Monday, June 29, 2009

Return

Well, I'm almost back. For the time being it will be mainly thoughts and history. Standing and pot holding are still problems.
Avoiding butter and getting a little fed up with olive oil, I was going a different route when stopped in what are not tracks. I know there are other fats and many of them have been used; but I began to think about that automatic: "brown." Of course, it can be done using a different starch say potato or rice. however, why brown at all? The connection and difference between /soup, stews and braises is close and intimate. A few pre-operative experiments found me to be on a good track.
Certainly, browned flour is not a needed all-purpose seasoning.
Oddly enough, just as I was thinking about this, I was alternately reading a highly praised and prized novel, Te Debt to Pleasure, byJohn Lanchester. In it, food serves as an over arching metaphor and one might even a character. There are even recipes.
At the opening of the book, there are ruminations on just the culinary distinctions and their out come that I have brought up.
The novel is well worth reading. The culinary thoughts are interesting. Most of the recipes sound all right; but i didn't find myself tempted to try them. I think I have better versions of all of them. However, they are not truly the point of the book.
If you haven't, read the book now and come back to me another day for more theory and practice.

1 comment:

TheSexyHomeChef said...

Vegetable Oil!We consume it by the gallons. Well, not really. But its a basic that we always have in Asia that we use automatically when we need fat for sauteeing and browning.