What is in Name

Mayonnaise, bayonnaise or Magnonnaise??

A cold emulsified sauce consisting of egg yolks and oil blended together and flavoured with vinegar, salt,pepper and mustard.

There are four possible etymologies of its name, whose spelling has also changed several times. Some sources attribute the name to the Duke of Richelieu, who captured port Mahon on th island of Minorca on 28 June 1756. Either the duke himself or his chef created the sauce during this period and named it mahonnaise. Others beleive that the sauce was originally a speciality of the town of Bayonne, known as bayonnaise sauce, which has since become modified to mayonnaise. However, Careme claimed that the wordis derived from the French verb manier(to stir) andcalled it magnonnaise or magninonnaise; in his cuisinier parisien: he wrote "...... it is only by stirring the liquids together that one can acheive a saucetaht is very smooth, very appetizing, and unique ofits kind, as it does notbear any resemblence to the sauces that are obtained only by boiling and reducing on the stove." Finally, Prosper Montagne suggested that the word was" a popular corruption of moyeunaise, derived from the Old French moyeu,meaning egg yolk. Now when all is said and done, the sauce is simple an emulsion of egg yolk and oil"

The incorporation of complimentary ingredients into plain mayonnaise allowsa very wide rangeof derivative sauces to be obtained: andalouse, italienne, tartare,verte, Cambridge, indienne,dijonnaise, gribiche, vincent. In order to make a successful mayonnaise, it is important that all the ingredients should be at the same temperature. Some recommend that the egg yolk should be left to stand with some mustard for a few minutes before adding oil. If a mayonnaise has curdeled, this can be rectified by adding the mixture, a little ata atime, to another egg yolk plus a pinch of mustard and a few drops of vinegar or water. Mayonnaise shouldbe stored ina cool place, but not in the refrigirator.

Mayonnasie is served as an accomaniment to cold dishes. It can also be used for decoration or as a seasoning of fish, shellfish and poultry. When mixed with aspic , mayonnaise is used for coating coldfood or binding the ingredients of a salad.

To end with whatever is said and done,i stand with the great Careme.

Pragul...

Too Many Sauces

Is it really Six?

What I learned in school is the six basic mother sauces starts from béchamel, Espagneole, hollandaise, veloute, tomato and mayonnaise. But there are too many sauces, the béchamel which owes its name to Marquis of Bechameil is a white sauce made by adding milk to roux (equal amount of flour and butter cooked together), but it has two versions. I salute careme for his great Espagneole sauce (Brown Sauce), but again Chef Denis modern version is there, which one is more flavorful? I am happy about the veloute because there are no new versions, the hollandaise is a hot emulsified sauce but again the lemon juice substitutes the vinegar in the new version.
Where to put the tomato and mayonnaise, how to classify and where to start because the numbers are more than we think and when I think about classification its hard to follow, there are the international sauces, the pestos, chutneys, relish, sweet sauces and many more, not to forget the derivatives of the basic mother sauces. What I suggest is put the sauces in two categories hot and cold and use the roux, liaisons and emulsifiers as the base, before applying your ideas ensure that the sauce you prepare should have the following characteristics

# It must have a distinctive texture
# It must have a body with flavors concentrated to just the right degree, mild or pungent, to complement the rest of the dish
# The color of the sauce must accent the dish its being served with
# It must have the right consistency


When you stick on to the abovementioned points I am sure the sauce is going to be just awesome, remember the STOCK (Flavored Liquid) needs another archive in this blog.

If you need recipes about sauces, mail me at:
sathishmanjitha@gmail.com
satheep@yahoo.com

I am the King of......

Brie

A cow'smilk cheese(45%fat content), originated in the Ile -de- France, which has a soft texture and acrust that is springy to the touch, covered in white down, and tinted withred.It ismade inthe shape of a disc variable diameter,often placed on a straw mat; since it is drained on a inclined surface, the finished cheeseis sometimes of unveven thickness. The thinnest part is the best matured. The body of the cheese is light yellow, flaxen or golden in colour, with a delicate flavour and a bouquet of varying strength depending on whether the Vrie is farmhouse or dairy. It is served towards the end of the meal , but it is also suitable for Vol-au-Vent, Croquettes, and Canapes.

Brie appears to have been in existence in the time of Charlemange, who is said tohave eaten it at the priory of Rueil - en- Brie. The poet Saint- Amant compares it to gold:" Fromage, que tu vaux d'ecus ( "Cheese, you are worth your weight in gold"). In 1973 it was said that Brie "loved by rich and poor, preached equality before it was suspected to be possible". Talleyrand, an informed diplomat and gastronome, had it proclaimed king of cheese during a dinner organized during the Congress og Vienna.Of the 52 diffrent cheeses offered to the guests, it was a Brie from the farm of Estourville at Villeroy which was voted the beat.

Brie enjoys thesame prestige today, even though itis usually dairy- manufactured, There are four types: Meaux and Melun ( protected by appellation controlee) Montereau and Coullommiers.

We Three...

People from Manjitha are all ready to Marudamalai. A hill in Coimbatore, it’s a religious walk from manjitha to marudamalai which takes two days. A group of thirty members started on Wednesday afternoon and reached on Friday around 1am. I was also in that group but not walking? What am I doing there? I was driving a MM540 with all the equipments for cooking. Me, Buddan and Babu who were in charge of cooking for those thirty. We had a bag of rice and all the masalas; the real secret is our Chili Powder Home made badugas chili powder, ill tell you the recipe later.

Friday lunch was in the jungle between burliyar and kallar the ambience was green, the climate was cool, small aluminum plates substituted the cutting board and the tomato rice turned our great the only problem is the Rice and Water combination it varies from place to place. We three started to Kallar for our mis en place for dinner though the menu is rice, udhaka (a badugas gravy with vegetables) and papad we reached there early. The udhaka was awesome and Rice?? It was soggy, hope you know why, thankfully the thirty didn’t cursed us for that soggy rice but they didn’t go for a second help, its Babus Rechauffe idea to prepare curd rice for breakfast.
The breakfast included Mixed Vegetable Vermicelli and curd rice with tomato chutney, ‘not bad’ was the comment from Thiag my brother who was among the thirty, a typical badugas lunch was prepared at Vakkil Thottam on the way to marudamali, fifty percent of our rice water combination was solved, the time was 3pm, the lunch was heavy and the thirty THREE were tired so we thought of resting but the mosquitoes made them to start early. Budan, Babu and myself stayed back to prepare Biryani for dinner, it was the best one I ever prepared the biryani was awesome and we wondered what happened to the rice and water combination, I learned not to stick on to the recipe, use it as a base and involve your ideas in cooking. Cooking is all-innovative else we should still be eating raw or spit roasted games. “Its not the ingredients in the recipe that counts, a pinch of love means more” HAPPY COOKING.

Ali Baba

BABA

A cake made from leavened dough that contains raisins and is steeped, after baking, in rum or Kirsh syrup.It is served either as individual small cakes baked in dariole moulds or as a large cake, often decorated with angelica nad glace(candied) cherries.

The origin of this cake is attributed to the greediness of the Polish king Stanislas,who was exiled in Lorraine.He found the traditional kouglof too dry and improved it by adding rum.As a dedicated reader of the Thousand and One Nights, he is said to have named this creation after hisfavourite hero,Ali BAba. This recipe was a great success at the court of Nancy, where it was usually served with a sauce of sweetened Malaga.Creme writes, however: "It was well known that the true Polish baba should bemade with rye flour and Hungarian wine."

Sthorer, a pastrycook who attended the court of Polish king, perfected the recipe using a brioche steeped in alcohol; he made it thespeciality of his house in the RueMontorgueil in Paris and called it 'baba'. Around 1850. several renowned pastrycooks, taking their inspiration from the baba, created the faibourg in Bordeaux the brillat - savarin( later known as the savarin_ in Paris.

Preparing individuals rum babas.

• Make a well in the flour and add the sugar, salt, and the whole eggs; mix well and add the yeast dissolced in warm water


• Add the butter and raisins. The batter should be thick and elastic.


• Pour the batter into buttered baba moulds and leave it to rise ina warm place


• As soon as they are cooked, turn out the baba abd leave them to cool completely ona wire rack.


• Immerse them several at a time in boiling syrup, or spoon it over them until they are well soaked.Finally decorate them with glace(candied) cherries and angelica

Cheese & Horse ???

Caciocavallo

An italian cheese made from cows' milk(44% fat content) and often smoked.It is compact and straw coloured witha pale fine oily crust.It is moulded into the shape of a narrow gourd with a smaller swelling on the top and weighs 3 -4 Kg .Its name, a combination of the Italian words cacio(Cheese) and cavallo ( Horse), could come from the fact that the ripening cheeses are tied together in pairs with wisps of straw, and hung in sticks to dry. Another possibility is that it was named after the seal of the Kingdom of Naples, which depicted a galloping horse and was imprinted on the cheese in the 14th century.It is also possible that it was so named because Caciocavallo was originally made with mares; milk.today, the best Caciocavallo still comes from southern Italy.It is usually eaten at the end of a meal.If it is matured for a long period, it comes very hard andis then grated before it is used.

Dead man's head

EDAM

A dutch cows' milk cheese, containing 30 - 40% fat, in th shape of a large ball with a yellow or red waxed coating .The seihard pressed cheese is firm but elastic, free of holes , and light yellow to yellow ochre in colour, depending on its degree of maturity.Edam is described as 'young' after two or three months in a dry cellar, when it has a sweet nutty flavour; after six months it is 'semimatured' with a stronger flavour; at the end of a year's maturing it is described as 'matured' and has a slight bite.Edam is also known as tete de mort or tete de maur( dead man's head or Moor's head), due to its characteristic head like shape. Measuring about 13 cm in diameter,it weighs between 1.5 and 1.7 Kg. A baby Edam is also available , weighing 1Kg, and a triple Edam, weighing6.5Kg.

Edam is made everywhere in the Netherlands, and even in France and Belgium, but authentic Edam, from the small port in the northen Netherlands, is proctected by a lable of origin.It is usually served after the meal, often with pale ale, but it is also used a good deal in cookery. Young or semimatured cheeseis suitable for sandwiches, pastries, canapes, croquemonsieurs,and mixed salads; matured ccheese is used in gratins, souffles, and tarts. In bordeaux it is sometimes cut up into small cubes and served at wine tasting in the vineyards. Lastly, it is used in traditional dish called keshy yena from curacao, the maim island in the Dutch East Indies.

Alaska Baked ....

BAKED ALASKA

The novelty of this dessert lies in the contrast between the ice cream inside and the very hot meringue surrounding it. The classic baked alaska consists of a base of genoese sponge soaked in liqueuron which is placed a block of fruit or vanilla ice cream, the whole thing being masked with plain or italian meringue . This is cooked in hot oven for a very short timeso that the meringue is coloured but the ice cream is not melted. It is served immediately, sometimes flamed.

The original recipe is said to have been perfected, or rather brought back into fashion, at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, by the Chef Jean Giroix. An american doctor called Rumford is credited with the invention of this dessert, Which is based on the principle that beaten egg white is a poor conductor of heat.However, according to baron brisse , in his cookery colum in la liberte(6 june 1866) . a chef to a chinese delegation visiting Paris introduced this dessert to the french:

"During the stay of chinese delegation in Paris , the chefs of the Celestial empire exchanged courtesies and recipes with the chefs at the Grand Hotel. The French dessert chef was delighted at this opportunity: his chinese collegue taught him thae art of cooking vanilla and ginger ice in the oven. This is how the delicate operation is performed : very firm ice cream is enveloped in an extremely light pastry crust baked in the oven.The crust insulates the interior and is cooked before the ice can melt.Gourmands can then enjoy the twofokld pleasure of biting into a crisp crust and at the same time refreshing the palate with the flavoured ice cream".

From:Larousse Gastronomique - Paul Hamlyn; Page :55

Carrots......

Did you know Carrots originated in Afghanistan and possibly northern Iran and Pakistan. Queen Anne's Lace is wild carrot which interpollinates readily with carrot and occurs in disturbed ecological areas (roadsides, vacant lots, etc.) all around the world in temperate regions with adequate moisture. In 900 - 1000 AD: Purple and yellow carrots had been spread from Afghanistan to the eastern Mediterranean. In 1300s: Purple and yellow carrots in western Europe and China. In 1600s: Yellow carrots in Japan. In 1700s: In addition to purple and yellow, white carrots were reported in Europe with an orange type first reported in The Netherlands and adjoining regions. Today: Orange carrots predominate world-wide although some white types persist in western and eastern Europe (for livestock), some red (not orange) in Japan, some yellow and purple in the Mideast, and some purple, yellow, and red from Turkey to India and China.

Yorkshire Yorkshire

Where did this dish originate and why?
Yorkshire Pudding: The Where? Well the name suggests of course Yorkshire, but other counties in the UK make claim to its origin also.
Yorkshire Pudding: Why? I have always been told that originally it was not actually served with the roast beef, but before the meal itself, drenched in a rich gravy. Apparently, it was created to be served as a stomach filler. Times being hard and meat an expensive item in most working class family budgets, as such the traditional Sunday roast in the UK being quite an event and something to look forward to each week.
With a generous amount of beef flavoured gravy, the Yorkshire pudding not only tasted like beef, it had a texture similar to it and cheaply filled the stomach . . . meaning the small portion of beef actually served did not seem as meagre as it might have actually been. Any that were left over would be served for afternoon tea with jam, cream, etc and why not, they are just a form of 'cake' after all!
These days of course we serve it as an accompaniment to the roast beef, gravy, along with the traditional roast potatoes, vegetables, etc. Creamed horseradish of course also being a must.
Yorkshire Pudding: Understanding the complexities
What about these problems many people have making them . . . why do they not rise? Why do they fall flat? Should they be crisp or soft? some like them soft, some crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. When you lash them with a gravy does it make any real difference?
But to answer the main problems people have with them, rising and falling flat. One must think and understand about why and how this happens to answer it. They rise mainly because of the egg content in the mixture . . . NEVER add baking powder! For this rising to occur the mixture needs instant heat, this creates steam and they puff up and rise - so the oven, etc must all be pre-heated, a slow gentle heat or cold oven will not work.
They will fall flat if they are removed from the oven too soon. If they do not slightly crispen on the outside the structure of the egg and flour mixture does not fully 'dextrinise' meaning its structure will not hold its own weight . . .
Cooking times will always vary, as everyone's oven is slightly different and because we tend to open and close the door to remove the meat, the potatoes, etc. So the 12 minutes given here is approximate only, one will need to judge and modify accordingly.
Yorkshire Pudding: The secrets
To get a good rise one must fill the mix with as much egg as possible using only a drizzle of milk. Unfortunately the recipe here then is not 'foolproof' in amounts, as I cannot guarantee the size of eggs that you use and they do differ in amount by as much as 20gm per egg, so it is best to adjust the flour rather than the egg. The trick is to pack the mixture with eggs!
Use deep sided muffin trays and heat these trays up prior to use
Put in a good measure of hot oil into each mould. If the oil is really hot, until it just starts to give of a slight haze but not quite smoking (approximately 180°C) the moment the batter is poured in, it will sizzle, begin to cook and rise at the sides immediately. This gives that 'hollowed' centre look that can be filled and will hold the gravy
Do not worry about the oil content too much: if you want perfect 'Yorkies' you have to live with it and most of it will still be there when they are cooked and can be poured away for re-use when you remove the final, cooked product
With experience one will be able to judge when they can be removed and not fall flat / deflate. If you notice that they are beginning to, pop them straight back in for a few more minutes, this allows the correct amount of hardening / crispening of the outer walls to develop and holds the shape and size
Yorkshire Pudding Recipe
Ingredients for Yorkshire Pudding
flour - cake or all purpose - 2 cups / 250 grams / 8 3/4 ozs
eggs - 4pc
milk - 2tbs
salt - pinch
How to make Yorkshire Pudding
Combine the egg and milk thoroughly with fork (do not whisk)
Add the enough of the flour and using a whisk combine to form a thick yet pourable batter; one that is nicely thick but can be easily poured from a jug. How thick is too thick, how thin is too thin is a matter of trial and error and will soon be become evident as you make a few batches
Add a little salt to taste
Place the muffin tray / moulds in the oven to pre-heat (180° - 200°C) for 15 minutes. The oil may also be added at this time and heated in the oven or may be heated separately and poured in. I find that putting in enough oil to 1/5th of the mould works best.
When both the moulds and oil are hot, pour in the batter, if it does not start to sizzle immediately, stop and continue to heat and try again
Place on the middle shelf and bake for approx.12 minutes until risen, golden brown and slightly crisp. A tray on the top shelf will help prevent them browning too much as this deflects the falling heated air particles (use this tip when baking cakes etc too!)
Remove from the oven and carefully (as they will be hot) remove from the tray and serve as soon as possible
Remember to pour away the fat while still warm to be re-used and pop the puddings in the oven if they seem to be starting to collapse after a minute or so
Tips for Yorkshire Pudding:
Try adding a little something to the mixture for a Yorkshire Pudding with a difference:
Yorkshire Pudding with chopped parsley
Yorkshire Pudding with chopped chives
Yorkshire Pudding with chopped coriander
Yorkshire Pudding with whole-seed mustard
Yorkshire Pudding with turmeric
Yorkshire Pudding with smoked paprika



from- hub.uk.com

Soup facts

Soup Facts that You Might Not Have Known...
Here are some known and little-known soup facts (believe it or not!) that you might find interesting. I did!
Can you believe that Americans sip over 10 BILLION bowls of soup every single year! That's a lot of soup!
Every year, 99% of all American homes buy soup - turning it into a $5 billion business. Whoa! I'm in the wrong business!
Who eats more soup?. Men or women? Well, for a typical lunch, women seem to be more than twice as likely to eat soup as men. Statistics say, 9.6% vs. 4.0%.
When was the earliest evidence of our ancestors eating soup? About 6000 BC! And guess what kind of soup it was? Hippopotamus!
So, in the late 1700s, apparently the French King was so enamored with himself that he had his royal chefs create a soup that would allow him to see his own reflection in the bowl. Sheesh! But as a result, consomme (clear broth) was born.
Since we're talking about the French here's another interesting tidbit of soup. In the French Court of Louis XI, the ladies' meals were mostly soup. Guess what the reasoning was? They were afraid that chewing would make them break out in facial wrinkles!
Why did thin soups became all the rage in Europe during the 17th century? The claim is that the soup spoon was invented. (How did they eat soup before the soup spoon??? - can't quite swallow this one, but it's fun to read about!) Why was this specific kind of spoon invented? Because of the latest fashion trend: large and stiff ruffles that men and women wore around their necks. (I bet that's how clowns got their ideas for their costumes!) The design of the soup spoon was to accommodate wearers of those large ruffles and keep themselves from getting dripped on!
Frank Sinatra always asked for chicken and rice soup to be available to him in his dressing rooms before he went on stage.
Another famous person who loved soup was Andy Warhol. He told someone that he painted those famous soup cans because its what he had for lunch - every day for 20 years!
“Troubles are easier to take with soup than without.” - from an old Yiddish saying.
“Of soup and love, the first is the best.” - from an old Spanish proverb.

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