Pizza companies in distress?

On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 01:39:27 -0400, Bob (this one) wrote:
Carmen wrote:
On 3-Jul-2004, "Bob (this one)" wrote:

But you have to admit, it sounds like one of those old recipes -
that are pretty much guaranteed not to work.

In my experience, a reasonable analogue in a modern recipe will provide
a sufficient guide for the missing details. You'll usually need a fair
amount of experience in the subject dish's area; old recipes tended to
be reminders for already competent cooks, and there was a great deal less
experimentation in odd foreign dishes.


laughing I have some of those old recipes here and there. (In a
past life as a fat blonde I cooked copiously and had lots of
cookbooks).

We still cook copiously and have lots of cookbooks, there just aren't
as many recipes per cookbook that we'll make. It's fun, occasionally,
to pull out a not-so-low-carb recipe and make something up that's
like it.


One for Lemon Crackers is great - up until you get to the last two
ingredients: 5 cents worth of baking ammonia and 5 cents worth of
lemon oil! Argh!

For the baking ammonia, I'd use the baking powder/flour ratio from a
similar recipe, something similar for the lemon oil. Are the crackers
sweet or savory? I'm wondering whether a low-carb baking mix lemon
cracker would be an interesting thing to serve with a mild fish.


Then there are a few that call for "a lump of
butter the size of a hen's egg", or "a goodly bunch of apples". Have
to be a mind reader to even attempt them. G

Usually, precision is not important. For the size of a hen's egg, compare
to the non-jumbo eggs at your grocery store. The "goodly bunch of apples"
is exactly the sort of thing that can be construed from a similar modern
recipe: use the apple/sugar or apple/spice ratio, for example. (Probably
not the apple/pastry ratio, crusts tended to be tougher in the Old Days.)
Not that the latter is likely to be a recipe either of us would do now.


Had a long thing about baking ammonia. It's relatively common in
northern European baking, with a different name in every other
village. When I said it's also called "hart's horn" or "hirschhorn,"
one woman asked me if that meant, "um, like, er, antlers?" I said yes.
She got a little green.

Should see the faces when we talked about thymus glands and Hannibal
Lecter came up. LOL

I would have guessed the opposite:
Talk about Hannibal Lecter, and the thymus glands came up.

Martin (215/165/165 since 4/2003)
--
Martin Golding | Studies indicate that undernutrition increases lifespan.
DoD #236 | Eat good, die young. Leave a big corpse.

Martin Golding wrote:
On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 01:39:27 -0400, Bob (this one) wrote:

Carmen wrote:

On 3-Jul-2004, "Bob (this one)" wrote:


But you have to admit, it sounds like one of those old recipes -
that are pretty much guaranteed not to work.


In my experience, a reasonable analogue in a modern recipe will provide
a sufficient guide for the missing details. You'll usually need a fair
amount of experience in the subject dish's area; old recipes tended to
be reminders for already competent cooks, and there was a great deal less
experimentation in odd foreign dishes.



laughing I have some of those old recipes here and there. (In a
past life as a fat blonde I cooked copiously and had lots of
cookbooks).


We still cook copiously and have lots of cookbooks, there just aren't
as many recipes per cookbook that we'll make. It's fun, occasionally,
to pull out a not-so-low-carb recipe and make something up that's
like it.



One for Lemon Crackers is great - up until you get to the last two
ingredients: 5 cents worth of baking ammonia and 5 cents worth of
lemon oil! Argh!


For the baking ammonia, I'd use the baking powder/flour ratio from a
similar recipe, something similar for the lemon oil. Are the crackers
sweet or savory? I'm wondering whether a low-carb baking mix lemon
cracker would be an interesting thing to serve with a mild fish.



Then there are a few that call for "a lump of
butter the size of a hen's egg", or "a goodly bunch of apples". Have
to be a mind reader to even attempt them. G


Usually, precision is not important. For the size of a hen's egg, compare
to the non-jumbo eggs at your grocery store. The "goodly bunch of apples"
is exactly the sort of thing that can be construed from a similar modern
recipe: use the apple/sugar or apple/spice ratio, for example. (Probably
not the apple/pastry ratio, crusts tended to be tougher in the Old Days.)
Not that the latter is likely to be a recipe either of us would do now.


I was watching a show about pie on Top Five on foodnetwork recently,
where I heard that in the old days pie crust wasn't meant to be eaten.



Should see the faces when we talked about thymus glands and Hannibal
Lecter came up. LOL


I would have guessed the opposite:
Talk about Hannibal Lecter, and the thymus glands came up.

This is really gross, but while I was under the care of a naturapath I
was required to take bovine thymus - it was supposed to help my
adrenals. It came in big pills which I had to chew.

brigid

Brigid Nelson wrote:

Martin Golding wrote:

On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 01:39:27 -0400, Bob (this one) wrote:

Carmen wrote:

On 3-Jul-2004, "Bob (this one)" wrote:

But you have to admit, it sounds like one of those old recipes -
that are pretty much guaranteed not to work.

In my experience, a reasonable analogue in a modern recipe will provide
a sufficient guide for the missing details. You'll usually need a fair
amount of experience in the subject dish's area; old recipes tended to
be reminders for already competent cooks, and there was a great deal less
experimentation in odd foreign dishes.

laughing I have some of those old recipes here and there. (In a
past life as a fat blonde I cooked copiously and had lots of
cookbooks).

We still cook copiously and have lots of cookbooks, there just aren't
as many recipes per cookbook that we'll make. It's fun, occasionally,
to pull out a not-so-low-carb recipe and make something up that's
like it.

One for Lemon Crackers is great - up until you get to the last two
ingredients: 5 cents worth of baking ammonia and 5 cents worth of
lemon oil! Argh!

For the baking ammonia, I'd use the baking powder/flour ratio from a
similar recipe, something similar for the lemon oil. Are the crackers
sweet or savory? I'm wondering whether a low-carb baking mix lemon
cracker would be an interesting thing to serve with a mild fish.

Here's where that background knowledge comes into play. The word
"crackers" could mean dried toasts, cookies, crackers as we now know
them or even what we now call bars.

Then there are a few that call for "a lump of
butter the size of a hen's egg", or "a goodly bunch of apples". Have
to be a mind reader to even attempt them. G

Usually, precision is not important. For the size of a hen's egg, compare
to the non-jumbo eggs at your grocery store. The "goodly bunch of apples"
is exactly the sort of thing that can be construed from a similar modern
recipe: use the apple/sugar or apple/spice ratio, for example. (Probably
not the apple/pastry ratio, crusts tended to be tougher in the Old Days.)
Not that the latter is likely to be a recipe either of us would do now.

I was watching a show about pie on Top Five on foodnetwork recently,
where I heard that in the old days pie crust wasn't meant to be eaten.

Unfortunately, their history is not quite as good as their science.
Which is terrible. Recently, one show said that the hot in black
pepper was capsaicin. Bzzzzzt. That's the hot in hot peppers.

The old days for that crust would be about a thousand years ago.

Should see the faces when we talked about thymus glands and Hannibal
Lecter came up. LOL

I would have guessed the opposite:
Talk about Hannibal Lecter, and the thymus glands came up.

It was a cooking class.

This is really gross, but while I was under the care of a naturapath I
was required to take bovine thymus - it was supposed to help my
adrenals. It came in big pills which I had to chew.

Did it help?

Pastorio

Bob (this one) wrote:

I was watching a show about pie on Top Five on foodnetwork recently,
where I heard that in the old days pie crust wasn't meant to be eaten.


Unfortunately, their history is not quite as good as their science.
Which is terrible. Recently, one show said that the hot in black pepper
was capsaicin. Bzzzzzt. That's the hot in hot peppers.

The old days for that crust would be about a thousand years ago.
I had a feeling, but I liked the idea - especially since I've read
historical accounts of the horrors of british pastry.

Should see the faces when we talked about thymus glands and Hannibal
Lecter came up. LOL


I would have guessed the opposite:
Talk about Hannibal Lecter, and the thymus glands came up.


It was a cooking class.

This is really gross, but while I was under the care of a naturapath I
was required to take bovine thymus - it was supposed to help my
adrenals. It came in big pills which I had to chew.


Did it help?

I don't know. I was being treated for a bicycle accident involving
concussion. From what I've learned since then - gosh that accident
happened back in 88 - some of my treatment may have been dubious. She
did however make me stop eating wheat which it turns out *was* a good idea.

brigid

Jane Lumley wrote:

In article , Bob (this one)
writes

Had a long thing about baking ammonia. It's relatively common in northern
European baking, with a different name in every other village.

I use this at Christmas to bake Springerle for gifts. Makes great ones,
easy to mold. My bottle says 'hartshorn'. It smells like Drano when
opened but the smell disappears on cooking.

Pity. Nothing like a good dash of Drano fumes to open the sinuses and
set you up for the day.

PS. Love your Lemony Snicket syllabub.

Sure. Um, whatever you say. Been playing with SCA again, I see...

Pastorio