mentioned. Nevertheless, they formed the basic died of the common peoples, mainly in the form of cabbage and lentil purees. The ancient Greeks in a country surrounded by sea teeming with fish were very fond of seafood and fish. Salted tuna, eels, red mullet, sole, turbot, octopus, sea bream, pong, torpedo fish and conger eels are often mentioned in the text. Game was also abundant, apart from pleasant, partridges and wood pigeons, the ancient. Greeks also hunted jackdaws, owl, flamingos and even seagulls. Ground game included roebuck, wild boats, hares, foxes, white-breasted martens, moles and even cats! The ancient Greeks originally drank hydromel, but from 2000 BC onward this was superseded by heavy strong wines, always drunk with water (sometimes even sea water). The earliest cooks in Homes as time, cooks as such did not exist. Female slaves around the corn and prepared the food According to the Iliad and the Odyssey, the host himself, however exalted, prepared and cooked the meals with the help of friends when be received distinguished guests. Later, the baker (mageriros) cooked as well as baked for his masters. In time he became arihimagoirta 9chef de cuisine) and was given assistants. Great houses had a hierarchy of slaves of slaves, under a steward, the eleatros. Each slave had definite duties. The opsonomos or agorastes (from agora or market place) bought the food, while the opsrtyle looked after the fires, did rough jobs and prepared food for the household slaves. A woman, the demiourga, made sweetmeats and other delicaies. Women had free access to the kitchen. Other slaves prepared meals or served at tables: the trapezopotos laid the table and washed the dishes, the amophoros had charge of the wine; the ainochoikos, a young slave, filled the wine cups of the guests. In the 4th century BC, Athenian cooks were often slaves. They played an important role in the life of the city and ruled as masters over all the other slaves in the household. A special law permitted the cook who invented a new dish the privilege of making it and selling it to the public. Many Greek cooks became famous. Cadmos was cook to the king of Sidon in Pheonicia, and, according to legend, introduced writing into Greece. As a result of the burning of the library in Alexandria, only a few fragments and the authors’ names remain from Greek literature of gastronomy. Hippocrates and dietetics . Even though there were few refined gourmets, the ancient Greeks, especially the Spartans and the Athenians, were discriminating in their eating habits, unlike the Boecrotians, the Thessalians and the macedonians. Epicurus recommended ‘simple dishes that satisfy us as much as somptuous feasts’. In the Republic, Plan defines, through Socrates, the diet of the model citizen bread, olives, cheese, vegetables and fruit. Both Hippocrates (5th century BC) and later Galen (2nd century AD) studied the effects of food both on the sick and those in good health. In De la gastronomie francaise, R. Dumay acknowledges that the ancient Greeks made four major contributions to cookery. First, they established the market (agora), where the master of the house himself often went to choose the food for his household. Secondly, they knew how to appreciate both their cooks and culinary art general-in the town of sybaris, in Magna Graecia, famous for its refined way of life, chefs were awarded patents to protect their recipes. Thirdly, they cultivated a simplicity in their cooking, using few basic ingredients preferring roasts and grills to dishes with sources and including herbs to bring out the authentic flavour of the food. Finally, they left us a legacy of various recipes that have been handed down through the generations – black pudding (blood sausage), fried sampi (jumbo shrimp), turbox with herbs, thrushes with honey and grilled (broiled) frog’s legs. 

ANCIENT ROME =The ancient Romans were pioneers of gastronomy, adding to their own culinary habits those of the Greeks and the peoples of Asia Minor and eagerly adopting new methods and ingredients. The traditional picture of orgies where great quantities of rare foods were served, drowned in spiced sauces and cooked in the most lavish fashion, is false. If the works of Petronius. Juvenal and Marital are full of detailed accounts of sumptuous banquets, it is because these were the exception flaminos’ tongues, comels’ heels, dormice stuffed with chestnuts, wild bear stuffed with thrushes and other extravagant fancies were far from being everyday fare. True, Maecenas was the first to mention mule flesh, which epicureans considered lesd tasty than wild ass, and Elagblus feasted on elephant trunk and roasts comed. To amuse the Emperor Aurelian the actor Farron is said to have swallowed a ewe, a sucking pig and a wild boar, with a hundred small loaves and a s many bottles of wine petrontus, in the Satyricon, paints an evocative portraits of Trimalcion. Nevertheless, true Latin cooking had its origins in a humble and frugal tradition. Stockrearing and agriculture were carried out in the Tiber valley, but is was due to the trade in salt, a commodity produced by evaporation at the river mouth, that commercial links were established with the Greek and Etruscan colonies. From the earliest times, the staple food of the Romans was pulmentum, a porridge of millet, barley or chick pea flour, sometimes diluted with milk. As the art of bread-makign developed, the first bakers appeared in Rome. Other basic foods were ewe’s milk cheese, boiled mutton, cabbage, cardooms and broad (fava) beans. Fruit was important in the Roman diets apples were no longer a scarce commodity, as they had been in ancient Greece, but imported apricots from Armenia and peaches from Persia were very expensive. Lucullus is credited with introducing the cherry tree, figs grew in abundance and dates were imported from Africa. Melon growing developed in the region round Cantalupo (which gave its name to the cantaloupe melon). It was alter the defeat of Antiochus III the Great (189 BC) that the Romans, advancing into Asia Minor, gradually discovered the refinement of the Greek courts in the Hellenized East. The best-known fact about the General Lucullus is that he adopted their lifestyle. According to Livy: “The army returning from Asia brought foreign luxury to Rome. It became a lengthy and costly business to prepare a meal. Cooks who used to be regarded as slaves, began to demand high wages. That which had been toil became art.” In order to meet the tastes and needs of her citizens, Rome began to develop a more complex system of food production and distribution, operating chiefly through large warehouse and markets. The most famous of these was that of Trajan, where Romans could buy corn from Egypt, olive oil from Spain, spices from Asia, hams from Gaul, numerous varieties of fish, which were often farmed (Moray eels sea bass, monkfish, place and turbot), and various types of shellfish, including whelks. Sea urchins and especially oysters, which Sergius Orata believed where the first to be reared in oyster beds. It was the Romans who invented the process of force-feeding geese with figs, to enlarge their livers. Wealthy Romans are large quantities of meat, preferring pork to mutton. They enjoyed, for example, pork stuffed with oysters and small birds roasted on one side, then spread with a paste of oats, wine and oil and poached in boiling water on the other side. Apicius, author of many recipes, mentioned, among other things, fresh ham painted with honey and cooked in a pastry case with figs and bay leaves. Poultry was much esteemed: capons. Numidian fowl (guinea fowl), domestic pigeons, wild duck (of which only the brain and breast were eaten ) and roast goose. In Marguerite Yourcenar’s book Memoirs of Hadrian, the emperor reflects, that I began to thin of the relatively recent origins of our riches and of this nation of thrifty farmers and frugal soldiers, who formerly ate garlic and barley, now suddenly enabled by our conquests to revel in the cooking of Asia, devouring this complicated food with the greed of starving peasants’. Several modern Italian recipes go back to the days of ancient Rome, such as gnocchi and ricotta cheese tart. Another very common cake made with cheese was libum (or savillun), flavoured with honey and poppy seeds. Roman cooking was characterized by the use of quite highly special sources, including garum based on fermented fish. Particularly popular was sweet-and-sour condiment for which Apicius gave the recipe pepper, mint, pine nuts, raisins, grated carrot, honey, vinegar, oil, wine and musk. As sugar was not available, the Romans sweetened their food with either honey or grape syrup. They made a variety of different cheeses, most of them from ewe’s milk. Great wine lovers, they preferred to drink their wines young and diluted with water. Several types of wine were produced which were sold quite cheaply straw wine (passum), honey wine (mulsum), vinegar diluted with water (posca),which was a thirs-quenching drink favoured by soldier on campaign immitation wines (flavoured with wormwood, roses and violets) and fruit wines. The most highly prized wines, however, were the grands cruz from tehCamponia region capua, Pompeii, Naples Vesuvius and Cumae. The most famous of these, the red and white Falernian wines were aged over a long period. These high quality wines were stored in amphorae and were usually faltered at table before serving to, improve their clarity. Wine was common offering to the gods and its use in religious ceremonies gave rise to great wine festival. A law of Romulus forbade women to drink wine though apparently this prohibition applied only to fermented wines.

ANDALOUSE. A L’ =A French garnish usually served with large points of meat, particularly beef and suddle of Lamb inspired by Andalucia in southern Spain it includes sweet (bell) peppers (stuffed of sautéed tomatoes in some form, rice (pilaf or risotto with peppers), fried aubergine (eggplant) slices and sometimes chorizo. It may also be served either a consommé or with sole fillets. RECIPES Andalouse salad Boil some rice in salted water, drain it well and mix with a well-seasoned vinaigrette containing choped onion, parsley and a touch of crushed garlic. Place the rice in a mound in a salad bowl surrounded by thin strips of peeled green and red sweet 9bell) peppers and tomato quarters, arranged so that the colours alternate around the dish. Sprinkle with chopped chervil. Andalouse sauce Reduce 300 ml (1/2 pint, 1 ¼ cups) veloute sauce by one-third and add 2 tablespoons tomato puree (paste0. Mix and reduce further. Add a crushed garlic clove and salt and pepper. Wash and chop a small bunch of parsley a green sweet (bell) pepper and half a red (bell) pepper in boiling water, then peel and cool. Remove the seeds and dice the flesh (2 tablespoons altogether). Add the diced peppers to the reduced veloute and the chopped parsley. Beefsteaks a l’andalouse Soften 50 g (2 oz) chopped onion and a chopped garlic clove in butter. Add salt and pepper. Mix with 400 g (14 oz, 2 cups) minced (ground) beef and form into 4 rounds. Cost these with flour and fry in oil. Saute 4 large tomato halves in oil and place a cooked hamburger on each. Arrange them on a plate with a rice pilaf in the centre. Deglaze the cooking juices of the steaks with 2-3 tablespoons sherry. Reduce, add some butter, and pour the sauce over the steaks. Fried eggs a Pandalouse Grill (broil) some small tomatoes, sweet some green and red (bell) peppers and fry some onion slices and eggs in oil. Arrange the eggs around the edge of a round plate and place the garnishes in the centre. The tomatoes may be replaced with slices of aubergine (eggplant). Additional recipe see squid. 

ANDOUILLE =a type of French sausage made from the stomach and intestines of the pig to which may be added other parts of the animal (neck, breast, head or heart, the whole enclosed in a black skin. Rebelais, in Pantagrid, names andlouille as one of the favourite dishes of his contemporaries. It features in the war of the Andoyles against Quaresmeprenant., Variotas sausages, bearing the name of the region where their recipes originated, are now called andouilles, but there are only two authenntic varieties – those of Vire and those of Guemen. Andouille is cut into thins slices and eaten cold in hors d’ocuvres. Guemene andouille, which is protected by a trademark, has the appearance of concentric circles when sliced, as the intestines are placed one inside another, according to their size, during preparation. The andouille is then tied up, dried smoked and, lastly, either cooked in a bouillon or steamed. The ‘genuine’ Vire andouille’ (with guaranteed method and area of production) includes both intestines and stomach, cleaned, washed, cut up and salted. Then enclosed in a skin. The andouille is smoked over beech wood for two months, which allows the natural black colour of the coating to develop. It is then tied and cooked, either in water or in an aromatized court-bouillon. It measures 25-30 cm (10-12 in) in length and 4-6 cm (1 ½-2 ½ in) in diameter. The ‘Vire andouille’ (without guarantee) is made all over France by similar methods, using the same ingredients as for the genuine vire andouille with the addition of the neck and the breast, which make it more fatty. The locality made andouilles de pays also contain pig’s heart and pig’s head without the skin removed. The andouille of Val-d Ajol and that of Aire-sur-la-Lys should also be mentioned. The andouille of jargeau, made from should and breast without any intestines, is not sold ready-cooked. Andouilles made from pork rind are a specialty of south-western France. 

ANDOUILLETTE =A type of sausage made from pork intestines (chaudins), often with the addition of pork stomach and cal’s mesentery, precoked in stock or milk and packed into a skin. Andouillettes, which are sold in 10-15 cm (4-6 in.) lengths and are sometimes coated with breadcrums, aspic jelly or lard, are eaten either grilled (broiled) or fried Several regions are known for their production of andouillettes. The Troyes andouillette, made solely from pork, has a greasy consistency and is prepared from the intestines and belly of pork, cut into fairly wide strips. The andouillette from Cambrai is usually made from veal only. The Lyonnais andouillette is made from calf’s mesentery with, sometimes, a bit of pork belly, while the Provincal andouillette consist of a mixture of thin slices of pork intestines and neck plus the rind. The drier andouillette from Rouen is made from pig’s bowels without the belly and calif’s mesentery. The andouillette is traditionally served with mustard and garnished with fried potatoes, red beans, lenals and a puree of celery, apples or red cabbage. In Strasbourg it is served on a bed of sauerkraut. The Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Authentiques Andouillettes (A.A.A.A.A.), a gastronomic society founded by F. Amunategui, upholds the tradition, and Charles Monselet dedicated a sonnet to the andouillette. RECIPE Andouillettes a la lyonnaise Lightly prick the andouillettes. Soften some onion slices in butter without browning. Fry the andouillettes in a pan with little lard, and add the softened onion 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Just before serving, pour some vinegar into the pan (1 tablespoon per 2 portions of andouillette), heat and serve the andouillettes very chopped parsley. Andouillettes a la tourangelle Lightly slit 6 andouilletttes, pour some Armagnac over them let them steep for 24 hours. Slice 500 g (18 oz, 5-6 cups) button mushrooms and sprinkle them with lemon juice. Butter a cooking dish, place the mushrooms in it, add salt and pepper and arrange the andouillettes on top. Pour a glass of dry Vouvray wine over the food and cook in a preheated oven at 180°c (350°F, gas 4 ) for 40 minutes, turning the andouillettes several times and bating them. Add a Little more wine or boiling water if needed. Grilled anouillette Prick the andouillette and grill (broil) it slowly preferably over charcoal, so that it warms right through.

ANGELICA =An aromatic umbelliferous plant growing in the cold north from Sacandinavia to central Russia, which was introduced into France by the Viking and cultivated by the monks. Its young green stalks are candied in sugar and used in cakes, gingerbreads, puddings and souffles. It is a specialty of the town of Niort, and Austin de Croze has described lyrically what he considers to best way to enjoy it: have a dozen choice briodes kept hot, a fruit dish filled with sticks of candled angelica, a bottle of angelica liqueur, a carafe of iced water and boxy of Egyptian cigarette. Light a cigarette, take a draught of iced water, crunch a piece of Niort angelica with a mouthful of very hot brioche, inhale, draw in and distil a few drops of angelica liqueur in the mouth, then start again. Then you only need the room to be sprayed with a light fresh perfume, such as verbena or citronella, to know what blissful enjoyment a discreet sybaritism can give.’ Liqueur manufacturers also use the crushed stems and roots of angelica in the production of Melissa cordial, Chattreuse, Vespetto and gin. RECIPES Angelica ligueur Put 1 kg (2 ¼ lb) young angelica stalks, cut into small pieces, and 1 litre (1 ¾ pints, 4 ½ cups) brandy in a bottling jar. Macerate for a month. See that the jar is hermetically sealed. Expose it to the sun whenever possible. Add 575-800 g (1 ¼ - 1 ¾ lb) lump sugar dissolved in a very little water. Press the whole through a silk or fine muslin (cheesecloth) sieve. Leave to stand for a few hours, then pour the liqueur through filter paper. Bottle, cork and seal. Candied angelica Cut some young angelica stems into 15-20 cm. (6-8 in) lengths. Soak them for 3-4 hours in cold water, then plunge into boiling water until the pulp softens. Drain, cool and peel carefully to remove all the stringy parts. Macerate the stems for 24 ours in a syrup to 102°c (215°F and pour it over the pieces of angelica. Repeat this operation once a day for three days. On the fourth day cook the syrup until it reaches the ‘pearl’ stage, 105°C (221°F). Add the angelica and boil for a few moments. Remove the pan from the heat, cool and drain the angelica in a sieve. When the angelica pieces are dry , lay them out on a slab, dust with caster (superfine) sugar and dry in a slow oven. Store in hermetically sealed containers. 

ANGELOT =The original name of several cheeses made in Normandy, including Pont-l’Eveque, Livorot and of course Neufchated. Guillaume de lorris mentioned it in Le Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose). 1230-35. The name refers to the region of Auge, where the cheeses are made.

ANGEL SHARK = ange de mer A fish of the shark family (squatinidae) that resembles a skate with its wing-shaped pectoral fins. It is cooked in the same way as skate. There are several species, which are widespread in temperate European coasted regions and in tropical seas. The average size of the angel shark varies from 90 cm (4 ft.) to 1.2 m (4 ft.), but some specimens may reach 2 m (6 ½ ft.) and weigh more than 60 kg (132 lb.). its skin is wrinkled, its backgreenish-brown flecked with grey and it underside a creamy-white colour. The flesh is quite tasty, but is not considered to be as palatable as that of the skate.

ANGLAISE, A L’ = This description, given to vegetables, meat and fish prepared in a variety of straightfoward ways, reflects the French view of English cooking. Various dishes from the British gastronomic repertory are named a Fanglaise, including sauces, desserts, pies and egg dishes. Crème anglaise is a basic preparation of classic cuisine see custard. For example, vegetables a l’anglalse are cooked in water and served plain with chopped parsley, knots of butter, melted butter or a herb sauce. Meat and poultry a l’anglase are poached, boiled or cooked in a white stock. According to the dish, vegetables are cooked at the same time or separately, either boiled or steamed. Fish of pieces of meat which are coated in bread crumbs before being sauteed or fried are also desecribed as a l’anglaise. Fish grilled a l’anglaise (cut ono steaks if they are large or slit if they are small) are brushed with oil or melted butter (and coated with flour if they have a delicate flesh) they must be cooked over a low heat. They are served with melted butter or maitre d’hotel butter and, if desired, with steamed or boiled potatoes or with other boiled vegetables such as spinach or the white part of leeks. RECIPES Eggs au plat a l’anglaise Grill a rasher (slice) or bacon and put it on a small buttered place. Break 2 eggs on top and cook in the oven until set. Panure anglaise A coating for various foods (croquettes, vegetables, fish fillets and escalopes) that are to be fried or sautéed a l’anglaise, It is made of eggs beaten with a few drops of oil, salt and ground pepper. A little water can be added if necessary. It is applied after coating with flour and before dipping in breadcrumbs. Sauce a l’anglaise (from Careme’s recipe) chop 4 hard-boiled (hard-cooked )egg yolks very finely and mix them in a saucepan with some fairly thick veloute of the kind used as a sauce for an entrée. Then add a dash of pepper, some grated nutmeg, the juice of a lemon and a little anchovy butter.

ANGOSTURA BITTERS = a browneish-red bitters made with various herbs (its exact formula is a secret) it has tonic and fever reducing properties as it includes quinine and it was created at Angostura, Venezuela (renamed Ciudad Bolivar in 1846) by a surgeon of Bolivar’s army to combat the effects of the tropical climate. Angostura is now made in Trinidad and is used mainly for flavouring cocktails and '‘ink gins'’ the cocktail associated with the British Royal Navy. It may also be used successfully in salads and dessert.

ANIMELLES = Animal testicles used for meat, especially those of the ram, the lamb, and bull calves animells were formerly very popular in the East, in Mediterranean countries, and in France under Louis XV. They are still popular in Italy and in Spain as ‘white kidneys’ (fried criadillas). They are either prepared in the same way as kidneys or served with a vinaigrette. RECIPES Preparation Plunge the animelles into boiling water for about 2 minutes, cool under cold water and immediately skin then. Soak them in cold water for about 10 hours to remove impurities, then drain and press between 2 plates. Animelies a la crme Cut the animelles into thin slices, season with salt and pepper and partly cook them in butter of 6-7 minutes. Thenmoisten with a few tablespoons cream sauce and slowly finish cooking. Add a little butter at the last moment and check the seasoning. Blanched or sautéed sliced mushrooms may also be added. Fried animelles Skin 3 fresh animelles and cut each into 8 similar pieces. Put them into a terrine dish with salt, pep per, 2 tablespoons each tarragon vinegar and olive oil, a little thyme, half a boy leaf, a sliced onion and a few springs of parsley. Cover the dish. Drain them after an hour and replace in the terrine with all the ingredients and the juice of half a lemon, just before serving, drain the animelles on a cloth and press lightly. Coat them with four and fry them until lightly browned. Arrange in a pyramid on a napkin and garnish with fried parsley.

ANISE = An aromatic umbelliferous plant originating in the Near East, know to the ancient Egyptians and Romans, and taken to India. The seed (ansiseed) are use particularly in Germany and Central Europe for flavouring bread such as knackebrot, biscuits (cookes), and especially for gingerhead. Aniseed is also used in confectionery – sugar-coated for comfits and Flavigny dragees. In southern Europe the oil anethole flavours many spirits. The seeds are stronger and less subtle than those of dill, hut are used with fish in Tuscany, while the chopped leaves may be sued to season pickled vegetables, salads and fish soups in the south of France. RECIPES Aniseed biscuits Whisk together 500 g (18 oz. 2 ¼ cups) caster (superfine) sugar and 12 eggs in a copper basin, as for an ordinary sponge cake. When pale and light-textured, add 500 g (18 oz. 4 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 200 g (7 g oz. ¼ cup) comflour (cornstarch) and 50 g (2 oz. ¼ cup) aniseed. Mix well. Drop tablespoons of the mixture on to a wetted baking sheets. Place in a warm place to dry. When the biscuits (cookies) begin to rise slightly, bake in a preheated oven at 160°C (325°F, gas 3) for about 15 minutes. Aniseed liqueur Put 25 g (1 oz) crushed aniseeds, ¾ teaspoon cinnamon (and 1 ½ tablespoons coriander (cilantro) into 1 litre ( 1/34 pints, 4 1/3 cups) spirits. Infuse for a month. Add 500 g (18 oz. 2 ¼ cups) sugar dissolved in a little water. Filter and bottle.

NISETTE The flavour of the many liqueurs known as anisette or anise varies according to which seeds are used – aniseed or star anise. These liqueurs are very popular as digestives. Well known in France are the anisettes of Bondeaux (especially that of Maries Brizard) while pachanin is Spain’s most popular liqueur, flavoured also with sloes and drunk on the rock’s Anise has long been the favourite flavouring of Medterranean aperitifs - pastis ouzo and arak. They are drunk either diluted with water or with water as an accompaniment.

ANNA = The name of a Prench potato dish created by Adolphe Duglere to accompany roast meat and poultry. It was dedicated for Anna Deslions, a woman of fashion at the time of the Second Empire. The dish is cooked in a special round two-handled casserole with an interlocking lid. The potatoes are sliced and covered during cooking. When the potatoes are cut into strips rather than rounds, the dish is called Annette potatoes. RECIPE Pommes Anna Peel 1 kg 2 ¼ lb) potatoes and cut into thin even round slices. Wash, wipe and season with salt and pepper. Slightly brown 75 g (3 oz, 6 tablespoons) butter in a special casserole (or in a sauté pan) and arrange the potatoes in circular layers, making sure that they are evenly coated with butter; then compress them into a cake with a wooden spatula. Cover and cook in a hot oven for 25 minutes. Quickly turn the whole cake on to a flat dish and slide it back into the casserole to brown the other side.

ANNATTO rocou = A food colouring extracted from the red coating around the seeds of the annatto tree of Central America. In the west it is used to give an orange, yellow or red colour to items of characuterie, various cheeses (Edam, Mimolette, Cheslire and Cheddar), dried salted, and smoked fish (notoriously haddock), and also to sweets and butter Annatto is widely used in Latin American cooking. The seeds are fried in oil which then impurts a distinct flavour as well as colour to food. Spanish traders took annatto to China, where it is now used to colour roast pork.

ANTELOPE = Aruminant mammal belonging to the cattle family found chiefly in Africa and Asia. There are more than a hundred species of antelope, varying in size from that of a lamb to that of a horse. Their habits are similar to those of the European deer, but their meat is firmer and sometimes has a very strong flavour. According to the culinary traditions of the aboriginal populations who eat antelope, the meat be roasted, braised or boiled, although it is sometimes necessary to maritime if first or ripen it in the sun. the highly regarded meat of the gazelle (a small antelope) is prepared in the same way as venison.

ANTIBOISE, A L’ = this description to various Provencal dishes that are specialties of Antibes. They include eggs cooked in the oven with browned nomants (tiny mediterranean fish), crushed garlic and chopped parsley; a gratin and scrambled eggs in layers alternating with sautéed courgettes (zucchini) and a fondue of tomatoes in oil; oven-grilled tomatoes garnished with anchovy fillets, pieces of tuna and breakcrums crushed with garlic; and cold stuffed tomatoes.

ANTILLAISE, A L’= This French description referring to the Antiles in the Caribbean, is applied to numerous ways of preparing fish. Shellfish and poultry, generally served accompanied either with rice coated with a thick sauce of small vegetables and tomato or with pineapple or banana. Dessert a l’antillatse are made by combining exotic fruits with rum or vanilla. All dishes a la creole are very similar.

ANTILLES CUCUMBER = A variety of cucumber that is common in the West indies; they are oval in shape and prickly like a hope chestnut. Known as anguries in French, they are eaten in salads or pickled in vinegar, like gherkins.

ANTIPASTO = An Italian term for cold hors d’oeuvres. The name is derived from the Italian word pasto (meal), with the Latin prefix ante (before). An antipasto might consist of Parma with fresh fig, or a Piedmontese cheese fondue (raw vegetables accompanied by condiments and a melted cheese sauce), but is more usually a colourful assortment of starters served either as cocktail snacks with the aperitif or at the beginning of a meal instead of pasta. Typical antipast, which may be served with warm, crusty bread or grissint (bread sticks), include marinated vegetables and fish, seafood with lemon, olives, cooked fork products, mushroom salad or antichoke hearts arranged in hos d’oeuvre dishes.

ANVERSOISE, A L’= the French description is given to a garnish, in the style of Antwrnp(Belgium), composed essentially of young hop shots cooked slowly in butter or cream. Primarily a garnish for eggs (soft-boiled, poached or sur le plat), it may sometimes be used with potatoes (boiled or browned) or with contre-filet and veal paupiettles. Hop shoots may also be served in tartlets or on antichoke hearts. RECIPES Lamb cutlets with hop shoots Saute some lamb cutless in butter. Arrange them in a ring on a round dish, alternating with trianglular croutons which have been fried in butter. Garnish the centre of the dish with hop shoots in a cream sauce. Delaze the cooking juices in the saute pan with a little dry white wine and pour over the outlets. Veal swetbreads with hop shoots. Braise the sweetbreads in white stocks. Strain and reduce the cooking juices to make a sauce. Coat the sweetbreads with the sauce and serve surrounded with hop shoots in cream sauce and small potatoes browned in butter.

AOC = See Appelation D’orgine.

APERITIF = Since time immemorial, certain plants have been known to have the property of restoring or ‘opening’ (from latin aperive ‘to open’). The appetite drinks were made from such plants, but these were more therapeutic than gastronomic and were not drunk before meals. The Romans had a liking for wine with honey, and in the Middle Ages people believed in the benefits of wines mixed with herbs or spices. Then hippocras (can old English spiced wine), vermouths, bitters and sweet wines came into being. The word speritif has been in use as a noun only since the late 19th century, and it was not until the 20th century that the habit of taking an aperitif before a meal became a generally accepted custom. Aperitifs include drinks based on wine (such as vermouth) and certain spirits and the less sweet liqueurs (such as anise and bitters). The custom of having an aperitif following fashions and indeed rituals, which very according to the country, the surroundings and the circumstances. It s is better to avoid very strong alcoholic drinks that may spoil the palate lavoursse menager (1926) recommended: ‘a bowl of bouillon with the fat skimmed off taken half an four before a meal is an excellent aperitif. It stimulates the slivary and stomach secretions and promotes the production of pepsin in the gastric juice’. Some people would prefer a glass of champagne.

APICUS = The name of three Romans famous for their taste for good living. The first, a contemporary of Sulla (2nd-1st century BC), is known only for his gluttonmy. The third Apicuis, who live in the 2nd century AD, deserves mention for having discovered a way of keeping oysters fresh, even at the end of a long journey. The most famous is Marcus Gavius Apicuius, born about AD 25 who is reputed to have compiled a recipe book, De re coquinaria libri decem (‘Cuisine in Ten Books’), which was used as a reference work for several centuries. Regarded by some as a refined connoisseur, by others as a libertine, he was known for his extravagance and expensive tastes. He is credited with inventing process for force-feeding sows with dried figs in order to fatten their livers, as well as devising recipes for flaming or nightingale tongues, camel’s heels, sow’s uddey and a large number of cakes and sauces athenaeus relates that Apicus cartered a sip to go and check if the Libyan squillas (scampi or jumbo shrimp) were as large as they were reputed to be. Disapointed, he did not even set foot on land. He spents all his fortune on sumptouus banquets until the day when, calculating how much money he had left, he decided to poison himself rather than turn to a more modest way of living

APLATIR = The French term for beating and thus flattening a small piece of meat (entrecote, escalope) or fish with the flat part of a meat mallet. As this process breaks down muscle fibres, the flesh becomes more tender and easier to cook.

APOTHEKA = A storeroom in which the ancient Greeks kept wine. (The Roman equivalent is a fumarium ). The wine was placed near the chimney shafts and developed a very good flavour. As the effects of the heat made it more concentrated until it acquired the consistency of honey, it had to diluted before serving .

APPAREIL= The French term for the mixture of different ingredients necessary to prepare a dish for cooking. The word masse is also used. Appareils are particularly common in cake and pastry-making

APPELLATION D’ORIGINE = This, according to French law, is the name of a country, region or locality used to designate a product which originates there, the quality and characteristics of which are due to the geographical situation, including natural and human factor’s. its use, which is strictly regulated, concerns wines, spirits, certain cheeses and such local products as Le Puy lentils and Bresse poultry. It is a system that has been adopted for wine and foods by the EC itself and many nations within it. Present legislation in France concerning appellations d’orgine has been inherited from laws that were in force up to the French Revolution (1792). At the beginning of the 20th century the quality of French wines had deteriorated as the vineyards, deteriorated as the vineyards, decimated by phylloxera in the previous century, had been replanted with inferior varieties. Series of laws passed in 1905 and 1909 were designed to protect the consumer. In 1919 under pressure from the vine-growers’ lobby, further legislation ensured the protection of both the produced, who agreed to abide by precise regulations, and the consumer. The relevant law dates from 6 may 1919 and was modified by that of 6 July 1966. To maintain the quality of French wines, an order in Council of 1955 created in organization that united the wine professionals with the representatives of other interested bodies this was the institute National des Appediations d’Origne (INAO). It controls the production of wine of all stages. The organization has legal powers and has codified quality wines to determine their prescribe origin. Four categories of appellation d’orgine exist in France.
 AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlee). This is reserved for the greatest wines. AOC lays down strict rules concerning not only the place of production also the veneties of vines, the yield per hectare ,and the cultivation and vinification methods. Today there are more than 250 AOCs, constituting the aristocracy of French viticulture.
 VDS (rins delimities de qualite superiere) a regional designation which effectively acts as a testing ground for small wine regions, most of which are eventually promoted to full AC status.
 VINS THE PAYS Country wines
 VINS OF TABLE BANK French wine.

APENZELLL = A Swiss cheese with a golden-brown rind made from unpasteurized cow’s milk (45% fat content). This compressed cooked cheese has holes and is very firm without being hard or brittle. It must be full-flavoured and tangy, but never pungent. Originating from the canton of Appenzell, the cheese is manufactured in the form of a round from summer to winter. Appenzeil is eaten at the end of a meal and can replace Gruere cheese in cooking. It is used in the preparation of the Swiss speciaity chashappen – spirals of pastry (made with melted cheese, milk, flours, yeast and eggs) piped though a piping (pastry) bag into a pan and fried. They are drained and served very hot with a salad.

 APPETITE = psychologists define under the term ‘natural appetite the tendencies which instinctively cause us to satisfy the needs of the body. In physiology appetite is defined as something rather different from hunger. Hunger in reality is nothing more than the need to eat, whereas appetite is the lure of pleasure experienced while eating . The sensation of hunger, which usually develops at regular mealtimes, sometimes disappears if it is not satisfied at the usual hour. The appetite is stimulated by the sight and smell of foods; bitter substances frequently awaken lost appetite by releasing digestive secretions. In certain psychiatric conditions, appetite can degenerate into a craving for offensive and nonedible substances. The opposite of appetite is anorexia, which means distaste for food. In France spring onions (scallions), chives and the small onions used for seasoning are known generally as appetits, as they all stimulate the appetite.

APPLE = The fruit of the apple tree, the most widely cultivated fruit tree in the world, which originated in Asia Minor and was growing wild in Europe by prehistoric times. Known throughout the ancient world, the apple was cultivated early in many varieties and features in many ancient recipes. In his Traite du sidre (1) Julien Le Paulmier lists several dozon varieties. De Serres refers to the pomme apple (today known as pomme d’apt: small, red and sweet), named after Claudius Appius, who brought it to Rome from the Peloponnese; he also mentions the Court-Pendu, the Reinette, the Rambure (from Rambures in the Somme region), the Grillot, the Rougelet and the Curetin. Several different types of apple are of food use. They can be grouped as apples for cider, crab apples (close to wild apples and used for getting) and dessert apples. They are grown in temperate climates from the Astrurias in Spain, through the Ukraine, to China (where production equals that of the US); and from Tasminia (once called Apple Island), to South Africa and South America. Some 15,000 varieties are known, almost half of them American, with about 2,00 each in Britain and China. In the past, orchard art consisted in cultivating different species to produce a continuing supply of fresh apples throughout the autumn and winter. Now differing season round the world, and cold storage with a whiff of carbon dioxide, ensure a year-round supply of a few reliable types, accounts for half the apples in commerce. Nevertheless, the apple remains a totem fruit in many countries, with powerful regional movements to preserve the loved, old varieties. The apple is the most popular fruit in the US, Britain Germany and France. France is known for its exports of Golden Delicious, but it continues to grow many traditional varieties, such as Reine des Reinettes, Grise du Mans, Belle de Boskoop and rater ones like the scented Calville Blanche d’livers (describe as the most delicious of al, and dating to the 15th century in Normandy). American as apple pie’ expresses the US dedication to the first fruit to be planted on the continent. Carried westward after Independence by the legendary Johnny Applessed (Joshn Chapman; died 14), apples are turned into desserts like apple grunt, cobbler and pandowdy. Golden Delicious, first raised in West Virgina, has become the leading apple of warmer countries, but there are thousands of local varieties, and loved old ones, like corland (1998), Rome Beauty (1848) and Newton Pippin (1759). Britain grows a wide diversity of seasonal fruit and claims some of the finest flavurs. Favorites are the aromatic, crip Cox’s Orange Pippin (1852), with a long heritage from pippins, the densely sweet Worcester Permain, going back to the 13th century pearmains, and the brown-skinned Egremont Russet, praised by Edward Bunyard in The Anatomy of Dessert (1929) as one of ‘the richest late autum fruits’. An English specialty is the ‘cooking’ apple, typically the late-summer Bramley Seedling that disintegrates to a fluff (in contrast to dessert apples, which hold a shape when cooked). Particular apples are associated with different countries. Notable among them is Granny Smith, found fruiting in a Sydney backyard in the 1860s by Mrs. Ann Smith, and an Australian export by the 1930s; Canada’s juicy white-fleshed purplish Mchtosh; pink-flushed Gravenstein (possibly German) with savoury, juicy flesh, and important in northern areas like sacandinavia, Canada and Russia; and the grenish Japanese honey-flavoured Crispin (renamed from Mutsu), much used in pies. Apples are best as dessert fruit from October to April. They should be firm, without blemishes or wrinkles, and red and yellow-skinned varieties should not be too green. Picked when ripe, apples can be stored in a ventilated room (stalk down, away from damp, heat and draughts) or in cold store. They can also be sliced into thin rings and dried while cooked apple freezes well. The apple can be preserved in the form of jellies (or jam); in syrup, as apple paste or the American apple butter; and as apple sugar. English specialties are apple cheese and apple chutney. The high pectin in apple seeds and peel the helpful in jelling other foods, while the juice obtained from crushing fresh apples helps to make jeelies from water fruits, because it does not alter their flavour. Apple juice is a popular drink, special varieties of apple are used for cider, while apple brandies, American apple jack and notably, Calvados are produced by distilling. Stewed apple can be flavoured with cinnamon, vanilla, cloves or lemon juice, and is excellent with fresh cream. Desserts are legion and include fritters, turnovers, charlottes, puddings, compotes and mousses. Each country has its favourites well known are the Normandy apple tart with its wheel of slices, the British top-crushed pie (sometimes accompanied by cheese) and the Austria apple and0raisin studed. In savoury dishes, the apple is traditionally associated with black pudding (blood sausage), grilled (broiled) chitterlings and roast pork (especially as sauce), but is also used with poultry (roast chicken, goose, duck and turkey) and with grilled herring or mackerel instead of gooseberries (as an unsweetened compote or in quarters fried in butter) and with red cabbage or braised chestnuts. The French Joke has it that they are pommes en Vair (apples in the air) as opposed to pommes do terre (potatoes, literallyearth apples). Apple goes well with dishes cooked in cider. It is also used for salads, especially with celery, lamb’s lettuce (corn salad) walnuts, raisings and beefroot (beed) together with mustard vinaigrette or a remoulade sauce.
RECIPES Apple charlotte with brown sugar Peel core and quarter 4 Belle de Baskoop or Granny Smith apples. Remove the crusts from 10 slices of white bread and fry in 65 g (2 ½ oz, ¼ cup) butter. Drain and use to line the bottom and the sides of a charlotte mould. Melt about 75 g (3 oz, 1 ¼ cups) soft brown sugar, then the apple quarters, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Flame with 1 ½ tablespoons warned calvados. Heap this mixture in the lined mould and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (400°F, gas 6) for 30 minutes. Cook under a press, then turn out and serve with custard cream. Apple conserve Marmelade de pommes Peel and core some apples, cut into quarters and weigh. For 500 g (18 oz) apples, allow 300 g 911 oz, 1 ½ cups0 sugar. Put the apples and sugar in a preserving pan with 2 tables spoons water. Cook gently until the apples crush under a spoon. Rub them through a strainer over a bowl. Put the puree back into the pan, bring to the boil, stirring continuously, and cook until the puree reaches a temperature of 106°C (223°F). pot in the usual way. Apple crown a la normande Peel and core some dessert apples, and poach in a vanilla-flavoured syrup. Leave to cool in the syrup, then drain. Prepare an egg custard (see custard) flavoured with calvados, and cook in a plain ring mould in a bain marie. Leave to cool, then turn out on to a serving dish. Arrange the drained apple halves in the centre in a dome. Decorate with very thick Chantily cream using a piping (pastry) bag with a fluted nozzle. Serve with an apricot sauce flavoured with Calvados. Apple crumble Into a food processor put 150 g (5 oz , 1 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, add 150 g (5 oz, 2/3 cup) butter cut into pieces, and 150 g (5 oz, ¾ cup) caster (superfine) sugar. Process until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Peel and core 1.5 kg (3/14 lb) apples. Cut into quarters, arrange in an ovenproof dish and cover with the crumble mixture. Cook for 35 minutes in a preheated oven at 200°C (400 °F, gas 6). Serve with custard or thickcreme frache. Apple flan grimaldi Peel and core 4 dessert (eating) apples and cut into quarters. Cook in a vanilla-flavoured syrup. Make a pastry dough with 250 g (9 oz, 2 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 125 g (4 ½ oz, ½ cup) butter, I egg yolk, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons water. Roll into a ball and leave in a col place for 1 hour. Roll it out, line a 22 cm (9 in) flan ring, and bake blind. Prepare some rice in milk (see rice) using 150 g (5 oz. ¾ cup) round-grain rice. When it is cold, mix in 100 g (4 oz., ½ cup) chopped crystallized (candied) fruit, 100 g (4 oz, ½ cup) chopped candied orange peel, a small liqueur glass of Curacao an 50 g (2 oz, ¼ cup) butter. Fill the flan case with this mixture, level it off, then arrange the drained apple quarters on top. Sprinkle with crushed macaroons and caster (superfine) sugar and glaze in a preheated oven at 240°c (475°F, gas 9). Apple gratine Make 1 litre ( 1 ¾ pints, 4 ½ cups) syrup per 1 kg (2/14 lb) apples, using 500 g (18 oz, 2 ¼ cups) sugar per 1 litre (1 ¾ pints, 4 1/3 cups) water. Peel some firm dessert (eating) apples, cut them in half and poach gently in the syrup, making sure that they do not disintegrate. Drain and leave to cool. Prepare an apple conserve (see recipe above) and use it to line a buttered ovenproof dish, then arrange the apple halves on top. Mix some fine breacdcrumbs with half as much ground almonds. Scatter liberally over the apples, sprinkle with melted butter and brown in a preheated oven at 220°F, gas 7). The syrup in which the apples have been cooked can be strained and used to cook apples or other fruit. Apple jelly Wash 3 kg (61/2 lb) apples (Granny Smiths or cox’s0, cut into quarters or eighths without peeling or coring, and sprinkle lemon juice over the cut surfaces. Place in a preserving pan with 3 litres (5 pints, 13 cups) water. Bring quickly to the boil, then cook for about 30 minutes (the apples must disintegrate). Place a strainer over a large container and pour the contents of the pan into it. Allow the juice to drain away on its own, without pressing so as not cloud it. Measure the juice obtained and the pour it back into the pan, adding the same weight of granulated sugar and the juice of 2-3 lemons. Bring quickly to the boil, then boil uncovered, reducing the heat slightly when the syrup begins to froth. Continue cooking until setting point is reached; the temperature should then be 105°C (220°F). Pot and seal in the usual way. Apples flamed with calvados Pomes flambees au calvados Peel some apples, core them and arrange in a buttered ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with sugar and melted butter and cook in a preheated oven at 220°C (425°F, gas 7) until just tender. Arrange the apples in a silver timbale or flameproof dish and heat it. Sprinkle with warmed Calvados and set alight. Apple soufflés Cut 8 large dessert apples in half, core them and then scoop put half the pulp without piercing the skin. Cook the pulp for 5 minutes with 2 tablespoons water, without stirring, in a covered saucepan. Then add 300 g (11 oz, 1 1/3 cups) caster (superfine) sugar and continue cooking, stirring to obtain a very smooth puree. Sprinkle the inside of the fruit halves with 100 ml (4 fl oz, ½ cup) brandy to the apple puree. Stiffly whisk 5 egg whites and fold them into the apple puree. Arrange the apple halves in a well-buttered ovenproof dish, use a spoon or piping bag to fill them with apple puree and sprinkle with 50 g (2 oz, 1/3 cup) icing (confectioner’s) sugar. Cook in a preheated oven at 230°C (450°f, gas 8) for 10-12 minutes until browned. Served immediately. The pommes souffles may be served on a caramel sauce, made by adding single (light) cream to caramel, or a caramel dessert sauce based on a custard, flavored with light caramel. Diced red, yellow and green apple make an attractive decoration. Apples with honey and salted butter Peel, halve and core 8 dessert (eating) apples. Pour 20 g (9 oz, ¾ cup) liquid acacia honey into a flameproof baking dish, spreading it evenly. Place this dish over a brisk heat until the honey has browned. Remove from the heat and arrange the apple halves in the dish with their curved sides underneath and a small knob of salted butter in each. Cook in a preheated oven at 240°C (475°F, gas 9) for 10 minutes Baked apples Pommes bonne femme Make a light circular incision round the middle of some firm cooking apples, core them and then place in a large buttered ovenproof dish. Fill the hollow in each apple with butter mixed with caster (superfine) sugar. Pour a few tablespoons of water into the dish. Cook in a preheated oven at 220°C (425°F, gas 7) until the apples are just tender, about 30 minutes. Service the apples in the dish in which they were cooked. Buttered apples Core and peel some apples and place them for 2 minutes in boiling water with some lemon juice added to it (or squeeze the lemon juice over the apples). Drain arrange in a buttered ovenproof dish, sprinkle with caster (superfine) sugar and moisten with a few drops of water. Cover and cook in a preheated oven at 220°C (425°F, gas 7) until tender. Place each apple on a round slice of bread fried in butter. Add a few tablespoons of sugar or golden (corn) syrup and some butter to the cooking juices and pour over the apples. Le jeu de pommes Make a fine pastry by combining in a processor 200 g (7 oz. 1 ¾ cups) plan (all-purpose) flour, 150 g (5 oz 2/3 cup) rather firm butter, a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon sugar and a little olive oil. Incorporate 100 ml (4 fl oz. ½ cup) water and work together briefly (the particles of butter should still be visible). Remove the dough and roll it out finely; cut our 16 circles about17 cm (5 in) in diameter using a pastry (cookie) cutter. Place them on non stick baking sheets, cove them with very thin slices of apple brush with 50 g (2 oz, ¼ cup) melted butter and sprinkle lightly with caster (superline) sugar. Bake in a preheated oven at 220°C (425°F, gas 7 ) for 15 minutes. Turn each tartlets over on the baking sheet using a spatula and dust the reverse side with icing (confectioner’s) sugar. Put the tartles under the grill (broiler). As it caramelizes, the sugar forms a glossy crackly film. Leave to cool for 15 minutes. Take 4 dessert plates and place 4 tartlets on top of each other on each plate (apples upwards). Just before serving, cover each jeu de pommes with 1 tablespoons warned acacia honey and sprinkle with a little Calvados and a few drops of lemon juice. The dessert may be accompanied by a lemon sorbet. Other recipes see charlotte, compote, crepe, fritter, fruit paste, kirsch, pudding sauce, tart, turnover.

APPLE-CORER A small kitchen gadget consisting of a tabular steel gouge attached to a handle, used for taking the cores out of apples. Apples are cored before being baked in the oven or sliced into rings to be made into fritters. In France an apple-cover was formerly known as a colonne.

APPLE SUGAR sucre de pomme A. confectionery speciality of the city of Rouen, where it was created towards the middle of the 16th century. Apple sugar was formerly prepared by mixing one part of concentrated juice of cooked dessert apples to three parts of sugar syrup cooked to the hand crack stage (see sugar). This mixture was used to form little sticks, tables or pastilles, which were coated with a layer of sugar. This recipe has been improved by adding a little glucose initially, then adding some natural apple essence and a little lemon juice to obtain a perfectly transparent apple sugar, which keeps well without softening. It is sold in traditional 10 cm (4 in) sticks in a grey, gold and white wrapper, decorated with the famous clock tower of Rouen; this design was created in 1865.

APPRET.= The French word to describe all the culinary processes involved in the preparation of a dish

APPRICOT = A round yellow-orange fruit with velvety skin, having tender, sweet and fragrant flesh and very little juice. The smooth stone (pit), which comes away easily, contains an edible kernel (almond in French) which is used to flavour apricot jam. The name is derived from the Latin praecoquus, meaning precocious or early-ripening. The apricot a tree grew wild in China several thousand years ago. It was later grown in India, then in Persia and Armenia, from where it gets its Latin name, Prunus armeniaca. It was probably introduced into Europe after the conquest by Alexander the Great. The ancient Greeks called the apricot the ‘golden eggs of the Sun’ Introduced to Sicily and Spain by the Moors, it was not cultivated in France until the 17th century. Apricots are now cultivated in the warmer temperature regions of the world, in China, parts of the former USSR, the Mediterranean, North America, South Africa and Australasia. Popular brands in Britain are Moorpark, and Blenherim in California. Also noteworthy is the Kecskeme apricot of Hungry; intensely flavoured and fragrant, this ugly pock-marked fruits is used to make brandy.
 Uses. The apricot should be bought properly ripe, since once picked it stops repining and might either be hard and bitter or become, soft and floury. Apricots usually do not travel well and may therefore be canned (plain or in syrup, whole or in halves). They are also made into fruit juices, used to flavour brandies and to make alcohol spirit like the Hungarian barrack palingka. The apricot is delicious eaten fresh. Its skin may be removed, if in boiling water. The apricot is one of the fruits most widely used in sweet dishes (hot and cold desserts, cakes and pastries, fruit salads and ices) and in preserves (candied fruits, jams and conserves).
 Dried apricots. Dried apricot are produced in Iran, California and Australia: fairly large, pale and a little dull-looking. Turkish dried apricots are renowned and are dark orange with a muscatel flavour. Hunza in a Kashmir is known for fine marble-size apricots. These need 24-hours soaking (but no cooking). Dried apricots have a much higher calorific value than the fresh fruit and are sold ready-to-eat. Others must be rehydrated by immersing them in tepid water for two hours. They are used in much the same way as fresh apricots in desserts, particularly stewed in winter. Amardine, dried and pressed apricots, is a ready source of sugar to break the Ramadan fast in the Middle East and makes some famous sweetmeats. Dried apricots are prized for the intense flavour they bring to dessert. They are also good in some meat ragouts. Apricots can be dried at home, by splitting them to remove the stones (pits), leaving them in the sun on a wooden rack until they become dark red. After drying, the apricots should be flattered with the fingers to give them a regular shape RECIPES Apricot marmalade Slowly cook 1 kg (2 ¼ lb) stoned (pitted) apricots in 100 ml (4 fl oz. ½ cup) water for 15-20 minutes. Puree the fruits in a blender, then press it through a sieve to make a smooth thick puree. Return the puree to the pan, add 575 g (1 ¼ lb. 2 ½ cups) sugar and cook slowly, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then increase the heat and continue cooking. To determine whether the marmalade is cooked, drop a little on to a plate. If it remains in a blob without spreading out, the marmalade is cooked. Pot as for jam. APRICOT Apricots a l’ancienne Poach large apricot halves in a vanilla-flavoured syrup. Drain them and arrange on a layer of sponge cake which has been soaked with rum and coated with sweet apple puree. Sprinkle the apricots with chopped almonds and sugar, spoon over a little melted butter and bake in a preheated oven at 220°c (425°F., gas 7) until brown on top. Serve with a sauce made of apricot jam diluted with a little hot water, sieved and then flavoured with rum. Apricots Colbert Poach apricot halves in a sugar syrup until barely tender, then pat dry. Fill each half with thick cold rice pudding sandwich the halves together and coat with egg and breadcrumbs. Deep-fry the coated apricots, drain and serve with an apricot sauce flavoured with kirsch. Apricots Conde Poach apricot halves in a sugar syrup and arrange around a thick ring of cold rice pudding. Decorative with glace (candied) cherries and angelica. Insert split blanched almonds between the apricots. Heat the apricot ring in a preheated oven at 160 °C (325°F, gas 3 ) and serve with a kirsch-flavoured apricot sauce. Apricots flambe Allow 4-6 poached and drained apricot halves per persons, while still hot place in individual dishes. Spoon 2-3 tablespoon of the hot poaching syrup over each portion, warm a scent tablespoon kirsch for each portion and set alight. Apricot preserved au natured Wipe the apricots and cut in halves together and pack tightly into preserving jars, without adding water or sugar. Screw on the lids (loosen bands a quarter turn), then immerse the jars in a large saucepan of lukewarm water. Bring the water up to 90°C (194°F) and maintain at this temperature for 15-20 minutes. Remove the jars, seal, dry and store when cold. Apricots preserved in syrup Choose slightly under-ripe fruit prick them and put in a basin. Cover with a very heavy syrup. Soak in the syrup for 3 hours. While the fruit in soaking prepare a 26” syrup (see sugar0 with lump sugar, clarify the syrup with egg white – one white for 2 litres (3 ½ pints, 9 cups) syrup. Strain the syrup through a straining bag or cloth. Leave to cool. Drain the apricot. Put them into wide-mouthed jars and cover with the boiling clarified syrup so that it reaches at least 3 cm 91 ¼ in) above the level of the fruit. Fix on the tops and screw bands tightly, then give the bands one half-turn to loosen them. Place a wire rack in the bottom of a large preserving pan and arrange the bottles on its so they do not touch. Fill the pan with cold water, making sure it covers the jars. Boil rapidly for a full 10 minutes remove the bottles, wipe and seal them. Keep in a cool place, away from the light. Halved apricots can also be used for this recipe. Put in a basin and soak in a very heavy syrup. Crack half the number of stones (pits), peel the kernels and put into the preserving jars with the apricots. Apricot water Ice Cook some stoned (pitted ) apricots with a little water until soft. Drain and press the fruit through a sieve (or puree in a blender), adding sufficient cooking juice to make a puree of pouring consistency. Prepares a sugar syrup by heating 225 g (8 oz. 1 cup) sugar to time until the sugar has completed dissolved. This yields 750 ml (1 ¼ pints. 3 ¼ cups) syrup. Combine equal quantities of apricot puree and sugar syrup, and flavour to taste with lemon juice – 1 lemon to each 600 ml (1 pint, 2 ½ cups) mixture. Either pour the cooked mixture into a prepared ice cream maker, or freeze until slushy in a freezer, then beat thoroughly before refreezing until firm. Preserved apricots or apricot conditions in eau-de-vie Choose very small firm apricots of uniform size. Put them, a few at a time, in a copper pan full of cold water, so that they are completely covered. Place the pan over a low flame. As soon as the apricot rise to the surface, take them out the water with a perforated spoon and feel them to see it they are thoroughly softened ; this is the blanching operation. Soak them in cold water for on hour, drain and put them in syrup, which should be brought up to 25° (see sugar). Leave them in the syrup at this degree for 4 days, then drain and put them into preserving jars. Fill with the following mixture: the syrup in which the fruit was candied. I litre (1 ¾ pints, 4 ½ cups); neutral tasteless alcohol of 90° 1 litre (1/34 pints, 4 1/3 cups). Add a piece of vanilla pod (bean) or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, or 100 ml (4 fl oz ½ cup) rum or kirsch per 2 litres (3 ½ pints, 9 cups) liquid. Mix well. When the jars have been filled, seal them with their special tops or with cork lids. Keep in a cool place, protected both from heat and humidity for one month before use. Other recipe. See Bourdoloue; jams, jellies and marmalades, sauce.

APRICOTING abricoter.= The process of spreading a thin layer of sieved apricot jam over the surface of a sweet or a cake, in order to give it a glossy appearance. If a cake is to be covered with fondant king (frosting), this is made easier by apricoting the cake beforehand.

APRIL FOOL = poisson d’avril practical joke that is played on an unsuspecting victim on 1 April, April Fool’s Day or All Fool’s Day. In France, it is traditional to eat chocolate, marzipan or sugar fish, and in Alsace cakes are moulded into the shape of fish. Apparently, the origin of April fool goes back to the 16th century, at which time the new year started on 1 April in France. In 1564, Charles IX issued a decree that fixed the beginning of the year at 1 January instead of 1 April. This innovation was not very popular, and on 1 April 1565, both as a protest and as a joke, people stated sending one another worthless presents as mock New York’s gifts. As the sun happened to be in the constellation of Pisces on this date, the gifts became sweetmeats in the shape of fish (poisson d’avril).

AQUAVIT = Also known as akvavit. A grain-based spirit often flavoured with cumin, aniseed or fennel, which has been manufactured in Scandinavia since the 15th century. Its name comes from the Latin aquavitae (water of life). It has a high alcoholic content and should be served really cold-ideally the bottle should be chilled in the freezer. Aquavit may also be distilled from potatoes (schnapps).

ARAIGNEE = The name given in French to the muscle in an ox that lines the socket of its hock bone. The membrane that covers it is steaked with veins like a spider’s web (hence the name, which means ‘spider’). As a highly prized piece of meat that is rarely for sale, the araugnee is best eaten grilled (broiled) because of its succulence.

ARAK.= A strong alcohol spirit, usually flavoured with aniseed and popular in Eastern countries. Its name comes from the arabic (juice, sap). Arak is distilled from dates in Egypt and the Middle East; grapes and seeds in Greece, where it is called raki; palm sap in India, and sugar-cane juice in java.
 
 ARBOIS = An AOC wine from Franche-Comete, in the Jura. Two famous men have contributed to the fame of the wines of this district - the gourmet Brillat-Savarin and the great scientiest louis Pasteur. The latter did much of his work in the region and it was because of the curious nature of certain of the Jura wines – those that form a ‘veil’ on the surface while they are in cask – that he worked out his theories about the action of bacteria. The three main districts are Arbois, Chateau-Chalon and l’Etoile; although until very recently the wines were seldom outside their locality, even within France, some of them are beginning to feature on export lists. As well as red, white and rose wines, sparkling wines are produced. The grapes used for white wines are Savagnin, Melon d’Arbois (ChardonnaY) and Pinot Blanc; for the reds the varieties are Pouland, Trousseau, and Gros Noiren (Pinot Noir). Two very curious wines of the Cotes du Jura are the vin de paille (straw wine) and the vin jaune (yellow wine).
 
ARBOLADE = Also known as arboulastre. In the cuisine of former times, either a sweetened cream custard made with eggs, or savoury omelette. The arboulastre mentioned in the Menager de Paris ) is a thick omelette made with a mixture of chopped herbs (such as wild celery, tansy, sage, beet, spinach, lettuce and mint) and sprinkled with grated cheese La Varenne’s recipe for arbolade (1651) is a sweet desert. RECIPE Arbolade (from La Varenne’s recipe) Melt butter and add some cream, egg yolks, pear juice, sugar and a pinch of salt. Cook this mixture lightly, sweeten with flower water and serve. 
 
ARBUTUS BERRY = The fruit of the strawberry tree or shrub called madrono in Spanish and in American. It grows in the forests of North America, Ireland and southern Europe and is cultivated in the south of France. The rather tart red berries have a stippled surface and are pulpy inside, but do not have the flavour of strawberries. They are used to make a fruit wine, spirits and a liquer, as well as jellies and jams. The city of Madrid was formerly surrounded by forests and has a strawberry tree and a bear on its coat of arms. 
 
 
 ARCHIDUC = The name given to Friends dishes inspired by Austro-Hungarian cuisine at the time of the Belle Epoque. Eggs, sole and poultry are cooked with onion and paprika and coated with hongroise sauce. The pan juices are deglazed with either a fumet of fish or a demi-glace sauce, whichever in appropriate, and flavoured with brandy, whisky, Madeira or port. RECIPE Oeufs sur le plat archiduc Soften some sliced onions seasoned with paprika in a little butter in a small dish. Break the eggs and cook then on top of the onions. Garnish if desired with a salpicon of truffles heated in butter, or surround with a border of supreme sauce with paprika . Poulet saute archiduc Joint a chicken and saute the pieces in butter. When half-cooked, add 2 tablespoons chopped onions softened in butter and ¼ teaspoon paprika. Drain the chicken pieces and keep hot. Deglaze the juices in the pan with 100 ml (4 fl oz, ½ cup) dry white wine and heat to reduce. Ad 1 ml (1/4 pint. 2/3 cup) double (heavy) cream and reduce further. Finally, add a trickle of lemon juice and 50 g (2 oz, ¼ cup) butter. Strain the sauce (if desired) and use it to coat the chicken pieces. Sliced cucumber, steamed in butter, may be served at the same time. 
 
ARDENNAISE, A L= The term, meaning in the style of the French Ardennes, is given to several dishes of game, either binds (such as thrush) or animals (such as pickled hare or boar), in which juniper is used (in the form of spirit or berries). 
 
ARGENTEUL = The French name given to dishes with a sauce or garnish containing either asparagus tips or asparagus puree. The Argenteuil area of the Val-d ‘Oise has been famous for the cultivation of asparagus since the 17 century – there is even a society, the Compagnons de l’asperge d’Argenteuil. The description may b also be applied generally to ‘white’ dishes such as poached or soft boiled eggs, sole or fillets of sole, and poached fowl. RECIPES Salad argenteuil Cook some potatoes in their skins, dice them and dress with tarragon mayonnaise. Pile itno a salad bowl and garnish with white asparagus tips seasoned with oil and lemon. Make a border with shredded lettuce and quartered hard-boiled (hard-cooked) eggs. Scrambled eggs argenteuil Scramble some eggs and garnish with asparagus tips that have been parboiled in salted water and then slowly cooked in butter. Serve with triangular croutons fried in butter and a cream sauce. Soft bioled (or poached) eggs argenteuil Arrange the cooked eggs on croutons fried in butter. Coat with a white asparagus puree and garnish with asparagus tips which have been slowly cooked in butter. 
 
ARIEGEOISE, A L’ = this description is given to typical dishes of the cuisine of south-western France, particularly chicken and boned breast of mutton, which are served with stuffed cabbage and potatoes. The chicken is poached in a broth (which is served first, as a soup) and then served with stuffed green cabbage leaves, pickled pork and potatoes. RECEIPE Stuffed breast of mutton a l’ariegeoise Make a cavity in a ‘breast of mutton, season with salt and pepper, and fill with a fairly firm stuffing made with breadcrumbs soaked in stock and squeezed, fat and lean unsmoked bacon, chopped parsley and garlic, bound together with eggs and well seasoned. Sew up the opening in the breast . put the meat in a buttered braising pan, lined with fresh pork rinds and sliced onions and carrots. Add a bouquet garni, cover and cook gently for 15 minutes. Moisten with 150 ml (1/4 pint. 2/3 cup) dry white wine and reduce. Add 3 teaspoons tomato puree(paste) and 300 ml (1/2 pint, 1 ¾ cups) thickened brown gray. Keep covered and cook in the oven for a further 45-60 minutes. Drain the mutton breast and arrange it on a long dish. Surround with a garnish consisting of balls of stuffed cabbage and potatoes cooked n stock and butter. Strain the cooking juices, skim off the fat, reduce and pour over the meat. 
 
ARLEQUIN = in popular 19th-century French parlance, an assortment of leftover food from restaurants or large houses that was made to look palatable and resold at low prices either in certain markets or in cheap restaurants. Today in France they would be called rogatonts (leftovers). In Paris a table(1846) Eugene Briffault recalls, ‘all the remains that the thrown out which take on the lively name of orlequin. This olla podrada (pot pourri) of the Paris Bohemians’ The sellers were called ‘jewellers’, because of they took with the presentation of these disparate remants, as colourful as harlequin’s coat. 
 
ARLESIENNE, A L’ = The term, meaning in the style of Arles, is given to dishes with a garnish of aubergines (eggplants) fried in oil, sauteed tomatoes, and onion rings dredged in flour and friend. The garnish accompnies sole, tourmedos steaks (filet mignons) or noisettes of lamb). RECIPE Escargots a l’arlesienne Take some medium-sized snails, stand them in tepid water to remove the impurities and then blanch with a handful of salt. Remove them from their shells and drain. Put a little diced bacon into a saucepan, sprinkle with flour, moisten with dry white wine and add the snails, together with some garlic and plenty of herbs. Bring to the boil and cook gently for about 10 minutes. When the snails are cooked , drain and replace in their shells. Make a sauce with a glass of Madeira, a pinch of cayenne pepper and the juice of a lemon. Pour the sauce over the snails and sprinkles with chopped parsley. Other recipes see egg (scrambled eggs), salad. 
 
ARMAGNAC. Brandy made from wine from a region in gascony almost entirely in the department of Gers. It has an appellation d’origine controlee. The main production zone is Bas0Armagnac d’Armagnac, Cassaubon, Eauze and Nogaro, up to Villeneuve-de-Marsan and Aire-sur-l’Adour), which produces very fine Armagnac with a particular bouquet. The Tenareze region completes the Bas-Armagnac region to the east (aruond Nerac, Condom,Vic-Fezensac and Aignan) and produce strongly scented and supple branches. Haut-Armagnac, which extends to the east and south, around Miranda, Auch and Lectoure, produce less of the total production. Armagnac’s name (and presumably the spirit itself) has been recorded as early as 1411, but since 1909 certain controls have defined its area and how it should be made and labelled. The main grapes used are. Piquepoul. St. Emilion, Colomband, Jurangcon, Blanquette, Mauzac and Clairette Meslier. A special type of still is used to handle the white wines and this is now done by a continuous process, although the Armagnac still is quite different from the continuous still 9coffeyor patent still) used in making other spirits. (some of the stills were, until the mid 20th century, travelling stills, going around the country making the brandy for the wine growers. These still exist, but the big firms mostly carry out their own distilling in their headquarters or buy from growers who distill. Armagnac is matured in oak and the age of the spirit, when bottled, can be three star or XXX (three years old) YO (from five to ten years) or VSOP (up to 15 years) ‘Hors d’Age’ means that the brandy is at least 25 years old, although, like Cognac, it will not improve indefinitely in wood. Sometimes bottled in a flagon-shaped bottle known as a basquaise, armagnac may also be put into tall bottles. It should be served in a small tulip or flattish goblet-type glass, able to be cupped in the hand when it is drink neat as a liqueur, although the more ordinary Armagnacs are usefule in mixed drinks. Armagnac is different from useful in mixed drinks. Armagnac is different from Gognac but – a common delusion – is not weaker in any way, nor it is, quality for quality cheaper. 
 
ARMENONVILLE A garnish that bears the name of a Parisian restaurant in the bois de Boulogne. The basic ingredients are either Anna or casseroled potatoes, together with morel mushrooms. In cream sauce. It is served with noisettes of lamb, toucrnedos steaks ((filet migroons), sauteed or casseroled children and soft-boiled or poached eggs. These are coated with demi-glace sauce flavoured with either Cognac or Madeira. The name is also given to a dish of sole or sole fillets. RECIPE Sole armenonville Prepare a pancek of Anna potatoes. Skin prepare 2 good sole and poach them in a very shallow a dish in fish stock. Make a white wine sauce and air in the cooking juices from the sole. Cut some cep mushrooms into thin strips, cook them gently in butter in a covered pan and add them to the sauce. Arrange the anna potatoes on the serving dish, place the sole on top, coat with sauce and serve immediately in the traditional recipe, the sole is served surrounded by a border of duchesse potatoes enriched with truffles.
 
ARMORICAINE, A L’= The description a l’armoricains is given to dishes with a sauce of prawns and shrimp whicha re cooked a l’americanaine. These days it is acknowledged that armoricaine is a corruption of americaine, itself a Parisian dish. Moreover, the incorporation of garlic, tomatoes and oil in the sauce and the fact that it was created by a chef of southern French origins, proves that the recipe has nothing to do with Brittany (Armorica is the ancient name for Britanny). 
 
 
AROMA =The distinctive smell of a food that is produced by a complex mixture of volatile compounds, A product is aromatized by introducing into it an aroma, natural or otherwise, that gives it a flavour or reinforces one that it has already. Natural aromas or flavours are extracted from plants, such as mint, vanilla or the zest of citrus fruits. Certain processes, such as smoking or maceration in alcohol, also give a natural flavour. To keep costs down, and to maintain the quality and keeping properties of its products, the food industry has increasingly used artificial and synthetic flavourings. Artificial flavourings have chemical formulate identical to those of natural flavours, such vanillinor menthol, while synthetic flavourings have chemical formulae that do not exist in nature. For example, amyl acetate, which smells of bananas, is used in liqueus and processed cheeses, diacetyl is in margarine; and the valerianates are widely used in preserves because of their fruity smell. In France flavourings are not regarded as additives and their use is not governed by the same set of regulations. On the other hand, it is obligatory to include the wond ‘fontaisle (imitation) on labels for aromatized alcohols and syrups, and the words ‘natural flavour’, ‘reinforced natural flavour’ or ‘artificial flavour’ on other food labels, depending on the circumstances. However, the actual nature of the flavouring remains a secret of the manufacturer. The name aromes is given to Lyonnais cheeses, such as Riggotte and Pelardon, which are referred in grape marc or white wine to give them a piquant flavour.
 
AROMATIC = An fragrant plant that is used as a condiment or for flavouring. Various parts of the plant may be used the leaves (basil, marjoram, mint, chervil and tarragon), the flower buds (caper and nastortium), the seeds 9dill, aniseed, caraway, cortiander and mustand), the fruit (Jumper and pimento), the roots (horseradish), the stems (angellica, savory and wild thyme) or the bulls (garlic and onion). Certain vegetables, such as carrots, celery, parsnips and leeks, are also used in cooking as aromatics. Although they have no nutritional value, aromatics constitute an indispensable item in cooking. They may be added directly to the preparation during cooking to achieve a suitable blending of flavours and aromas (particularly for dishes that are boiled or braised for a long time), or are used indirectly in vinegars and oil, mustards, condoments, stuffings court-bouillon, marinades, furmets and macerations. They are also widely used to make alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks and in the preserving industries. Aromatics may be used fresh or they may be preserved by refrigeration, freezing or drying; dried aromatics, whole or crushed, should be stored in opague well-sealed pots. Aromatics are distinguished from spices in that the latter are of exotic origin; for example, pepper, nutmeg, saffron, vanilla and betel. A splice is necessarily aromatic but it may also be very pungent, whole the aromatic is used essentially for its fragrance. To spice means ‘to give taste to’, while to anomatize means ‘to perfume’. In ancient times, substances such as benzoin, myrrth and rosewater were frequently used in cooking. In the Middle Ages, simples and herbs, both medicinal and culinary, played an essential role. Later, oriental spices competed with them, but different regions continued to local practice of aromatic cooking using indigenous plant, such as garlic, anise, basil, oregano and thyme in the Mediterranean countries, dill and fennel in scandinavia, and artemisia, juniper and cumin in the East. In France, the situation is summarized by Raymond Dumay: ‘We have only one condiment, in three shapes: garlic in Marseilles, shallots in Bordeaux and onions in Dunkirk; these are the three pillars of our national cuisine. RECIPE Aromatic sauce Cover ad infuse for 20 minutes a mixture consisting of 250 ml (8 fl oz.1 cup) bioling consomme, a pinch each of chopped chives, savory, marjoram, sage and basil , a chopped shallot, 4 papercorns and a little grated nutmeg, sorain the infusin and then add it to a white roux made with 25 g (1 oz.2 tablespoons) butter and an equal amount of flour. Cook for 10 minutes. Add trickle of lemon juice and a teaspoons each of chopped chervil and chopped tarragon. This sauce can be served with poached fish. 
 
ARQUEBUSE = a herby liquerur that was originally supposed to posses therapeutic qualities in case of gunshot wounds. The receipe for aeu d’arquebuse or d arquebusade was recorded in the 19th century by a marist monk from the Hermitage Abbey (Loire) and includes agrimony and gentian. Today it is used as a digestive and ‘pick-me-up’ – it is said to be the French answer to Fernet Branca!
 
ARRACACIA ROOT pomme de terro-celeri = The standby long rhizone (underground stem) of the arracacia, also known as the celery patato, native to Colombia. It can be ground to produce flour or cooked like the yam or the sweet potato.
 
ARROWROOT. = The starch extracted from the rhizomes (underground stems) of several tropical plants. It is so called because of the therapeutic qualities attributed to it by American Indian in the treatment of arrow wounds. A fine white powder, it is useful in the kitchen as a last-minute thickener of sauces. Arrowroot should be blended to a smooth, thin paste with a little cold liquid before added to hot liquid. Unlike comflour constarch), which gives a cloudy sauce, arrowroot clears when it boils. It reaches optimum thickness at boiling point and should be removed from the heat immediately as further cooking makes the arrowroot thin down slightly. Being clear and requiring brief cooking, arrowroot is the ideal thickener for fruit glazes, sauces and to prepare gruels for invalids and desserts. RECIPES Arrowroot glaze To make a thick set cold glaze for fruit, thicken fruit juice or a light fruit syrup as for Thin fruit sauce, below but using 5 teaspoons arrowroot to 300 ml (1/2 pint, 1 ¼ cups) liquids. Use while hot or warm. Thin fruit sauce To thicken a fruit juice sauce to a thin pouring consistency, use 1 tablespoon arrowroot for every 300 ml (1/2 paint, 1 ¼ cup) liquid. Shake the arrowroot with a little cold water or juice. Stir in a little of the hot sauce, then pour the arrowroot mixture into the main batch of sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously, and remove from the heat. Serve at once or cover the surface of the sauce with cling film (Plastic wrap) to prevent to skin from forming and leave to cool.
 
ARTAGNAN, A LA D’= the name of the fourth musketeer is given to a garnish consisting of cep mushrooms a la bearnaise (his province), small stuffed tomatoes an dcroquette potatoes. It is several with poultry and meat joints.
 
ARTEMISIA = armoise A genus of aromatic plants with a scent of comphor growing throughout Europe and Asia. Wormwood (A obsintium) has been used as a vermifuge (hence the name ) for thousands of years. It has also been used as afebrifuge (no abate fever). One of the principal herbs in absinthe, it also gives its name to vermouth, via the German Wermud. It is aromatic, but very bitter. Indeed, a flavouring for spirits (and perhaps a tonic) is one of the principal uses for herbs of this family, an Alpine variety being used for the Swis genpi. The leaves of some varieties are used as a fresh condiment to flavour fatty meats and fish, such as pork and eel, and may also be an ingredient in certain marinades. Antemisia is mainly used in Germany, the Balkans and Italy. 
 
ARTICHOKE, GLOVE = A perennial vegetable related to the thistle, whose edible immature flower head is formed of a fleshy base (fond) and heart surrounded by scaly leaves or bracts. The base is eaten after the inedible hairy central core (choke) has been removed. The bases of the leaves cradle a small portion of tender flesh that is also edible. Each leaft is dipped in a little sauce or dressing and the tender edible part nibbled off before the rest of the leaf is described. The heat is the central clump of close-packed tender and completely edible leaves from young vegetables in which the choke has not formed. Very young vegetables are edible, with the minimum of trimming necessary to remove a few outer leaves. At this stage the small artichokes may be sliced, quartered or cooked whole, in fritters or braised . Very young artichokes are also eaten raw. Originating from Sicily and still very widely used in Italian cooking, the artichoke was first regarded in France mainly as a remedy for various ailments. At the beginning of the 18th century, Louis Lemery said in his Treatise on food “Artichokes suit elderly people at all times, and those of a phlegmatic and melancholy disposition.’ It was also reputed to be an aphrodisac and women were often forbidden to eat it Catherine de Medici, who was fond of artichokes, encouraged their cultivation in France. Antichokes are grown in many parts of Europe, while California is the major region in the US. In France they are grown in Brittney, producing the large round have Camus with a large heart; around Paris known for the large green paris or Laon (with more spiky leaves), and in Provence, where the violet antichokes of spring and autumn may be eaters law, or braised and eaten whole.  Selecting and cooking. Artichokes are best in the summer. Choose one that is firm and heavy, with still tightly packed leaves (these may be brilliant green. Blue-green or violet-colored, according to the variety). Because the artichoke is a flower bud, open leaves indicate that it is overripe and will therefore be hand and have too large a choke . when it has been kept for a long time after picking the tops of the scales go black. Uncooked artichokes may be kept fresh for 1-3 days if their stalks are put into water, like a bunch of flowers. Placing them in the salad compartment of the refrigerator is the practical alternative. After cooking, they will keep for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Artichokes are an essential item in the italian diet. Young small carctofi (such as the chioggi or Venice violet, and the Tuscan violet) are ceaten raw, dipped in olive oil or are cooked whole and preserved in oil, to serve as an antipaste. Big globulose artichokes are grown in Rome, and the city boasts recipes such as care loft alla gindeu (fried whole in oil). Large antichokes, cooked in water or steamed, are served whole, either hot or cold with central choke removed, and accompanied by a sauce or vinaigrette, (sometimes a second source within the leaves) they are eaten by pulling off the leaves dipping the base in the sauce, eating this and discanding the leaves. Finally the base or bottom (fond) is eaten. When young and tender, artichokes can be served au gratin, sliced for an omelette filing and even fried. The bottoms may be topped with a stuffing, cooked a la horigoule, used as a garnish for hot or cold dishes, or served in a salad. Only the small violet ones can be eaten raw with salt. Artichoke bottoms and hearts may be sold ready-prepared in Italy an dare available canned (the bottom sometimes with a fringe of leaf) or frozen. The whole artichoke, or the heart only, may be preserved in brine. A mixture of water, olive oil, lemon, rhyme, buy leaf and corlander (cilantro), is often used for small artichokes. RECIPES Artichoke hearts preparation Break off the stalk of the artichoke by bending it until it comes away from the base; the stringy parts will come away with the stalk. Using a very sharp knife, cut the base flat and then remove the tough outer leaves. Neatly trim the outside of the artichoke, then cut off the top and remove the choke. Rub with lemon to prevent it going black, even if it is to be used immediately. Artichokes a la cevenole Blanch the artichokes and gently cook them in butter. Garnish with chestnut puree flavoured with soubise puree. Sprinkle with grated paramesan cheese and melted butter and brown in the oven or under the grill (broiler). Artichokes a la duxelles Blanch the artichokes and cook in butter, then stuff with mushroom duxelles. Artichokes a la nicoise Blanch the artichokes and sauté in olive oil. Garnish with thick tomato sauce, sprinkle with white breadcrumbs and olive oil, and brown in the oven or under the grill (broiler). Artichokes a la portugaise Gently cook the prepared artichokes in oil with chopped onion. Add 2 peeled seeded chapped tomatoes, a little grated garlic and some chopped parsley. Over and cook over a very low heart. Garnish with a well-reduced tomato sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Artichokes aux fines herbbes Lightly blanch the artichokes, then sauté them (either whole or sliced) in butter, arrange in a vegetable dish and sprinkled with chopped chervil and parsley. It the artichokes are very tender, the raw hearts may be sliced. Rubbed with lemon and sautéed in butter. Examples of the types of glove artichoke – there are many green or purple, large and small varieties. Artichokes a la lyonnaise (from Paul Bacuse’s recipe) choose medium-sized artichokes with long spread-out long leaves, either the green or the violet variety. Break off the stalks, cut the artichokes into four, cut the leaves down to two-thirds their length and remove the choke. Plunge them into a saucepan off boiling water, half-cook them and then drain. Heat a mixture of equal parts of oil and butter in a flameproof pan and soften a chopped onion in it. Add the artichokes, season with salt and pepper and cook over a moderate heat until the vegetables begin to brown. Add 1 tables spoon flour and about 300 ml (1/2 pint. 1 ¼ cups) stock. When the artichokes are cooked, arranged them on a dish and keep them hot. Add a little more stock to the pan and reduce. Add some chopped parsley and then stir in a good sized piece of unsalted butter and the juice of half a lemon. Pour the sauce over the artichokes and serve. Boiled artichokes Using scissors or a very sharp knife, trim off the top third of the outer leaves of the artichokes and was the heads in plenty of water. Break off the stringy parts will come away with the stalk. Tie up each artichoke with string so that the head retains its shape during cooking and plunge the vegetables into acidulated boiling salted water. Keep the water boiling vigorously. The cooking time (average 30 minutes) depends on the size and freshness of the artichokes. (allow 10-12 minutes after the steam begins to escape when using a pressure cooker.) the artichokes are cooked when the outside leaves come away when pulled upwards. Drain the artichokes by placing them upside down in a colander, remove the string and serve immediately. It they are to be eaten cold, put them under the cold tap as soon as they are cooked and then drain them; do not untie them until the last moment. To serve, take out and discard the centre leaves which hide the choke and remove the choke with a small spoon. Artichokes may be eaten hot with melted butter, a white sauce (prepared with the cooking water enriched with fresh cream), a cream sauce (or simply cream flavoured with lemon and heated), a hollandaise sauce or a mousseline sauce. Cold artichokes may be served with mayonnaise, mustard sauce , tartare sauce, or vinaigrette and falvoured. If desired, with chopped parsley or chervil. Braised stuffed artichokes Cut and prepare large artichokes as in the previous recipe. Blanch for 5 minutes in boiling water, cool under the tap, drain and remove the small central leaves and the choke . season with salt and pepper. Fill the artichokes with a meat stuffing (made, for example, with 4 par sausagemeat to 1 part onion softened in butter, and some chopped parsley). Wrap them in thin slices of fat bacon and tie them. Butter a saute dish and line base with bacon rathers (slices), and sliced onions and carrots. Place the artichokes on top, season with salt and pepper, and add a bouquet garni. Cover and begin cooking over a low heat. Moisten with a small quantity of dry white wine, and reduce. Add a few tablespoons of veal stock, cover and cook in a preheated oven at 180°C (3°F, gas 4 ) for about an hour, basting frequently. Drain the artichokes, untie them and remove the bacon rashers. Arrange the antichokes on a round dish, Strain and skim fat from the cooking liquor, add some demi-glace or any other reduced sauce, and use to coat the artichokes. Casseroled artichokes Choose small Italian or violet Provencal artichokes, and trim the leaves to two-thirds of their length. Blanch the artichokes in a boiling water, drain, remove the centre leaves and chokes, and fill them with a stuffing made from a breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, capers, parsley and salt and pepper. Arrange the artichokes close together in a casserole, moisten with a generous quantity of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cooke in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F, gas 4), uncovered, for about 50 minutes, basting from time to time. To serve, arrange the artichokes on a dish and pour the cooking juices over them. Young whole trimmed artichokes These may be braised without stuffing, devilled, cooked a la lynnaise or a la mirepoix, or used in any of the receipes for artichokes. Other recipes See barigoule, Clamart, Crecy, florentine, piemontaise. ARTOIS, D’ in classic cuisine, the name of the future Charles X of France (reigned 1824-30) is given to a haricot (navy) bean soup and a garnish for roast baron of lamb made with small potato croustades filled with young garden peas and accompanied by madeira sauce. RECIPE Potage d’artois To 1.5 litres (2 ¼ pints, 6 ½ cups) haricot (navy) bean soup, add 4 tablespoons finely shardded vegetables softened in butter. Sprinkle the soup with 1 tablespoon chopped chervil. 
 
ASAFOETIDA = a milky resin extracted from the tap root of an oriental umbelliferous plant widely cultivated in the Middle East. It is dried and crushed and sold as powder in Iran, India and Afghanistan, where it is commonly used as a condiment. The first impression of this spice is off its foul smell and powerful unpleasant flavour if sampled raw. The Germans call it Teufelsdreck, or devil’s dung. When it is cooked in minute quantities, its smell diminishes and it gives a slightly onion-garlic flavour to food. It is valued seasoning in many Indian vegetable and pulse dishes. It was popular with the Roman (see silphium), but was later used mainly as a medicine to treat flatulence. 
 
ASH = A tree of the genus Fraxinus, which grows in temperature climates. The leaves of the European ash (F. excelsior) are used for a fermented drink called frenette, or to make a type of tea, of tea. The very young green keys can be preserved in vinegar and used instead of capers. RECIPE Boil 50 g (2 oz) as leaves with the thinly sliced zest of 10 orange in 2 liters (3/12 pints, 9 cups) water for 30 minutes. Strained infusion and add 50 g (2 oz) citric acid. Pour into a barrel with a capacity of about 50 litres (11 gallons, 14 US gallons) Dissolve 25 g (1 oz, 2 cakes) fresh (comperssed) yeast in 2 tablespoons cold caramel and pour the mixture into the barrel. Fill with water, leave to ferment for 8 days, bottle and cork. 
 
ASIAGO = An Italian DOP cheese made from unpasteurized cow’s milk. It has a supple but sliceable texture with numerous small holes. The flavour is slightly nutty, with lemon tones which take on a more tangy nature as the cheese mature. It was first manufactured from ewe’s milk in the village of Asiago in the province of Vicenza. The cheese comes in rounds weighing 7-10 kg (16-22 lb). According to its maturing time (one, two or six months), it is eaten fresh, medium or mature respectively. (Mature cheese are graded as veccchio, time months, and stratvcchio, two years). Asiago Presato is a much more common and commercial type of Asiago. Made from pastuerized cow’s milk, it is pressed to speed up the ripening potatoes and then matured for a very short time. The texture is rather rubbery and the flavour is very mild. 
 
ASPARAGUS = A perennial plant with an under-ground stem (crown) that produces edible shoots, with a nascent bud of different colours, which are regarded as a delicacy. It is a native of central and southern Europe, North Africa and central and West Asia. Known to the Egyptians and the Romans, it was not cultivated in France until the time of Louis XIV: the Sun King had a great liking for this vegetable and received supplies from La Quintinie from December onwards. In about 1875, the Orleans district become the faourite area for growing asparagus – thanks to Charles Depezay, a cavalryman who took grafts from plants near Argenteuil during the siege of Paris, and afterwards dedicated himself to growing asparagus.  Types Three varieties of asparagus are grown in continental Europe, the season starting in March. Holland and Belgium (in continental Europe, the season starting in March. Holland and Belgium (in Brabant in the south and around Limburg) flavour white aspagragus, earthed up as it grow, with a yellowish tip. Fat and white is the favourite in Alsace and southern Germany, and in Spain, whether huge quantities are canned in the Ebro valley. White, but lavender tipped, asparagus, allowed to colour naturally, has rather more flavour. It grows in Italy round Bassano (in theVeneto) and, in France round angenteuil, in Aquitaine, the Charentes and the Loire. All-green asparagus which extends the European season until June) has the best flavour of all. It is harvested when the stalks are about 15 cm (6 in.) long, and is the favourite in California (the US is the largest commercial producer) and Britain, where the Vale of Evesham is celebrated, ‘Sparrow grass’ is a local name there, and ‘sprue’, for the thinner stalks. In france green asparagus is grown on the Rhone (Lauris) – thanks to the efforts of the chef Auguste Escoffer. Several types of wild asparagus grow in Europe, from Britain to Poland and Turkey, and in California and Australia. The one from a thorny bush is best. These feature in regional dishes; for example, Italian asparagus tips with Pamesan cheese. Wild asparagus tends to be bitter.  Selecting, cooking and serving. Fresh asparagus stems should be firm and uniformly coloured. The cut ends of the shoots should be white. They may be kept for a maxiumu of three days if the ends are wrapped in a damp cloth or in an airtight polythene bag or container. Store in the refrigerator. Allow a bunch per person when serving the vegetable as a starter – usually 250 g (9 g (9 oz). Asparagos is always cooked in water or steamed before further use. The French serve it hot and plain with butter. The Italians also eat it cold with vinalgrette. It can also be served in a hot or cold sauce, in a salad, in a tart, augratin, as a pree, in veloute sauce, as a omelette filling or with scrambled eggs. Canned white asparagus or green tips may be used. A variety of kitchen equipment is associated with asparagus. There is a special tall streamer that keeps the tips out of the water and handsome dishes with draining racks, or with follows for sauces, plus various scoops and tongs. The tips may be eaten with a fork and the rest of the stem with the fingers, or the whole vegetable may be eaten with the fingers. A finger bowl may be provided tin (pan) which will act as a bain marie. Cook. 100 g (4 oz) green asparagus tips, 5 cm (2 in) long (check that there are sufficient asparagus tips to line the sides of the rings; reduce or increase the quantity as necessary) carefully arrange vertically at regular intervals around the edge of each ring, with the flat side turned inwards. Next fill the rings to the top with the asaparagus mousse so that the asparagus tips stick out by 1 cm (1/2 in). Pour water into the tin up to one-third the height of the rings. Cook in a preheated oven at 110°c (225°F, gas ¼) for 20 minutes. In a smal saute pan, reduce the juice of an orange with the blanched, finely shredded zest of ½ orange. (Reserve the remaining blanched zest of garnishing) . whisking continually, add 100 g 94 oz. ¼ cup) butter cut into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Put aside in a warm place. Carefully transfer each stainless steel ring to serving dish, slide a thin knife blade rounds the ring to loosen the mousse and remove the ring slowly upwards. Gently pour the orange butter around the asparagus mousse. Garnish with orange segments and blanched zest. Asparagus ragout with young garden peas Take equal quantities of shelled young garden peas and peeled asparagus. Cut the asparagus into 2 cm (3/4 in) lengths. Saute some new small onions in a casserole with butter, oil, or preferably, goose fat. When they have browned, add the asparagus and peas, cover, and sweat for 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, a little sugar and enough poultry stock to just cover. Cover the casserole and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes. Arrange the regout in a vegetable dish and serve. Asparagus tart Cover a pastry case (pie shell), baked blind, with a layer of creamed chicken puree. Garnish with asparagus tips that have been gently cooked in butter. Coat with cream sauce or supreme sauce. Sprinkle with fried breadcrumbs and brown in this oven. Asparagus tips cooking Break or cut off the tips of a suitable variety of green asparagus, discarding the stalks where they start to become hard. Tie up these tips, about 10 cm (4 in) long, in bundles of 10 cor 12. Peel the lower parts of the asparagus sterms and cut into small pieces. Cook them in boiling salted water for 4 minutes, then add the bundles of asparagus tips. Cook them, uncovered, for 7-8 minutes, then drain the bundles and the pieces. Dip the bundles of tips in cold water. The asparagus pieces together with the cooking water, maybe used for soup or a garnish. White asparagus should be cut into tips 5-6 cm (2-2 ¼) long. Asparagus tips for cold garnishes Asparagus tips used for garnished or cold salads should be dipped in cold water as soon as they have finished cooking and then well drained. Depending on the dish being garnish, they may either be dressed with vinaigrette or mayonnaise, or glazed with meat aspic jelly. Asparagus tips with butter or cream The tips should be well drained and, if necessary, dried for a few seconds over heat or in the oven. Add melted butter or cream and arrange in a vegetable dish. Alternatively, the tips may be used as a garnish for poached, scrambled, or soft-boiled eggs, fish dishes, small meat joints, veal sweetbreads, roasting chicken or game.
 
ASPARTAME. = A very strong artificial sweetener, 180 TO 200 times sweeter than sacchar(sugar) with a very low calorie content. It is the artificial sweetener with a flavour most closely resembling sugar. It is harmlessencess and its lack of aftertaste means that it is an ingredients of thousands of dietary products; on the other hand it is not so stable when heated.
 
ASPIC=A way of presenting cold food (meat, poultry, foie gras, fish, shellfish, vegetables or even fruit), by setting it in a moulded and decorated aspic jelly. Many authors believe that this name comes from tehasp, a serpent whose icy coldness recalls that of the jely, but it is more probably derived from the Greek word aspis, which means buckler or shield, it was in fact, in this form that the first moulds were made; others were made in the shape of a coiled snake, doubtless to justify the name aspic. Today, aspics are made in plain moulds, charlotte moulds, savarin (ring) moulds or in individual ramekins or darioles; aspic moulds may also be flutted or decorated . the type of aspic used (made from meat, poultry or fish, or pectin-based for fruits) varies according to the nature of the principal ingredients (poultry shows, sole fillets, medallions of foie gras, sliced fresh vegetables or fruit segments.) it is flavoured with port, Madeira, Marsala or sherry. RECIPES Preparation of aspic moulds and dishes Place the selected mould in the refrigerator until it is very cold. Prepare some aspic jelly. Pour into the mould some jelly (which has cooled but not set), turning it so that it coasts the base and sides.. replace the mould in the refrigerator so that the aspic just sets but is not too firm, and then place the items used for garnishing on the base and around the sides. The garnish (which should be chosen accordingly to the principal item to go in the aspic). Should be cut up into small pieces; for example slices of truffle, rounds of hard-boiled (hard-cooked) egg, slices of lean ham or tongue, tarragon leaves or smoked salmon may be used. When adding these items, the appearance of the jelly when it is turned out of the mould must be considered. Replace the mould in the refrigerator to allow the garnish to set firmly. Then carefully fill the mould with the prepared filling and press it down into the jelly. The preparation may be placed in layers alternating with layers of jelly, in which case, the jelly should be allowed to set before the subsequent layer of prepared food is laid on to. Alternatively, the mould can be filled with the prepared food them filled with jelly. Replace the filled mould in the refrigerator until the moment of serving. Unmould the firmly set aspic by plunging the mould for a few seconds into boiling water. Turn it upside down on to a cold plate and replace in the refrigerator for a few moments before serving. Asparagus aspic Coat the base and sides of remekins with aspic jelly. Cut asparagus tips to the height of the remekins and arrange them so that they stand upright around the edge, closely pressed together. Fill the centre with a puree of foie gas. Cover with aspic and leave in the refrigerator for several hours before serving. Aspic of ham and veal (or chicken) Prepare an aspic jelly flavoured with herbs, and coat the mould with it. Garnish the mould with some diced cooked ham and some casseroled veal (or chicken) cut into even-sized slices. Fill the centre with a layer of ham mousse, then a layer of Russian salad, finishing with a layer of aspic jelly. Place in the refrigerator to set. Unmould before serving. Crab aspic (or aspic of shrimps, lobster or llongouste). Prepare a fish fume with 500 g (18oz) white fish bones and trimmings, 300 ml (1/2 print, 1 ¼ cups) dry white wine, an onion stuck with 2 cloves, a bouquet garni, a small bunch of herbs and 5 or 6peppercorns. Do not add salt. Add 1 litre (1 ¾ pints, 4 1/3 cups) water, cover bring to the boil and cook gently for 30 minutes. Hardboil hardcook) 2 eggs, cool them under running water, and shell them. Strain the fish fumes through a sieve and allow it to cool use a small amount of the fumet to dissolve 45 g (1 ½ oz. 6 envelopes) powerdered gelatine. Whisk 3 egg whites and add the remainder of the fumet, whisking constantly. Add the dissolved gelatine and mix in. Bring the mixture to the boil, still whisking constantly. Check the reasoning , take off the heat and leave to settle for 10 minutes. Strain the fumet through a sieve or fine cloth and set aside to cool. Slice the hard-boiled eggs and 3 small tomatoes. Wash and dry a few tarragon leave. Cost the mould with the jelly and arrange the slices of tomato and egg and the tarragon leaves over it. Pour a little more jelly over them and leave to set in the refrigerator. For an aspic of lobster or longouste, cut the tail into sections and remove the shell from the clows and feet. For crab aspic, shell the claws and feet and take out the flesh from the body. For shrimp aspic use the shrimps shelled but whole. Place the shellfish or shrimps in the mould and finish with shrimp mousse, heaping it up a little. Pour in the rest of the jelly and leave in the refrigerator for 5 or 6 ours. Unmould and serve on a plate garnish with asparagus tips or lettuce leaves. Fish aspic This is prepared as for crab aspic, but replacing the shellfish by fillets or slices of fish, and the shrimp mousse with fish mousse. The mousse may alternatively be replaced by Russian salad. Foie gras aspic Prepare an aspic jelly flavoured with herbs, and use it to coat the mould. Arrange slices of foie grass and thick slices of truffle in the mould. Fill the mould with half-set aspic and allow to set completely in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Unmould just before serving. Smoked salmon aspic Prepare an aspic jelly flavoured with herbs, and use it to coat the mould. Place some Russian salad on slices of smoked salmon and roll them up. Arrange in the mould, alternating a layer of salmon rolls with a layer of salmon mousse, and finishing with theaspic jelly. Place in the refrigerator to set. Unmould before serving. 
 
ASPIC JELLY = A clear savoury jelly prepared from basic white or brown stocks (fish, poultry, game or meat). they are produced naturally when the stock is prepared with items rick in gelatine such as vealknuckle, acalf’s foot, bacon hock and rind, poultry bones and some fish trimmings. Gelatine is added when the ingredients used for the stock are not rich in gelatinous substances to ensure a good set. Leaf or powdered gelatine is soaked in cold water, then dissolved in the stock before it is clarified. Clarificaensutes that an aspic is sparkling clear. Aspic jelly power is readily available for fish or poultry; it is simply dissolved in water and left to cool. Fish, poultry, meat, eggs or vegetables can be set in aspic, then turned out to make a savoury mould. Aspic is also used to glaze cold preparations(spremes of chicken, quails, steaks orfillets offish). As a garnish, aspic is used to line containers for chilled terrines or savoury mousses, so that they are coated in an attractive glistening jelly when turned out. Garnishes are usually set in the aspic . aspic is also poured over the top of such cold dishes that are served in their containers. Set aspic can be diced or chopped and used to garnish cold foods. Depending on their use, aspic jellies can be coloured (with caramel or edible carmine to obtain with a wine or spirit, such as port, madiera, sherry or brandy. RECIPES Fish aspic Prepare a strong furmer. Put 1 kg (2 ¼ lb) whitefish trimmings (bones and heads of brill, hake, whiting, sole or turbot), 2 onions, 150 g (5oz) mushroomparings, 2 shredded carrots, a large bpiqiet garno, salt, pepper, 7 tablespoons dry white wine ( or red wine when cooking salmon, salmon trout or carp) and 2 litres (3 ½ pints, 9 cups) cold water in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Dissolve 45-75 g (1 3/2-3oz, 6-12 envelopes) gelatine, depending on the degree of firmness required for the aspic in a little water. Chop up 2 whiting fillets. Mix the dissolved gelatine with the whiting flesh and 2 or 3 egg whites. Strain the fish fumet, pressing the liquid out of the ingredients, and pour it back into the clean saucepan. Add the whiting mixture and bring to the boil, stirring continuously. When it boils , stop stirring and simmer for 30 minutes. Gently stain through a fine cloth and flavour the aspic with champagne or sherry. Meat aspic Brown 1 kg (2 ¼ lb) leg of beef and 500 g (18 oz) knuckle of veal. Cut into pieces. 1 calfs foot, 500 g (18 oz) veal bones, and 250 g (9 oz) bacon rind, trimmed of fat. In a preheated oven at 200 °C (400°F, gas 6). Peel and shred 2 onions, 4 carrots and I leek. Place all these ingredients in a stockpot together with a large bouquet garni. 1 tablespoon salt and pepper. Add 3 litres (5 pints. 13 cups) water and bring to the boil. Skim, then add a ladleful of ver cold water and simmer for 5 hours. Carefully strain the liquid through a strainer lined with muslim (cheesecloth), let it cool completely and put it in the refrigerator so that the fat which solidifies on the surface can be removed easily clarify the stock with 200 g (7 oz) lean beef, 2 egg whites and a small bouquet of chervil and tarragon. The aspic can be flavoured with Madiera, port, sherry or with any other liquor. If this is done, the flavouring is added just before straining the aspic. White aspic is obtained in a similar fashion, but the meat and bones are not browned. Game aspic is obtained by adding to meat aspic 1.25 kg (2 1/4lb)game carcasses and trimmings, which have been previously browned in the oven, and several juniper berries. Chicken aspic is obtained y adding to meat aspic either a whole chicken or 1.5 kg. (3 ¼ lb) chicken carcasses and giblets, bot browned in the oven. 
 
ASSIETTE ANGLAISE = An assortment of cold meats arranged on a plate or dish – the French idea of simple English cooking. It may consist of cooked ham, roast beef, tongue or gelatine, garnished with herkins (sweet dill pickles) and jelly and served with mustard and condiments. The term assiette froide (cold plate) is also used. The Italian affecttato is a selection of pork sausages only. 
 
ATHENIENNE, A L =The description given in France to dishes thought to be a Greek origin such as poultry, lamb or kebabs) that are cooked with olive oil and lightly fried onion. They are usually garnish with aubergines (eggplants) – fried, sauted or stuffed – sweet (bell) peppers (sautéed or stuffed ) and rice pilat a la grecaque. 
 
ATTELET =A small commental skewer with a decorative heads in the shape of a hare, boar or fish. The word comes form the latin basta (a rod or staf), and thee skewers were used for garnishing hot or cold dishes served in the grand style, sometimes being threaded with kidneys, sweetbreads and other small items of food. Le Nouveau Culsiner royal et bourgeois (1714) recomends a plat du millieu (a dish served between the maincurses and the dessert) consisting of ‘a piece of beef garnished with small plates and hatelettes of sweethbreads.’ Attelets were never used during cooking, as the soldering on the decorative muffs would melt Today this form of garnish is hardly ever seen, as modern cooks tend to avoid any garnish that is not actually edible.
 
ATTEREAU =A hot hors d’oeuvre consisting of various raw or cooked ingredients that are threaded on to a skewer, dipped in a reduced sauce, coated with breadcrumbs and fried. The skewer sued, also called in atterau, is make of wood or metal. The word comes from the Latin hasta (spear). The principal ingredients of atturevent is usually offal, either cut in pieces or sliced, but it can also be made with seafood or vegetables. The supplementaries like mushrooms, tongue or ham, may be used and the sauce for coating is varied. An athereau may also be a hot dessert, in which case it is made with fruit and pastry, dipped in a fried custard mixture (see custard), coated with breadcrumbs and then fried. The name attereau is also given to a Burgundian speciality consisting of minced (ground) liver and neck of pork, wrapped in a caul. Shaped like large balls, they are baked side by side in an earthenware dish and are eaten cold RECIPE Sovoury Atteraux Attereaux a la nicoise Assemble the atteraux with large stoned (pitted)olives, mushrooms, pieces of tuna fish (marinated in olive oil and lemon) and anchovy fillets. Make a Villarol sauce and add to it 1 tablespoon reduced tomato sauce and chopped tarragon. Coat the atteraux with sauce, then with breadcrumbs, and fry Atereaux of chicken livers a la mirepoix saute some chickenlivers in butter, drain and allow to cool. Dice some cooked ham and clean some small button mushrooms. Assemble the attereaux with these 3 ingredients, threading the mushrooms on lengthways. Roll them in a mirepolx and coat them with breadcrumbs. Plunge them into very hot fat, drain and seas in with salt and pepper. Serve with fried parsley. Attereaux of muscles Prepare the mussels a la mariniere and remove them from their shells. Drain them and roll them in mustard. Thread them on skewers alternating with small button mushrooms. Coat with breadcrumbs and complete as for attereaux of oysters. Attereaux of oysters Poach and drain several large oysters. Cut some mushrooms into thick slices and saute them in butter. Assemble the attereaux by alternating the oysters with mushrooms. Dip them in villaeroi sauce made with a fish fument, coat them with breadcrumbs and plunge them into very hot fat. Serve with fried parsley and lemon halves. Sweet Attereaux Attereaux of pineapple Peel a fresh pinapple and cut into cubes. Thread the cubes on the skewers, dip them into a crème frite mixture (see custard. Coat with breadcrumbs and plunge them into the frying fat. 
 
ATTRIAU =A type of sausage in the form of a flattened ball, made with a mixture of minced (ground) pork liver, veal. Onion and herbs and cooked in a frying pan (skillet). This rustic dish is found in several French province.
 
AUBERGINE (EGGPLANT) = An elongated or rounded vegetable (which is, in botanical terms, a fruit) with a firm shiny skin covering pale, creamy white or greenish flesh aubergines are familiar as a purple vegetables, though early European versions were white, the shape and size of eggs (with white flesh), hence the American name. Originating in India and known very early in China, they were brought by the Arabs to Sicily in the 11th century. The French name comes from the Catalan herenjema, which has the same Arab derivation as the India brinial. They reached north Italy by the 15th century, but were not grown north of the Loire until the time of the French Revolution requiring warmth and abundant irrigation, they are now cultivated in the US, West Indies, Israel and Africa. Colours and sizes vary enormously, from the small cylindrical 7.5 cm (3 in) Japanese ones, to the huge black Enorma, grown in the US, Northern Italy favour a long one, while the Italian south boasts pink ones and several stripped verities, like the listada de Gandia. Oriental and Indian aubergines are generally slimmer and not so bitter. Check the weight at time of purchase the aubergine should feel heavy. The aubergine has a decliate flavour and is used as a vegetable in numerous Eastern and Mediterranean dishes. Typical is the Italian melanzane parmiglana, layered with tomato sauce, mozzrella and granted Pamesan cheese. For popular dishes with tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini), garlic and olives, see iman bayildi, mousska, ratatouille, than. It is delicious as an accompaniment to mutton and white meats. It may be eaten hot, either as amain dish (stuffed or in a souffle) or a s a garnish (sauteed, in fritters crumbd and fried, or pureed), or cold (in the form of a puree or as a salad ingredient). See baba ghanmouf, caponata. RECIPES Preparation of aubergines Formerly, it was the custom to peel aubergines (eggplants), but is no longer done except for so-called ‘white ‘ dishes. Traditionally, the lightly bitter taste of the vegetable was minimized by sprinkling the sliced or cut up flesh with salt and leaving it for 30 minutes to draw out bitter juices. The aubergine was then rinsed and dried before cooking. This process of degorging is no longer necessary as commercially cultivated aubergines are not as biter as they used to be. Aubergines may be stuffed in two ways depending on their sized and shape. They may be cut in half lengthways and the flesh scooped out of each half. Alternatively, the top may be removed and the aubergine hollowed out inside. Use a sharp knife to remove the flesh, leaving a thickness of 5 min. (1/4 in) around the edge, and scoop out the remainder of the of the flesh from the base with a grapefruit knief. Sprinkle the empty case and the flesh with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Aubergine caiviar. Cook 3 big, heavy, whole aubergines (eggplants), in a preheated oven at about 200 °C (400°F, gas 6) for. Today, however, sauce aurore is a light bechamel sauce flavoured with tomato puree (paste) and butter. Soft-boiled or poached eggs aurore Arrange the boiled or poached eggs on croutons fried in butter and coat with sauce aurore. Sprinkle with chopped hard-boiled (hard-cooked) egg yolks. Surround with a border of tomato sauce. Stuffed hard-boiled eggs aurore Hard boil (hard cook) some eggs’ and cut in half. Mash most of the yolks with an equal volume of sauce aurore containing chopped herbs. Fill the egg whites with the mixture. Put a layer of sauce aurore in a gratin dish and arrange the egg halves on it. Cover with grated Parmessan or Gruyere cheese. Sprinkle a little melted butter over the cheese and brown in a preheated oven at 240°C (475°F, gas 9). Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining chopped egg yolks. AUSLESE A = category of German or Austrian wines made with late-harvested grapes, which in the best years are affected by noble not. Depending on the concentration of sugar, these wines may be dry (troken) of sweeter (balibtrocken, suss).
 
AUSONIUS = Roman poet (born at Burdigala (Bordeaux) C. AD 310; died c Ad 395), who was tutor to Gratian, a son of Emperor Valentinan I Ausonius was made a consul in 379) and retired in 383 to the region around present-day Saint-Emilion. He wrote : ‘Happy are the inhabitants of Bordeaux , for whom living an drinking are one and the same!’ His name survives in the red Bordeaux wine, Chateau-Ausone, he left a work conerning the breeding of oysters. 
 
AUTOCLAVE = A hermetically sealed vessel designed for sterilizing food products. The food is immersed in water that is heated under pressure so that the temperature rises to 120-180°C (250-350°F). No. bacteria can survive in temperature of 120°C (250°F) or above. The apparatus is provided with an adjustable safety valve. The principle of the autoclave, derived directly from the Papin marimite (invented by Denis Papin), enabled Nicolas Appaen to perfect his method of food preservation. The preserving industry still uses autoclaves. See pressure cooker.
 
AUTRICHIENNE, A L’ = The French name, is given to numerous dishes made with produts of the auvergne. Pickled pork, bacon and ham (used in stews, stuffed cabbage and lentil and potato dishes), and also cheese, such as blue cheese (for soup) and Cantal (for aligot and truffade).
 
AVGOLEMONo =A simple Greek sauce, or soup, of egg yolks and fresh lemon juice beaten together, with a suitable hot liquid then added. Once made, it must be placed ina bain marie, or it will curdle. 
 
AVOCADO= A pear-shaped or round fruit from a tropical tree originating in Central America. The name comes form the Mixican abuacatl, which means ‘testicle’. Its skin, which may be grained or smooth and shiny, is dark green or purplish-brown in colour. It has pale-green flesh surrounding a large hard round stone (pit), which comes away easily. The flesh has a buttery consistency and a slight flavour of hazeinuts. A fruit like no other, it is ripe when it gives under the presence of the finger. It has the virtue of ripening off the tree so it can be retarded in the refrigerator, of ripeneyl at noon temperature. Occassionally, maniature ‘cocktail’ avocados are seen, without the stone (pit). The Spanish discovered the avocado tree and sent saplings to several tropical countries. The fruits popularity was slow to spread, only being cultivated in the US at the end of the 19th century. It did not peach French recipe books until the 1950s and it was the huge investment by Israel in the fruit after World War II that established its popularity in Europe. It is now cultivated in America, Israel, Australia, the West Indies and many area of Europe with Mediterranean climates, in many varieties Popular American ones are Fuerte, large and green (which reflects the West Indian type) and Hass, wrinkled and dark-skinned (like guatamalan avocados). The latter explains one of the earlier names of alligator pear’ Avocados discolour on exposureto the air, so are either prepared at the last minute or need acidulating. They are commonly served halved with a sauce or suffing such as seafood. Sliced, they are popular in salads, and may also make mousses and even ice cream. The fruit is popular in Mexico in such dishes as guacamole (crushed avocado with chilli and garlic), climates. Flavouring ingredients may be added, for example salt, rosewater, lemon, cucumber or spices such as cardimons, ginger or even chilles. AYU = Japanese river fish, known as sweefish in English. The ayu is caught from June through to the end of summer, and it is considered a delicacy for its excellent, slightly sweet, flavour. The fish is small, growing to about 30 cm (12 in) but caught at 13-15 cm (5-6 in ). Traditionally, trained cormorants are used to catch the fish. Working at night, the cormorant handles train their leashed birds to dive into the water and catch the fish, then they retrieve the fish from the bird’s grasp. Line and rod fishing methods are mainly used now. Salt grilling – shioyaki-is a popular methods of cooking freshy caught ayu. The fish are

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