by Tom Stobart
Coconut oil. This is a usual cooking fat in parts of South India, Ceylon, Malaysia and elsewhere in coconut areas, although there has been a tendency to replace it with hydrogenated vegetable cooking fats. Some people find food cooked with coconut oil difficult to digest. In South India, the oil was made at home by grating the kernel, soaking it in water, and then boiling it until the oil floated to the surface. The oil was then skimmed off and strained. This oil tastes of fresh coconut. Villages had their chekku or oil press.
Other coconut products. Coconut syrup is a product made by evaporating expressed coconut juices with invert sugar. Coconut honey is a thicker, darker product made in a similar way but with longer cooking. These and other coconut products are modern commercial ingredients to be judged on their individual merits.
[Coconut – French: noix de coco German: Kokosnuss Italian: noce di cocco Spanish: nuez de coco]
COCOYAM. See yam (dasheen, yautia).
COD (Gadus morhuo) and its family (Gadidae) are particularly important to the countries bordering on the North Atlantic, cod having been one of the major food fishes for centuries. First fished with lines and later with trawls, it had great value, as it could be salted and dried, and so gave significance to distant fishing grounds, such as the Grand Banks, which would not have been so valuable for perishable fish. (See salt cod.)
Coal fish, saithe, coley or pollock (US) (Pollachius virens) is a poor relation of the cod, particularly caught in northern waters. It is usually one of the cheapest fish and is very ordinary in gastronomic quality, although its nutritive value is as high as that of the cod. The skin of the coal fish is darker than the cod’s, and the flesh is a bit darker when raw, but quite white when cooked.
Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) averages 40-60 cm (16-24 in) in length and is easily distinguished from the usually larger cod because it has a black lateral line rather than a white one and also has a conspicuous black spot on each side below the front dorsal fin. Unlike the usually smaller whiting, it has a barbel on its lower lip. It is found on both sides of the Atlantic as well as in the North Sea. It is at least as delicious as the cod and is smoked to make that great British delicacy, *Finnan haddock.
Hake (Merluccius merluccius), which grows up to 1 m (39 in) long, is generally regarded as the best of the cod family in Europe, although there are others, like the Silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis) on the northern coasts of America, which are good or better. On the Pacific coast of America, the most plentiful hake is Merluccius productus. The hake is the easiest of the cod family to bone, and so is particularly suitable for children. It is abundant from May to September, and is excellent poached whole or used for *ceviche; the head is good for soup.
Ling (Molva molva) lives in the North Atlantic as far south as the Bay of Biscay. It is a prolific fish, caught in large quantities in trawls and, by many, not distinguished from cod. It grows up to 2 m (78 in) long and is salted like cod, differing from it in shape, rather than in quality.
Pollack (Pollachius pollachius) is a good sporting fish for sea anglers, as it grows up to 10 kg (22 lb). Distinguished from the coal fish (see above) by its projecting lower jaw with no barbel and its almost square tail, it is little liked as a food fish, being rather watery; it is best baked. The insides have a notoriously unpleasant smell.
Whiting (Merlangus merlangus) ranges from Norway to the Mediterranean, but is very common in the North Sea. Whiting are small fish, rarely over 30 cm (12 in) long, and at most 2 kg (4½ lb) in weight. The flesh is rather dry, but is considered wholesome and digestible. The fish has a black mark on its side, but no barbel, which distinguishes it from the haddock. They are smoked, as butterfly fillets, and like small haddocks, are sold as cutlets. This is the fish which always used to be served with its tail bent round in a loop and held in its mouth. Many related species are called ‘whiting’ in the US, such as the Carolina whiting (Merluccius americanus) and the California whiting (Merluccius undulatus).
Other species of the cod family, such as the pout or bib (Trisopterus luscus), are of more interest to anglers than to cooks. The pout could be mistaken for a haddock, as it has a black blob on the bottom of its pectoral fin and a barbel, but its colour is rather bronze and the body is deeper.
[Cod – French: morue, cabillaud German: Kabeljau, Dorsch Italian: merluzzo Spanish: bocalao, abadejo.
Haddock – French: aiglefin German: Schellfisch Hake – French: merluche, merlu German: Hechtdorsch, Seehecht Italian: nasello, merluzzo Spanish: merluza.
Whiting – French: merlan German: Weissfisch, Wittling Italian: merlano Spanish: plegonero, merlan]
COFFEE probably came first from Ethiopia, where it is still to be seen growing in a semi-wild state, although it is possible that it originated in the mountains of the Yemen on the other side of the Red Sea. In the 16th century, it was brought up the Red Sea to Egypt, and coffee houses began to open in London and Paris from 1650 onwards. The plants were introduced to both the East and West Indies, and reached Brazil in 1727. Of the many different species of Coffea, the most important is still the original one to be cultivated, C. arabica. A second species, the prolific C. canephora produces a type of ‘robusta’ coffee, which is cheaper and used for blending.
Coffee plants are small trees, but are cultivated as bushes. Their fruits, called cherries, grow in clusters and, when ripe, are red and the size of a cherry. Each cherry normally contains two ‘beans’, flat sides together, in a parchment-like skin. (The few varieties with a single rounded berry give peaberry coffee, which roasts more evenly.) The flesh of the beans is sweet but without value and is removed by stacking the beans until they begin to rot (ferment is the usual word), then by washing it off with water. The seeds are separated, cleaned, dried and graded. Fresh, unroasted beans are anything from grey-green to yellow-brown and have no trace of coffee flavour.
Coffee varies enormously in appearance and in quality. It is very much a field for experts, especially as blending is usual. Few unblended coffees are used, because it is rare to find a coffee which is perfectly balanced in flavour, acidity and strength. Some people make their own blends, but for most of us it is best to leave this to the professionals, who have made a life study of the subject, know the thousands of different types available and have developed a palate. With the present high price of coffee, it is a costly business to start from scratch. The roasting which gives the coffee beans their flavour may be light, medium or dark. Fine coffees would rarely, if ever, be heavily roasted, because this would spoil their subtle flavour. Once roasted, coffee beans must be cooled as rapidly as possible because, as long as they are hot, they are rapidly losing the most delicious and ethereal essential oils. These oils are continually dissipating, though not so fast, even when the beans are cold. Thus, the sooner the beans are used, the better – anyone who cares about coffee will always look for freshly-roasted beans.
As a mechanical roaster is not a common item of domestic equipment, roasting beans at home would have to be done in a pan on the stove or in a heatproof dish in the oven. Old Boer farmers in South Africa always insisted that their wives roasted the coffee freshly in the mornings, but these days, few people will bother to do that except on special occasions, as once when I was given a sack of beautiful coffee on one of my visits to South India. The coffee beans must be continually but gently turned over in a dry pan; to stop turning them for even a second burns them. Roasting will take some 15 minutes of undivided attention; in the oven, it would take slightly longer. At the end you may put in a little sugar to melt and coat the beans, thus helping to seal in the flavour, but I find that this gives a caramel flavour – which some, I suppose, may like.
Although it may be argued that the imperfections of home-roasting are likely to cancel out the advantages of freshness, there can be no question of the superiority of home-ground coffee. It repays the effort overwhelmingly, quite as much – perhaps even more – than using freshly-ground pepper from the mill. Ground coffee deteriorates in flavour noticeably in ha
lf an hour. Manufacturers minimize losses by packing ground coffee in a vacuum or an inert gas, but once the tin is opened, deterioration begins just as quickly. As small electric grinders are cheap and efficient, there is really no reason for buying ground coffee.
Each of the many methods of making coffee has its advocates. Those who like a strong, bitter espresso like a strong, bitter espresso, and it is useless to argue that other coffees are better. Fine coffees are best made by putting a generous amount of the ground coffee into a warmed earthenware jug and pouring on boiling water. After stirring, then letting the coffee stand for some minutes, you may put a teaspoon of cold water gently over the top to help settle the grains, but filtration is not usually necessary. Also popular are filter methods in which the ground coffee is put in a paper filter in a funnel of some sort which rests over the top of the coffee pot. Water, which has come to the boil, is then poured over the coffee and drips through to the pot.
Good coffees are produced in many countries. The famous Mocha coffee, originally from Arabia, is very aromatic and, at best, tastes like the smell that wafts down the street from the shop with the roaster. Blue Mountain is another familiar name and is properly from Jamaica. However, most Blue Mountain is exported straight to Japan and so it is hard to find true Blue Mountain in coffee shops. Fine coffees also come from Central and South America. Coffee from other sources (Kenya, for instance) are continually improving in quality.
Turkish coffee (or Greek coffee, depending on where you are drinking it) is served throughout the Levant. To make it, coffee beans are ground to a powder in a mortar or in a special hand grinder, and the drink is made by boiling the powdered coffee with a little water and sugar in a special, long-handled pot (an ibrik). It is boiled up several times to get exactly the right froth on top, and is offered in several degrees of sweetness. In Arab countries, coffee is part of the traditional hospitality and its serving can be almost as much a ritual as the Japanese tea ceremony. Arab coffee pots have a peaked spout into which can be put some vegetable fibre for straining; opened cardamom seeds or even cloves can be used for added flavour.
With good coffee, additives such as salt and mustard are unnecessary. Instant coffee is popular for its convenience. Flavour varies from brand to brand, but connoisseurs are unlikely to find it delicious, though many now use it as a flavouring in cooking.
Exhaustive medical tests have been made, and nobody has shown that coffee in ordinary amounts is harmful. Excess, especially when coupled with bad eating habits, is another matter. As coffee is expensive, it is open to adulteration and imitation. *Chicory root, roasted and broken into nibs, is the most common additive, and its use has become hallowed by tradition so that some people prefer blends that contain it. Coffee substitutes include roasted barley (sometimes malted), which is also used as a cheap additive to ‘stretch’ coffee and produce a less expensive drink, roasted dandelion root (which is something like chicory) and roasted sugar beet. See caffeine.
[Coffee – French: café German: Kaffee Italian: caffe Spanish: café]
COGNAC is a particular type of *brandy made in a legally specified area around the town of Cognac about 100 km (60 miles) north of Bordeaux, but the word is popularly used in many countries as a synonym for brandy. Cognac is distilled in old-fashioned pot stills from a thin, sourish white wine which is made traditionally from the folle blanche grape, but today also from other less frost-prone varieties. The wine is undrinkable, but the brandy is superb. After distillation, the cognac is matured for periods of up to 40 years in casks of local oak. For sale, cognac is almost always blended. A fine champagne must contain at least 51% from the central Grande Champagne region of the Cognac area and the remainder from the adjacent Petite Champagne. (In this case, ‘Champagne’ means countryside and has nothing to do with the sparkling wine from near Rheims.) There is a shorthand, which is not legally defined but is generally accepted, for indicating the quality of cognac and the length of time it has been matured in the cask. One star *has been matured for at least 3 years, **at least 4, ***at least 5. Older brandies are denoted by initials starting with VO, very old; then VSO, very superior old (12-17 years in cask); VSOP, very superior old pale (20 years); WSOP, very, very superior old pale: XO, extra old (30 years). After, at most, 40 years, the quality begins to decline.
In cooking, unless otherwise specified, use a three-star cognac for ‘brandy’ wherever the spirit is to be used cold or sprinkled in towards the end of cooking. A cheaper spirit might be used when it is to be burned.
COINTREAU. See liqueurs and cordials.
COLA NUTS or kola nuts are used for chewing, as they contain relatively large amounts of *caffeine and other stimulating alkaloids. The tree (Cola nitida) is native to the forests of tropical West Africa, but today is grown in many other parts of the tropics. The taste is at first bitter, then sweet, and a simple drink can be made by boiling the powdered nuts in water. Prepared drinks containing cola are today almost, if not quite, universal.
COLCHESTER PYEFLEET. See oyster.
COLE or coleseed. See rape.
COLEY. See cod (coal fish).
COLLAR. See bacon.
COLLARD. See cabbage, kale.
COLLOP. A fairly thick slice of meat, but alternatively an egg fried with bacon.
COLOCASIA. See yam (dasheen).
COLOSTRUM. See beestings.
COLOURINGS. Most countries have their own lists of approved food colourings and synthetic dyes which are thought by the pundits to be harmless and therefore allowed in foods. Some countries are more cautious than others, and experts do not always agree. Harmful and even carcinogenic substances have, in the past, got through the net, and as nobody can be sure of long-term effects until substances have been used over a period of time, we are no doubt going to find other wolves among the lambs. Having said that, one should also say that there is no a priori reason for thinking that synthetic substances are more toxic than natural ones. Dyes are very often active chemicals and so likely to be harmful, but the food industry knows that the public buys by sight. Yellow butter must be rich, and the Spaniard must offer yellow paella to the tourist (and to himself) for even though there is no taste of saffron, the yellow colour fools the tourists into thinking there is; such is the power of suggestion that the Spanish may even imagine the missing taste. I would always leave dyes out.
Natural food colours which have been in use for a long time are: *cochineal (crimson), *kermes (purple red), *annatto (yellow), *safflower (yellow), *chlorophyll (green), *alkanna (crimson and violet), *cudbear (red) and the juices of various berries and roots. Coloured substances often have strong flavours which limit their application as simple colouring agents – examples are saffron and turmeric.
In cake decoration, I use: for red, the juice expressed from raw, grated beetroot mixed with plenty of lemon juice and concentrated by boiling (not much or it goes brown) to reduce the volume; for green, spinach, blanched and pounded and the juice squeezed out; for brown, instant coffee or chocolate. With these simple materials, it is possible to make beautiful floral decorations on cakes.
[Colouring – French: colorant German: Farbmittel Italian: colorito Spanish: colorante]
COMMON BEAN. See kidney bean.
COMPOSITE. Member of the plant family Compositae, which includes such common flowers as thistles, daisies and dandelions. The common feature of composites is that what we might think of as their flowers are in fact groups of tiny flowers (florets).The composites are the largest family of flowering plants with more than 14,000 species ranging from annuals to trees. Among them are many plants of culinary significance. The seeds of sunflower and safflower yield fine oils. The most important salad greens – lettuce, endive and chicory – are composites, as are some root vegetables, notably salsify, scorzonera and Jerusalem artichoke. Other composite vegetables are the globe artichoke, of which the young flower-heads are eaten, and cardoon, which is grown for its leaf stalks. Composite herbs include tarragon, tansy, camomile and wormwood.
COMPRESSED YEAST. A cake of American compressed *yeast equals roughly 15 g fresh yeast.
CONDENSED MILK. When people speak of condensed milk they usually mean sweetened condensed milk. (They refer to the unsweetened as *evaporated milk. The two have different characteristics and are preserved by different methods.)
The idea of concentrating milk by boiling is ancient. Indian khoa or mawa (often used in Indian sweets) is made by boiling and concentrating milk – originally buffalo milk – right down to a paste. Modern canned condensed milk is made after first pasteurizing the milk at just below boiling (80-90°C/176-194°F) for a minute and then adding sugar. After that, the pressure is lowered until the milk boils at 50-60°C (122-140°F).It is reduced by boiling to about a third of its original volume. This leaves the sweet sticky condensed milk; it consists of 40-45% cane sugar with 28% milk solids and the rest water. The preliminary pasteurization destroys the enzymes (which, if left, might cause undesirable changes) and kills most bacteria, but sweetened condensed milk is not sterile and, when canned and sealed, it is not sterilized by heat. Sweetened condensed milk nevertheless keeps well, just like jam, because of its high sugar content. For the same reason, sweetened condensed milk also keeps for some time after it is opened. If, as occasionally happens, one finds a blown or bad-tasting tin, the contents are harmless though unpleasant. In cooking, it is mainly used as a short cut in making some simple puddings and salad dressings, and it is useful for making Indian sweetmeats to offer after a curry.
Indian Coconut Sweets
Grate some coconut. (If fresh coconut is not available then desiccated coconut can be used, though it is not quite so good.) Mix the grated coconut with condensed milk until a paste is formed of such a consistency that it can be rolled into balls. As each ball is made, roll it in more coconut and set it on a plate to dry a little.