by Tom Stobart
Wheat-germ oil. The oil expressed from the germ of wheat has outstanding medicinal qualities, but its dietary value is rapidly destroyed on heating or on exposure to air. It is also very expensive, and has at best an interesting taste which is halfway between wholewheat bread and varnish. It might perhaps be used as a flavouring, but at present is only for diet. High in vitamin E as well as in polyunsaturated fatty acids, it occasionally seems to have almost miraculous curative effects.
[Cotton seed oil – French: huile de coton German: Baumwollöl Italian: olio di cotone Spanish: aceite de algodón.
Rape seed oil – French: huile de colza German: Rapsöl Italian: olio di colza Spanish: aceite de colza.
Sunflower oil – French: huile de tournesol German: Sonnenblumenöl Italian: olio di girasole Spanish: aceite de girasol
Walnut oil – French: huile de noix German: Nussöl Italian: ollo di noce]
FAVA BEAN. See broad bean.
FECULA. See farina.
FENNEL (Foeniculum vulgare) is a tall, strong, umbelliferous perennial with yellow flowers and feathery foliage. Looking very much like a large version of dill, but with a quite different taste, it is grown all over the world in suitable climates for its seed. This varies from the slightly bitter wild type to some cultivated kinds which have little bitterness and are not always easy to distinguish from anise. A very common wayside plant in Mediterranean Europe, especially near the sea, it has gone wild in the Californian climate since it was introduced there and has become one of the most prevalent weeds.
As a green herb, fennel has been used in European cooking since ancient times – it was well established in Britain before the Norman Conquest and almost certainly used there in Roman times. Although traditionally used with fish, it has countless other uses, especially in Mediterranean cookery, as it is so readily to hand. It is used for flavouring everything from pork to olives and snails. The dried seed makes a useful spice and appears in items ranging from the Florentine salami, finocchiona, to various types of curry. It is particularly popular in Italian cooking. A variety with thick, bulbous leaf stalks (finocchio or Florence fennel) is much grown in Italy and is becoming increasingly popular elsewhere. lt is eaten either cooked or raw, like celery. The tough outer leaf bases should always be taken off. The flavour is similar to anise. Fennel is also used in cordials and liqueurs, often predominating in the hierbas that is sometimes drunk after a meal in Spain.
[Fennel – French: fenouil German: Fenchel Italian: finoccheo Spanish: hinojo]
FENUGREEK. A native of Europe and Asia, related to clover. The name means ‘Greek hay’, and the plant is grown as fodder in seed mixtures, often where virtually unknown as a spice.
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is used to a small extent in countries bordering the eastern Mediterranean, but is overwhelmingly important in India, where the seed is a flavouring in curries (and many other dishes) and the leaves, usually of special varieties, are used as a vegetable. In Hindi, fenugreek is called methi. In recent years, many people in the West have taken to sprouting it or sowing it in boxes, for use in the same way as mustard and cress, as the flavour is pleasantly bitter. Leaves of the fully-grown plant (which are curried in India) vary from shatteringly bitter to only moderately so, depending on the type. They may have an exceedingly aromatic smell and can be bought fresh or dried in Indian and Pakistani shops. The seed is equally variable in its aromatic quality. It should be gently roasted to develop its flavour before being ground, but roasting must be done with extreme care. If fenugreek is over-heated (when it turns red), the taste becomes indescribably bitter, and it has to be thrown away. Some Indian cooks roast fenugreek seed until it becomes almost black, when it loses its bitterness again. Many people do not like the taste of fenugreek, which is associated with cheap curry powders. Those who like the traditional English curry powder will find they know the taste of fenugreek very well.
[Fenugreek – French: fenugrec German: Bockshornklee, griechisches Heu Italian: fieno greco Spanish: fenogreco, alholva]
FERMENTATION. The origin of the word relates to boiling because of the bubbles of gas evolved during alcoholic fermentation. However, fermentation is used as a general term for any process of change induced by living organisms and their enzymes (e.g. alcoholic fermentation, lactic acid fermentation); ferment is a synonym for enzyme. The organisms producing fermentation can be bacteria and moulds as well as yeasts. We use fermentative processes, for instance, in brewing and in making wine, cheese, yoghurt, sauerkraut and bread. Control depends on so adjusting the environment (food material, acidity, saltiness, temperature, etc.) that the organism or organisms whose effects are wanted grow at their best – or that unwanted organisms grow slowest or not at all. In practice, we are rarely dealing with one type of organism by itself but with a mixture, often of interdependent types which produce an effect no one of them could do alone. Making a good fermented product therefore means achieving the correct balance of types, and this is particularly important in creating flavour. For instance, certain bacteria produce small quantities of flavouring substances, such as those giving a creamy taste in milk products. Since the balance is affected by quite slight changes in conditions, recipes for any fermented products should be followed to the letter.
[Fermentation – French: fermentation German: Gärungsprozess Italian: fermentazione Spanish: fermentación]
FERNS. The young, half-coiled shoots of various fern species are eaten, particularly in North America and the Orient, in Japan for instance (as warabi), but rather rarely in Europe. The first ones I ate were roasted over a camp fire peeled to remove the furry outside and sprinkled with salt. The young shoots of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) are edible and plentiful, as farm animals will not eat them. Bracken has a very wide distribution, and even the roots are edible. Of more gastronomic significance are the shoots of the ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, which are known as fiddleheads because the opening shoots look like the scroll on a violin. This fern grows in damp places and beside streams over much of the eastern side of North America, and is particularly plentiful in New Brunswick. Fiddleheads can be gathered only over a brief season – no more than three weeks in early May – when the plants are shooting. They would be a very short-lived delicacy were it not for the ease with which they can be frozen or canned; they are readily available from supermarkets in Canada.
All fern shoots can be treated in the same way as asparagus, boiled or steamed until tender. They are served hot with hollandaise sauce or melted butter, or cold with mayonnaise or vinaigrette. Species with scaly or hairy skins have to be scraped or peeled before cooking. Since some ferns are poisonous and some have been considered carcinogenic, it is best not to experiment with unknown species. The flavour of fern shoots is rather strong, but those who like them consider them a delicacy.
[Fern – French: fougère German: Farnkraut Italian: felce Spanish: helecho]
FETTUCINE. See pasta.
FIDDLEHEAD. See ferns.
FIELD BEAN. See broad bean.
FIG. A very ancient cultivated fruit, the fig (Ficus carica) is often mentioned in the Bible and presumably grew in the Garden of Eden. More scientifically, figs were probably found wild somewhere in Arabia in ancient times. They have been growing in all Mediterranean countries long enough to go wild; they spring up wherever someone has dropped a seed between two rocks – a favourite place for figs to get a hold. Figs belong to the family Moraceae (together with mulberries and breadfruit), and there are dozens of wild species, such as the famous banyan and pipal trees (Ficus religiosa), under which the sadhus sit in India. Figs grow in the same climates as almonds, olives and oranges.
But figs are not fruit in the usual sense – the flowers are actually inside the fruit – and they have a most complicated life history. There are several basic types – Common figs, Smyrna figs, San Pedro figs and caprifigs. Common figs need no pollination and have no seeds. There are some hundreds of different varieties, both white and black. They are pro
pagated by cuttings and the varieties thus tend to be regional; they form a wide spectrum of flavour, sweetness and tenderness – not to mention size and colour.
In the Mediterranean regions, fig trees bear two crops. In Italy, first crop figs are known as fioroni and arrive in June and July. Fioroni are usually large but not as sweet as the second crop figs. (In some varieties, only one crop ripens.) Second crop figs, the most plentiful, are smaller in size, juicy and full of sugar. They are produced in August, September and even into October and November. These second-crop figs, though eaten fresh, are also dried. To my taste, they are usually too sweet – especially the black ones which can have a strong wild taste – and they do not go with prosciutto as well as those that ripened earlier.
Smyrna figs are varieties which need to be pollinated and thus produce seeds. This is said to give them a more nutty flavour. They are pollinated by a small wasp (Blastophaga psenes), which is hatched in caprifigs (otherwise useless, semi-wild types), so caprifigs must be grown near Smyrna figs; otherwise there will be no crop. In fact, branches of caprifigs are actually suspended in the Smyrna fig trees to make sure of this caprification. Smyrna figs are the most important type for drying and are grown in Turkey, Greece, North Africa and California (where the caprifigs and wasps had to be introduced). San Pedro figs are intermediate between Smyrna and Common figs; they give a first crop without caprification but must be caprified for the second.
Ripe figs are highly perishable, and the varieties that reach the market are the more durable ones, which are usually picked rather unripe. Figs are incomparably better picked straight from the tree at the desired state of ripeness and eaten either hot from the sun or chilled in the refrigerator. In most Mediterranean countries, it is a tradition that the traveller may help himself to a fig as he passes, but not, of course, pick them into a basket. Dried figs combine especially well with the flavours of anise and fennel. The bay leaf in a box of Smyrna figs is there to keep away weevils.
[Fig – French: figue German: Feife Italian: fico Spanish: higo]
FILBERT. See hazelnut.
FILE POWDER or filet powder. Young leaves of *sassafras (Sassafras albidum) have a very mucilaginous quality and a nice, spicy taste. They are thoroughly dried, then rubbed to a powder. The result, after sieving to remove bits of stalk, is filé powder. An important ingredient in Creole cooking and essential for gumbo filé; it gives a special flavour and a smooth, mucilaginous texture to dishes in which it is used. It can also be used as a table condiment.
FILLING. See stuffing.
FILLET. From the French filet, a diminutive of fil (thread). As applied to cooking, without qualification, it means a beef fillet, the undercut of the sirloin. Pork fillet, veal fillet, mutton fillet and so on are usually specified. Fillets of chicken and turkey are generally fairly thin slices cut from the breast. Fillets of fish are slices or whole boned sides of fish, depending on size. Filet mignon is a steak taken from the small end of the fillet.
[Fillet – French: filet German: Filet, Lendenstück Italian: filetto Spanish: filete]
FILLETING. See fish.
FINES HERBES. Finely chopped fresh herbs, a mixture which may include parsley, tarragon, chervil, chives and so on, according to choice – or even parsley alone. The pundits say that fines herbes could once have included such things as mushrooms and shallots. In Britain and the US, unless one grows them oneself, many of the ingredients are fairly difficult to obtain except dried and omelettes fines herbes are, alas, often made with ready mixed dried herbs.
FINING means removing cloudiness and sediment, as in the clarifying of beer or wine, though the clearing of aspic is essentially the same. The usual method is the mechanical one of adding something which will stick to the minute particles that cause the cloudiness. (They may be so fine that they would take months to settle naturally.) Substances used for the purpose include egg white (often with the shell to make it sink more quickly), isinglass, gelatine, alkaline alginates, blood, milk, casein, bentonite (an earth), kiesel-guhr (diatomaceous earth) and kaolin (china clay). Amateur winemakers can buy packaged fining agents with instructions. For home use, the simplest is egg white.
Filtration through a filter paper or a porcelain filter (commercially filtration is done in huge filter presses) is another mechanical method of fining. Chemical methods rely on altering the substances causing the cloudiness. A pectin cloud, often developed in home-made wines that have been boiled, is dispelled by the enzyme pectinase.
Home winemakers sometimes add a few drops of milk to clear white wine. If this fails, the white of one egg and a tiny pinch of salt beaten up in a small quantity of the wine (250 ml or ½ pt) will clear up to 45 It (80 pt). Gelatine, softened and dissolved in hot water, is frequently used to clear red wine, but it reacts with tannin in the wine to form an insoluble precipitate and so to some extent changes the character of the wine. The use of asbestos pulp, advocated by some authorities, now seems a dubious practice as asbestos is carcinogenic when inhaled as dust.
FINNAN HADDOCK. Named after the village of Findon, near Aberdeen, this, in pre-Victorian times, was a haddock, split open, dry-salted and heavily smoked over peat or seaweed to withstand the journey to London by stage-coach. However, the popularity of Finnan haddock has been decreasing over the last 20 years, as has that of most fish with bones in.
Finnan haddocks are now prepared with beheaded, gutted and cleaned fish. They are split open from the belly, leaving the bone on one side, put in strong brine for 5-15 minutes (depending on size) and speared through the lug flaps with stainless steel rods, several fish to a rod. They are then left to drain for 2-3 hours. The longer the draining period, the higher the gloss. The haddocks are finally smoked over oak sawdust or over peat or whitewood sawdust, which imparts a colour fairly quickly, so that the fish are still moist when the required shade is reached. The finished item has a golden-brown colour with a good gloss and should feel dry to the touch – hence the London fishmongers’ expression ‘a dry haddock’.
To produce Finnan haddock at home, clean and split the fish. Dry-salt them for a few hours – overnight if you want to keep them for more than a week. Hang them to dry in the breeze and cold-smoke them (not above 27°C/80°F) over oak sawdust started with a hot iron bar. They are smoked to a ‘fine yellow’, a process which takes at most 12 hours.
They are cooked by skinning, rubbing with butter, grilling and serving with pats of cold butter – the best method according to the late André Simon.
The Scottish dish is prepared by lightly poaching the Finnan in water and serving it with a poached egg on top.
Glasgow pales are another type of smoked split haddock, smaller than the Finnan and given less smoke to bring about a barely-visible colour change. Golden cutlets are double or ‘butterfly’ fillets of either small haddock or whiting. They are lightly brined in a salt solution containing a lemon-coloured dye and are either hung on hooks by the tail or laid in trays for smoking over white-wood sawdust.
Any of the smoked haddock or whiting products can be shallow-fried, or poached in water or milk with a little butter. The cooked, boned flesh of smoked haddock is the base for the English kedgeree.
FINO. See sherry.
FINOCCHIETIO and FINOCCHIONA. See salame.
FISH is the only important type of food animal that is not fully domesticated. lt is true that fish ponds have been maintained at least since classical times (and there are some tall stories about Romans feeding Moray eels on slaves), but we still depend mainly on wild fish caught in nets. Battery-reared sole and salmon have arrived, but we should eat the types of fish that are caught in the proportions in which they are available. Anyone who has the luck to watch the ‘cod end’ being undone to let the catch of a North Sea trawler on to the deck will see a marvellous selection of seafood, although certain fish, like ling or cod, will predominate, according to the season and the area. By the time this catch is sold, the variety will have been severely reduced; many types will be skinned and beheaded o
r tidied up and sold as fish fingers, fish cakes or fish balls. Many shoppers undoubtedly prefer fish fillets to be square, and others would not like to see the head of an Angler fish or Wolf fish in all their natural ugliness (even though they are two of the nicest of all fish to eat). Some lucky people can still visit fish markets near the sea, where the fish will be locally caught and the number of species on sale will run into dozens, but where some knowledge of the quality of the local fish is necessary.
Some countries depend to a large extent on fish for their protein. Japan, the world’s premier fishing nation, once ate no red meat at all (meat-eating was introduced by foreign visitors).The poor of tropical South East Asia depend on fish, not only along their coasts, but inland where fish abound in rivers, ponds, creeks and artificial tanks. Even the water flooding the rice fields is alive with small fish, which may be bony and taste of mud, but are still nutritious enough. Fish markets in unfamiliar or exotic places are bewildering; you will have to depend on the dealers for identification of the fish. Not only is the number of different species in the world enormous, but identification from books is not at all easy. Books intended for sportsmen are often good, but tend to deal with the few fish that offer the finest sport rather than with those that are best to eat. Advice should also be sought on cooking and edibility; although most fish are good in all their parts, some do have poisonous organs or are purgative. Care should always be taken in handling fish, as many have spines (on the back, fins or gill covers) which at very least can inflict a nasty wound and at worst may be rankly poisonous. A fish that is not quite dead may suddenly become galvanized into thrashing the fisherman with a thorny tail, or even biting the hand about to feed on it.