From: schuldy@progress.COM (Mark Schuldenfrei)
Subject: Re: Lamprey sauce
Organization: Progress Software Corp.
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 16:04:20 GMT

Gretchen Miller is going to join the brave few who redact recipes.
Yay!  This is fun to do.

As as aside, as part of the local SCA group, there is a cook's
guild that meets once a month or so.  For years, we've been using
these meetings to redact recipes.  (I neither founded, nor run this
group, but I'm enthusiastic about it).  It can be a lot of fun to
get together, and exchange techniques and ideas, and I encourage it.

So, have fun, Gretchen.  In the mean time, some of the comments that
you asked for.

My friend, Joanne Macelhiney (SCA Name: Johanna Dudley) (who runs
the cooks guild) introduced me to thickening sauces with bread
crumbs.  I'd say about a half cup of bread crumbs per two cups of
liquid works well, with a lot of slow simmering and stirring.
For folks like me on a fat free diet, that's a nice thing to know,
since roux is so high in fat.

You can follow Chiquart's recipe, and start with stale bread, and
dry it, and then soak it until it dissolves, or you can make or
buy bread crumbs.  (I've found that Barbara Kafka's technique for
making bread crumbs from fresh bread in the microwave (see the
Microwave Gourmet) works great.  Tear the bread into chunks, and
dry on high for two one-minute periods, turning, if I remember
correctly: I always look it up, though.  It could be more time than
that.

This does have a gently different flavor from toast, you may wish
to experiment to see which flavor makes a difference.  My hunch is
that with all those spices, it makes no difference.

I don't think that it is an accurate re-creation of Chiquart to
simply dry the bread in the oven, though.  A toaster or broiler
or grilling it in a pan on the stove would be closer. Yet, as
I say, I bet it makes little difference in the end.  I wouldn't
use Italian bread (such as Scali) unless you really cut back on 
the vinegar: it ha a slightly (lovely) sour flavor.  Plain white
manchette is good, ie, a firm white bread.

Boullion is usually saltier then heck, and is not made from
good meats.  In a sauce, the quality of your ingredients really
shines.  Make it yourself, or at least, use a good quality canned.
(You mentioned College Inn.  That's OK, and I've used it, but I
prefer the low salt variety of their brand.)  Whatever you use,
chill the can in the refrigerator, and pull the hardened fat off,
if you want "lean bullion".  I keep my canned stock in the fridge at
all times, so I can make it leaner if I want (I usually do).  From
the recipe, I would keep a second can on hand, in case you want
more sauce than it sounds like. Remember, Chiquart was talking
a barrel or two of wine, to 2 pounds of beef, according to what
you wrote below.  Sounds more like a soup than a gravy.

I would use a good wine (In a sauce, the quality...).  I'd avoid
the more bitter wines, such as Chianti, or Merlot.  But a decent
Burgundy, or a good Cab would be nice.  I'd start, as a basis,
with one cup of wine for one cup of stock.

Balance your spices as you will.  You local health food store may
carry spices such as galingale, and you should get to know them.
My local health food store charges about one fifth of the price
that my grocery store does.  You might also find galingale in the
ethnic foods section of your grocery store: check especially the
hispanic foods section (in the US, try the Goya Brand).  If your
grocer carries some Goya stuff, but not their spices, see if they
will special order a few bottles of the spices from the distributor
for you.

A coffee grinder has no trouble grinding spices.

I wouldn't just combine the sauce, and blend it.  Heat everything
liquid, and the spices, very gently in a cookpot, and stir until
warm.  Take the bread, or crumbs, into a separate bowl, and add
a little liquid at a time, and mash like crazy with a spoon. It
will eventually form a nice paste, and you can tell when your done
when the last addition of liquid makes it soupy.  Dilute heavily
in the bowl, and then add to the pot.  This seems like a lot more
work, but Chiquart didn't have a food processor.  (Yes, it's a
contradiction for me to recommend a microwave, and to recommend
avoiding a food processor.  I contain multitudes.)

That's enough babbling, what do other people think?

	schuldy (Tibor in the SCA)
--
Mark Schuldenfrei (schuldy@progress.com)
Newsgroups: rec.food.historic