Questions & Answers About Food

Q: What is headcheese and why does it never seem to contain any cheese? Did it ever?

A: Headcheese, alias pork in aspic, originally contained cheese along with the other ingredients used today. Cheese was probably eliminated because it made for too rich a dish. The "head" designation came about because, in the beginning, the principal ingredient (which provided the aspic) was always a pig's head. It is still used today, particularly in Britain and Ireland. In the U.S., however, it is often made with pig's feet.

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Q: Why does poached chicken frequently taste as if all the juices  have been cooked out of it?

A: Probably because that is what has happened. To begin with, to poach a too small bird is almost certain to result in juicelessness. Too small is under 3 pounds. Ideally, a chicken for poaching should weigh at least 5 pounds, which indicates the use of a roasting bird. Hens, which used to be the favorite birds for poaching, are no longer favored. They make for fine soup, but tately for tender or moist poached chicken. And their cooking time can be forever. For best poaching the chicken should be cooked whole in a large soup kettle along with carrots, onion, celery, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, salt, peppercorns, plus enough chicken broth combined with cool water to cover the bird completely. The pan should be covered with foil or waxed paper and the lid fitted securely over it. The chicken should never cook rapidly than at bare simmer. Cooked in this manner it will be tender and moist after about 1 1/2 hours.

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Q: What are grenadins of beef:

A: Properly the term grenadins is applied only to fillet of veal and, occasionally, to the breast meat of turkey or a large chicken. Specifically, grenadins are thick slices of those meats, pounded to a thickness of about 1/4 inch, and cut into triangles or rectangles. These pieces are then larded with thin strips of salt pork and braised with a mixture of consomme and white wine.

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Q: Some suggestions for successfully flaming desserts?

A: Successful flaming requires that the substance to be flamed to be hot or at least warm, the flaming agent (pure spirit or liqueur) be gently warmed, but not actually heated and never boiled. Excessive heat causes the alcohol, which is what burns, to volatilize, and the substance to be flamed not contain too much liquid which would weaken the potency of the flaming agent.  For a greater and longer lasting flame, the substance to be blazed may be sprinkled with a little sugar before it is ignited. The flaming agent may be ignited after pouring it over the dessert, or ignited first and then poured. Wines, even fortified ones, are not of sufficient alcoholic strength to flame properly.

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Q: What are capers? For what are they best used?

A: Capers, often thought to be nasturtium seeds, are actually the tiny flower buds of a shrub most abundantly grown in the Mediterranean region and widely used there in cooking. Less used in America than they deserve to be, these greenish little buds, preserved in salted vinegar, impart their interesting pungent flavor to meats and fowl, poached fish, relishes, sauces, salads and salad dressings.

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Q: What is the difference between tomato puree and tomato paste?

A: Tomato paste, frequently confused with tomato puree, is a highly concentrated essence of peeled, seeded, and finely chopped Italian plum tomatoes, reduced over low heat to less than 1/8 their uncooked volume. The paste is packed in small tins, usually with a leaf of fresh basil. It is rarely made at home. Tomato puree can easily be made at home. It is made with globe tomatoes, cooked until much of their water content has evaporated, but still of pouring consistency. Two and one-half pounds of fresh tomatoes, cored, chopped and sieved then reduced to the proper consistency will provide about 2 cups of puree. Homemade tomato puree is highly perishable. It can be kept under refrigeration for usually no longer than 3-4 days, after which time the flavor deteriorates.

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Q: In baking bread is there any way to control the brownness and texture of the crust?

A: A proper glaze will do much toward achieving both brownness and the crust texture desired. For well-browned, but minimum-shiny crust, modereately soft, brush the loaf of bread before baking with 1-2 tablespoons melted butter. For minimum-browned but maximum-shiny and somewhat crisper crust, brush after 20 minutes of baking with 1 egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon water. For medium-browned but maximum-shiny and still crisper crust, brush after 20 minutes of baking with 1 whole egg beaten with 1 teaspoon milk. For a quite soft, delicate crust, brush after baking, but while the loaf is still hot, with 1-2 tablespoons melted butter.

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Q: What weight of shrimp in the shells is needed to provide 1 pound after they are shelled, deveined, and cooked?

A: Generally 2 pounds of such raw shrimp are needed to provide 1 pound after they are cleaned and cooked. Count on about 30% loss through shelling and deveining and another 20% in cooking, depending on the size of the shrimp. The larger the shrimp are, the greater the weight loss through cleaning, but the weight loss through cooking is less.