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Cook's Encyclopaedia Page 31

by Tom Stobart


  [Cream – French: crème German: Sahne Italian: panna Spanish: crema, nato]

  CREAM NUT. See Brazil nut.

  CREAM OF TARTAR. Purified form of tartar which, in crude form, is obtained from the encrusted *argol and *lees in wine. It is essentially acid potassium tartrate, a white crystalline powder with a slightly sour taste. Cream of tartar is only sparingly soluble in water, and hardly at all when the water is cold. One of the main reasons for keeping wine cool in the cellar is to get the tartar to crystallize out and fall to the bottom of the tank. Cream of tartar is used in baking powders, but is rather an old-fashioned ingredient in the modern kitchen. Three teaspoons of cream of tartar to 1 teaspoon of *bicarbonate of soda in a cake mixture (with the two ingredients mixed in separately) can be used as a substitute for baking powder. Cream of tartar used also to be put into soft drinks.

  Lemonade

  To 2¼ It (4 pt) boiling water add 25 g (1 oz) cream of tartar, 100 g (4 oz) sugar and the juice and rind of 2 lemons. Mix all together and drink when cold.

  [Cream of tartar – French: crème de tartre German: gereinigter Weinstein Italian: cremore di tartaro Spanish: crémor]

  CRÈME DE CACAO and CRÈME DE CASSIS. See liqueurs and cordials.

  CRÉPINETTE in French charcuterie is any mixture of minced meat, usually pork, but also lamb, veal, chicken or liver, with fat, herbs, spices and seasonings, sometimes with a slice of truffle, parcelled up in a piece of mesentery or caul (crépin), and usually given a round, slightly flattened shape. Gayettes, from Southern France, are similar but ball-shaped and stuffed with lights – liver, lungs, spleen, etc. – very like English faggots. Sometimes crépinettes can be bought already cooked, in which case they can be eaten cold, but otherwise they should be dipped in melted butter (or butter and bread-crumbs) and grilled, or roasted, sautéed, or fried, or even poached in gravy or sauce.

  CRESPONE. See salame.

  CRESS. A number of plants, mostly crucifers, are called cress if they have pungent or peppery leaves.

  Watercress is a plant of shallow water. It is native to Europe and western Asia and naturalized in many other countries – it is a serious weed of rivers in New Zealand. Commercially, it is cultivated in shallow tanks fed by natural springs or boreholes because of the danger that it may carry typhoid or other diseases if it is grown in river water (or gathered wild from streams). lf you are in any doubt about the cleanliness of the source, it is best to cook the watercress as soup.

  Two basic types are cultivated in Britain: Green or Summer cress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum), which stays green in autumn but is damaged by frost, and Brown or Winter cress (R. microphylla Xnasturtium-aquaticum), a hybrid with the other wild species and less affected by frost. Like the wild One-rowed watercress (R. microphyfla), its leaves turn purplish brown in autumn. The cultivated strains of watercress range from green to bronze or almost black. The last is considered the best. Watercress may be almost too pungent to eat or so mild as to be uninteresting. It should preferably be moderately free from small roots.

  To keep it fresh, the bunch can be immersed in cold water right up to the base of the leaves. Freshly gathered watercress, if it is unbruised, will keep for some days in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (away from the freezer compartment); you should first pick off any roots and dead or battered leaves, wash it gently but thoroughly in several changes of water, and drain it.

  Cress, Garden cress, Pepper cress or Peppergrass (Lepidum sotivum). Native in Egypt and western Asia but naturalized as a wild plant in Europe and North America, this is the cress of ‘mustard and cress’, which should be a mixture of the seedlings of this and mustard (Sinapis alba). Home growers of mustard and cress will know that the cress has to be planted first, as its feathery-leaved seedlings take 3-4 days longer to sprout, which is undoubtedly why commercially grown punnets described as mustard and cress tend to deliver only half their promise, containing nothing but the quicker-growing mustard or *rape. As a garden salad plant, cress has the advantage of needing little water and not developing small roots along its stems. It is not as fine in taste as the best watercress.

  Winter cress or Yellow rocket (Barbarea vulgaris) and Land cress or Early flowering yellow rocket (B. verna) both grow wild in Britain, though only the former is a native. These and probably other species of Barbarea go under various names, including American cress and Belle Isle cress. They are pungent in taste and are a useful winter salad as they can be picked for much of the winter if they are protected by a cloche or frame.

  *Rocket (Eruco sativa) is another crucifer that is sometimes grown as a salad.

  Indian cress is better known as the garden flower, *nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus).

  [Cress – French: cresson de ruisseau German: Brunnekress Italian: crescione di fonte Spanish: berra.

  Garden cress – French: cresson cultivé German: Gartenkresse Italian: crescione di giardino Spanish: mastuerzo de Jardin.

  American cress – French: cresson alénois German: Barbarakraut]

  CRIMPING. In cooking, this means making gashes (as transversely in the sides of a fish) to allow penetration of marinade, and to make for quicker grilling, with more flavour. Crimping also means to corrugate in small pleats, and so is applied to shaping the edge of a flan or pie crust. However, a crimping iron is for hair.

  CRISPBREAD. See flatbread.

  CROSNES. See Chinese artichoke.

  CROWBERRY. See cranberry.

  CRUCIFER. Member of the plant family Cruciferae, which has about 1900 species, mainly in the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. The family is characterized by the four-petalled, usually white or yellow flowers and a seed capsule that opens on two sides, starting at the stalk end (it may be short and flat as in honesty or long and thin as in rocket).The most important food plants in the family belong to the genus Brassica, which includes both leaf and root vegetables: B. oleracea (cabbage, cauliflower, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi and brussels sprouts), B. napus (rape and swede) and B. rapa (turnip). Two more species, B. nigra and B.juncea provide mustard seed, as does the white mustard (Sinapis alba). Both mustard and rape seeds are sources of oil. The leaves of many species, both wild and cultivated, are eaten as salad, notably watercress and other cresses as well as rocket. Horseradish root is used, not as a vegetable, but as a flavouring.

  CRUMBS. Anyone who thinks that crumbs are not worthy of attention may well ruin a lot of food as a result, for crumbs have a taste as well as a texture. They are an important ingredient and not a way of using up bits of stale, otherwise inedible, bread.

  Dried breadcrumbs can be bought ready prepared. Bakers find them a way of using up unsold bread and may or may not make them well. They can also be bought in packets from supermarkets, and are often artificially coloured, which may make food look equally artificial. Fried breadcrumbs are easily made by drying crustless left-over bread, in a very cool oven until it is crisp and pale coloured. This can be reduced to crumbs with a rolling pin or in a blender. Crumbs should be sieved and stored, bone dry, in a screw-topped jar. It is best to replace them every few weeks and not expect them to keep sweet for ever. Such crumbs are for sprinkling on food which has been covered with sauce and put in the oven, or under the grill, to be browned. With the dots of butter and perhaps grated cheese, they sop up the fat to form a crust. They are also used to cover the fatty nakedness of a boiled ham or *Bath chaps. They should not be used for coating food to be fried, or for stuffings. For such purposes, fresh white breadcrumbs are best.

  Fresh, white breadcrumbs will not keep (unless frozen), but can be quickly made with a fast blender. Day-old bread is sliced and the crust cut off, ideally some hours before it is used, so that it can dry a little. Then it can be roughly broken into the hopper of the blender and reduced to crumbs. If they are not fine enough after the first go, they can be spread out on a tray and left in a warm place to dry a little before being given another whirl. For coating fried food, such fresh breadcrumbs are greatly superior to the dried, brown crumbs
that are so frequently used. They do not get over-fried or give a rank taste. For stuffings and bread sauce, it is better to use very finely-cubed bread, not breadcrumbs, as a lighter texture can be achieved that way, but if breadcrumbs are used they should be coarse.

  Cake crumbs, from plain cake, and biscuit crumbs are used for some dishes. American recipes frequently call for cracker crumbs or Graham cracker crumbs, which confuses British cooks. For savoury crackers, any salted one is used in America, and a British equivalent would be the TUC biscuit. Where Graham crackers are called for, digestives provide an approximate, if not exact, substitute.

  [Crumbs – French: miette German: Brotkrume Italian: briciola Spanish: miga]

  CRUSTACEANS. Nearly always aquatic creatures, crustaceans have a hard, jointed outside skeleton – the *shrimps, *lobsters, *crayfish, *crabs and *barnacles – and include, amongst the inedible kinds, woodlice and water fleas. The meat of crustacea is rather slowly digested, and, after dining on lobster or prawns, you will be sustained for a considerable period.

  [Crustaceans – French: crustacés German: Krustentieren, Krebstieren Italian: crostacei Spanish: crustáceos]

  CRYSTALLIZED FRUIT. See candied fruit.

  CRYSTALS. Examples of crystalline substances used in the kitchen are cane sugar, salt and washing soda. The geometrical shape of a crystal is due to the regular way in which the molecules arrange themselves when it forms. Crystals may form either when a suitable molten substance cools and becomes solid or when a saturated solution is cooled or allowed to evaporate. Large crystals form when the liquid is cooled or evaporated very slowly, small crystals when the liquid is chilled rapidly. They do not have time to grow. That is why foods must be frozen quickly. Large crystals would break cell walls and spoil the texture.

  Crystals are sometimes grown for decoration. The sugar crystals grown on those twigs in liqueur bottles indicate that the liqueur is saturated with sugar and very sweet.

  [Crystals – French: cristaux German: Kristalle Italian: cristalli Spanish: cristales]

  CUCKOO FLOWER. See lady’s smock.

  CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus). One of the oldest cultivated vegetables, cucumbers have been grown for some 4000 years. They possibly came from southern India originally, but this is not certain. lt is recorded that the Emperor Tiberius demanded a continuous supply of them, so they were even forced in winter. In Britain, cucumbers were commonly grown at the time of Edward Ill (1327), but then went out of favour, not to be revived until the days of Henry VIII. They became general in the mid-17th century. They were introduced by Columbus to Haiti in 1494 and soon spread all over the North American mainland, as they were liked by the Indian tribes. The popularity of the cucumber depends on its refreshing taste – it is 96% water and a gift for anyone on a slimming diet. The many varieties may be divided into fairly distinct groups. In Britain, the best known is the long, smooth greenhouse type, which, when not fertilized, is seedless and rarely if ever bitter (fertilized, it can be). lt is grown under high humidity and heat. Varieties of what in Britain are called ridge cucumbers (which may be prickly, warty or smooth) are commoner in countries warm enough to grow cucumbers over a long period in the fields, in Mediterranean countries for instance, and in the US where a distinction is made between eating and pickling types. Eating varieties can be pickled but are liable to go hollow, while pickling varieties can be eaten but may be bitter. Varieties of cucumber which are stubby and yellow are known as lemon cucumbers. They taste fine but have a tough skin. Those from the Middle East and northern India are selected to stand some drought and are much grown in pits in the sand in half-dry river beds. A long, very pale type, with a finely-ridged and very tender skin, is the one commonly seen in markets from Turkey to the Indus valley. This I take to be similar to the variety Americans call Armenian, Turkish or Syrian cucumber. These cucumbers have rather dry flesh, no seeds to matter when young, and a strong, excellent taste. You will see them (well sprinkled with dirty water) in a Pakistani town like Dera Ghazi Khan, where the market is thronged with wild, bearded, hook-nosed characters swathed in black turbans. It is the common cucumber of that sort of market in Muslim countries. Chinese and Japanese cucumbers are long outdoor varieties, which may be smooth, ribbed or prickly and have recently been grown in Europe and America.

  In buying cucumbers, always look for young ones. Older outdoor types are likely to have seeds and, at best, can only be used for stuffing after the seeds have been scraped out with a spoon. Out of season, imported commercial cucumbers have sometimes been dipped in wax, which is unpleasant for anyone who likes to eat cucumber with the skin on. In countries where ridge cucumbers are commonly eaten and there are some bitter ones, peeling is done from the flower end towards the stalk, because it is the stalk end that is bitter. A sliver is tasted, as a cucumber can sometimes have a bitter end which must be detected and cut off. Old-fashioned varieties had to be salted to remove some of the bitter juice, a habit that has persisted. Some people still like to remove part of the water, but the long salting advocated in old books is unnecessary. Simply slice, sprinkle generously with salt, leave no more than a minute, tip the cucumber into a clean cloth and gently squeeze out as much of the juice as you like. Cucumber is often dressed with yoghurt and a touch of vinegar, it goes particularly well with yoghurt – dishes range from the Indian cucumber raita to the Turkish cacik and Greek zaziki. Cooked cucumbers are also excellent and have a better flavour than marrows or courgettes. Cucumber halves stuffed with meat and served with sour cream were one of my favourite dishes when I was in Rumania long ago.

  [Cucumber – French: concombre German: Gurke Italian: cetriolo Spanish: pepino]

  CUDBEAR, archil, orchil, or orseille. Lichens were much used in the past as dyes. For instance, the browns of Scottish tweeds – and some of their strange smell – came from a lichen. Other species, notably the Mediterranean Rocella tinctoria, produce a blue, red or purple dye. One form is litmus, the common acid-alkali indicator of the school laboratory. Another form – extracted in a slightly different way – is the dye cudbear, which is used for colouring sauces and bitters. To make this dye, the lichens are macerated in water and ammonia is added, after which the mixture is exposed to the air. The blue liquor turns red when it is heated to drive off the ammonia, and the result is cudbear.

  CULATELLO. This is one of the finest raw ham products of Italy. It consists of lean meat only, cut from the backside of a pig (culo, vulgarly, means arse), cured as for a ham, soaked in wine, packed in a bladder and hung to mature. lt has a fine, rosy colour and a delicate taste. A speciality of Zibello, Busseto and Soragna, between Parma and Piacenza (in Emilia), culatello is one of the best, and so most expensive, Italian raw ham products, and quite exceptional. lt is sliced thinly and served as antipasto.

  CUMIN. This close relative of caraway is a vital spice in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking and important enough all over the world. It came originally from the Orient but was being grown in the Mediterranean regions well over 2000 years ago. The Romans used it as a substitute for pepper and even ground it to a paste for spreading on bread. Much confusion is caused in European markets by shops muddling the names of cumin and caraway. For instance the alternative name for caraway in France is cumin des prés while in Spain caraway is often known as comino holandese (Dutch cumin).Worse still, Indian cookery books often translate cumin as caraway. There is very little taste resemblance.

  Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is little used in European cooking (except in Portugal and Spain), but it is important in North Africa and through to the Far East, in Mexico and South America, and in any place where there are sizeable numbers of Indian colonists. Americans may use it in chili con carne. Its taste is both strong and assertive. There are two forms commonly used in Indian cooking – black (kala zeera) and white zeera (safed zeero), zeera or jeera being the usual word for cumin. If cumin is dry-roasted in an old pan until it is just too hot to touch (it has gone very slightly brown), much of its raucous flavour is turned to a more
nutty one.

  [Cumin – French: cumin German: Kreuzkümmel Italian: cumino Spanish: comino]

  CURDLING AGENTS. See rennet.

  CURDS. When milk is coagulated by acids, natural souring, rennet or crushed herbs, the solid part is known as curds, and the liquid as whey. (‘Curd’ is also used to describe the curdy-looking white part of a cauliflower and the soft material that forms between the flakes of really fresh salmon when it is cooked.) Milk curd is basically casein and fat.

  To make curds, rennet essence is added to lukewarm milk, and the milk kept warm until the curd is solid and the whey is clear. Lemon juice or any other acid food will hasten the process.

  Curds are usually drained of the whey before being eaten (except in junket, Miss Muffet’s curds and whey) or used in cooking. A pinch of salt stirred into the curdled milk will assist the separation, and the whey is usually strained off through muslin. The classic way to eat curds is with an equal amount of cream and with wine as a flavouring. Curd is used to make cheesecake, mixed with egg and fried as fritters, or used in various puddings that were more popular in the past than they are today. They are also, of course, the starting point in making *cheese.

  [Curds – French: lait caillé German: Quark Italian: gluncata Spanish: cuajada]

  CURLY KALE. See cabbage, kale.

  CURING means preserving by drying, brining and so on. See brine, drying, dry-salting.

  CURRANT. The term originally applied to a small, black, dried grape, originally imported from the Levant and taking its name from Corinth in Greece. The grapes from which currants are made are of a tiny black variety which has been known for at least 2000 years. To this day, Greece is a prime producer and exporter of currants, although other countries, such as Australia, have taken a large share of the market.

  Red currant (and white currant, which is a variety of the same thing) is bred from Ribes rubrum, which grows wild in Europe and can still sometimes be found in damp woods, stream banks and hedges in Britain, although its ancestry probably involves crossing with other European species. The name currant came from a fancied resemblance to the Corinth currant, although red currants belong to the same family as gooseberries and are not related to grapes. Currants are so well known in Britain, Germany and northern Europe generally that it is surprising to find they are almost unheard of in the Mediterranean countries. The Italians and Spanish do not even have a word for this fruit (they use the Latin). Even the French lump it with the gooseberry, although currants have long been grown in the northern part of the country. Red-currant juice was a popular drink in Paris in the mid-18th century; the fruit was formerly called groseille d’outre mer and thus considered foreign. Many people will agree that red-currant jelly, especially if it is rather tart, is an almost indispensable kitchen ingredient. It is necessary for Cumberland sauce, of course, but also in other contexts to counteract oversweetness. Red currants are, with rowan berries, the best fruity souring agent that grows in northern Europe and are our natural equivalent of sumac, pomegranate and even tamarind if we wish to use them as such.

 

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