by Tom Stobart
RELIGIOUS FOOD LAWS. Christians are not subjected to religious dietary laws or expressly forbidden to eat certain foods or instructed to have their meat killed in specified ways. Even ‘fish on Fridays’ is no longer observed by most denominations, although in Catholic countries, in spite of official abolition by the Vatican Council in the mid-1960s, the old custom is still widely observed through force of habit. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Jains and other religious groups do however have dietary rules. Very orthodox followers of these religions are unlikely to accept an invitation to eat in the homes of people of different faiths. However, cooks ought to know in broad outline what the religious food laws specify, if only because it may sometimes prevent social embarrassment to be able to provide a meal which is acceptable to people with another religion. These laws also explain many of the characteristics of ethnic cooking – why, for instance, the Middle East is not full of delectable pork recipes and why Arabs may, but Jews may not, cook meat with yogurt. The popularity in Jewish cooking of stuffed dishes in which a little meat can be made to stretch a long way goes back to the days of the ghettos, where kosher meat was a scarce commodity. This scarcity and the large number of ingredients that were forbidden led to a cuisine which produced the maximum variety from a rather limited range of raw materials. Hindus, who were to a large extent vegetarian, developed varied and elaborate vegetable dishes. A humble ingredient such as *dal can be turned into literally hundreds of very different dishes.
Dietary laws can be seen as a way of transforming the preparation and consumption of food into an act of worship or merely as the expression of principles of health and hygiene that were once essential in the hot countries of the Orient. Either way, the laws were used both to protect and to proclaim the identity of the religious group. For Jews and Hindus, who until quite recently neither encouraged nor recognized converts, the laws created a barrier between their communities and an impure world, breeding a sense of exclusiveness, of a special relation with the deity, which helped them survive in the face of hostility or persecution.
Islam, on the other hand, was fiercely proselytic and saw in the convert’s abstinence from pork and alcohol a tangible sign of allegiance to his new religion. The food laws and customs bind all Muslims together, irrespective of origins or social position. In a traditional Muslim household, the sexes do not mix at meals and all the men sit around a large communal dish of food and eat from it. Any newcomer, provided he is a Muslim, will also be invited to partake of the meal, a practice that may not be particularly hygienic but that indicates a sense of equality in the eyes of God.
Christianity and Buddhism, which started as movements of reform or revolt among, respectively, Jews and Hindus, reacted against the rigid concept of food laws. These were relaxed by the Buddhists and largely abandoned by the Christians, and both religions substituted simple, plain diets which they sought to combine with a rather austere way of living. Christianity has no religious food laws in the sense that no food is forbidden or considered impure. However, abstinence from meat and rich foods during Lent is a tradition of the older denominations, and in many countries there are special dishes associated with Lent. Shrove Tuesday or mardi gras, before Lent, also has its own dishes, of which pancakes are the most famous, many of them designed to empty the larder of rich ingredients in a final pre-Lenten eating binge.
Jews. The Jewish dietary laws (kashrut) are very ancient, many of them from the Bible. To be fit for eating, animals must have cloven hooves and chew the cud. This allows beef, mutton, goat, and venison, but rules out horse (which doesn’t have a cloven hoof or chew the cud) and pork (because the pig, though it has a cloven hoof, does not chew the cud and is also regarded as unclean). Most birds are allowed (except birds of prey), but seafood must have obvious fins and scales (which rules out eels and shellfish, both crustaceans and molluscs). The eggs and milk of prohibited animals are also not allowed, which rules out mare’s milk and the roe of some fish. Hen eggs must be perfect, and a blood spot means that the egg should be discarded.
To be kosher, which is to say suitable for consumption by orthodox Jews, meat must be slaughtered in the prescribed way by the shochet who is licensed by the rabbi. The Jewish butcher must not only be able to slaughter by cutting the throat of the animal so that trachea, oesophagus, jugular vein and carotid artery are quickly severed (the animal almost instantly loses consciousness), but must also be fully conversant with the law of shechitah and be able to examine the animal outside and inside for any disease, malformation or impurity (such as a foreign body embedded in the gizzard of a chicken) which would make the animal trefah – unfit to eat. The care taken over the slaughtering of animals is to ensure the ritual purity of Jewish food and to avoid unnecessary suffering to the animal, but is also a sign of respect for the life that is being taken. In fact, the consumption of meat has constantly posed a problem to Judaism: The Torah says: ‘I would prefer that you abstain from eating meat altogether’. But it goes on to say that: ‘since your desires cannot be stopped nor your nutritional requirements altered... since you will eat meat and perhaps need to eat meat, you may ... but with one restriction – that you have reverence for the life you take,’ Meat must be eaten within a day or so of slaughter, and it must be soaked in a vessel kept for the purpose and salted for an hour in a perforated container which will allow the blood to flow away. Then, after rinsing, it is pure or ‘kosher’. It is worth noting that kosher meat is acceptable to Muslims in places where true halal meat is unavailable.
The sharpest distinction between Jewish and Muslim food law is the question of eating meat and dairy products together. The Bible says: ‘Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk’ (Deuteronomy 14.21 ). Orthodox Jews go to excessive lengths to avoid any possible mixing of dairy products and meat at the same meal. Tea or coffee with milk cannot be taken until six hours after meat has been eaten. Separate pots and dishes have to be kept for dairy products and meat; even table cloths and bread that have been on the table when meat has been served must be set aside before a meal containing milk products may follow. This law makes it impossible to cook meat dishes with butter (the basis of so much French cooking) and is the reason why Jews use chicken fat, the nearest animal fat to butter in texture and character. While there are plenty of Jews who eat ham and enjoy French cooking, it should not be taken for granted that all Jewish acquaintances will do so.
Muslims, like Jews, may not eat pork. The meat they do eat must have been killed deliberately and in the correct way; in practice, Muslim butchers (even those in meat factories) are licensed by a mullah and the meat is known as halal meat. The animal must have been killed by having its throat cut while the slaughterer says ‘In the name of Allah, Allah is most great.’ Muslims are not allowed to eat blood, and may not eat the meat of animals which have died by accident, except in dire necessity. Muslims may not, of course, eat bacon or ham or pork – the hams of the Middle East are mutton hams. Muslims are also forbidden to drink alcohol (though many do) or even to put wine or spirits in their food. The use of gold or silver plates is also forbidden, so put them away when entertaining the local oil sheik In general, the laws governing Muslim food are very like those governing Jewish food but with one major difference – lamb cooked in milk or yogurt is one of the great Arab dishes.
Hindus have complex religious food laws that vary according to caste and region. Many high caste Hindus, particularly women, are vegetarians. Some eat eggs, some not; some fish but not meat, and so on. Prohibitions even extend into the vegetable world. Very orthodox Brahmins (the priestly caste) abstain from onion and garlic. The really strict Brahmin will eat only food cooked by himself or someone of his own caste in his own kitchen, and there are rituals to be observed (such as the cook taking a bath before preparing the dishes) which are hardly followed outside India. Hindus who are willing to visit European households for dinner will evidently accept food prepared in a European manner, but it is necessary to ask if they are vegetarians or if they eat meat. Never
serve beef when you have Hindu visitors; the cow has for long been considered sacred, though a thousand or more years ago, even the Brahmins ate beef Many Hindus regard alcoholic drinks with horror. However, bhang, a paste prepared from the cannabis plant, is legally available in India and is frequently added to drinks and sweetmeats at festival time.
Buddhists base their religion on the teachings of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who was born in Northern India in the 6th century BC. Although the Buddha did not forbid his disciples to eat animals, he advised them not to kill for food, nor to allow anyone else to kill for their special benefit. The Buddha himself died as a result of eating bad pork (which had been offered by a poor man whose feelings would have been hurt if he had refused it), but today many Buddhists are vegetarians (particularly in Japan), so some vegetarian dishes should be offered as well as meat when Buddhists come to dinner.
Jains have a religion that is a branch of Buddhism characterized by an extreme respect for life. So Jain priests brush the ground where they walk, and wear a pad over their mouths to prevent not only the accidental inhalation of small creatures but even their hot breath distressing the very air. Naturally Jains will not eat meat, fish or eggs but will usually take butter and milk. Some will not eat onions, garlic or red coloured vegetables. A Jain priest is not even allowed to beg for his food, since that might cause someone to kill the vegetable on his behalf He may only eat food if it is unsolicited and offered freely to him. In that case, it is already dead.
Parsees are followers of the prophet Zoroaster who first came to India to escape persecution by the Muslims in Iran around AD 750. Parsees eat meat and drink alcoholic drinks freely, but many do not approve of smoking because fire is sacred to them.
Sikhs. The Sikh religion was founded by Guru Nanak in the late 15th century. Sikhs eat meat, even beef, but will not eat meat killed in the Muslim manner (by cutting the throat of the animal) as they regard this as a cruel practice. Sikhs in India tend to avoid beef but only out of respect for the Hindus among whom they live.
RENDERING is melting chunks of animal fat down to a liquid. Put the fat in a pan on top of the stove or in the oven at low heat and cook it gently until the fat is liquid and the remaining solids are crisp. These bits, drained and cooled, are delicious, and the fat, transferred to a covered container and kept in the refrigerator, is an excellent frying medium.
RENNET is an extract from the stomach lining (abomasum) of an unweaned calf or any similar substance for curdling milk. Rennet is mainly used to set the curd for cheese, but also for making curds and whey, junket and similar preparations. The action is produced by rennin, an enzyme which coagulates milk proteins and is present in quantity in the stomachs of unweaned baby mammals, as well as in other animal’s digestive tracts. Calves’ stomachs are the classic source of rennet, but the stomach linings of young pigs, kids, lambs and even hares and rabbits were sometimes used. The gizzard lining of chickens or turkeys makes gallina rennet, which produces a more delicate curd.
In the past, pieces of salted and dried calf’s stomach were sold by butchers. There were many recipes for preparing rennet from scratch; the simplest was to wash the abomasum carefully, rub it well with salt and pack it, with plenty more salt, in a jar. After a month, it was taken out, drained and stretched on sticks to dry. Once dry, it would keep for weeks. A piece about 5 cm (2 in) square, soaked in half a cup of hot water for 4-5 hours would yield a liquid, 2 tablespoons of which would curdle 4.5 It (8 pt) of warmed milk However, the strength of action was very variable. Today, it is more usual to buy rennet essence. In emergency, though, the cook can easily make gallina rennet by washing the lining of a chicken or turkey gizzard well, rubbing it with salt, stretching it and drying it. For a start try using the same quantity as for calf rennet. Vegetarians must use plant rennet. One type can be made by infusing the flowers of *lady’s bedstraw in water. According to an old recipe, you will need about a cup of a strong infusion (made by pouring boiling water over the flowers and leaving them overnight) to curdle about 32 It (56 pt) of milk; excellent cheese results. The juices from the fig tree and certain thistles have the same curdling effect.
[Rennet – French: présure, caillette German: Renette Italian: caglio, presame Spanish: cuajo]
REPTILES represent an evolutionary stage between amphibians such as frogs – whose young have gills and live in water – and the birds and mammals. They are cold-blooded, lay eggs and have a general structure similar to our own, but much more primitive. Most Europeans treat the thought of reptilian food, apart from *turtle, with horror. Less so Americans, who have a large number of small turtles in their lakes, rivers and marshes, as well as on the coast, and who, on occasion, will eat alligator and rattle-snake. Having tried grilled snake with the Australian aborigines and boiled gorpad lizard with some Indian aborigines, I must confess to a certain revulsion which prevents me from giving an unbiased judgement, just as I would find difficulty in judging rat, dog or boiled scorpion, all of which get eaten by someone. Some of these foods, like the gorpad I ate by the roadside in South India, are supposed to have magical or medicinal significance. The gorpad is said to make a man impotent if it happens to hit him with its tail while being captured, but it confers exceptional sexual stamina on those who eat it. However, this is a book on gastronomy. Reptile eggs are also eaten, and turtle eggs are regarded as a delicacy, but the eating of wild crocodile and turtle eggs is to be avoided where, as in most places, they are endangered species.
RESIN. Various resins and gums are used for flavouring. Particularly worthy of notice is the Greek wine retsina, which is often made with no more effort than putting a few bruised pine cones into a barrel of white wine. Resin is a preservative, but an acquired taste.
[Resin – French: résine German: Hartz Italian: resina Spanish: resina]
RETINOL See vitamin A.
RHUBARB (Rheum raponticum) has been judged to be legally a fruit (at least in the US), although it is actually a leaf stem. The word ‘rhubarb’ is possibly coined from rha (Greek for Volga) and barbarium (Latin for barbarian), the plant having first, it seems, been introduced from Russia to Britain in 1578 (not long before Gerard’s Herbal was written). It could also come from the Greek rheo (to flow), for reasons which will be obvious to those who remember the revolting Gregory’s Powder, of which medicinal rhubarb is a main constituent. At any rate, it was, to begin with, used for decoration in gardens and no doubt as a purge.
It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that rhubarb began to be prepared as a fruit. Its popularity rested on its being the first fruit of spring, and it was commonly forced (with straw and bottomless buckets) to produce tender pink stems. It does not seem to have caught on in Mediterranean climates because it needs a cold spell in winter to grow properly and because oranges and other spring and winter fruit are available when rhubarb would come in. In Britain, after a great vogue in Victorian times, the popularity of rhubarb has declined. Best flavoured in the early spring or Champagne rhubarb also called Dresden rhubarb, which has been forced. A great deal is produced in darkened greenhouses in Yorkshire. Older outdoor rhubarb, which has bright red stems and large dark green leaves, has usually to be peeled. In the US, both field and hothouse varieties are grown, the latter being available throughout the year. It is grown in the more northern states. Recipes come almost entirely from northern Europe; in Italy and Spain, rhubarb is virtually unknown. Rhubarb when young and pink, is excellent. It mixes well with other fruits and take flavours such as ginger. Angelica has also been much praised as a partner for rhubarb.
The acidity of the stalks, which is greater in plants grown in the open than in forced ones, is due to malic and oxalic acids. Oxalic acid is poisonous in quantity, but for ill effects you would have to eat a lot. The leaves, however can apparently be poisonous and, although they have sometimes been eaten without ill effect there have been poisonings and deaths. Boiling rhubarb leaves is an excellent way of cleaning pans (even stewing the stalks make the pan
shine).
[Rhubarb – French: rhubarbe German: Rhabarber Italian: rabarbaro Spanish ruibarbo]
RHUBARB CHARD. See beets.
RIBOFLAVINE. See vitamin B2.
RICE (Oryza sativa) is the staple grain of over half the world’s population, although the tonnage of wheat produced each year is actually greater. Another species, Red rice (O. glaberrima) which has a red bran layer, is grown in parts of West Africa. *Wild rice, however, is not closely related to rice.
Rice was taken into cultivation somewhere in southern Asia a very long time ago; it has certainly been in use in India and China for over 5,000 years. However, it is a comparative newcomer to Mediterranean civilizations; it got to Egypt between 400 and 300 BC. It gradually became established in the Middle East, and the Arabs took it with them to their colonies in Sicily, southern Italy and Spain, but not until about AD 1000. Half a millennium later, in Elizabethan times, rice was being imported into England from Spain. lt was made into porridges, puddings and, as Gerard wrote in his Herbal, ‘many other kindes of food is made with this graine as those that are skillfulI in cookerie can tell.’ In fact, he tried growing rice in his own garden in the year 1596 but not surprisingly it did not set seed ‘in that unseasonable year’ (it was one of the worst in the 16th century), which suggested both that rice cannot be cultivated so far north and that the British climate has not altered much.
Today, Europe’s most important rice-growing area is the Po Valley in northern Italy, where rice was first introduced in the mid-15th century by the Venetians, who were then powerful and wealthy from trading with the East. Rice is also grown in Portugal and Spain. More recently, cultivation has been pushed north into Hungary and to the Camargue in France. This, at present, is its limit; no variety can profitably be grown nearer the pole than 45°N.
In the US, rice was first successfully cultivated near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1694.American rice is still known as Carolina rice, although it now comes mainly from Texas, Louisiana, California and Arkansas. The US has a large export surplus and over half the rice eaten in Britain is Carolina rice – an all-purpose rice distinguished for nothing. Some 90% of the world’s rice is still grown and consumed in the monsoon regions of Asia. In a year, the average Englishman eats only a little over 1 kg (2¼ lb) of rice, an amount which would keep a hardworking farmer in South China going for a bare two days. (In the north of China, as in the north of India, the staple cereal is wheat.)