Text 1095, 139 rader
Skriven 2013-06-08 13:49:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av RUTH HAFFLY
Ärende: food network 678
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 ML> A little learning, actually, and the spring is Pierian.
 RH> OK, so I was close, again going from memory.

For some reason, people usually misquote that, even though
the distinction is as glaring as the one that you sometimes
bring up in one of your taglines (yeah, I know these should
not be discussed) about knowledge vs. wisdom.

 ML> I went to grad school in English, one of many interesting
 ML> false starts in my life.
 RH> I had one of those with English, as an undergrad major, secondary ed
 RH> minor. I changed to sociology, with minors in psychology and art,
 RH> stayed with that and was happier.

The journey was amusing, though, right?

 ML> We met with the head chef at the restaurant
 RH> I read your mesage to somebody else about it yesterday. I'd sous chef
 RH> for you but not take on a project like that myself.

I don't get to bring a staff, other than Annie and Robby,
both of whom are decent in the kitchen but need explicit
instructions, as in I cut a sample piece and tell them, okay,
I need a hundred of these, no more and no less, but I fear
that I will get 150 of them only half of which will be
usable. The regular employees will be there for me, though.
 
 RH> OTOH, if it were German or Italian cooking

I actually would prefer that. I told the chef that I can make
a Schweinshaxe or Schnitzel with the best of them, but that
didn't fit into the plan.

 ML> is that people do volunteer me for stuff, some of which I am
 RH> I've been volunteered before, sometimes doing quite well in the
 RH> position, much to my surprise (G) but not to the surpise of the one
 RH> who put me up to it.
 
Sometimes, and I say sometimes, their assessment of your
abilities may be more accurate than your own.

 RH> That sounds like it would have been pretty good, actually. Knowing
 RH> that it was western NC, you had the red bbq sauce for it.

With the ribs that some others had, you got it in one. My
pulled beef was thankfully not very sauced.
 
 ML>   Puree all the seasonings and add the blood from the pig. Scrape off
 RH> I think I'd rather use another liquid.
 ML> Eh, people think it's gross, but in fact, it's just protein
 ML> and fat and tastes somewhat like liver.
 RH> I eat liver but I still can't wrap my mental taste buds around blood.

There's this mythology about blood is life, and it combines
with the other mythology about you are what you eat, and the
result is something many people can't wrap their heads
around. But think of it this way. A carnivore consumes the
equivalent of say a hog a year (57% yield, or 144 lb of
"retail cuts," as the government calls it). If you got
yield up to 67%, say, by using the blood and weird parts,
you could feed a sixth more people. Not insignificant. Of
course, some of the discards go to making fertilizer and
such, but the efficiency of returning these nutrients to
the ground and then reharvesting them (ha, take that, you
vegetarians) is low.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

      Title: Boeuf … la Ficelle: Eduard de Pomiane
 Categories: Main course, Beef
      Yield: 2 Servings

    750 g  Rump steak; up to 1 kg
           ;boiling water
           ;salt
           ;string
           ;seasonings & accompaniments
           -to taste (see text)

    "The piece de résistance is the rump steak. Boeuf … la ficelle: beef
  on a string. It's Pomiane's recipe (not one of his quickies, but
  fairly effortless) and he has a lot of fun with it, teasing his
  guests, making them afraid it is going to be unpleasant.
    All you need is a large, deep pot of boiling water, some string, a
  cubical piece of rump steak, 750 g to 1 kg, and some salt.
    Tie the meat firmly in shape with the string, leaving one long end
  hanging. ('The roast balances itself, like a censer, on the end of the
  string.') Bring the deep pot of salted water to a good boil. Plunge
  the roast in. Tie the string firmly to the handle of the pot in such
  a fashion that the meat is perfectly suspended, not touching the
  sides. You may need two strings, one to each handle so the roast
  swings not like a censer but like a hammock. And it's a good idea to
  try it out before you start the water boiling, because the length of
  string and placing of the meat are nice matters. Put the lid back on
  and keep it boiling.
    Pomiane explains why this isn't going to turn into soup. The action
  of the hot water is the same as that of any sudden fierce heat -
  grill or oven - in sealing the meat.
    Time the cooking at exactly 15 minutes per 500 grams. Pomiane does
  it to the nearest minute. Be careful if you are using a larger
  quantity: it may not need much more time if the piece of meat is
  longer. Remove the piece of meat to a hot plate. 'It is grey... it
  isn't beautiful... I carry it to the table... I admit to feeling some
  emotion... What will this morsel of meat offer? Come on... courage.'
  (The drama of this is because it's Radio Cuisine, it's a performance.
  Pomiane is pretending it's all happening even as his audience
  listens.) 'I take a fork and a very sharp knife. I prick, I cut.
  Admirable spectacle! The cut meat is red; the blood spurts, it runs,
  it spreads on the plate. Never has such a roast given me such a
  result.'
    He's right. It's exactly like that. The guests are dubious. So are
  you. It's an ugly, grey and bulgy object that you're offering. You
  could of course cut it in the kitchen, but then you'd lose the
  contrast effect, the ugly-duckling-into-swan transformation. Which is
  certainly most spectacular. The meat is rare, meltingly tender. And
  the water it's cooked in remains perfectly clear, with a few
  colourless globules of fat on the surface. Not one drop of the meat's
  juices escapes.
    Pomiane serves only salt, watercress, bread and red wine with it.
  I'd offer several mustards, maybe some horseradish. The asparagus...
  I can't have a vinaigrette with them as well as artichokes; we'll
  have to make do with the meat's red juice. Or a bit of butter.
    You don't of course have to indulge in all the theatre. This is an
  excellent way to cook beef for serving cold; seeing it ready sliced
  on a plate, nobody would suspect it was boiled."

  "EAT MY WORDS" by Marion Halligan, (c) 1990.
  Collins/Angus & Robertson Publishers, Australia, ISBN 0 207 16823 7

  The reference is to a recipe by Eduard de Pomiane, but she does not
  tell us which of his books it was in.

  Typed by Greg Mayman, March 1999.
  Later tested - yes, it's exactly as described! GM.

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