by Tom Stobart
It is only a step from the hand quern to some sort of mechanization. The simplest powered mills are still to be seen in remote mountain regions, such as the Himalayas (where people have even harnessed water power to say their prayers for them). Almost every village has at least one diminutive water-mill housed in a stone hut that is little bigger than a dog kennel and is built across a side-stream of the river. The stones are less than a metre (3¼ feet) across; the bottom one is driven, without any gears, by an arrangement of inclined wooden paddles. More complicated and bigger arrangements, such as those found in windmills or the old water-powered grist mills, require gears, which usually turn the top stone.
The stones used in old-fashioned mills had to be abrasive, long-wearing, and sharp. Various types of rock were used; some were highly prized, such as buhrstones, which were finely-pitted quartzite stones. These were even shipped to the US from France. Stones were dressed so that the ridges in them both ground the flour and moved it outwards from the centre. Heat is generated by the friction of grinding, but skilled millers managed to keep the flour from getting too hot.
Progress in milling was aimed mainly towards obtaining a whiter, finer flour. Special bolting cloth was woven for fine sifting, but that only separated the large particles from the small. However, a machine called a purifier, invented in the early years of the 19th century, enabled particles of the same size but different weights to be separated, as was possible by winnowing; it depended, like winnowing, on currents of air. It allowed a greater proportion of the husk (bran) to be taken out of flour in large-scale milling.
Another radical development was roller milling, which was widely adopted in the latter years of the 19th century, and is still in use today. Passing the wheat between fluted rollers revolving at slightly different speeds and with diminishing clearance literally scrapes the white starchy inside of the grain (the endosperm) off the skin, leaving the flakes of almost pure bran which can then be removed by sifting. The particles of endosperm are then reduced in size by smooth reduction rollers. This process, perfected over the years, enables the modern miller to separate endosperm, bran and germ fairly completely. The white flours that result are preferred by the public. They undoubtedly make better cakes and fine white bread, but there is increasing evidence that a long-term shortage of bran in the diet may contribute towards some diseases that are prevalent in modern societies.
Milling or grinding at home can be easily done in a hand mill, of which several types are on the market. Mills which grind between two cutters or grooved plates will easily reduce even hard seeds, such as maize or chick peas, to a flour (though it is hard work and there are now electric grain mills on the market for domestic use). Flour will have to be sifted and the coarser particles returned to the mill for further grinding.
A whirling-blade electric coffee grinder can deal only with small quantities of grain but is useful for spices, though the hardest seeds and dried roots (such as turmeric and ginger) need to be cracked first by hammering.
[Milling – French: moudre German: mahlen Italian: macinare Spanish: moler]
MILO. See millet.
MILT. Male *roe.
MILTON. See disinfectants.
MINT. Mints (species of Mentha) are among the most important culinary herbs. They are mostly native to the temperate regions of the Old World, and the ease with which the 25 or so species cross, even in the wild, has resulted in a baffling range of hybrids. Peppermint (M. X piperita) is not a separate species, but a hybrid between Water mint (M. aquatica) and spearmint (M. spicata). Mints produce a wide range of flavours – some, like eau-de-cologne mint (M. citrata), have very scented overtones. Spearmint is the type that is normally cultivated for use in cooking, but cooks must decide for themselves what mint they prefer and will doubtless be influenced by the choice available locally or easily grown in the garden. The juicy leaves of apple mint (M. rotundifolia) are ideal for mint sauce, which was used by the Romans and is delicious when properly made. Even when the British had given up most other herbs, they still habitually used fresh mint in cooking new potatoes and garden peas. Dried mint is a common flavouring in Mid-Eastern cooking. Fresh mint *chutney is a very Indian taste that is worth trying. Peppermint is rarely used as a herb in cooking, but its oil is important in confectionery. Another species of the genus is *pennyroyal.
[Mint – French: menthe German: Minze Italian: menta Spanish: hierbabuena, menta]
MIRABELLE. See fruit brandy, plum.
MIRIN. See sake.
MISO. See soya.
MIXED SPICE for use in plum puddings, cakes, etc., is often bought ready-ground, but can be stale and lacking in flavour, since it is ground very fine and loses its aromatic oils very quickly. It may be made by mixing, say, one part (by weight) of cloves, two parts ginger, four parts cinnamon and four parts nutmeg – for practical purposes you can measure the spices in teaspoons, but the difficulty at home lies in grinding the spices finely enough, unless you use an electric coffee grinder. Some mixed spices are much more elaborate and include touches of star anise, for instance. With experience, you can please yourself
MOCHA. Variety of *coffee.
MOLASSES is the liquid residue in sugar-making which is separated by centrifuge from the crystals of crude brown sugar. While most molasses is made from sugar cane, some may come from specially processed sugar beet, although molasses produced from beet in normal sugar production is inedible to humans.
Baking molasses still contains a large amount of crystallizable sugar, while blackstrap molasses is the lowest grade of all and has lost all the sugar that can economically be extracted. *Treacle is partly decolourized molasses, and is usually sweeter than molasses.
[Molasses – French: mélasse German: Melasse Italian: melossa Spanish: melaza]
MOLLUSCS include gastropods (such as slugs and *snails, *limpets and *abalones), bivalves (such as *mussels, *clams, *oysters and *cockles), and cephalopods (*octopuses, *cuttlefish and *squids). The word comes from the Latin mollis (soft) or molluscus (softish), perhaps.
[Mollusc – French: molusque German: Molluske, Weichtier Italian: mollusca Spanish: molusco]
MOLOKHIA. See mallow.
MONKFISH. See shark.
MONKEY NUT. See peanut.
MONOSACCHARIDES. See sugars.
MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, MSG, taste powder, gourmet powder, p’sst, or ve-tsin. This is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the amino acids, and can be bought as a white, crystalline substance. lt occurs naturally in soy sauce and can be made from wheat (as it was originally) or, as now, from glutamic acid recovered from sugar beet molasses or by bacterial fermentation of solutions of glucose and simple nitrogen compounds. Although MSG has very little taste of its own, it has the property of bringing out the taste of other ingredients, particularly of meat, but also of vegetables and mushrooms. It is commonly used in commercial products, canned goods and stock cubes and in Chinese and Japanese cooking.
[Monosodium glutamate – French: glutamate de soude German: Mononatriumglutamat Italian: glutiminato di soda Spanish: glutamato de sodio]
MONSTERA or ceriman (Monstera deliciosa) has a fruit that looks like an elongated green pinecone. The plant, a favourite of the indoor horticulturist, has natural slashes in the leaves; it is an epiphyte from tropical America which belongs to the Arum lily family. I have found the fruit in London as an import from Portugal. it is ripe when the cone begins to break up; you can then take off the outer segments, with the green surface attached. Inside are white, creamy segments reminiscent of a custard apple, with black flakes and a central core. The flavour is acid-sweet and refreshing, vaguely like a pineapple. It is liable to make the mouth sore, especially if it is not quite ripe.
MONTILLA. See sherry.
MORAY EEL (Muraena helena) is a sinister looking creature that is common in warm seas but rare further north. Morays used to be plentiful in the Mediterranean until pollution took charge. Their heads, teeth bared, were a familiar sight to skin divers who pro
bed under rocks. The moray is brown or purple-brown, mottled with yellow spots, up to 150 cm (5 ft) long and exceedingly aggressive. Its bite, though not venomous, is very painful. It is said that the moray can also live in fresh water – though it prefers the sea – and that it was kept and fattened in ponds by wealthy Romans who even, legend has it, fed the eels on recalcitrant slaves. The taste of the moray is excellent – it reminds me of sole – but it is full of bones. There is supposed to be a local way of removing the bones by rubbing the fish with ashes and pulling it through a noose, but I have never found anyone who can demonstrate this. Moray eel is excellent cut in pieces and used with other fish as the basis for fish soup.
[Moray eel – French: murène Italian: murena Spanish: morena]
MOREL. This fungus, of which the most usual species in the kitchen are Morchella esculenta and M. vulgaris, does not have the parasol shape of most mushrooms and toadstools but has the cap covered with a honeycomb of pits which give a sponge-like appearance. Unlike most edible fungi, they appear in the spring, from March to May. They are usually cut up before washing in salted water to remove not just earth but also insects. Some fungus books suggest that morels should be blanched in boiling water before being prepared for the table or incorporated in sauces. They are not common in Britain but can be bought dried or canned. (See mushrooms.)
[Morel – French: morille German: Morchel Italian: morchella Spanish: colmenilla]
MORELLO. See cherry.
MORTADELLA is a large, often balloon-shaped sausage that originated in Bologna, which still produces the best examples, although mortadella is now also made in other towns and other countries. It is a finely textured sausage, usually containing large flecks of fat, and has been cooked by steaming so that it is ready to eat cold and finely sliced. The best mortadella is made with pure pork, but the possible ingredients listed by Elizabeth David in Italian Food (Penguin) for cheap mortadella include not just soya flour but also donkey meat. Mortadella is used in cooking in the stuffing for some sorts of pasta and in the croquettes called suppli together with mozzarella cheese.
MOTH BEAN (Phaseolus aconitifolius) grows wild in India and has been taken into cultivation fairly recently. It is useful because it is exceedingly drought resistant and so will grow where other pulses will not, even in the desert regions of Rajastan. lt is used whole or as a split dal, but is of small importance outside its locality. The seeds are green or black.
MOULDS are small fungi which can just be seen as downy, cottony or powdery plants, growing on stale bread, jam and rotten fruit. There are thousands of different kinds. Moulds reproduce and spread by means of minute spores which blow everywhere in the air (so keep windows closed and pots covered as far as possible when bottling jam). Some species of mould can be found to attack almost anything, even glass and chemicals.
Moulds need air to varying degrees. Some, like Penicillium camembertii, which grows on the rind of camembert and other similar *cheeses, need a lot. Others, like Penicillium roquefortii, which makes blue veins inside cheese, can manage with little air.
Moulds also require moisture. The spores need it to germinate, and the threads to grow. However, they do not need as much moisture as most other organisms and can often manage on what is condensed on surfaces from damp air. Although moulds will not grow on jams that contain plenty of sugar, the dilution at the surface produced by condensation may be enough to let them get hold. That is why dry, airy places are always advocated for storage.
Usually moulds prefer somewhat acid conditions (pH 3 to 6), but some are able to stand extremes (anything from pH 1 to pH 11), so pickles may be attacked on occasion. They also like warm but not hot surroundings and are slowed down by cold. Although poisonous moulds do exist, most merely spoil food with musty or bitter tastes. They are rarely harmful in any quantity that is likely to be eaten. An exception is the parasitic mould Claviceps purpurea, which affects cereals, especially rye. The black ears attacked by this parasite, which is called ergot, are virulently poisonous, causing delirium and often death. The illness was common in the Middle Ages; though it is rare today, its existence should be noted by grow-it-yourself survival enthusiasts.
[Mould – French: moisissure German: Schimmel Italian: muffa Spanish: moho]
MOUNTAIN ASH. See rowan.
MOWRA BUTTER. See fats.
MSG. See monosodium glutamate.
MULBERRY in Europe normally means the Common mulberry or Black mulberry (Morus nigra), a fruit which has been grown since ancient times, when it was probably introduced from western Asia. The tree has clusters of small flowers which together form one multiple fruit (unlike the blackberry which is formed from a single flower). Mulberries should not be picked until they are completely ripe (hence their non-appearance in greengrocer’s shops); they are then purple, very juicy and will stain everything in sight. They can be eaten raw or made into jam or sorbet and can also be used in summer pudding (although Elizabeth David says that they should first be stewed).
In Asia, the leaves of the White mulberry or Silk mulberry (M. alba) are used as the food of the silkworm. The fruits are used dried as well as fresh in both sweet and savoury sauces.
[Mulberry – French: mure German: Maulbeere Italian: mora Spanish: mora]
MULLET. There are two sorts of mullet, grey and red, which belong to quite different groups of fish. Both are important as food.
Red mullet is actually two very similar species, Mullus surmuletus and M. barbatus, which respectively reach 40 cm (16 in) and 25 cm (10 in) in length. The family Mullidae, to which they belong, has some 50 species, including various goatfish. The Red mullet is found in the Mediterranean and from the Canary Islands to Norway, though it is rarely caught in northern waters. The red mullet is a great delicacy, and was much sought after by the Romans. The Emperor Claudius, it is recorded, once paid a sum of money computed to be equal to £50 for a single fish. The French sometimes call it bécasse de mer (sea woodcock) because it can be cooked without gutting, like woodcock; it is usually hung for 24 hours to increase the gamey flavour. If the fish is gutted, the liver, which is a great delicacy, should be left in it or incorporated in the sauce.
Because of its red colour, people sometimes confuse the Red mullet with the unrelated Red gurnard (Trigla pini), which has a more angular shape and does not have long barbels hanging from the underside of its mouth; the Red gurnard is not of the same quality.
The season for fresh Red mullet varies according to locality, but is generally during the summer months; fish imported from North Africa are available at other seasons and may be frozen. Although prices are not what they were in Roman times, this is still not a cheap fish. Red mullet are very often sold already scaled. If they are to be gutted, this is best done through the gill opening. Recipes can be found in Alan Davidson’s Mediterranean Seafood (Penguin), in any book on Mediterranean cookery and also in English cookery books, as M. surmuletus is caught off the south-western coasts of the British Isles. It does not reach North America.
Grey mullet. There are about a hundred species of Grey mullet (family Mugilidae), mainly in the warm seas. They are long, slender fish, usually in some shade of silver or grey and with large scales, but occasionally they are brightly coloured, like the Rainbow mullet from the Far East. They feed on weed, and some species, nicknamed cochons de mer (sea pigs) in France, swim far up estuaries with the tide. Species that frequent harbours are best avoided, as they can taste very nasty and at worst have their guts full of oil. Because of their vegetarian diet and ability to live in water of varying salinity, species of mullet are farmed in ponds and tanks; among them is the largest (up to 75 cm/30 in) and most widely distributed species, the common Grey mullet (Mugil cephalus),which in the US is called the Striped mullet (Black mullet in Florida). Particularly in the eastern Mediterranean area, mullets are plentiful and the female roes are salted and pressed to make *botargo.
Good species of Grey mullet, which are in general the ones that avoid ports, have firm, white flesh and
a good taste. Among the best are the Grey mullet itself and the Golden grey mullet (M. auratus), which has golden spots on its gill covers. Most people will find difficulty in telling one species of Grey mullet from another, as the distinguishing features tend to be subtle. Mullets should be scaled carefully, as they bruise very easily, and gutted through the gills for preference, the roes being left inside. Some say that it is best to keep them for 24 hours before eating, but this service has usually been performed by the fishmonger. Others wash them in brine or vinegared water. This is a good fish, but not sensational.
[Red mullet – French: rouget German: Meerbarbe Italian: triglia Spanish: salmonete.
Grey mullet – French: mulet gris German: grossköpfige Meerasche Italian: cefalo Spanish: pardete]
MUNG BEAN or green gram (Phaseolus aureus) is a tiny bean, which is usually green, but some varieties are yellow or black, and the latter can be confused from the outside with *black gram (which, to make matters worse, sometimes has green seeds).The difference is that the flesh of the seeds is yellow in mung and white in black gram.
Mung beans cook quickly without prior soaking. In total contrast to black gram, it is light, easily digested and ‘cooling’. It has the reputation of not causing wind. In India, it is frequently given to invalids. It is eaten more as a whole grain or sprouted than split as a *dal. It is used particularly in recipes from Central and South India, although it is not a daily food. In China, too, it is often used as bean sprouts. The usual way to sprout these beans is to soak them overnight and then to hang them up loose in a wet sack which is occasionally dunked when it seems to be getting dry. The seed coats mostly come off when the sprouted gram is washed. Like all *sprouted legumes, mung sprouts should be very lightly cooked.
MUSCIAME. Dried dolphin meat, a speciality from the Ligurian and Tuscan coasts of Italy (Genoa, Camogli, Viareggio). Fishermen hate dolphins, which follow the fish and often break up the nets. The flesh of dolphins harpooned in the course of fishing (they are rarely deliberately hunted) is cut in strips, salted a few days, and hung in the rigging whenever the weather is sunny and there is a drying breeze. The finished product is hard as leather, black and usually covered in green mould. When this is wiped off with a cloth damped in vinegar, the musciame is finely sliced, marinated for half an hour in olive oil and often sprinkled with lemon juice like *bresaola. Slices are chewed with a slice of fresh garlic. It is an acceptable zakouski with vodka – the Polish painter Romain Bilinski used to serve it thus – but is perhaps only for the strong.