by Tom Stobart
Maraschino. Made from Dalmatian marasco *cherries and usually very much sweetened, this liqueur is slightly redolent of the bitter-almond taste from crushed stones. It is much used as a flavouring in sweet dishes and with fruit compotes.
Mirabelle. Distilled from the small yellow mirabelle plums, which are sweet and strongly flavoured, this Alsatian eau-de-vie has similarities to quetsch and slivovitz. It is colourless and matured in the bottle.
Quetsch. Distilled from the quetsch plum, like mirabelle it is an Alsatian eau-de-vie, clear, colourless and matured in the bottle.
Slivovitz. Distilled from plums in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Bulgaria. In Romania, the same drink is tuica (pronounced tsuika). A clear colourless spirit, rather similar to mirabelle and quetsch, it may or may not have a bitter-almond taste from crushed plum stones.
FRUIT SUGAR. See fructose.
FRYING is cooking in fat or oil which is at a temperature well above 100°C (212°F), the boiling point of water. Fats and oils can be made very hot without vaporizing, although they do eventually burn or decompose. The temperature is different for each particular fat or oil, but most vegetable oils stand temperatures well over 200°C (392°F), which is far above the 165°C (374°F) usually needed for frying.
The effect of putting food (which contains water even if it looks dry) into hot fat is to cause the water on the surface, and progressively inwards, to be converted in a flash into steam. There is a violent bubbling and a coagulation of protein, and fat cannot enter the food through the pores that are left because of the rush of steam coming out. Very shortly, as the temperature rises (having dropped when the food was put in), starches and sugars in the outside layers become dried and caramelized. The food acquires a brown and crisp coating. The coating is important, and great attention is given to it by competent cooks. Those who cannot judge when the fat is at the correct temperature should use a thermometer. If the fat is heated too much, it burns (and never heat it to smoking, as some books advise, because when it smokes, it is burning) and its temperature is such that the food may well carbonize before the centre is cooked. On the other hand, if food is put into fat which is not hot enough, then the instantaneous coagulation and outflow of steam does not take place; the fat gets into the food and makes it soggy. A similar effect is produced when too much food is put into the fat; the food causes the temperature to drop, and may lower it too much.
Egg is a very good coating for things to be fried because it coagulates quickly and forms a more or less impenetrable skin. Egg batters also have a sealing effect, but dusting the food with flour or cornflour alone, though it absorbs surface moisture, will not make surfaces impervious, although it may help crisp them. For shallow frying, fat should come halfway up the food; otherwise, when the food is turned over, a strip all round it will either be uncooked or twice cooked. For deep frying, there must be enough fat for the food to be totally immersed. When frying is done properly, the fat should not pick up tastes from the foods fried in it. Fat used for deep frying should be strained frequently through a fine cloth to remove any crumbs or bits, otherwise they will burn and spoil the flavour of the next food cooked in the fat. As oils tend to go rancid more easily after they have been heated, it would be ideal to keep fat or oil for deep-frying in the refrigerator between uses. It is also healthy to avoid using the same fat for too long.
FUL MEDAMES or foule medames. A brown broad bean which is the basic ingredient of the Egyptian dish of the same name. For this, the beans are soaked overnight, then cooked until tender (or they can be bought canned) and mixed with garlic. Hamine eggs, which have been simmered with onion skins for some hours until they have stopped being hard and have become creamy, are the usual accompaniment to ful medames, together with a seasoning of parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper.
FUMET. See stock.
FUNGHI PORCINI. See cèpe.
FUNGI. See mushrooms, truffles, moulds.
FUSEL OIL. Towards the end of alcoholic distillation, an oily, high boiling-point fraction comes over, this is fusel oil. It consists largely of damyl and isoamyl alcohols plus other alcohols such as glycerine and aromatic ethers. In all naturally flavoured spirits – such as brandy, whisky and rum – some of these substances are necessary as they give the drink its character. This is unfortunate, because it is the fusel oil which is the prime cause of hangover headaches, and it also delays the sobering-up process (which is why there is less hangover and quicker recovery from vodka which contains very little fusel oil). Good distillers, such as those making cognac, manage to keep the maximum flavour and yet lose the worst of the fusel-oil components. Bad distillers do not. One glass of bad moonshine whisky can make you feel as if you have been hit on the head with a steam hammer.
Home distillers should know that the quantity of fusel oil formed during fermentation depends both on the type of yeast and on whether it has sufficient nitrogen for its needs without having to depend on the amino acids isoleucine and leucine in the dead yeast cells. The less the amino acids are broken down, the less amyl alcohols are formed.
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GAGE. See plum.
GALACTOSE (C6H12O6). A white, crystalline monosaccharide sugar, which, with glucose, is obtained by the hydrolysis of *lactose (milk sugar). During the digestion of milk, lactose is split down into these two component sugars, both of which are absorbed through the gut and handled by the liver.
Some babies with defective metabolism are unable to handle galactose and therefore ordinary milk. They have a hereditary disease called galactosaemia and must be fed on lactose-free milks if they are to survive. Even later in life, they must avoid all milk products, such as cheese and yoghurt, as well as cakes and biscuits, soups and anything else which contains milk. *Agar-agar, *carrageen moss, beetroot and molasses must also be avoided as they contain a sugar called raffinose, which is broken down by bacteria in the gut giving a mixture of glucose, fructose and galactose. Unlike glucose and fructose, galactose is not fermented by baker’s yeast, although it is by some other yeasts.
GALANGAL There are two galangals, both members of the ginger family. Greater galangal (Alpinia galanga) is a native of Indonesia. Its knobbly roots are gingery and are used for flavouring the curries of the region. Lesser galangal (Alpinia officinarum) is native to South China and is mentioned in ancient Chinese and Indian manuscripts.The roots are small, red-brown on the outside and pale inside.The flavour is something between ginger and pepper. It is known as laos or leuqkuas in Malay and Indonesian cooking and is used in Russian cooking for flavouring vinegar and the liqueur nastoika. Galangal is used fresh in South East Asia, but is also dried for sale in shops.
[Galangal – French: souchet long, souchet odorant German: Galangawurzel, Galantwurzel ltalian: galanga Spanish: galanaga]
GAME originally meant any animal killed for game or sport. In the kitchen, it means any edible animal brought home by hunters; or indeed any species which has not been domesticated for food. Most countries have close and open seasons for hunting, and game on sale may have to carry an official tag. You can get into trouble parading out-of-season game through the streets, even though it has come from the freezer.
Big game. Bear, hippopotamus, elephant (or at least elephant foot), ibex and wild sheep, even lion, are all eaten somewhere. They cannot be given individual coverage here, but the following observations are worth noting:
a) Consult local people about edibility and always cook the game thoroughly, as some wild animals suffer from parasites that can be passed on to humans.
b) Either cook big game when it is still warm or hang it well, unless local knowledge tells you otherwise.
c) In the bush, your retainers will usually try to make off with the animal’s liver. It may be the only part you can get your teeth into. Polar bear liver is poisonous, except to the Eskimos and others who are used to it.
d) Immature antelopes are inclined to be tasteless. Young but mature animals are best.
[Game – French: gibier German: Wildbret,
Hochwild, Federwild Italian: selvaggina Spanish: caza]
GAMMON. See bacon.
GARAM MASALA is a mixture of ground spices used as seasoning in Indian food and usually added at the end of cooking or even sprinkled on food when served. It is neither the same as curry powder nor a complete spicing. There are hundreds of formulae, and some bought ones are very elaborate, although the basic ingredients are commonly the same. ln the table overleaf, the figures represent quantities by weight, but if you are using ground spices, for a start you can take the figures as teaspoons and work from there until you reach the proportions you like.
If you are making garam masala at home from whole spices, as is best, the spices should be ground finely in a coffee mill and sieved. You can, if you wish, gently roast the cumin, coriander and black pepper before grinding them.
GARBANZO. See chick pea.
GARLIC (Allium sativum) is a member of the same genus as leeks and onions and is probably a native of Central Asia. There are dozens of varieties, differing in size of bulb, pungency and skin colour. In Britain, which has returned to using garlic again in the last 30 years, supplies come mainly from Italy, Spain and France. In the US, garlic is grown commercially in California, Louisiana and Texas, but it is also imported from Mexico, Italy, France and elsewhere.
There are three common types: the white-skinned American or Creole has a strong taste, the Mexican or Italian has a pink or purple skin, and the large Tahitian has enormous bulbs. In Europe, garlic is plentiful and fairly cheap in the summer and autumn. At the start of the summer, it is fresh and difficult to peel, but as time goes on, it gradually dries out. In early winter, the price starts to rise. By spring, much of the garlic has dried out, leaving empty husks or cloves gone brown in patches, and care must be taken in buying it in Mediterranean markets, as the price has gone sky high and the new crop will also have come in, harvested before it is ready, hard to peel and rank. It is then difficult to know what to buy. The types of garlic with very small cloves are the ones for the timid, who use only a little in the cooking. Other types have large cloves, some quite enormous cloves, and are the ones for people who use a lot or who have to peel it by the pound to make chutney. There is at least a twenty-fold difference in size between a small and a large clove.
Garlic has a strong flavour from its oil, which is excreted through the lungs and so perfumes the breath.This is an irritant – though harmless and even healthful in the quantities used in food – but it will cause severe blisters on fingers if a lot of garlic – say a pound or so – has to be peeled.This process is made easier if the bulbs of garlic are split into cloves and then put in the sun for an hour or so to dry. The skin comes free. On the other hand, skinning garlic is often an unnecessary chore; the cloves can be crushed with the skin on (it is removed in due course), or the whole can be liquidized, depending on what the garlic is to be used for. Cloves can be crushed by putting them under the flat of a kitchen knife and banging it with your fist; or by putting the clove, concave side down, on a plate and leaning on it with the ball of your thumb. A little is best got by rubbing the clove against the prongs of a fork pressed flat on a plate. A garlic press is a crude and unnecessary device. In some places, garlic is fried to ‘temper’ the oil, and the cloves, after being fried brown, are thrown out. Garlic salt is easily made by pounding a few cloves of garlic with bone-dry salt – previously dried in the oven – and can be kept in a closed jar for quick use. However, garlic salt and garlicked foods that have been stored for any length of time can smell horrid and taste worse.
The quantity of garlic in cooking is a highly personal matter, though it should not be allowed to overwhelm delicate foods.The cautious will interpret ‘a clove’ as a small one, aficionados will add more than is called for and addicts will need more still to satisfy their palates. Generally, though, if the flavouring is to be light, just rub the food or the inside of the mixing bowl or salad bowl with a peeled clove of garlic. Chopping, pounding or pressing the garlic clove will give a stronger result. Some dishes call for roasted garlic; it is roasted in a dry pan or on a stove top before peeling. This treatment changes the flavour. Roasted and unroasted garlic are sometimes mixed together.
[Garlic – French: ail German: Knoblauch Italian: aglio Spanish: ajo]
GAS MARK. See regulo.
GASTROPODS. One of the three main classes of molluscs, the gastropods include the *snails and slugs, the marine shellfish that look like them such as *whelks and *periwinkles, the large and extravagant variations on this theme that are found in tropical seas and coral reefs, the conch shells, cowries, and spider shells, as well the *limpets and *abalones which have shells with the spiral form lost (or obscured) in the course of evolution.
Small gastropods such as snails and winkles are eaten whole (after removal from the shell) but the larger ones – from the Burgundy snail upwards – should first have the visceral spiral (the dark-coloured part deep in the shell) removed. This consists of the liver and digestive organs. It may taste bitter or contain partly-digested poisonous food as well as grit. Gastropods in general tend to be edible though tough. Some cone shells (Conus) from warm waters contain a poisonous dart which is shot out through the narrow end and can in some cases kill.
Unlike the bivalves, which includes oysters, clams and mussels, there are no great gastronomic treats among the gastropods, even snails and abalones are hardly in the same class. However, a large number are eaten. Apart from the commonplace whelks and periwinkles, other marine gastropods that are eaten include the horn shells, of which the common Mediterranean species is called torricella (Cerithium vulgatum). ln Italy it is used in soups.The Top shells (notably Monodonta turbinata) occupy the place of the periwinkle in the Mediterranean world. Above all, there are the various species of Murex, sea snails which were the source of the dye Tyrian purple. The animals are tough, but the beauty of their shells ensures them a place in many a collection of seafood, and lovers of Mediterranean seafood restaurants are bound to come on them. The local people like them, but some will eat almost anything that comes from the sea. Others think that the best place for sea snails is in a soup.
GAUR or cluster bean. Until recently, gaur (Cyamopsis psoraloides) was little known outside India, where the name comes from and where it has been cultivated for countless years. The long, pencil-like green pods with pointed ends are commonly seen in the markets of Bombay and the south of the subcontinent, less so in the north. While some varieties are for green manure or forage, others are eaten as green beans and make an excellent hot-country vegetable.They are cut in bits and mixed with potato or included in vegetable curries of various kinds. Gaur is not usually used as a dried pulse. Commercially, it is the source of a gum which is used to stabilize or give viscosity to ice-creams, processed cheese, salad dressings and canned fruit.
GAYETTE. See crépinette.
GELATINE or gelatin. From the Latin gelare, to freeze. A protein substance obtained commercially from cattle bones (though skin, tendons, gristle and connective tissue can all be used) by digesting them in hot water. It is basically the same as old-fashioned glue and, in the last century, when it was first made commercially, gelatine apparently often tasted gluey.
Today, it is highly refined and virtually tasteless. It may be made by either an acid or an alkaline process; the product of the latter is stronger and more expensive, but is also less clear. The cook is mainly concerned with finding a reliable brand and sticking to it. Gelatine may be bought as a powder, cubed, diced, kibbled or in transparent sheets. It should be clear, not yellowish and with virtually no taste of its own. Quality is also related to the amount needed to make a good gel and the firmness with which it sets. Gelatine is a variable product, and recipes cannot therefore be dogmatic about the proportion of gelatine and liquid to use. In any case, jellies of different stiffness are needed for different purposes. Stiff jellies are easy to turn out and handle, but light jellies are more pleasant to eat. As a starting point, in the complete absence of other informa
tion, you might try 15 g (1 packet, 1 tablespoon or ½ oz) to 500 ml (1 pt) of liquid.
Gelatine is used to make fruit jellies (it is in the ready flavoured, sweetened and coloured jelly cubes that are on the market – or in the US in powdered form), but it is also put into ice-cream, as it helps to prevent the growth of ice crystals, and also into soups and syrups to give them a thicker consistency. It is used in glazes to protect meat products and for fake *aspic. Gelatine was once thought to be a useful food, but has little nutritive value in comparison with many other proteins as it lacks tryptophan, one of the essential *amino acids.
Gelatine should first be soaked for half an hour or more to allow it to absorb water and swell. A gelatine jelly melts at about 27°C (80°F) and sets at about 20°C (68°F), but varies. Boiling it, especially with acids, tends to reduce its jellying power, but if necessary it may be pasteurized at 71°C (160°F) for 20 minutes. Alternatives to gelatine in various circumstances include *agar-agar, *carrageen and *isinglass.
[Gelatine – French: gélatine German: Gallert Italian: gelatino Spanish: gelatino]
GENDARME. See herring.
GENTIAN. The excruciatingly bitter root of the yellow gentian (Gentiana lutea), which is native to the mountains of Europe, is used in aperitifs such as the French suze and the Austrian enzian, but rarely in the kitchen.
[Gentian – French: gentiane German: Enzian Italian: genziana Spanish: genciana]
GERANIUM. Garden geraniums, which are natives of South Africa and more correctly called pelargoniums (Pelargonium capitatum and P. ororatissimum), are much grown for the perfume of their leaves – rose, orange, lemon, apple, nutmeg – according to variety. Like most herbs, the plants reach maximum fragrance just before flowering, and the leaves can be used to perfume jams and jellies.