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OATS A  cereal that is well adapted for cultivation in cold, wet climates and , until  the 19^th century, was  a basic food in Scotland, Wales, Scandinavia, Germany and Brittany.  Oats are used mainly to make savoury or sweet broths and gruels, and porridege, eaten for  breakfast with milk. They are  also used for making biscuits (cookies) and pancakes, particularly in  Anglo-Saxon countries. Numerous traditional Scottish, Welsh and Austrian recipes use oats in  stews, ragous, stuffings for meat, a coating for  herrings, and for charcuterie.

            Oats are processed to make oatmeal, in various  grades. The largest and coarsest is pinhead, then rough (course), medium, fine and superfine. Pinhead oatmeal can be used ¾  make course porridge and in haggis;  rough oatmeal, to make oatcakes and biscuits and medium oatmeal. To make cakes and  parkin. Fine oatmeal can be used for thickening soups and sauces, for stuffings, and for making Scottish brose and bunnocks.

            Rolled oats or out flakes are made by steaming and rolling pinhead oatmeal, and instant or quick-cooking rolled oats are made by applying greater heat to the grains.  Jumbo rolled oats are made by  rolling the whole oat grain.  Rolled oats are used  in  breakfast  dishes , such as muesli, and to make biscuits, such as flapjacks.

OCTOPUS A fairly large cephalopod moluse, measuring up to 80 cm (32 in.). The octopos has a head  with a horny beak and 8 equal-sized tentacles.  Its flesh is fairly delicate in flavour, but it must be beaten for a long time and  then  blenched before use.  Octopus can be prepared  like lobster, cut into pieces and fried, or simmered a la provencale  and served  with saffron rice.

RECIPE

Octopus a la provencale

Clean an octopus, remove the eyes, and beak, and  soak it under running water for a long time if it has  not been prepared by the fishmonger. Drain it and  beat well to tenderize the flesh. Cut the tentacles  and body into chunks of the same length   Blanch the pieces in court-bouillon, drain them and pat  dry. Them brown  them in oil in a saucepan, with  chopped onion. Season with salt and pepper, add 4 peeled, seeded and chopped  tomatoes, and simmer  for a few minutes.  Moister with ½  bottle of  dry white wine and the same quantity of cold  water.  Add a bouquet garni and a crushed garlic  clove.  Cook, covered, for at least 1 hour. Sprinkle  with chopped parsley and serve in a large bowl.

OENOLOGY The study  of the manufacture and maturing of wines (from the Greek  oinos wine). In  France the title  oenologist  was officially recognized  by law on 19 March 1958, and it is possible to study for a diploma  in the subject.  An  penologist is a wine  technician, whereas an eonophile is a wine lover  whose knowledge may or may not be as extensive.  In France a wine shop that specializes in the local wines is known as an oenothiegue.

OEUIL-DE-PERDRIX Used as a description  tasting them and name for pale pick wines, it means  literally partridges eye. It can refers to a distinctive wine from Neuchatel. Switzerland, produced from  Pinot Noir.

OFFAL (VARIETY MEATS0  Th edible internal parts and  some extremities of an animal which are removed before the carcass is cut up. It therefore  includes the head, feet and tail, and all the main internal organs. The offal from poultry is called the  giblets.

            The pig provides the greatest variety of offal used  in cooking brawn (a jellied mould made from the  head and ears),; various liver pates; sausage made  from tehchitterlings (small intestine) and the digestive tract; and black pudding (blood sausage). The  lungs (lights), spleen (melts) and heart are less  highly  valued, but other  offal provides simple and  tasty dishes pigs’ trottes (breaded and grilled), kidneys (sautéed ) and liver (fried).

            The ox provides much edible offal, the commonest dishes being made from the tongue (boiled or  pickled), stomach (intestines and tripe), and feet and  tail (in pot-au-feu and ragout). The brains are less delicate  than those of calves or lambs.  Heffer’s lives  can also be cooked, but the kidneys and spleen are  less popular.

            Veal offal is regarded as a delicacy mainly brains, bone  marrow, kidneys, liver and sweetbreads, but splendid dishes can also be made from the head and  feet.

            Lamb  and sheep offal is also good and the kidneys, liver, testicles, brains, heart., spleen, intestine, stomach and feet can be cooked in  many ways.

OIL A fatty substance that is liquid at normal room temperatures. Although  there are mineral oils. Such as paraffin, and animal oils, such as whale oil, seal oil and cod-liver oil. It is the vegetable oils that are used  in cooking.   These are extracted either from seeds such as sunflower, rapeseed, soya or cotton-seed, or from fruits, including olives, avocados and nuts.

            Sesame and olive oils have the oldest origins.  Records show that they were  both used  by the  ancient Egyptians. The ancient Greeks, too, used  olive oil and in Athens the olive was a sacred tree, symbol of the city’s life.  Oil was used next only for  food but also as a fuel to provide light, and its use  as a fuel continued for many centuries in Europe.

            Most vegetable oils are low cholesterol, being made up mainly of monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids.  However, a few vegetables oils, such as palm oil and coconut oil, contain almost as much saturated  fatty acid as animal fans. These oils solidify at normal room temperature in the same way as butter or lard (shortening).

            Unsaturated fatty acids are considered less harmful to the body than saturated fatty acids, which may contribute to the incidence of coronary heart diseases  and other health problems.  Some  vegetables oils and some fish oils are also important for their essential fatty acid content.  These are fats which  the body cannot  manufacture for itself; examples are omega 3,  found in cod-liver oil and walnut oil, and omega 6. Found in unrefined sunflower seed oil, olive oil and sesame oil.

            Oily extracted  from  a single vegetable species are  known as ‘pure’ the term ‘vegetables oil indicates that the  product is a mixture. Some  mixtures may include oils with differently fatty acid  profiles. Most oils sold in shops have been refined, with the result that  their  flavour and smell have been  removed, leaving then quite neutral. However, there are unrefined oils that  have been obtained through cold  pressing and these retain the flavour of their  vegetable origin. The most widespread example is extra-virgin olive oil.

§  Use oils, sometimes mixed with butter, provide  the fatty medium for many cooling methods. They  are an ingredient in salad dressings, cold sources and  condiments and they are  also used to preserve foods, such as cooked and smoked fish, goat’s  cheese and sun-dried vegetables. They  are used in  marinades to moisten and  flavour main ingredients, particularly poultry, game and  meat.

Refined vegetable oils are the most suitable for  heating to high temperature, as they have the highest smoke points and can withstand the heat best.  Grapeseed oil has the highest smoke point at 230°C (450°F) followed by rapeseed oil at (225°C (435°F). Corn oil, groundnut (peanut) oil, refined olive oil and soya oil are also all good frying oils, each with  a smoke point of  210°(410°F). The highest  temperature  needed to deep-fry potatoes is 190°C (375F). It  is  best not to heat the same batch of oil to  this temperature  products, such as biscuits (cookies and  crackers), confectionery and prepared dishes.

            Unrefined  vegetable oils, particularly extra-virgin olive oil, are chosen for their flavour and can be  used as flavouring ingredients in their own right . such  oils are used to dress hot and cold vegetables  and to finish soups, stews and speciality dishes, such as ribollita or gazpacho. They are not recommended for frying as their smoke points tend to be fairly low.  The  following are the most commonly used oils worldwide.

§  CORN (MAIZE) OIL.  Without a particular falvour, this  is always sold refined. It is rich in polyunsaturated and is widely used in the United States and in northern Europe.

§  COTTONSEE OIL No particular flavour and always sold refined. This  oil has a high smoke point and good polyunsaturated fat content. It is widely used  outside Europe as a cooking agent, and in the west it is used an  ingredient in margarine, baked goods and proprietary dressings.

§  GROUNDNUT (PEANUT) oil No particular  flavour and always solid refined, it remains liquid at quite  low temperatures, 5°C (41°F). it is widely used in Asian cooking and in the United  States.

§  OLIVE  OIL EXTRA-VIRGIN unrefined  olive  oil and  refined olive oil are widely used in southern Europe and their  use is widening to the rest of  Europe, North America  and Japan .

§  RAPESSED (CANOLA) OIL No particular flavour and always sold refined. It has a high monounsaturated fatty acid content and high levels of omega 6. It is widely used in northern Europe and increasingly in North America.

§  SOYA BEAN ON. This is a refined oil with a light neutral flavour, suitable  for all seasonings. Widely used around the world.

§  SUNFLOWER’ SEED OIL. This refined oil has a light, almost neutral, flavour with a low solidification point. It has a high  polyunsaturated fatty acid content and is widely used for that reason.  The unrefined oil has a very definite, slightly earthy flavour.

§  Besides the above  major oils, there are others which are more  localized or less well known.

§  AVODAO OIL .  This is a relatively new oil, produced  from fruit grown in California. Made from the flesh of the fruit without the aid  of chemical solvents, it has  a high  monounsaturated fatty acid content.

§  COCONUT OIL this has a high saturated fatty acid  content and solidifies at much higher  temperatures than other vegetables oils. It is used  locally in India, Indonesia and the Philippines s a cooking medium and in the rest of the world in the manufacture of  margarine and other  mixed oils.

§  GRAPESEED OIL This is produced mainly in the  south of France and is sold refined. It has a very high  smoke point and is recommended for deep-frying. It has a very high polyunsaturated fatty acid content.

§  HAZENUT OU. This is a relatively new oil and  it was first  manufactured in the 1970s. small quantities  are made in France  with  nuts from  France, Italy  and Turkey, it is used  to contribute a nutty flavour to

§  PALM OIL There are two kinds of palm oil – one  made from  the thick fibrous layer on the outside of the fruit and the other  from the kernel inside. The  oils re produced and widely used in West Africa  and Indonesia.  In the West the  oil is used in the  production of margarine, biscuits and other  manufactured foods.

§  POFFY-SEED OIL. This has a very  fine flavour when it is left unrefined.  It is used in salads and  for crudities, particularly in northern France. It is known  as Buille blanched in France.

§  PUMPKIN (OR MARROW-SPEED) OIL. This  has as strong, slightly sweet flavour and is not suitable for all dishes,

§  RICE BRAN OIL. This light refined oil, with little flavour has a high unsaturated  fatty acid content and good levels of antioxidants.

§  SAFFLOWER OIL A  refined  oil with  little  flavour and  a high unsaturated fatty acid context, this is widely used in Asia.

§  SESAME OIL .  There are two types of sesame oil.  One uses roasted seeds to produce  a dark oil with  an extremely strong flavouring. This is widely  used to give added flavour to Chinese and Asian dishes – a few drops will give a strong taste of sesame. The  other uses uncoated seeds to  make a well flavoured, but much lighter, oil which  can be used in much the same way as nut oils.

§  WAINUT OIL This has a characteristics nutty taste and   is used principally in dressings and seasonings. France has a tradition of producing walnut oil and  the best oils come from the  nuts of native trees. However, walnuts may also  come from turkey, India  or the  United States, Walnut oil has a high polyum-saturated fatty acid, including omega 3. It has the  disadvantages of turning  rancid quickly.

§  OTHER OILS other oils include sweet almost oil which is used in the manufacturer of confectionery and in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries  pine seed oil and pistachio not oil, both less common and used for dressings, mustard oil, which is used in India and the Far Fast in the same way as  ghee (clarified butter); and paraffin oil, which is  used to coat-dried fruit thinly, to prevent it from sticking together. Paraffin oil is a hydrocarbon and  not a vegetable oil  - if consumed in a quantity, it can  act as a strong texture.

OILLE Originally, a large stockpot; the word was then applied also to the contents of the pot. This  sense  is still preserved in Spain, with its olla podrida, and in certain regional dishes from southwestern France, such as couillade. Ouillad and oulade.

            Until  the 19^th century a pol-er-oille was a large silver pot  in which a substantial  soup was served.

OISEAU SANS TETE The  French name, meaning literally headless bird. For  a slice of meat (veaf, beef or  mutton) that is  stuffed, rolled, tied, possibly barded, and usually cooked in a sauce or braised.  In  flanders, vogels zonder isop (a eteral  translation of the French term) are slices of beef stuffed with  sausagement (or a rasher or slice of bacon seasoned with spiced salt0, simmered in stock falvoured  with  aromatic herbs, served with mashed potatoes, and  coated with  the cooking prices thickened with  becurre manie.  Alternatively they may be cooked with onions and beer, as in a carbonade.

RECIPE

Oiseaux sans tete

Bone a shoulder of mutton or lamb and cut it into 8 slices. Beat them trim the edges and seasoned with  salt and pepper.  Make a stuffing from breadcrumbs (soaked in milk and squeezed dry) and plenty of  finely chopped parsley, chives, chervil and tarragon and a raw egg. Put some of  this stuffing in the centre of each slice of meat and roll it up. Put a  small sprig of rosemary on top of each roll and  wrap it in a piece of caul fat, preferably  lamb’s .  Fry 250 g (9 oz. 3 cups) chopped mashrooms in a mixture of butter and oil, drain them and spread them over the bottom of an overnproof dish.  Arrange  the rolls side by side on top of the onions. Cover the casserole with buttered greaseproof (was) paper and cook in a preheated oven at 320°C (425°F, gas 7 ) for 25 minutes.

            Just before  serving mix ½ teaspoons curry powder with a little crème fraiche.  Pour  this sauce over the rolls and serve.

OKRA  A tropical plant widely cultivated as a vegetable.  The  most widespread species, also known as  ladies’ fingers, gumbo and (in France) bamia or  bamya, is grown for its pods, which have longitudinal ridges and are either elongated – 6-12 cm. (2 ½ - 1 ½  in) long -  or short and squat – 2 – 4 cm  (2 ½ - 1 ½  in) long it contains small seeds and a  mucus substances, from New Guinea, is cultivated for  its sorrel leaves.

Okra, which  originally came from Africa or Asia and was introduced into the American by the black slaves, first appeared in Europe in the 17^th century as a typical ingredient of Caribbean cookery.

Okra, which originally came from Africa or Asia  and was introduced into the America by the black slaves, first appeared in Europe in the 17^th century as typical ingredient of Caribbean cookery.

Okra  is used before it is ripe, when it is green and pulpy and the seeds are not completely formed (ripe seeds were formerly used as a substitute for coffee) it can be obtained fresh throughout the year and is also available dried and canned. When  quickly fried  in every hot oil, tender young okra retain their texture and do not become slimy, so stir-frying and deep frying are useful methods.  They can be cooked in butter or cream, braised with bacon, fried pureed, or prepared with lime or rice.  Okra are added to tajines, foutou and Caribbean ratatouille, and eaten with mutton in Egypt and chicken in the United States.  When  added early on in the cooking,  the  okra thicken the cooking liquor; added at the end,  the young whole vegetables remain crisp.

RECIPE

Okra a la creole

Wash the okra carefully. If using dried vegetables, soak them in cold water for about 12 hours.  Top  and tail (stem and head0 and put in a saucepan. Cover them amply with cold water and cook for  10-25 minutes, skimming from time to time.  Drain  and dry them, Peel and finely slice 150 g (5 oz) onions and cook in 2 tablespoons oil until soft.  Add  the okra and brown very gently. Scald, peel and  seed 4 large tomatoes. Crush them and add to the  okra with 2 crushed garlic cloves, salt, pepper, a little  cayenne and powdered saffron. Cover and leave  to cook very gently for at least 1 hour (more if  using dried okra0. Adjust  the seasoning. Serve in a  dish with a border of rice a la creole.

OKROCHKA A Russion soup made from kuass chome-made beer) and vegetables, served cold with  quartered hand-boiled ) eggs, chopped herbs and cucumber, and sourced (sour) cream. The accompanying garnish may be a salpicon of leftover  beef fillet, while chicken meat, pickled tongue and ham, or oil diced crayfish tails and salmon.

OLEAGINOUS PLANTS  Fruits, seeds plants with  a high fat content.  They  include walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, peanuts olives and the  seeds of sesame, sunflower  and rape.  Besides their main use as a source of oil, oleginous plants and seeds play an important role in cookery and gastronomy. They are served raw,  grilled (broiled), roasted (fried) or salted as snacks  to eat with aperitifs and they feature in many exotic  recipes, as well as in more mundane cooking. Like  all fatty substances, oleginous plants and seeds  combine well with  green vegetables and salads.

OLIVE The small oval fruit of the olive tree, widely cultivated in Mediterranean regions. The fruit ripens from green to black; the fleshy pulp, enclosing an  oval stone (pit), is the source of olive oil;  and the whole fruit, stoned (pitted) or stuffed, is used in  cookery as a flavouring ingredient  or hors d’oeuvre. 

            Originating in the East, the olive tree is extremely long-lived its history is bound up with that of the  Mediteranean, which since biblical times has been its native habitat. Large quantities of olives were consumed by both the Greeks and the Egyptians, who credited the goddess Isis with the discovery of  oil extraction. In Greek mythology. Pallas  Athene struck the Acropolis with her spear and out sprang  the olive tree; she then taught men  how to cultivate  it and make use of its fruits. The romans to, venerated  the  olive tree.  Through ancient times, both olives and olive oil were essential in nutrition and food preparation.

            The Romans took the olive tree to all the Mediterranean countries, together  with the techniques of oil extraction and the preparation of tables olives. It continues to be widely grown in all countries of the Mediterranean basin, where the fruity taste of the  olive is very apparent in the cooking. Span is the leading producer of table olives, followed by Turkey, Greece and Morocco, Small quantities are  also produced in Italy.  Portugal and in southern  France.  The olive tree was introduced into Latin France.  The olive tree was introduced into Latin America in the 16^th century and from there into California in the 19^th century.  California is now an  important producer of table olives.

            Fresh olives have a very bitter taste and are not  edible in the raw state.  The  bitterness must be  removed in a curing process before  the olives can  be eaten. There  are two basic types of table olive, green and black (ripe). Table olives are an ingredient of many bors d’oeuvre and Mediterranean  dishes, including pizzas, mezze from Greece, tapas  from Spain, dishes a la nicoise and a la provencale  and  so on .  They are eaten  widely as cocktail snacks, but are also used in cookery, either  plain or stuffed, for preparing duck, daubes, paupeettes and many other dishes.

§  GREEN OLIVES These are gathered before they are  ripe, treated to remove the bitter taste, then rinsed and pickled in brine.  In France, varieties  of green olive include the Pichoine from the Gard region, Corsica and  the Bouches-du-Rhone; Lucques from the Herault and  Aude regions; and Salonenque from the Bouches-du-Rhone.

§  BLACK (RIPE)  OLIVES These are harvested when  fully ripe, they are not treated with an alkali but are pickled in brine and then sometimes in oil.  Two of the best varieties  grown in France are the ‘Nyons’ from the Drome and the Vaucluse, and the ‘Cailletier’ from around Nice.

§  OTHER OLIVE PRODUCTS OLIVES are also marketed in many other ways. ‘Cracked’ green olives, called cacada, are pickled in brine seasoned with herbs  and spices.  Green olives in water (a l’eau) are repeatedly soaked in water to remove the bitterness they have a strong fruity taste, but retain a slight bitterness, Green olives are often prepared stuffed with  anchovies, sweet 9bell0 peppers, pimineto or almonds. Black olives pickled in wine vinegar  (from Kailamata in Greece) are  treated with brine mixed with oil and vinegar.  Black olives preserved dry in  alt have a good fruity, slightly bitter taste, but do  not keep well. The black olives from Morocco., washed  and dried in the sun, are lightly salted, then packaged or barrelled in oil, Finally, black olives can simply be dried in the ort. Today these traditional methods are supplemented by the mass production of table olives using faster chemical treatments which  leave lose some of their  black colour during this  process and so they are dyed with ferrous gluconire.

RECIPES

Cabbage charlotte with olives

Blanch a cabbage, then cook in water and put through a vegetable mill. To the resulting puree add 100 ml (4 fl. oz 7 tablespoons) water, I egg yolk and  a little grated cheese. Stone (pit) and coarsely chop 30 black (ripe) olives and add them to the  cabbage puree with a stiffly whisked egg white. Mix   well. Butter  a charlotte mould and sprinkle with  dried breadcrumbs. Pour the mixture into the  mould and cook in a preheated oven at 220°C (425°F, gas 7)  for about 30 minutes.

Cracked olives

Split some green olives, without crushing them, by giving them in light tap with a mallet on the top end. Cover with cold water and leave them for 1 week, changing the water every day. Then put them into  brine, prepared using 1 kg (2 ¼ lb) salt per 8 litres  (14 pints, 9 quarts) water, flavoured with bay leaf, fennel, the skin of an orange and some coriander seeds, and cover with fennel. Leave the olives for 8 days before eating.

Duck with olives.

Stone 250 g (9 oz. 1 ½ cups)  green olives, blanch them for 10 minutes in boiling water, refresh them under cold water and drain. Rub  salt and pepper on  the inside and outside of a duck weighing about 2 kg (4 ½ lb) and truss it. Slice 200 g ( 7 oz)  slightly  salted bacon into  small strips, blanch for 5 minutes in boiling water, refresh and dry, then fry  in 40 g (1 ½ oz.  3 tablespoons) butter. Drain.

            Fry the duck until golden in the same butter, then remove it. Still  using the same butter, brown 2 onions and 2 carrots, both finely chopped.  Add  250 ml (8 fl. oz. 1 cup) meat stock, 1 tablespoon  tomato puree (paste), a pinch of crumbled thyme and bay leaf, and 1 tablespoon chopped  parsley.   Season with salt and pepper, cook gently for about 20 minutes, then strain.

            Pour this sauce into a large flameproof casserole, add the duck and the bacon, cover the pot and bring to the boil on top of the stove. Transfer the casserole to a preheated oven at 230°C (450°F, gas 8)  and  cook for 35-40 minutes, then  add the olives and  continue cooking for at least another 10 minutes.  Arrange  the duck on a hot serving dish, cover it with the sauce, and arrange the olives all around it.

Olives stuffed with anchovy butter

Wash and dry some salted anchovies, remove the fillets and pound to a puree.  Mix this with butter, using 65 g (2 ½ oz. 5 tablespoons) butter for 5  anchovies. Season with pepper and mix everything well together. Put the anchovy butter into a piping  (pastry) bag with a ver narrow plain nozzle and stuff the olives.  Keep them in the refrigerator until  ready to serve as appetizers or with crudities.

OLIVE OIL Olive oil has  a history stretching  back before the written word, but the first records oil its use are found in ancient. Egypt. Olive  oil probably original in the Middle East, from where  its production gradually spread to other parts of the Mediterranean basin. Olive  oil is now produced in all countries that have a Mediterranean type climate, including parts of Australia .  New Zealand, South Africa and  South America, California  is also becoming  an increasingly  important centre of production

            There are two main grades of olive oil:  extra  virgin olive oil and olive oil, Extra-virgin olive oil is unique among cooking oils in that it is made directly from the fresh juice of the olive fruit. The fruit is picked, milled and pressed and  the resulting  juice is  separated into oil and water. If the oil meets the required  standard, it is bottled and sold as extra-virgin olive oil; if the oil fails the chemical and taste requirements for extra-virgin status, it is refined and  bottled as olive oil. Extra-virgin olive oil is virgin  olive oil with less than 1% acidity.  Ordinary olive oil has about 15% extra-virgin oil added to it to give it a mild flavour of olives.

            Olive oil has always been valued for its flavour, but in accent years it has also been highlighted for  its value in a healthy eating regime. Olive  oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, which are  thought to be beneficial in protecting against corounary heart disease.

            The olive oil with the best flavour is the freshest and youngest. The oil may be filtered to give a bright clear  colour or it may be felt unfiltered, when  it may be quite cloudy. unfiltered oil will  deteriorate more quickly.  Colour is no indication of quality or flavour. Olive oil varies in flavour from light and delicate to strong and pungent; It may be sweet, bitter or peppery. In general, the olive oils of Spain and  France tend to be less aggressive than those of Greece or central or central Italy.  However, northern Italy. Sicily and Crete ma also produce lighter styles of  oil. California oils vary from very mild to  quite pungent. Some  oils carry the words ‘first pressed’ or  ‘cold pressed’ on the label. These phrases do not mean very much today, as modern equipment (both hydraulic and centrifugal) is such that there is no second pressing and the extraction can be temperature controlled.

Using olive oil Olive oil is the traditional cooking  medium of the Mediterranean and it can  be used in  almost any culinary application that requires fat.    Ordinary olive oil is best for high temperature cooking and deep frying as it has a high smoke point.  Extra-virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point, but it will stand up to flash-frying, grilling, basting and pot-roasting.  Extra-virgin olive oil is used to dress salads, cooked vegetables and fish dishes and to finished soups and stews. It is  also served the beginning of the meal on its own with bread or crudites.

            Its definite taste makes olive oil a flavouring ingredient in its own right and it is  worth taking care to  match the flavour and strength of the oil to the other  ingredients in the dish. While mild and sweet oils, such as those from Provence or liquria, are  particularly good with fish, strong salad ingredients, such as  rocket (arnugula) or water cross will need a  more  pungeant olive  oil from Tusgany or the Greek mainland.  Olive oil can also be used in baking to make  cakes, cooks and biscuits, and for the  short-term preservation of roasted vegetables wild mushrooms  and goat’s cheeses.

            Olive oil should be  used as soon after purchased as possible. If you need to store it, choose a cool, dark cupboard.

OLIVER, RAYMOND French chef (born Langon 1909); died Paris 1990). His father, who had been a chef at the Savoy in Londo, kept a hotel in Bordeaux, where Oliver started has apprenticeship. In 1948 he and Louis Vaudable, owner of Maxim’s (which had been closed when France was Liberated), reopened the Grand Vetour  restaurant and restored  it to its former glory. In 1950 Oliver become the manager of the restaurant and its success was assured.

            Raymond Oliver can be regarded as one of the  great innovators and reformers of French cuisine, as evidenced by such dishes as red mullet with basil  butter in puff pastry, ragout of pike and crayfish with aniseed, sautéed  chicken in honey vinegar,  stuffed guinea fowl Jean Cocteau, or the simpler  Lampreys a la la bordelaise and other  classic regional  dishes.French cuisine has gained a great deal from  his humour and his deep knowledge of the culinary arts, which  he demonstrated in television programmes. He also lectured in other countries and was the  author of various books.

OLIVET A small soft French cow’s milk cheese (40% fat), made in the small town of Oliver Bleu) or ash-covered. The cheese is straw-coloured, with a fruity or spicy taste, and is made in the flat discs 12-13 cm (4 ½ -5 in) in diameter and 2-3 cm (about 1 in) thick. Balzac like to eat with walnuts and chilled wine.

OLIVET CENDRE Soft cows-milk cheese (40% fat) with a natural crust covered in ashes after being reopened  for 3 months in a container filled with wood  ash. Olivet cendre has a more pronounced, soapier taste than Olivet.

OLLA PODRIDA A Spanish soup whose name, literally translated, means ‘rotten soup’.  Numerous  regional varieties  are found using local produce. The  ingredients include various pulses, vegetables, meat  and sometimes fruit. This is a  country dish that has  evolved from the traditional cocido.

OMBIAUX, MAURICE DES Belgian writer and gastronome  (born  Beauraing 1868; died Paris 1943). Nicknamed the ‘Prince of Walloon story-tellers’ and Cardinal of gastronomy’.  He  wrote  many books which were published in the 1920s.

OMBRINE A sea fish found in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay. It  grows to a length of I m (39 in)  and is silvery in colour, with golden or grey-blue stripes on the back and  a marked lateral stripe. It has a short beard on the lower jaw. The flesh is as good as of  not better than (that of bass, and the  same recipes can be used to cook it.

OMELETTE A sweet or savoury dish made from beaten whole eggs, cooked in a frying pan, and served plain or with various  additions. The word  comes from the French lamelle (thin strip) because of its flat shape; previously it was known as alumette and then alumette (some authorities claim that the word has a latin origin, ova mellila, a classic Roman dish consisting of beaten eggs cooked on a flat day dish with honey.)

The success of an omelette depends   as much on the quality of the pan and the quantity and distribution of the butter as on the cooking.  A large variety of different ingredients may be mixed with the omelette or added just before  serving, with a ribbon of sauce.   An omelette can be served , either flat or  folded, as an enree or a dessert, depending on whether it is savoury or sweet; it is nearly always  served hot. It can also be used as a garnish for soup and some Chinese rice dishes.

Omelettes were known during the Middle Ages. In the 17^th century one of the most famous omelettes was omelette du cure, containing soft carp roes and tuna fish, which Brillat-Savarin much admired.  Nowadays, a particularly  popular French omellette is the variety known as Mere Poulard (after  the owner of the Hotel Poulard in Mont-Saint-Miched in the early 1900s).  The omelette owes its  fame to the high  quality of the Norman butter and eggs as well as to a special  knack in the making.  Some  chefs recommend beating the yolks and the whites separately to obtain a lighter and foamier  omelette. Among the difference types of savoury omelettes are :

§  Omelettes cooked with a flavouring.  The flavouring is mixed with the beaten eggs before cooking

§  FILLED OMELETTES The hot filing is spread on the  omelette, which is then folded over and slipped on  to the serving dish.

§  GARNISHED OMELETTES Filled omelettes with some  garnish placed on the top, if the garnish is accompanied by a sauce or bound with butter, it is  poured into a slit made in the omelette. It is  usual for a garnished  omelette to be surrounded by a ribbon of sauce.

§  FLAT OMELETTES Made like plain omelettes but with fewer eggs; they are cooked for a longer time and  turned over in the pan halfway through cooking.  The result is a sort of thick pancake which can be served cold, accompanies by the same garnishes as  a plain omelette.

§  Sweet omelettes are usually filled with jam or  poached fruit flavured weigh a liqueur; they are  sprinkled with sugar and glazed in the oven, or they may be flamed.

Souffle omelettes are really a type of souffle cooked in a shallow dish (rather  than in a deep souffle dish).  They can be flavoured with liquer, fruit or coffee.

RECIPES

Plain omelette

Beat 8 eggs lightly and season with salt and (if  liked) freshly ground pepper; 2-3 tablespoons milk or 1 tablespoons single (light) cream can be added to the beaten eggs. Heat 25-40g (1 – 1 ½  oz, 2-3 tablespoons) butter in a scrupulously clean pan, preferably non-stick.  Raise the heat and pour in the beaten eggs.  Stir them with a fork, drawing the edges to the centre as soon as they begin to  set.  When the omelette is cooked, slide it on to a warm serving dish, folding it in three.  Rub a piece of butter over the surface to make it shiny.

Filled Omelettes

Chicken-liver omelette

Slice some chicken livers, sauté  them quickly in  butter and bind them with  some reduced demi-glace sauce.  Fill the omelette with this mixture and  garnish with a ribbon of demi-glace flavoured with  Madiera.

Kidney omelette

Slice or finely dice some cal’s or sheeps kidneys, sauté  them in butter and bind them with some  reduced demi-glace sauce flavoured with Madeira. Fill the omelette with this mixture.  Garnish with a  ribbon of Madeira-flavoured demi-glace.

Omelette Argenteuil

Cook an omelette and fill it with 3 tablespons asparagus tips cooked in butter. Fold it on to a hot serving dish.  Pour some cream sauce around it.

Omelette with black pudding

Grill (broil) some black pudding (blood sausage) and skin it while it is still hot. Mash the meat with a  fork. Separate some eggs and whisk  the yolks and whites separately, then fold them together. Cook  the omelette and fill it with the black pudding before folding it.

Salsify omelette with Brussels sprouts

Cook some salsify in white wine, dice it, braise it in butter and bind with some reduced veloute sauce. Fil an omelette with the mixture and serve it surrounded with noisette potatoes and Brussels sprouts sautéed  in butter. Reduce some demi-glace sauce, stir in some butter and pour the sauce around the dish.

Other recipes.  See chasseur, chatelaine, duxelles, japanese, maintenon, portugoise, rouennaise, Saint-ubert, shrimps and prawns.

Flat Omelettes

Courgette omelette

Slice  some courgeous (zucchiniz) into thin rounds  and sauté  them in butter in a frying pan.  beat the eggs with chopped parsley, salt and pepper, pour tehm into the pan over the courgettes and cook the omelette on both sides like a thick pancake.

Omelette a la grecque

Beat the eggs, adding some chopped onions softened  in butter and diced sweet (bell) pepper’s. make 2 flat omelettes. Put on of them on a round plate and spread with a layer of very hot  finely chopped braised mutton or lamb: cover with the  second omelette.  Pour some tomato sauce seasoned with a little garlic round the omelette, sprinkle with chopped parsley and moisten with noisette butter.

Omelette a la Sainte-Flour

Brown some sliced onions and blanched bacon strips in pork fat. Beat the eggs, adding the onions and bacon, and make 2 flat omelette. Put  one of  them  on a dish  and spread with a layer of braised chopped cabbage. Cover with the second omelette and surround with a ribbon of tomato sauce.

Omelette a la verduriere

Cut some sorrel  and lettuce into very fine strips and cook them gently in butter.   Beat the eggs and  add the sorrel and lettuce with some chopped parsley, chervil and tarragon.  Cook like a large pancake. Sprinkle with noisette butter.

Omelette Du Barry

Steam some very small florets of cauliflower. Take them out while they are still a little crisp and fry  them in butter. Pour on the eggs, beaten with salts, pepper and chopped chervil, and cook like a large pancake.

Omelette Mistral

Brown 3 tablespoons diced aubergines (eggplants) in  oil in a frying pan. beat the eggs together with some  diced tomato gently fried in oil, chopped parsley and  a pinch of finely chopped garlic.  Pour the eggs over  the aubergines and cook like a large pancake.

Omelette mousseline

Beat 6 egg yolks with 2 tablespoons double (heavy) cream and season with salt and pepper. Whisk the  egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into the mixture.  Cook like a large pancake.

Omelette parmentier

Finely dice some potatoes and fry them in butter.  Beat the eggs and add the potatoes and some  chopped parsley. Cook  like a large pancake.

Seafood omelette

Beat the eggs with chopped parsley and chervil, salt and pepper and make 2 flat omelettees.  Put one on to a round ovenproof dish and cover it with a  ragout of mussels, prawns (shrimp),  small clams or other shellfish. Poached and bound with shrimp  sauce. Cover with the second omelette. Coat  with a cream sauce flavoured with shrimp butter and  glaze in a hot oven.

Spinach omelette

Braise enough  spinach leaves in butter to provide 4 tablespoons cooked spinach. Mix with 8 beaten eggs and cook like a large pancake.

Other  recipes. See diplomate, jardmiere, memnagere, mon-bray, nicoise, paysanne, romaine.

Garnished Omelttes

Omelettes Andre-Theuriet

Fill an omelette with morels in cream. Turn it into a dish and garnish with  bunches of asparagus tips cooked in butter. On top, arrange  some slices of  mushroom which have been tossed in butter. Surround with a ribbon of supreme  sauce and serve at once while very hot.

Omelette Feydeau

Make a very creamy omelette and fill it with mushroom duxelles.  Slide it on a to a flamproof dish, then garnish the top with poached eggs (one per person) – choose small eggs and keep them  underdone.  Mask with Mornay sauce to which finely shredded mushroom have been added. Sprinkle  with grated Parmesan cheese and brown quickly under a hot grill (broiler).

Other recipes see espagnol,e fines, herbes, hangroise, parisienne, Rossini, vieur.

Omelettes cooked with  their Flavouring anchovy omelette.

Soak 3 anchovy fillets until free of salt and rub them through a sieve.  Add the anchovy puree to  8 eggs and beat together. Cook the omelets as usual. Garnish with a criss-cross pattern of fine strips of anchovies in oil.

Artichoke omelette

Slice 4 artichoke hearts and sauté  them in butter until they are half-cooked, without letting them brown.  Add the artichoke slices to 8 eggs and beat together; cook the omelette as usual. It can be garnished with a row of sliced  sautéed  artichoke hearts  and  surrounded with a ribbon of reduced veal stock.

Aubergine omelette

Add 2 tablespoons diced aubergines (eggplants), sautéed  in oil, to 8 eggs and beat together. Cook the omelette.

Bacon omelette

Fry 3-4 tablespoons  diced baon in butter and beat into 8 eggs. Cook the omelette.  It can be garnished with 6 thin strips of bacon fried in butter.

Cep omelette

Brown  200 g (7 oz. 2 cups) sliced cep mushrooms in butter or oil and add them, with some  chopped  parsley, to 8 eggs, besting  them all together. Cook the omelette. Garnish with a line of chopped ceps  sautéed  in butter or oil.

            Any edible mushrooms can be used to flavour  this omelette.

Omelette jurassienne

Fry 4 tablespoons finely diced bacon in a large pan over a low heat.  Add 1 chopped  onion, 3 diced  boiled potatoes and 1 diced tomato. In a large bowl, beat 4 eggs with 100 g (4 oz. 1 cup) grated  Gruyere cheese and some chopped chives. Pour  this mixture over the bacon and vegetables in the pan. add a little salt and plenty of pepper and finish cooking the omelette.

Sorrel omelette

Prepare 4 tablespoons finely shredded sorrel.  Cook  gently in butter or bind with cream, and beat it into 8 eggs.  Cook the omelette. It may be served surrounded with a ribbon of cream sauce.

Tuna omelette

For 5 people, wash 2 soft carp roes and blanch them for 5 minutes in lightly salted boiling water.  Chop the roes together with a piece of fresh tuna  about the size of a hen’s egg so that  they are well  mixed. Put the chopped fish and roes into a pan with a small, finally chopped shallot and butter and sauté  until all the butter is incorporated – this gives  the essential flavour to the omelette.

            Blend some fresh butter with  parsley and chives, and spread it on to the dish in which the omelette will be served sprinkle with lemon juice and keep  warm.

            Beat 12 eggs, add the  sautéed  roes and tuna, and  mix well together. Cook the omelette in the usual way, keeping the shape long rather than circular, and ensure that it is thick and creamy. As soon as it  is ready, arrange it on the prepared dish and serve  at once.

            This dish should be reserved for special luncheons for those who appreciate good food.  Serve it with  a good wine, and the result will be superb.

            Notes on preparations: the roes and the tuna should be sautéed  over a very low heat, otherwise they will harden and it will be difficult to mix them properly with the eggs. The serving dish should be fairly deep, and preferably fish-shaped so that the  sauce can be spooned up when serving.  The dish should be heated enough to melt the maitre d’hotel butter on which the omelette is placed

Sweet Omelettes

Omelette a la dijonnaise

Beat 8 eggs with 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 or 3 finely crushed macaroons and 1 tablespoon double (heavy) cream. Make 2 flat omelettes.  Put one of them a round ovenproof dish and spread it with 3 tablespoons very thick confectioner’s custard (see custard)  mixed with 1 tablespoon ground almonds flavoured with Cassis.  Place the second omelette on top and completely coat with egg whites whisked to stiff peaks.  Sprinkle with icing (confectioner’s) sugar and glaze quickly  in a  very hot oven.  Serve the omelette  surrounded by a ribbon of blackcurrant jam.

Omelette flambee

Beat the eggs with some sugar and a pinch of salt,  then cook the omelette in butter, keeping it very creamy. Dredge with sugar, sprinkle with heated rum and set light to it immediately before serving. The rum can be replaced by Armagnac, Calvados,  cognac, whisky or a fruit-based spirit.

Omelett Reine Pedauque

Beat 8 eggs with 1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar, 1 tablespoons ground almonds. 1 tablespoon double (heavy) cream and a pinch of salt.  Make  2 flat omelettes. Place one of the omelettes in a round ovenproof serving dish.  Mix 6 tablespoons thick apple compote with 2 tablespoons double (heavy) cream and 1 tablespoon rum. Spread this mixture over the omelette, put the second omelette on top, sprinkle with icing (confectioner’s) sugar and glaze quickly in the oven or under the grill (broiler).

Omelette with fruit compote

Prepare  a compose of peaches, plums, apples or  apricots:  cook the fruit in vanilla-flavoured syrup, drain, bind with jam made from the same type of  fruit and flavour with liqueur. Beat 8 eggs with 1 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar and a pinch of salt.  Cook  the omelette  in butter. Just before folding.  Fill with 4 tablespoons fruit compose. Fold the  omelette, slip it on to a round plate and sprinkle with caster sugar.  Glaze under the grill (broiler).

Souffle omelette

Mix together in a bowl 250 g (9 oz. Generous 1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar, 6 egg yolks and 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar of 1 tablespoon grated orange  or lemon zest.  Beat until the mixture turns white  and thick. Whisk 8 egg  whites to stiff peaks and fold carefully into the yolk mixture.

            Butter a long ovenproof dish and sprinkle it with caster sugar. Pour in three-quarters of the omelette mixture and smooth it into  a low mound with the blade of a knife. Put the rest of the mixture into a  piping (pastry) bag with a plain round nozzle and  pipe an interlaced decoration on top of the  omelette oven at 200°C. (400 °F, gas 6) for about 20 minutes. Dredge with icing (confectioner’s) sugar and glaze under the grill (broiler).

            The omelette can also be flavoured with chocolate, coffee or a liqueur.

Souffle omelette with wild  strawberries

Clean, wash and drain  some wild strawberries. Leave them to macerate in a few spoonfuls of Alsace framboise (raspberry-flavoured spirit) with a pinch of  vanilla sugar. Whisk 4 egg whites to stiff peaks and separately beat the yolks with a little sugar. Mix the  two carefully, then pour into a heavy frying pan containing very hot butter.  When the eggs begin to set,  add the strawberries, fold the omelette over and continue to cook over a low heat.  Dredge very lightly with sugar and serve.  A little fresh strawberry pure can be poured over the omelette.

OMELETTE SURPRISE  A dessert based on the same ingredients as a baked Alaska  - sponge cake  soaked in syrup, ice cream and meringue – but with  the addition of fruit. The base, which may be Genoa  cake, Genoese sponge or madeleine cake mixture, is  sprinkled with liqueur, covered with a hombe mixture, a fruit ice cream or a parfait mixture, mixed  with preserved fruits or pralines violets.  The whole is then masked with meringue and glazed in the oven. The  desert is surrounded by poached fruits or  cherries in brandy.

ONGLET. A french cut of beef consisting of two  small muscles joined by an elastic membrne (the supporting muscles of the diaphragm). The butcher  splits it open, trims it and removes all the skin and membrane. Onglet must be well hang. The meat is  their  tender and juicy.  In the past it was not a popular cut, but it is now accepted that it makes a prime steak. Whether  fried or grilled (broiled0, it should be eaten rare, otherwise if becomes tough.

RECIPES

Fried onglet with shallots

Make shallow criss-cross incisions n both sides of the meat. peel and chop 3-4 shallots. Heat about are aromatic, juicy and strongly flavoured.  As their  name indicates, they are pickled (in vinegar), they  are also used in casseroles or they can be glazed and served as a vegetables dish.

§  PEARL (BUTTON) ONIONS.  These small white onions are ideal for pickling, but they can also be added to  stews and casseroles.

§  SILVERSKIN ONIONS. These are very small and, as their name suggests, they have silver skin and white flesh. They are used for pickling and are also  sold  cooked as cocktail  onions, for use as a garnish, in  hors d’oeuvre and adding to drinks.

§  SPRING ONIONS (SCALLONS OR GREEN ONIONS). These  are also known as salad onions or bunching onions. These  are picked either  before the bubls. Form of  with small white bulbs.  Originally  these where  the  beds, but now they are available all the year round.  They  may be cooked or served in salads.  They are  ideal of quick methods and are often  cooked in stir fry dishes. Young spring onions are small and mild in flavour, but as they grow the flavour of the larger  bulb becomes stronger

§  ORIENTAL ONION These are used extensively in China, Japan and Asia. They look like spring onions and grow in clusters. They thickened stem bases  never form bulbs. Both the green and white parts  can be eaten and they have   a mild flavour, which is between that of a spring  onion and leek. Their  leaves can be broken off for use, leaving  the reminder  of the plant  growing, which  is why they are also sometimes called everlasting  onions . similar varieties include   welsh onions (scallions of green shallots), which originated in Japan not Wales, and  Japanese bunching onions.

§  EGYPTINA ONIONS OR TREE ONIONS These vegetables  look unusual as they  have small bulbs towards the tops of their stems instead of flowers and larger  bulbs at the roots.  They  taste similar to garlic.

§  Buying and using onions. When buying onions, look  for bulbs which are quite firm and store them in a cool, dry, airy place.  When  preparing onions, the substance which makes the eye water (allyl sulphide) is released. To chop onions in comfort, put  them into the freezer for 10 minutes or into the refrigerator for 1 hour before peeling, small pickling  onions are easily peeled if they   are boiled rapidly for  1 minute. Leaving the root end on also helps to prevent the volatile substance  from being released. (It  disappears during cooking). Once peeled, onions oxidize rapidly and  can eventually become toxic; peeled onions should therefore be kept covered.

The onion is a major ingredient in  cooking, being  used especially as a flavouring  in many casseroled  dishes, in which it may be chopped, sliced or left whole and studded with cloves. Onions are also  used for stuffings and to make sauces and braised  dishes. In many dishes they are the main ingredient, from Alsace, pissaladiere, tourn, salt cod a la  bretome, onion soup, beef mirron, tripe, soubise  puree and all recipes a la Soubise, and in many dishese cooked a la lyomnaise from Asia come onion  bbaji and from Britain, stuffed onions, which can be  served as a hot main dish or a garnish for roast or  braised meat. fried onion rings are used as a garnish for many dishes (sautéed  or fried meat or fish) and finely chopped onion is an ingredient of vinaigrete, marinades and many cold garnishes.  The onions is  used with potatoes in many stews, and meat and vegetables soups, and it also goes well with cabbage and with many egg dishes. Small glazed onions are an essential ingredients for a range of meal and  fish dishes (mattelote, blanquette, cihicken en babouile, coq au vin and dishes a la bouguignounne).  Pickled onions are used as a condiment.

RECIPES

Fried  onions

Peel some onions, slice them into rings 5 mm (1/4 in ) thick and separate  the rings.  Season with  salt, dip in flour and fry in very hot oil.  Drain them thoroughly on paper towels and sprinkle with fine  salt. They  can also be marinated in oil and lemon juice for 30 minutes, then dipped in batter and fried.

Onion soup

Finely chop 250 g (9 oz. 1 ½ cups) onions and dry them in butter without letting them get too brown.  When they are almost ready, sprinkle with 25 g (1 oz. ¼ cup)  plain (all-purpose) flour. Continue cooking for a minute or two, stirring the onions with wooden spoon, then pour on 2 litres (2 ½  pints, 9 cups) white stock and flavour with 2 tablespoons port or Madeira.  Continue to cook for a  further 30 minutes.  Put some slices of bread, which  have been dried in the oven, into a soup tureen and pour the soup over them.

Onion tart

Line a buttered 28 cm (11 in) flan tin (tart pan) with 400 g (14 oz) shortcrust pastry 9see short pastry) and cook it blind.  Meanwhile prepare a soubise puree with 1 kg (2 ¼  lb). onions.  Spread  this in the flan case, sprinkle with fresh breadcrumbs, dot with butter and brown it in a hot oven for about 15 minutes.

Stuffed onions

Peel some large onions, taking care not to split the outer white layer, cut them horizontally at the stalk end, leaving about three-quarters of their  total height. Blanch  them in salted water for 10 minutes, then refresh and drain  them.  Scoop out the insides, leaving a thickness all round of 2 layers.

            Chop the scooped-out onion finely and mix it with some finely chopped pork, veal, beef, lamb or mutton. Stuff the onions with this  mixture, put  them in a buttered flameproof casserole  and  moisten with a few tablespoons of slightly thickened  brown veal stock.  Start the cooking wit the lid on, on the hob (stovetop), then continue cooking in  the oven, basting frequently to glaze the onions. A few minutes before they are cooked, sprinkle  with breadcrumbs or Parmesan cheese, moisten with melted butter and brown the surface.

            Onions can also be stuffed in the following  ways. 

§  A la catalone: rice  cooked in meat stock with sweet (bell) peppers fried in olive oil and chopped  hard-boiled (hard-cooked) eggs.

§  A l’italienne: rice cooked in meat with finely chopped onion, cooked lean ham and Parmesan  cheese.

§  A la parisienne: finely chopped onion mixed with a  duxelles of mushrooms and chopped cooked lean  ham.

OPERA A  garnish for noisettes of veal and sautéed  tournmedos steaks (filets mignons). It  consists of small  bunches of asparagus tips and tartlet or croustades  filed  with chicken livers sautéed  in Madeira.  The  sauce, which is pound over the meat., is made by  deglazing the cooking juices with  Madeira and demiglace.

This garnish is also used for shirred eggs, in this  case the sauce consists of reduced seal stock enriched with butter.

            The dessert crème  renverse Opera is a caramel custard  turned out of its mould and served decorated with Chantilly cream, crushed meringue and  strawberries in kirsch Opera gelatin is an elaborate almonds sponge  cake with a coffee and  chocolate filing  and icing.

ORCHE A garden plant whose green  fleshy triangular leaves are used in soups and herbs stocks  orache leaves may also be cooked like spinach  and  used either  as a vegetable or as a garnish.  They  may  also be used counteract the bitter taste of sorrel.

ORANGE The fruit of the sweet orange tree, cultivated widely in Mediterranean countries and other  parts of the world. It is round with an orange or yellow skin and sweet juicy flesh, divided into segments  which  may or may not contain seeds. Originating in China and mentioned at the beginning of the Christian probably  known to the ancient  world Seville  (bitter) oranges were brought  to Europe by the Arabs  into Spain and by the Crusaders into France Sweet oranges did not arrive in Europe until later, coming  from Arab lands  via Genoese or Portuguese merchants the latter also introduced them to America.

            For centuries oranges were rarity: they were usually made into preserves, used for a table decoration  offered  as luxury gifts.  Orange come mainly from Spain.  Morocco, Turkey, Sicily, Israel, Italy, Cyprus Algeria, tuniska,  Sougth Africa, Australia and the United States.

Sweet oranges The different varieties of sweet oranges  are classified into four groups, available at different times of the year.

§  NAVEL ORANGES Characterized by a navel-like  depression enclosing a small internal embryonic  fruit. They  are seedless and appear from the end of  October. The Washington navels, with  a firm rough skin, are  juicy and slightly  sour. Navellate is closely  related to the Washington navel, but smaller and  sweeter. The navelina is slightly paler and more oval  in shape than the Washington navel; it flesh is tart, becoming sweeter later in the growing season.

§  BLONDES These winter orange have pale flesh.  The  Shamouti or Jalfa variety is quite large, has a  thick skin, seeds and a crisp, well-flavoured, juicy pulp salusianas are  seedless, have a grainy peel  and are very juicy.

§  BLOOD ORANGES These small oranges have dark-red pulp and the skin may be veined with dark red. They  are available   from December to April. The mallese orange, with seeds, is sour, very juicy and has  an exceptionally good flavour .  Moro oranges, with a  rough skin, are very juicy.

§  LATE ORANGES These pale-fleshed orange have  few seeds and a thin rind. They include the Valencia  variety.  Valencia  oranges, with or  without  seeds, have smooth firm skins and are sharp and juicy.

§  Bitter orange

SEVELLE ORANGE  A bitter orange with rough peel, mostly used for making marmalade, jams and jellies  Seville orange  trees are cultivated mainly in Spain and on a local scale in the south of France, where  crystallized (candied  Seveille oranges  (chinois confit) are a speciality of Nice.  The flower of the Seville orange  is used in the preparation of orange-flower water.  The aromatic oil extracted from the thick peel  of Seville oranges is used in distilling to flavour. Curacao, Cointreau and Grand Marnier. A  traditional French dish is pot-roated duck in bitter-orange sauce  (not to be confused with duck a l’orange).

§  Buying and using oranges. When buying oranges choose fruit that are shiny and heavy for their  size. They are not easily damaged and will keep for some days at room temperature. If the zest or peel  is to be used, the oranges should be scrubbed in warm water.

Oranges are widely used in desserts, patisserie and confectionery, for fruit salads mousses,  dessert creams, frosted fruit, ices and sorbets, jams and marmalades, friters, souffles, filled  sponges and biscuits (cookies). The candied peel is also used in numerous desserts and cakes, either as an ingredient or as  a decoration oranges form the basis of an  equally large range of drinks syrups, sodas, juice, orangeade, punches, liqueurs and fruit wines.

            Sweet oranges are today used in recipes which , in  former times used bitter oranges duck which nowadays is described as a la bigarade (with bitter oranges) is in fact cooked with sweet oranges. Some  of the traditional dishes that use oranges as an ingredient are trout with orange butter (butter  worked) with orange juice, grated nutmeg and paprikat), sole it l’orange (surrounded with peeled orange slices, butter sauce, crème fraiche and Curacao), young partride roasted it l’orange (garnished with peeled orange segments and grapes, the cooking juices  being deglazed with orange  juice); fried calf’s liver  liver a l’orange (garnished with orange slices, the pan being deglazed with orange juice); omelette a l’orange (a savoury omelette flavoured with tomato sauce and  grated orange zest); veal knuckle a l’orange (braised with a julienne of orange zest, with orange juice added to the cooking  liquid); sheep’s tongues a l’orange (cooked in water, covered with a sauce made  from vinegar roux,  thickened with gooseberry jelly and garnished with orange segments); and salad of  chicory (endive), beetroot (beets) and peeled, orange segments, dressed with a tarragon-flavoured vinaigrette.

RECIPES

Sweet Oranges

Candied orange peel

Choose thick-skinned oranges.  Peel  them, scrape off all the white pitch from the peel and cut the peel  into strips. For each orange, put 250 ml (8 fl oz. 1 cup) water, 125 g (4 ½  oz. Scant 2/3 cup) sugar and  6 tablespoons grenadine syrup is reduced by   three-quarters. Leave the peel in the syrup until it is quite cold, then drain it. Sprinkle a baking sheet thickly with icing (confectioner’s) sugar, roll the pieces of peel in the sugar and dry off under the grill (broiler).

Frosted oranges

Choose some unblemished thick-skinned oranges. Cut off the top of each orange at the stalk end. Using a sharp-edged spoon, scrape out all the pulp, taking care not to pierce the skin. Cut  a small hole at the top of the  orange caps, where the stalk was  attached. Put the orange sheels and the caps into the  freezer.  Make an orange sorbet with pulp. When it begins to set, put into the orange shells, smoothing the top into a dome shape. Replace the caps and insert along lozenge-shaped piece of candied angelica into the  hole, to resemble a leaf.  Put  back in the freezer until ready to serve.

Orange and apple jelly

Weigh some ripe (but not overripe) apples and wash and slice them (without peeling or coring).  Put  them into a pan and add 1.5 litres (23/4 pints, 6 ½  cups)  water per 1 kg (2 ¼  lb)  apples.  Bring to  the boil a 1 cook until the apples are quite soft.  Pour them into a jelly-bag or a piece of muslim (cheesecloth0 stretched over a basin and let the  juice drain, without pressing the apples. Measure the juice obtained.  Allow 10 large oranges per 1  litre (1 ¾  pints, 4 1/3 cups)  apple juice; squeeze them and strain the juice.  Mix the two juices and add 900 g (2 lb. 4 cups) sugar and the coarsely grated zest of 4 oranges per 1 litre (1 ¾  pints, 4 ½ cups) juice.  Bring the pan to the boil and cook until the temperature of the jelly (gelatine) 104°C (219°F). Remove the peel and  pot in the usual way.

Orange conserve

Wash 16 juicy oranges and 3 lemons.  Remove the  peel without pitch from 2 lemons and 4 oranges and  chop it. Remove the white pit from this fruit. Cut  all the fruit in half and remove the central white string. Take out the seeds, tie these in a piece of muslim (cheesecloth) and put them into a bowl with 250 ml (8 f oz. 1 cup) water. Slice the halved fruit finely (the peel can be left on or removed) and put  them into a large bowl  with the chopped peel and 4  litres (7 pints,  4 quarts) water. Leave them to soak 24 hours, turning the fruit the fruit two or three times.

            Pour the contents of the bowl into a preserving pan and  add the bag containing the seeds. Cover  the pan and bring it to the boil.  Remove the lid and  simmer gently for 2 hours. Add 4 kg (9 lb.) granulated or loaf sugar, bring the pan back to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring constantly.  Skim the pan and continue to cook for 30 minutes after bringing back to the boil. Pot in the  usual way.

Orange dessert

Make  cake 24 cm (9 ½ in) in diameter with 4 eggs, 125 g (4 ½  oz. 2/3 cup) caster (superfine) sugar and 125 g (4 ½ oz. 1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour. Bake and cool on a wire rack.

            Make a syrup with 300 ml ( ½  pint.  1 ¼ cups) water and 200 g (7 oz. 1 cup) sugar. Wash 2 oranges.  Cut in two and slice finely into even slices. Cook the orange   slices  in the syrup, drain and put them to one side. Remove the zest of  2 oranges, blanch it twice and cook for 10 minutes  in the syrup.

            Divide the remaining syrup into 3  amounts. Dilute one amount with 3 ½  tablespoons orange  liqueur to moisten the sponge cake.  Dilute the second amount with a little orange juice and add 100 g  (4 oz. ½ cup) orange jelly to make the sauce  accompanying the dessert, which is then strained throughout a fine chinois.  Dilute the third amount with  100 g (4 oz, 1/3 cup) orange jelly and a little orange  juice, adding 1 leaf of gelatine,  melted for the final glazing.

            Make a custard with 500 ml (17  fl oz. 2 ¼ cups) milk, flavoured with ½  vanilla pod (bean), 4 egg yolks, 100 g ( 4 oz. ½ cup) caster sugar and 60 g (2 ¼ oz. 1/3 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour. Add 2  sheets of dissolved leaf gelatine an 1 cool it quickly. Whisk until smooth. Add 3 ½  tablespoons orange liquer, 150 g (5 oz. 1 cup) candied orange zest. Diced very small, and then gently fold in 300 ml (1/2 pint. 1/ ¼ cups double (heavy) cream, lightly whipped. Cut the sponge cake horizontally into 3 layers. Line the sides of a ring mould 24 cm (9 ¼  in ) in diameter, placed on iced (frosted) cardboard, wit the half slices of candied orange, slightly over  lapping. Place a layer of sponge cake at the bottom of the ring. Soak it with syrup and cover with half  the cream. Put the second layer of sponge cake on top, soak it again and cover with the remaining cream/  put the last layer of sponge cake on top, with the golden side facing upward.  Press gently and soak with the rest of the syrup. Put in the refrigerator for a few hours.  Glaze with the jelly and put it back in the refrigerator to set.  Carefully remove from the ring. Pour a fine ribbon of sauce  around and decorate with candied orange zest and sprigs of mint.

Orange sorbet

Select 10 very large juicy orange and remove the peel and the pith.  Put the pulp through  a juice extractor to obtain the maximum amount of juice. Measure  the juice and add 300 g (11 oz.  1 1/3 cups)  sugar  per 1 litre (1 ¾ pints.  4 1/3 cups) (more if the juice is  very sour). Pour  the juice into an ice-cream maker and leave it to set.

Orange syrup

Select some ripe oranges and peel a few of them very thinly, put the  peel to one side, as it  will be used to flavour the syrup.  Peel the rest of the oranges. Put the pulp through a vegetable milk, then  strain it through a fine sieve or damp muslim  (cheesecloth).  Measure the juice. Add 800 g (1 ¾ lb.  3 ½ cups) sugar to each 500 ml (17 fl. oz. 2 cups) juice, put into a preserving pan and bring slowly  to the boil. While the syrup is heating,  line a large conical strainer with muslim and put in the serve orange peel. Pour the syrup over the peel as soon as it comes to the boil.  Let it get completely cold before bottling and sealing.

Orangine

Make a Genoese sponge  with 150 g (5 oz. 2/3 cup) caster (superfine) sugar 6 eggs, 150 g (5 oz. 1 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour. 50 g (2 oz. ¼ cup)  butter  and  pinch of salt. Leave it to cool completely. Make 250 ml (8 f. oz. 1 cup) Curacao-flavoured  confectioner’s custard and mix in 250 ml (8 fl. oz. 1 cup) (heavy) cream. Whisked with a 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar and 25 g  (1 oz. 2 tablespoons) caster sugar. Put this cream into the refrigerator. Slice the sponge into 3 equal layers.  Soak each layer with 2 tablespoons curacao-flavoured syrup.  Spread the cream over 2 of the layers and build up the cake again. Ice (frost) the top and sides with  Curacao-flavoured fondant.  Decorate the cake with  pieces of candied orange peel and angelica.

Savoury orange and cucumber salad

Remove all the peel and pith from some oranges and slice them into rounds about 5 mm (1/4 in) thick. Remove  the seeds. Peel and finely slice some  cucumber, sprinkle the slices  with salt and leave them to drain. Rinse the slices in cold water and  dry them.  Arrange the slices of orange and cucumber alternately in a round glass dish. Serve with a  well-seasoned vinaigrette as an entrée.

            Alternatively, the oranges may be cut into small cubes and mixed with twice their volume of grated carrot. Season the salad with vinaigrette made with olive oil and respberry vinegar and chill until ready to serve.

Bitter Oranges – Savoury Recipes

Bitter orange sauce

Peel the rind (zest) of 1 Seville orange in strips running from top to bottom, ensuring that it is  very thin: any pith left on it would make it bitter.  Cut each strip into small pieces and place in a little  boiling water. Allow to boil for a few minutes, then drain and put in a pan with some espagnole sauce, a little game extract, a pinch of coarsely ground pepper and the juice of ½  Seville orange.  Boil for a  few moments, then add a little good-quality butter.

Brown a bitter orange sauce for roast duck

Cut the rind of 1 Seville orange (or 1 sweet orange ) and ½ lemon into thin strips; blanch, cool and drain.  Heat  20 g (3/4 tablespoons) granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon good wine vinegar in a sauceman until it forms a pale caramel.  Add 200  ml (7 fl oz. ¾ cup) brown veal stock (or well reduced  bouillon) and boil  vigorously for 5 minutes. Add the juice of the orange and a dash of lemon juice.  Strain and add the blanched rind.  The  sauce  can be flavoured with a small amount of curacao added just before serving.

Duck in bitter orange sauce

Cut the rind of 1 Seville orange (or 1 sweet orange)  and ½ lemon into thin strips; blanch, cool and drain.  Fry the duck in butter for about 45 minutes, until the flesh is just pink.  Drain, untruss and arrange on a serving dish. Deglaze the  cooking stock with 100 ml (4 fl. oz. 7 tablespoons) white wine.  Add 300 ml ( ½  pint, 1 ¼ cups veal stock or a fairly light demi-glace sauce; otherwise use well reduced chicken stock.  Prepare some vinegar caramel, using 2 sugar lumps dissolved in 2 tablespoons vinegar and add to the sauce. Boil for a few moments. Add the juice of the orange and the lemon half, reduce, strain and add the orange  and  lemon rind. The duck can be garnished with peeled Saville orange segments, if like.

Filets of wild duck in bitter orange sauce

Take the breasts fillets from 2 wild ducks and place in an earthenware dish, with salt, coarsely ground pepper, parsley, thyme, I bay leaf, chopped shallots, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons good oil.  Marinate the duck in the mixture for 45 minutes, turning frequently.  Lay the fillets on a spit rack, them skewer them loosely and sprinkle  with the  marinade.  Cook until they are firm to the  touch.  Remove  the skewers and place the duck in a sauté  dish containing a melted knob of butter and the juice of ½ lemon. Serve with bitter orange sauce.

White bitter orange sauce for roast duck

Deglaze the dish in which the duck has been cooked with 175 ml (6 fl. oz. ¾ cup) dry white  wine. Cut the rind of 1 Seville orange (or 1 sweet orange) and ½ lemon into thin strips; blanch, cool and drain. When the sauce has almost completely reduced, add 150 ml (1/4 pint, 2/3 cup) white consomme or stock and boil for 5 minutes. Thicken with 1 teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch) or arrow-root mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water. Add the  juice of the orange and a dash of lemon juice.  Strain, add the rind and adjust the seasoning.

Bitter orange-Sweet Recipes

Orange marmalade

Wash and weigh 16 bitter oranges and 2 lemons. Peel them, including the pith, and separate them into segments.  Scrape off the pitch from half the  peel and cut this peel into very fine strips. Fut the fruit and the sliced peel into a pan and add an equal weigh of water.  Leave to soak for 24 hours.  Pour into a preserving pan and cook until the fruit can easily  crushed;  remove  the pan from the  heat. Weigh a pan large enough to contain the cooked fruit, pour in the fruit and weigh again to  obtain the weight of the fruit. Leave to soak for another 24 hours. Pour the fruit back into the  preserving pan, add an equal weigh of sugar, bring to the boil and cook for 5-6 minutes. Pot in the usual way.

Seville orange jelly dessert

Peel the rind from 2 sound Seville oranges as thinly as possible, then squeeze the juice of 5 lemons on to the zest and strain the juice through a sieve.  Mix  with 400 g (14 oz. 1 ¾ cups)  granulated sugar and  40 g (1 ½  oz) clarified  gelatine. Finish the jelly and  mould in the usual manner. Set over ice.

ORANGEADE A refreshing drink made from orange juice and sugar, diluted with plain or soda water. Orangeade is best served well chilled, with ice; a little lemon juice may be added or a trace of Curacao or rum.

ORANGEAT A French petit four shaped like a flat disc, made from almond paste mixed with chopped candied orange peel, iced (frosted) with white fondant and decorated with orange peel.

ORANGE-BLOSSOM FLOWER WATER The fragrant flowers of the bitter (Seville) orange are macerated and distilled to produce orange-flower  water. This is manufactured on a industrial seale and is widely used as a flavouring in pastries, puddings, cakes syrups and confectionery. In Morocco it is used to flavour salads and some  tajines.  Orange  blossoms is also used to make orange flower sugar. Which  is used to flavour pastries, cakes and custards.  The essential oil of orange blossom, called neroli oil, is used in perfumery and for flavouring foods.

RECIPES

Orange-flower liqueur

Add 250 g (9 oz) orange blossom, ½ teaspoon cinammon stick and  clove to 1 litre  pints, 4 1/3 cups) 22% alochol (44° proof). Leave for 1 month, then filter. Prepare a syrup with 500 g (18 oz. 2 ¼ cups) sugar  and 500 ml (17 fl. oz, 2 cups) water . boil, cool, then add the flavoured  alcohol. Filter  once more and pour into sterilized  bottles. Store in a cool dark place.

Orange-flower sugar

Dry some orange blossom, either in a closed container or in an oven, so as to obtain 250 g (9 oz)  dry petals.  Add 500 g (18 oz. 2 ¼ cups)caster  (superfine) sugar to these petals  and pound well in  a mortar, then rub through a ver fine sieve.  Store  in sealed airtight jars in a dry, dark place.

OREGANO Also known as wild marjoram, this is a herb with a pungent flavour. It  grows mainly in Italy, where  it is an important cooking ingredient, and also in Britain and parts of America, where its flavour is  less pungent. It is popular in Mediterranean dishes such as pasta and pizza success and tomato dishes.  In  its dried from, in which it is often solid, it has a  much stronger flavour.

OREILLER DE LA BELLE AURORE A large, square, raised pie dedicated to Brillat-Savarin’s mother, Claudine-Auroroe Recamier. It is contains two different fillings 9one of veal and pork, the other of  chicken livers, young partridges, mushrooms and  truffles), to which are added marinated veal fillets, slices, slices of breast from young red partridge an duck  a saddle of hare, white chicken meat and blanched calves’ sweetbreads.

OREILLETTES Pastry  fritters traditionally made the Languedoc region of France at carnival time.  They  are made from sweetened dough cut into long rectangles with a slit in the centre (sometimes one end is  passed through this hole to form a sort of knot) and  fried in oil.  The oreillettes of Montpellier, flavoured  with rum and orange or lemon zest, are famous.

RECIPE

Oreillettes de Montpellier

Pour 1 kg (2 ¼ lb. 9 cups) plain (al-purpose) flour into a heap and make a well in the centre.  Pour 300 g (11 oz. 1 2/3 cups) melted  butter into  the well and work it in, gradually drawing the flour to the  centre; continue to work in 5 eggs. 2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar, a few tablespoons of rum, a small glass of milk and the finely grated peel from  2 oranges.  Knead well to obtain   a smooth dough. Continue  to work the dough until it becomes elastic, then form it into a ball and leave it to rest for 2 hours.  Roll out the dough very thinly and cut it  into rectangles 5 x 8 cm (2  x 31/4 in).  Make 2 incisions in the centre of each rectangle. Fry the  oreillettes in very hot oil at 175°C (345°F).  they will puff up immediately and rapidly become golden. Drain them on paper  towels. Sprinkle with icing (confectioner’s)  sugar and arrange them in a basket lined with a napkin.

ORAGNIC FARMING The term covers farming  methods for cultivating land and growing crops without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides  and for rearing animals and birds in a natural and  humane way.  The production of organic food varies  with the different types of food and from country to country.

ORGANOLEPTIC  Describing the qualities that determine the palatability or otherwise of a food.  The organoleptic qualities  of a food or drink can be defined by its flavour, smell appearance, texture and  colour.

ORGEAT A syrup make from sugar and milk of almonds, flavoured with orange flower water, this is then diluted with water to make a refreshing drink. In former times it was made from barley (orge in French) hence its name.

ORGY A feast at which eating and drinking is indulged in to excess and  which ends in debauchey. This modern   sense of  the word has lost its original religious overtones. To the ancient Greeks, and  later the Romans, orgies were feasts held in honour  of Dionysius, then of Bacchus, at which  their followers, exalted by wine, dancing and music, became as if possessed by the god and  lost all control of  themselves.

ORIENTALE, A L’ The name given to dishes inspired by the cooking of Turkey and the Balkans and containing numerous ingredients and spices  from the  Mediterranean region, such as aubergines  (eggplants), tomatoes, rice, saffron, onions and (bell) peppets.  The  garnish  a l’orientale for both large and  small cuts of meat consists of small tomatoes stuffed with rice pilaf (sometimes flavoured with saffron), together with okra and peppers braised in butter; the sauce is a tomato-flavoured demi-glace.

RECIPES

Red mullet a l’orientale

Clean some very small red mullet, season with salt  and pepepr, dip them in flour and fry quickly in oil.  Arrange them in a flameproof dish.  Cover with a  fondue of tomato lightly flavoured with saffron, fennel, thyme, a crumbled bay leaf, a few coriander seeds, chopped garlic and parsley. Bring to the  boil, cover, then finish cooking in a preheated oven at 220°C (425°F, gas &), for 6-8 minutes. Leave the  fish to get cold in their  cooking sauce.  Garnish with  thin slices of peeled lemon and sprinkle with chopped parsley; serve cold.

Salad a l’orientale

Cook some long-grain rice in salted water to which saffron has been added , keeping it fairly firm; drain thoroughly.  Mix the rice  with some peeled and  finely chopped onion and  season with vinaigrette  well spiced with paprika. Pile  the rice in a dome in a salad bowl. Turn some red and green (bel) peppers under a hot grill (broiler), then skin them, cut them open, take out the seeds and cut the flesh into  strips. Peel, seed and chop some tomatoes. Garnish the rice with the peppers, tomatoes and some  stoned (pitted) black (ripe) olives.

Sauce a Porientale

Make  some tomato fondue and add saffron and a salpicon of red and green (bell) peppers.  Make  some very thick mayonnaise. Add the chilled  tomato fondue to the mayonnaise and keep cold until ready to serve.

ORLEANAISE, A L’ Describing large cuts of meat  garnish with braised endive (chicory) and  maitre d’hotel potatoes.

ORLEANS The name given to tartles of eggs (poachd, soft-boiled or sur le plat) which are garnished with either  a salpicon of home marrow and  truffle  bound with Madeira sauce or with finely diced  white chicken meat in tomato sauce. It also describes rolled sole fillets en paupiette, garnished with a salpicon of shrimps and mushrooms, covered with white wine sauce and garnished with a slice of truffle.

ORLOFF The name given to a traditional recipe for cooking loin of veal the meat is braised, sliced, stuffed with a puree of mushrooms and onions and  possibly slices of truffle, then reshaped, covered with Maintenon sauce, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and glazed in the oven.  The chef who  perfected this dish was undoubtedly UrbainDubois, who was in Prince Orloff’s service for over 20 years.

            Orloff garnish for large cuts of meat consists of braised celery and filled with a mouse made from celery puree), chateau potatoes and braised lettuce.

RECIPE

Veal Orloff

Peel and thinly slice 500 g (18 oz) onions, 1 large  carrot and 800  g ( 1 ¾  lb) button  mushrooms. Melt  50 g (2 oz. ¼ cup) butter in a casserole and brown  150 g (5 oz.) bacon rinds, then a boned loin of veal weighing about 1.8 g (4 lb.).  add the sliced carrot, 1 large tablespoon  sliced onions, a bouquet garni, salt and pepper. Add just enough water to cover  the meat, put the lid on a cook over a low heat for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Salmon fillets Orly with tomato sauce

Trim 14 salmon fillets. Put them into  a dish with  some salt, coarsely ground pepper, a little grated nutmeg, 2 finely sliced shallots, some sprigs of parsley, the juice of 2 lemons, 100 ml (4 fl oz. 7 tablespoons) olive, a little thyme and a bay.  Turn  the fillets several times in this marinade and drain off the water which they produce. An hour before  the meal, drain the fillets on paper towels, sprinkle with flour and turn them in this until they are quite dry. Pat them back into shape with the blade of a knife and dip  them into 4 beaten eggs before frying them. When cooked, arrange them in a circle on a plate and serve a light tomato sauce separately.

ORMER (ABALONE)  A large  single-shell mollusc found off the Pacific coasts of Asia and Mexico, in the  Mediterranean and of the European Atlantic coast. All the muscle is edible and has a chewy texture but unique flavour. To cook, remove  from the shell, trim and beat well to  tenderize, then slice thinly and fry very briefly. It can also be eaten raw. In Japan it is usually cooked by sake-steaming.  Dried or canned  abalone is used widely in Asia and, although cheaper than  fresh, is still expensive. It is considered a delicacy in Chin, it is popular in California, and  in New  Zealand abalone is a Maori specifically called puva pava, which is  sliced and barbecued on skewers.

RECIPE

Ormeaux a la cancalaise

Place 8 large or 12 medium ormers, still alive, at the bottom of the refrigerator for 48 hours in order to  weaken them.  Remove them from their shells while  still cold.  Remove the beards and put them to one  side. Scrape the ormers under cold running water to remove all traces of black.  Put them on a damp cloth in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Before  cooking them, massage gently to tenderize.

            Carefully wash and dry the beards, then brown  them in 100 g (4 oz. ½ cup) butter.  Add 1 peeled and chopped shallot. 1 sliced  carrot, 3 finely sliced  mushrooms.  3 ¼ tablespoons. Coteaux-du-Layon, 1 roasted garlic clove, the stems of ½  bunch of parsley and 2 tablespoons chopped, dried nori. Add  100 ml (4 fl oz. 7 tablespoons) chicken stock. Cover  and simmer gently for 1 hour, then strain. (This ormer stock is highly falvoured).

            Blanch  4 unblemished leaves of new cabbage in boiling salted water.  Drain and put t one side. Heat 3 ½ tablespoons oil in a saucepan and briskly fry the leaves of 20 small sprigs of parsley.  Remove  from the oil, drain on paper towels  and put to one  side.  Reheat the ormer stock and thicken with 50 g  (2 oz. ¼ cup) butter. Brown  the ormers for 2 minutes on each side. Allow to rest for 15 minutes to  enable the meat to relax.  Deglaze the pan with the stock and 4 teaspoons cider vinegar.  Strain through a fine sieve. Reheat the cabbage leaves in a knob of  butter and  a little  water.

            Place  a perfect  warm shell on each plate with a cabbage leaf to one side. Finely shared 2 or 3 ormers and arrange  on the cabbage leaf, with some on the  shell.  Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley, pour some ormer stock on top and garnish with a few leaves of fried parsley.

ORTOLAN The  French name for a small migratory bird-a species of bunting – considered since early times to be the finest and most delicate of birds to  eat. In Britain it is extinct and in France  it is now officially protected, as it is becoming so rare in that  country. However, the law is not strictly observed  in south-western France, especially in the Landes, where  they continue to be captured  alive and fattened up for private consumption.  The bird’s diet (millet, buds,  berries, grapes and small insects) gives it is flesh flavour and delicacy. Weighing only 30 g (1 ¼ oz). When cough, it can quadruple its weigh in a month.

            Ortolans are usually in their  own fat; the latter drips on the pieces of bread, which some recommend should be spread with  Roquefort cheese.

ORVIETO A DOC predominantly dry, delicate white  wine produced  in Italy’s Umbria region from Trebiano blended with Verdello, Grechetto, Drupeggio and Malvasia Toscano grapes with a minimum alcohol level of 11.5%.

OSSAU-IRATY A French ewe’s-milk cheese protected by an appleation d’origine protégé but often  sold under the name Fromage de Brebis des  Pyrenees’. With a fat content of a least  sold under the name Fromage de Brebis des  Pyrenees’. With a fat content of a least 50%, the cheese has a creamy yellow, highly  pressed curd, a  smooth orange-yellow to grewy rind, and pronounced  flavour. It is made in the shape of a flat  disc with straight or slightly convex sides, in two sizes: 24.5-28 cm (9 ½ -11 in )  in diameter, 12-14 cm (4 ¼  - 5  ½ in) deep, weighing 4-7 kg (9-15 lb.); and 20 cm (7 ¾ in) in diameter, 10-12 cm (4- 4 ¾ in) deep, weighing 2-3 kg (4 ½ - 6 ½ lb).  It can be eaten at the end of a meal, on canapes, as a snack or as part of a mixed salad.

OSSO BUCCO An Italian dish, originally from Milan, whose name means literally ‘borne with a hole” . it consists of a stew of pieces of veal shin braised in white wine with onion and tomato. It is generally served with  pasta or rice. The variation called alla gremolata is prepared  with the addition of a mixture chopped garlic, orange and lemon peel and grated nutmeg.

RECIPE

Osso bucco a la milanaise

Season 8 veal shins, weighing about 1.6 kg (3 ½  lb.), with salt and pepper, sprinkle with flour, then  brown them in olive  oil in a large flameproof casserole. Chop enough onions  to give 5 level tablespoons; add  these to the casserole and cook until  golden. Moisten with 200 ml (7 fl oz. ¾ cup) white wine, reduce this, then add 4 large tomatoes, skinned, seeded and coarsely chopped.  Pour in 250 ml (8 fl. oz. 1 cup) stock. Finally add 1 large crushed garlic clove and a bouquet garni.  Cover the  casserole and cook in a preheated oven at 200°C (400°F, gas 6 ) for 1 ½ hours.  Arrange the pieces of  knuckle in a deep dish and cover them with the  reduced cooking liquid. Squeeze on a little lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

OSTRICH A large African bird, whose fleshy and eggs have long been eaten. It s brain was considered to be  delicacy at the time of Nero. Ostrich is now  farmed outside of Africa for its flesh, which is lean and tender. Its meat, the flavour of which is a mixture between beef and game, should be prepared and cooked in the same way as tender beef.

OUASSOU West Indian cryafish which  lives in fresh water (ouasson in Creole means king of the springs).  It is served  fried and also in a stew with many vegetables.

OUBLIE A small flat or cornet-shaped water, widely enjoyed in France in the Middle Ages, but  whose origins go even further  back in time.  Oublies, which were perhaps the first  cakes  in the history of  cooking, are the ancestors  of waffles.  They  were  usually made from a rather  thick waffle  batter and  were cooked in flat, round, finely patterned iron moulds. Some  authorities consider that the name comes  from the Greek obelios, meaning a cake  cooked, others that  it comes  from the Latin oblata (offering), which  also means an unconsecrated host.

            In the Middle Ages oublies were made by the  oubloyeurs (or  oublieux), whose guild was incorporated in 1270.  They  made a sold their waters in the  open street, setting up stalls at fairs and in the open space in front of churches on feast days. It was said  that the most celebrated oublies where those from  Lyon, where  apparently they were rolled into cornets after being cooked. The oubloyeurs would  put  them one inside the other  and sell them in fives called a main d’oublies 9a hand of oublies). Often  they would play dice for them their  customer  or draw lots for them on a ‘Wheel of fortune’, which  was in fact the cover  of the large apannier – or coffin -  in which  they carried their wares.  By the 15^th  century  most of the Parisian pastry cooks were establish in the Rue des Oubloyeurs in the Cite, by night an day the apprentices would set out laden with their  panniers full of neules (round flat cakes ). Ecbaudes ( a sort of brioche), oublies and other small cakes, crying Voila le plaisr,  mesdames! (Here’s pleasure, ladies ), which led t outblies being  given the popular name of plaisirs. The last of these peddlars disappeared after World War I.

RECIPE

Oublies a la parisienne

Put 250 g (9 oz. 2 ¼ cups) sifted  plain (all-pupose) flour, 150 (5 oz, 2/3 cup) sugar, 2 eggs and a little orange-flower water or lemon juice into a bowl. Work together until everything is well mixed, then gradually add 575 ml (19 fl. oz. 2 1/3 cups) milk, 65 g (2 ½ oz. 5 tablespoons) melted  butter and grated zest of a lemon.  Heat an oublie or waffle  iron and grease it evenly; pour in a 1 tablspoon batter and cook over a high, turning the iron over  halfway through.  Peel the wafter off the iron and  either roll it into a cornet round a wooden cone or leave it flat.

QUIDAD Traditional dish of Maghreto and , in particular,  Moroccan cooking.  Quidad consists of hand  semolina flour, like  couscous, and fish, such as scorepion fish (trascasse) and gilt--head bream (daurade).

OUNANNICHE Name of  American  Indian origin  used in Quebec for describe the freshwater variety of  the Atlantic Salmon . Smaller than salmon, it  lives only in Lake  Saint Jean and its Neighboriung  rivers, it  is preepared in the same ways as salmon or trout.

OURTETO A mixture of  chopped  spinach, sorrel,  celery and leeks and flavoured with crushed  garlic.  It is eaten in Provence, in the south of France .  on slices of bread cut from a large round white loaf.  Moistened with olive oil.

OUZO A spirit flavoured with aniseed, made in Greece and many of the Greek islands, including Cyprus. Like  pastis it terms cloudy when water  added, and it should always be served with iced  water, though it should not be kept in the refrigerator for any length of time.

OVEN An enclosed cooking apparatus, derived  from the bread oven, whose origins are lost in the mists of time.  In domestic kitchens the oven is usually  a source of dry heat, used  for dry cooking methods, such as baking and roasting.  There are many types of oven, foelled by gas or electricity.  Solid  fuel, wood and oil fitted ovens are also available.  Some  ovens  also have additional features, such as a  rotisserie, fan aor grill (broiler) elements.

OVERLAP To arrange food so that each piece is partially covered by the next to achieve a decorative effects.

OXTAIL.  A cut of meat used to make many delicious  dishes, notably oxtail soup and Flemish  backhepot (ee botchpotch). It  can also be braised  and served  with a flamande or nivermaise garnish, or it can be boiled, coated  with breadcrumbs and  grilled  (broiled0 a la Sainte-menebould.

            Oxtail sour is a classic English soup which, according o some authorities, could have been  introduced into Britain by refugees from the French Revolution. It is  a clear soup made from an oxtail  an traditionally it is flavoured with basil, marijoaram,  savory and thyme, although these are  often replaced  by the classic braising vegetables carrots, leeks and onions.  Oxtail soup can be garnished with small vegetables balls or a brunoise, as well as with meat  from the oxtail; it is flavoured with Madeira, brandy or sherry

RECIPES

Braised oxtail with horseradish croutes

Cut 2 oxtails into chunks and trim of excess fat.  Dust the pieces very lightly with a little well-seasoned flour, then brown them allover in a little butter, lard or oil in a large frying pan. remove and  set aside. Cook 2 large sliced onions. 2 diced celery sticks, 2 diced carrots.  2 bay leaves, 1 chopped  garlic clove and 2 diced rindless bacon rashers (slices) in the pan, adding a little extra butter, lard or oil if necessary.  When the vegetables are softened slightly  remove the pan from the heat.

            Layer the oxtail and vegetables mixture in a large  deep casserole.  Return the frying pan to the heat and deglaze it with a little brandy, stirring to  remove all the cooking residue form the pan. add a  little water and bring to the boil, stirring. Pour this over the ingredients in the casserole.  Add a bottle of red wine and plenty of salt and pepper. Cover  the casserole and cook in a preheated oven at 160°C (325°F, gas 3) for about 3 hours or until the oxtail is completely tender.

            Towards the ends of the cooking time, beat a little  creamed horseradish into  softened butter. Cut  slices off a beguette and spread  them with the  horseradish butter.  Place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven until crisp and golden.

Taste the casserole for seasoning before serving.  Stir in plenty of chopped fresh parsley and serve with the horseradish croutes.

Grilled oxtail Sainte-Menehould

Cut an oxtail into sections 6-7 cm (2 ½-3 in) long and cook them in stock prepared as for a post-au-feu, stop cooking before  the meat begins to come away from the bones. Drain the pieces, bone them without breaking them up, and  leave them to cool, under  a weight, in the  stock (from which the fat has been skimmed).   Drain and dry  the pieces, spread them with mustard, brown them quickly in clarified butter, then roll them in fine fresh breadcrumbs. Grill (broil) gently and serve with  any of the  following sauces -  diable, piquante, mustard, pepper, bordelaise or  Robert – accompanied by mashed potatoes.

Oxtail soup

Put 1.5 kg (3 ¼ lb) oxtail, cut into  small chunks, into a casserole, on a bed of sliced carrots, leeks  and onions. Sweat in the oven for 25 minutes. Cover  with 2.5 litres (4 ¼ pints, 11 cups) stocks made by cooking 1.5 g  3 ¼ lb.) gelatinous bones  for 7-8 hours in 3.25 litres (5 ½ pints, 14 cups)  water.  Seasoned  simmer gently, so that the boiling is imperceptible, for 3 ½ - 4 hours.  Strain the soup and skim off surplus fat.   Clarify by boiling it of 1 hour with 500 g (18 g oz. 2 ¼ cups) chopped lean beef and  the white part of 2 leeks. Finely sliced, first whisking both these ingredients with a raw white of egg.  Strain the stock.  Garnish with pieces of oxtail and 300 ml (1/2 pint, 1 ¼ cups) coarse brunoise of  carrots, turnips and celery, sweated in butter and dropped into the stock. Add 1 tablespoon sherry.

OYONNADE A French goose stew with wine, thickened with the liver and blood of the bird and mixed with spints.  It used to be a traditional dish for All Saints’ Day in the Bourbountais region and was  served with swedes (rutabaga).

OYSTER A saltwater biyalve mollusc, of which  there are many edible varieties.

            The oyster has been known to humans from the  earliest times.  The  Celts, the Greeks  (who reared oysters in beds) and the Romans all are oysters in  large quantities. Nowadays oysters are farmed, thus  ensuring that they are not overfished and are free  from pollution.

            In the cultivation of oysters, seed oysters are  affixed to tiles  and neared in areas some way out to sea. When they have reached  a certain size, they are  transferred to the fattening beds, which  are always situated at the mouth of a river, the mixture of fresh and sea water being essential to induce overgrowth of the  liver, of which the fattening consists.  The  growing period lasts from three  to four years and  requires constant supervision. As the oyster grows, it  needs more space and therefore a larger area is required for the bed. It must be protected from pollution and from the natural enemies – skate, winkles crabs, starfish, octopus and sea birds.

            The most important varieties are the European  oyster, which is found off the coast of Essex and Kent in Britain, on the Atlantic coasts of France, the  coasts of Belgium and the Northerlands, and the southern   coast of Ireland, the  Portuguese oyster which is larger than the European oyster and is a  native of Portugal, Spain and Morocco, the American oyster, which is similar in size to the Portuguese oyster  and is found along the Atlantic  seabound of Canada and the United States. The most famous American oysters are the Cape, long island and Chesapeake Bay oysters.  Amongst the Asian oysters,  the largest is the giant Pacific oyster, which, because  of its size, is generally cooked, dried or used for  oyster sauce. Oysters are also found in Australia and New Zealand.

            For generations oysters were  supported to be  eaten only during the months containing the letter  (from September to April). However, with  modern  methods of rearing and transport they can now  safely be eaten at any time of the year. Oysters  must always be bought live, with  the shells closed or closing when tapped, and they should feel quite heavy, as they should be full of water. They are not opened  until the lists minute. To test whether an opened  oyster  is alive, prick the cilia, which should instantly retract. 

            Nowadays, as oysters have become more  expensive.  They  are nearly always eaten live and raw, plainly dressed with  lemon and accompanied by bread and butter or with  a vinegar dressing containing  shallot and  pepper. However, they can also be  cooked and used in hot and cold dishes. Oyster  can  be poached, then chilled and served with various  sauces, sometimes  in barquettes, they can be  browned in the oven in their  shells, or they can be  served with artichoke  hearts or in croustades.  Browning must always be done very rapidly and the  preliminary poaching is often unnecessary. Oyster can also be cooked on skewers, made  into fritters,  croquettes, soups and consommés, and used as a garnish in fish recipes  English and American cookery n particular made good use of oysters – in soup, as a sauce, or as Angels on Horseback.  Among the French regional specialities is one from Arcachon, wehre local oysters are served with grilled (broiled) chipolata sausages.

RECIPES

Angles on horseback

Take some oysters out of their shells.  Sprinkle  them with  pepper and wrap each one  in thin slice of bacon.  Thread them on skewers and grill(broil) for 2 minutes. Arrange on pieces  of  hot toast.

Oysters a la Boston

Open 12 oysters; carefully take out the flesh from  the shells and drain it. In the bottom of each concave shell, place a little white pepper and a generous pinch of friend breadcrumbs.  Replace the  oysters in the shells; sprinkle them with grated  Gruvere cheese and a few breadcrumbs.  Do each with a small piece of butter. Brown under the grill (broiler) for 6-7 minutes. Serve with shrimp iritters or parmesan cheese straws.

Oysters a la Brolatti

Peach 12 oyster, drain them and remove the beards.  Prepare  a sauce with 2 chopped shallots toasted butter, the oyster beards, 2 tablespoons  white wine and the strained liquid form the oysters. Reduce the sauce to about  3 tablespoons. Thicken the reduced sauces by whisking in 100 g  (4 oz.  ½ cup) butter. Season with pepper and lemon juice. Strain the sauce and keep it warm. Warm the oyster shells in the oven.  Cook the oysters in butter in a covered pan for 1 minutes and  then return them to their shells.  Cover with the  sauce and serve.

Oysters a la rhetaise

Open 24 oysters and put them in a saucepan with their own  strained water, 2 shallots, 1 garlic clove and a knob and a knob of butter. Soften and reduce the liquid by half. Put this sauce into a pan with 4 tablespoons  single (light) cream, a pinch of cayenen, a pinch of saffron and 2 teaspoons curry powder.  blend everything together  and let it reduce.  Add a few drops of lemon juice.  Arrange the oysters in individual gratin dishes, cover with the sauce and put under the grill (broiler) for 10 seconds.

Oyster fritters

Poach the oysters in their  own water and them cool in the cooking liquid. Drain them and dry in a cloth.  Leave them to soak for 30 minutes  in a mixture  of oil, lemon juice, pepper and salt, them dip them in batter.  Cook  in very hot oil until the fritters are puffed and golden and drain them at once  on paper towels. Sprinkle with fine salt and serve with lemon quarters.

Oyster sauce

Open and poach 12 oysters. Prepare a white roux with 20 g (3/4 oz.  ½  tablespoons) butter and 20 g (3/4 oz. 3 tablespoons) flour then moisten with 6 tablespoons oyster cooking liquid, 6 tablespoons milk and 6 tablespoons single (light) cream. Adjust the seasoning. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Pass through  a sieve. Add the debearded  and sliced oysters and a pinch of cayenne.

Oysters in their shells (hot)

Poach the oysters, replace them in their shells and set these firmly into a layer of coarse salt in a baking tin (pan). brown in a preheated oven at 220°C (425°F, gas 7 ) for  a few seconds (poaching can be omitted). They can then be served in the  following ways.

§  a l’americaine Sprinkle with a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne.

§  a la florentine Replace in their shells  on a layer of  buttered spinach, then mask with Mornay sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and brown in the oven.

§  a la polonaize sprinkle  with chopped hard-boiled egg yolk and chopped parsley over the moisten  with  noisetta butter mixed with fried  breadcrumbs.

Oyster soup

Open 24 oysters and  put them into a sauté  pan with the strained  liquor from their shells.  Add 200 ml (7 fl oz. ¾ cup) white wine.  Bring just to the boil and take off the heat as soon as the liquid begins to bubble.  Use a draining spoon to transfer the oyster to a plate and set them aside.  Skim any  scum off the liquid, then whisk in 1 small, finely diced carrot, I finely chopped  spring onion (scallion) and 3 tablespoons finely crushed water biscuits (crackers)  and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 minute, whisking them add 200 ml (7 fl oz. ¾  oz.  Cup) single (light) cream. Gradually whisk in 100 g (4 oz. ½ cup) butter cut into small pieces.  The soup should be smooth and hot, but it must not simmer or boil as it will curdle.  Replace the oyster and heat for a few seconds.  Season with salt and pepper and  a pinch of cayenne.  Serve at once.

Oysters Robert Courtne

Chop 2 shallots. Put them in saucepan with 200 ml (7 fl oz. ¾ cup) champagne. Bring  to the boil over a high  heat and reduce  the liquid by half. Let it call slightly.  Open  36 oysters and put them into  a saucepan with their trained liquid.  Add a few  drops of champagne and bring  just to the boil.  Drain the oysters and pour the cooking liquid into  the first pan.  gradually whisk in 200 g  (7 oz., generous ¾ cup) butter. Add pepper and the juice of 1 lemon.  Adjust  the seasoning.  Put the oysters into a serving dish or their shells, cover with the sauce  and serve immediately.

Oysters with cider and winkles

Open 24 oysters and keep the deep halves of the shells.  Prepare a stock with 1 litre (1 ¾ pints 4 1/3  cups) water, 1 carrot. 2 celery sticks, I tea spoon salt and 200 g (7 oz) winkles in this stock for 10 minutes then take them out of their shells.  Skin 2 tomatoes  and dice the flesh finely. Poach the oysters in their own water with 6 tablespoons cider. Remove the  beards and keep the oysters warm. Prepare the  sauce: chop 2 shallots and cook them in 200 ml (7 fl oz., ¾ cup) cider, then reduce this liquid by half. Add 6 tablespoons single  (light) cram, reduce again and finish the sauce with 50 g (2 oz., ¼ cup)  butter cut into small pieces. Add  pepper, a few  drops of lemon juice and the cooking liquid from the  oysters.  Adjust the seasoning. Snip the leaves from a small bunch of chervil. Heat the oyster she is, fill them with the poached and beard oysters and the winkles, and cover with the sauce.  Sprinkle them with the diced tomato. Glaze them in a preheated oven at 240°C (475°F, gas 9) and just before serving added the chervil leaves.

Poached oysters

Open the oysters and put them into a sauté  pan and pour over them their own water, strained through a muslim (cheesecloth) sieve. Bring almost to the boil, removing the pan as soon as the liquid begins to simmer.

Steak with oysters

Open 8 oysters. Slice through a piece of beef fillet (sirloin) weighing about 300 g (11 oz.), without separating the  2 halves.  Flatten it slightly, season with salt and pepper, brush the inside surfaces with a mild mustard and then sear it rapidly in a mixture of equal quantities of oil and butter.  Flame it with brandy and keep hot. In another  pan put the strained water from 4 oysters. I chopped garlic clove.  I finely chopped shallot, a knob of butter , 3  tablespoons double (heavy) cream and 1 teaspoon brandy.  Add pepper and reduce.  Slip the  oysters into the steak, press it closed and secure it  with 1 or 2 cocktail sticks (toothpicks). In a small saucepan put the juices which have run from the  meat, the reduced sauce, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, pepper and 1 tablespoon brandy reduce again. Cover the steak with this sauce.  Arrange the last 4 oysters on top of the meat.  sprinkle with  chopped parsley.

OYSTER KNIEF A  strong knife for opening oysters. The  blade, which is thick and blunt, is short and wide, forming a diamond shape, with a blunt point and a sturdy handle. It  is designed for sliding  between the upper and lower shells, and for twisting  them apart at the hinge.

OYSTER MUSHROOM An earlike greyish-brown bracket mushroom. Pleurotus, which  grows in clusters to provide grey, dark brown and  yellow oyster mushrooms with a dedicate texture and flavour.  Abumidant in autumn and winter  the wild  grey oyster mushroom,  P ostreatus, is firm with a good flavour. P pudmonarus, the brown variety is found wild in spring and autumn.  Its flavour is delicate and  slightly  musky.

RECIPE

Oyster mushroom coutes

Use  a zester to pare the zest off 1 lemon in fine  shreds. Mix the lemon zest with 1 finely chopped  garlic cloves and 1 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon. Cut fairly thick slices off a baguette or  ciabatta loaf at an angle, brush them with a little  olive oil and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (400°F, gas 6 ) for about 20 minutes or until (lightly  browned and crisp.

            When the  croutes are almost ready, heat a large knob of butter with a good layer of olive oil in a large sauté  pan. add 1 teaspoon fennel seeds and allow them to sizzel gently for 1 minute, Trim and  wipe small to medium oyster mushrooms; if using large mushrooms, cut them in half or quarters.  Add  the mushrooms to the pan.  sprinkle in the lemon zest, garlic and tarragon, then cook for about 3  minutes over medium heat, turning the mushrooms occasionally. Stir about  2 teaspoons Dijon mustard  into the pan juices between the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a generous quantity of chopped fresh dill, then toss lightly

            Spoon the oyster mushrooms on the  baked croutes. Add wedges of lemon so that they can be  squeezed over the mushrooms just before they are eaten serve at once.

OYSTER NUT The seeds of a ground from a tropical African vine of the Telfairia family. The large flat seeds are hussked and eaten raw, boiled or roasted. They  have a high  fat content and their oil is extracted for  use as a cooking medium. 

OYSTER SAUCE A sauce used in Chinese and South-East Asian cooking as a marinade and seasoning ingredient. Originally made from  whole fermented oysters ground to a thick paste, the modern oyster sauce is made from oyster extract and thickened with starch. Soy sauce, sugar and caramel are  the other ingredients that go to make this rich, salty and sweet, dark-coloured sauce. Oyster sauce may be used to marinate meat or poultry, or it can be  added to stir-fired meat, poultry , vegetables or  noodles. It is also used to flavour dipping sources.

OZANNE French chef (born 1846; died 1896).  He was chef to the king of Greece and the author of Poesies gourmandes.