Dram (unit)
The dram is a unit of mass in the avoirdupois system, both a unit of mass and a unit of volume in the apothecaries' system. It was both a coin and a weight in ancient Greece; the unit of volume is more called a fluid dram, fluid drachm, fluidram or fluidrachm. The Attic Greek drachma was a weight of 1⁄100 Greek mina, or about 4.37 grams. The Roman drachma was a weight of 1⁄96 Roman pounds, or about 3.41 grams. A coin weighing one drachma is known as drachm, or drachma; the Ottoman dirhem was based on the Sassanian drachm, itself based on the Roman dram/drachm. The British Weights and Measures Act of 1878 introduced verification and consequent stamping of apothecary weights, making them recognized units of measurement. By 1900, Britain had enforced the distinction between the avoirdupois and apothecaries' versions by making the spelling different: dram now meant only avoirdupois drams, which were 1⁄16 of an avoirdupois ounce of 437.5 grains, thus equal to 27.34 grains drachm now meant only apothecaries' drachms, which were 1⁄8 of an apothecaries' ounce of 480 grains, thus equal to 60 grains In the avoirdupois system, the dram is the mass of 1⁄256 pound or 1⁄16 ounce.
The dram weighs 875⁄32 grains, or 1.7718451953125 grams. In the apothecaries' system, used in the United States until the middle of the 20th century, the dram is the mass of 1⁄96 pounds apothecaries, or 1⁄8 ounces apothecaries; the dram apothecaries is equal to 3 scruples or 60 grains, or 3.8879346 grams."Dram" is used as a measure of the powder charge in a shotgun shell, representing the equivalent of black powder in drams avoirdupois. The fluid dram is defined as 1⁄8 of a fluid ounce, is equal to: 3.6966911953125 ml in the US customary system 3.5516328125 ml in the imperial systemA teaspoonful has been considered equal to one fluid dram for medical prescriptions. However, by 1876 the teaspoon had grown larger than it was measuring 80–85 minims; as there are 60 minims in a fluid dram, using this equivalent for the dosage of medicine was no longer suitable. Today's US teaspoon is equivalent to 1⁄6 US fluid ounces, 1 1⁄3 US fluid drams, or 80 US minims. While pharmaceuticals are measured nowadays in metric units, fluid drams are still used to measure the capacity of pill containers.
Dram is used informally to mean a small amount of spirituous liquor Scotch whisky. The unit is referenced by the phrase dram shop, the US legal term for an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages; the line "Where'd you get your whiskey, where'd you get your dram?" Appears in some versions of the traditional pre-Civil War American song "Cindy". In Monty Python's song entitled The Bruces' Philosophers Song there is the following line: "Hobbes was fond of his dram". In the old-time music tradition of the United States, there is a tune entitled "Gie the Fiddler a Dram". “Gie” being the Scottish dialectal version of give, brought over by immigrants and used by their descendants in Appalachia at the time of writing. In the episode "Double Indecency" of the TV series Archer, the character Cheryl/Carol was carrying around 10 drams of Vole's blood and offered to pay for a taxi ride with it. In Frank Herbert's Dune, the Fremen employ a sophisticated measurement system that involves the drachm to count and economize water, a ultra-precious resource on their home of Arrakis.
Appendix C – General Tables of Units of Measurement in Specifications and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices. NIST Handbook 44. Image of Ancient Greek silver drachm with flying Pegasus, Leucas, c. 470–450 BCE
Lancashire
Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. The administrative centre is Preston; the county has an area of 1,189 square miles. People from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians; the history of Lancashire begins with its founding in the 12th century. In the Domesday Book of 1086, some of its lands were treated as part of Yorkshire; the land that lay between the Ribble and Mersey, Inter Ripam et Mersam, was included in the returns for Cheshire. When its boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland and Cheshire. Lancashire emerged as a major industrial region during the Industrial Revolution. Liverpool and Manchester grew into its largest cities, with economies built around the docks and the cotton mills respectively; these cities dominated the birth of modern industrial capitalism. The county contained the collieries of the Lancashire Coalfield. By the 1830s 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire. Accrington, Bolton, Bury, Colne, Manchester, Oldham, Preston and Wigan were major cotton mill towns during this time.
Blackpool was a centre for tourism for the inhabitants of Lancashire's mill towns during wakes week. The historic county was subject to a significant boundary reform in 1974 which created the current ceremonial county and removed Liverpool and Manchester, most of their surrounding conurbations to form the metropolitan and ceremonial counties of Merseyside and Greater Manchester; the detached northern part of Lancashire in the Lake District, including the Furness Peninsula and Cartmel, was merged with Cumberland and Westmorland to form Cumbria. Lancashire lost 709 square miles of land to other counties, about two fifths of its original area, although it did gain some land from the West Riding of Yorkshire. Today the ceremonial county borders Cumbria to the north, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, North and West Yorkshire to the east; the county palatine boundaries remain the same as those of the pre-1974 county with Lancaster serving as the county town, the Duke of Lancaster exercising sovereignty rights, including the appointment of lords lieutenant in Greater Manchester and Merseyside..
The county was established in 1182 than many other counties. During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the military zone of Roman Britain; the towns of Manchester, Ribchester, Burrow and Castleshaw grew around Roman forts. In the centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410AD the northern parts of the county formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, which became a part of England in the 10th century. In the Domesday Book, land between the Ribble and Mersey were known as "Inter Ripam et Mersam" and included in the returns for Cheshire. Although some historians consider this to mean south Lancashire was part of Cheshire, it is by no means certain, it is claimed that the territory to the north formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It bordered on Cumberland, Westmorland and Cheshire; the county was divided into hundreds, Blackburn, Lonsdale and West Derby.
Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, the detached part north of the sands of Morecambe Bay including Furness and Cartmel, Lonsdale South. Lancashire is smaller than its historical extent following a major reform of local government. In 1889, the administrative county of Lancashire was created, covering the historic county except for the county boroughs such as Blackburn, Barrow-in-Furness, Wigan and Manchester; the area served by the Lord-Lieutenant covered the entirety of the administrative county and the county boroughs, was expanded whenever boroughs annexed areas in neighbouring counties such as Wythenshawe in Manchester south of the River Mersey and in Cheshire, southern Warrington. It did not cover the western part of Todmorden, where the ancient border between Lancashire and Yorkshire passes through the middle of the town. During the 20th century, the county became urbanised the southern part. To the existing county boroughs of Barrow-in-Furness, Bolton, Burnley, Liverpool, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, St. Helens and Wigan were added Warrington and Southport.
The county boroughs had many boundary extensions. The borders around the Manchester area were complicated, with narrow protrusions of the administrative county between the county boroughs – Lees urban district formed a detached part of the administrative county, between Oldham county borough and the West Riding of Yorkshire. By the census of 1971, the population of Lancashire and its county boroughs had reached 5,129,416, making it the most populous geographic county in the UK; the administrative county was the most populous of its type outside London, with a population of 2,280,359 in 1961. On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the administrative county was abolished, as were the county boroughs; the urbanised southern part became part of two metropolitan counties and Greater Manchester. The new county of Cumbria incorporates the Furness exclave; the boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley, St. Helens and Sefton were included in Merseyside. In Greater Manchester the successor boroughs were
Sausage casing
Sausage casing known as sausage skin or casing, is the material that encloses the filling of a sausage. Natural casings are made from animal intestines. Natural sausage casings are made from the sub-mucosa, a layer of the intestine that consists of occurring collagen. In Western European cuisine, most casings come from pigs, but elsewhere the intestines of sheep, goats and sometimes horses are used. To prepare the intestines as casings, they are flushed and cleaned with water and salt by hand or with machinery; the outer fat and the inner mucosa lining are removed during processing. The salt helps preserve the casing. Natural casings have been used in the production of meat specialties for centuries and have remained unchanged in function and composition. Organic food regulations only allow natural casings. Natural casing sausages are distinguishable from mass-produced products because of their irregularity, a signifier of a premium product. Processors of natural casings have developed long-stranded casings with uniformity and strength to support high production volume machinery, as well as new tubing systems that speed up the stuffing process.
Artificial casings are made of cellulose, or plastic. Artificial casings from animal collagen are edible, though some are not. Collagen casings are produced from the collagen in beef or pig hides, the bones and tendons, it can be derived from poultry and fish. They have been made for more than 50 years and their share of the market has been increasing; the cost to produce sausages in collagen is lower than making sausages in gut because of higher production speeds and lower labor requirements. The collagen for artificial casings is processed extensively, it is formed by extrusion through a die to the desired diameter and shirred into short sticks up to 41 cm long that contain as much as 50 m of casing. In a newer process, a form of dough is coextruded with the meat blend, a coating is formed by treating the outside with a calcium solution to set the coating; the latest generation of collagen casings are more tender than natural casings but do not exhibit the "snap" or "bite" of natural casing sausages.
Most collagen casings are edible, but a special form of thicker collagen casings is used for salamis and large caliber sausages where the casing is peeled off the sausage by the consumer. Collagen casings are less expensive to use, give better weight and size control, are easier to run when compared to natural casings. Cellulose from cotton linters or wood pulp, is processed to make viscose, extruded into clear, tough casings for making wieners and franks, they are shirred for easier use and can be treated with dye to make "red hots". The casing is peeled off after cooking. Cellulosic viscose solutions are combined with wood or for example abaca pulp to make large diameter fibrous casings for bologna, cotto salami, smoked ham and other products sliced for sandwiches; this type is permeable to smoke and water vapor. They can be flat or shirred, depending on application, can be pretreated with smoke, caramel color, or other surface treatments. Plastic casings are not eaten, they can be flat or shirred.
Smoke and water can not pass through the casing, so plastic is used for non-smoked products where high yields are expected. The inner surface can be laminated or co-extruded with a polymer with an affinity for meat protein causing the meat to stick to the film, resulting in some loss when the casing is peeled, but higher overall yield due to better moisture control. Plastic casings are made from polymers such as polyamide, polypropylene, or polyethylene. Polyamide plastic casings are the most used in production of cooked sausages and hams such as luncheon meat and bologna. Polyamide casings come in two main varieties: non-oriented; the oriented polyamide are shrinkable casings and will shrink during the cooking process thereby reducing the water loss. Non-oriented polyamide casings remain the same diameter during the cooking process and thereby allow for expansion of the meat during cooking; the use of polyamide casings has expanded with the advent of various varieties and structures of casings such as multilayer casings.
Some innovative coextrusion processes have been developed in recent years, allowing 100% plant-based vegetarian casings to be created. Some special alginate coextrusion equipment is required to make casings that can be used in halal or kosher food making
Sheep
Domestic sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals kept as livestock. Like most ruminants, sheep are members of the even-toed ungulates. Although the name sheep applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it always refers to Ovis aries. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female sheep is referred to as a ewe, an intact male as a ram or a tup, a castrated male as a wether, a younger sheep as a lamb. Sheep are most descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia. One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleeces and milk. A sheep's wool is the most used animal fiber, is harvested by shearing. Ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones in Commonwealth countries, lamb in the United States. Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, are occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science.
Sheep husbandry is practised throughout the majority of the inhabited world, has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, the British Isles are most associated with sheep production. Sheepraising has a large lexicon of unique terms which vary by region and dialect. Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap. A group of sheep is called a herd or mob. Many other specific terms for the various life stages of sheep exist related to lambing and age. Being a key animal in the history of farming, sheep have a entrenched place in human culture, find representation in much modern language and symbology; as livestock, sheep are most associated with pastoral, Arcadian imagery. Sheep figure in many mythologies—such as the Golden Fleece—and major religions the Abrahamic traditions. In both ancient and modern religious ritual, sheep are used as sacrificial animals; the exact line of descent between domestic sheep and their wild ancestors is unclear.
The most common hypothesis states. Sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated by humankind. C in Mesopotamia; the rearing of sheep for secondary products, the resulting breed development, began in either southwest Asia or western Europe. Sheep were kept for meat and skins. Archaeological evidence from statuary found at sites in Iran suggests that selection for woolly sheep may have begun around 6000 BC, the earliest woven wool garments have been dated to two to three thousand years later. Sheep husbandry spread in Europe. Excavations show that in about 6000 BC, during the Neolithic period of prehistory, the Castelnovien people, living around Châteauneuf-les-Martigues near present-day Marseille in the south of France, were among the first in Europe to keep domestic sheep. From its inception, ancient Greek civilization relied on sheep as primary livestock, were said to name individual animals. Ancient Romans kept sheep on a wide scale, were an important agent in the spread of sheep raising.
Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, speaks at length about wool. European colonists spread the practice to the New World from 1493 onwards. Domestic sheep are small ruminants with a crimped hair called wool and with horns forming a lateral spiral. Domestic sheep differ from their wild relatives and ancestors in several respects, having become uniquely neotenic as a result of selective breeding by humans. A few primitive breeds of sheep retain some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, such as short tails. Depending on breed, domestic sheep may have no horns at all, or horns in both sexes, or in males only. Most horned breeds have a single pair. Another trait unique to domestic sheep as compared to wild ovines is their wide variation in color. Wild sheep are variations of brown hues, variation within species is limited. Colors of domestic sheep range from pure white to dark chocolate brown, spotted or piebald. Selection for dyeable white fleeces began early in sheep domestication, as white wool is a dominant trait it spread quickly.
However, colored sheep do appear in many modern breeds, may appear as a recessive trait in white flocks. While white wool is desirable for large commercial markets, there is a niche market for colored fleeces for handspinning; the nature of the fleece varies among the breeds, from dense and crimped, to long and hairlike. There is variation of wool type and quality among members of the same flock, so wool classing is a step in the commercial processing of the fibre. Depending on breed, sheep show a range of weights, their rate of growth and mature weight is a heritable trait, selected for in breeding. Ewes weigh between 45 and 100 kilograms, rams between 45 and 160 kilograms; when all deciduous teeth have erupted, the sheep has 20 teeth. Mature sheep have 32 teeth; as with other ruminants, the front teeth in the lower jaw bite against a hard, toothless pad in the upper jaw. These are used to pick off vegetation the rear
Ancient Rome
In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, encompassing the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire. The civilization began as an Italic settlement in the Italian Peninsula, conventionally founded in 753 BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed; the Roman Empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, though still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants and covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117. In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and to an autocratic semi-elective empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it dominated the North African coast and most of Western Europe, the Balkans and much of the Middle East.
It is grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern language, society, law, government, art, literature and engineering. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France, it achieved impressive technological and architectural feats, such as the construction of an extensive system of aqueducts and roads, as well as the construction of large monuments and public facilities. The Punic Wars with Carthage were decisive in establishing Rome as a world power. In this series of wars Rome gained control of the strategic islands of Corsica and Sicily. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond: its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia and from the mouth of the Rhine to North Africa.
The Roman Empire emerged with the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman–Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia. It would become the longest conflict in human history, have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, it stretched from the entire Mediterranean Basin to the beaches of the North Sea in the north, to the shores of the Red and Caspian Seas in the East. Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would temporarily divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the western part of the empire broke up into independent "barbarian" kingdoms in the 5th century; this splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of universal history from the pre-medieval "Dark Ages" of Europe.
The eastern part of the empire endured through the 5th century and remained a power throughout the "Dark Ages" and medieval times until its fall in 1453 AD. Although the citizens of the empire made no distinction, the empire is most referred to as the "Byzantine Empire" by modern historians during the Middle Ages to differentiate between the state of antiquity and the nation it grew into. According to the founding myth of Rome, the city was founded on 21 April 753 BC on the banks of the river Tiber in central Italy, by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, who descended from the Trojan prince Aeneas, who were grandsons of the Latin King Numitor of Alba Longa. King Numitor was deposed by his brother, while Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, gave birth to the twins. Since Rhea Silvia had been raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine; the new king, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, so he ordered them to be drowned. A she-wolf saved and raised them, when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor.
The twins founded their own city, but Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel over the location of the Roman Kingdom, though some sources state the quarrel was about, going to rule or give his name to the city. Romulus became the source of the city's name. In order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent and unwanted; this caused a problem, in that Rome was bereft of women. Romulus visited neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables he was refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins with the Sabines. Another legend, recorded by Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus, says that Prince Aeneas led a group of Trojans on a sea voyage to found a new Troy, since the original was destroyed at the end of the Trojan War. After a long time in rough seas, they landed on the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, but the women who were traveling with them did not want to leave.
One woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent their leaving
Stock (food)
Stock is a flavored liquid preparation. It forms the basis of many dishes soups and sauces. Making stocks involves simmering animal bones or meat, seafood, or vegetables in water or wine, adding mirepoix or other aromatics for more flavor. Traditionally, stock is made by simmering various ingredients in water. A newer approach is to use a pressure cooker; the ingredients may include some or all of the following: Meat Leftover cooked meat, such as that remaining on poultry carcasses, is used along with the bones of the bird or joint. Fresh meat makes a superior stock, cuts rich in connective tissue such as shin or shoulder of beef or veal are recommended, either alone or added in lower proportions to the remains of cooked poultry, to provide a richer and fresher-tasting stock. Quantities recommended are in the ratio of 1 part fresh meat to 2 parts water. Pork, although a popular base for stock in Chinese cuisine, is considered unsuitable for stock in European cooking due to its greasiness, mutton was traditionally avoided due to the difficulty of avoiding the strong tallowy taint imparted from the fat.
Bones Veal and chicken bones are most used. The flavour of the stock comes like the bone. Connective tissue has collagen in it. Stock made from bones needs to be simmered for longer than stock made from meat. Pressure cooking methods shorten the time necessary to extract the flavour from the bones. Mirepoix Mirepoix is a combination of onions, carrots and sometimes other vegetables; the less desirable parts of the vegetables that may not otherwise be eaten are used. The use of these parts is dependent upon the chef, as many do not appreciate the flavours that these portions impart. Herbs and spices The herbs and spices used depend on availability and local traditions. In classical cuisine, the use of a bouquet garni consisting of parsley, bay leaves, a sprig of thyme, other herbs, is common; this is placed in a sachet to make it easier to remove once the stock is cooked. Today, ready-made stock and stock cubes consisting of dried, compressed stock ingredients are available; these are known as bouillon cubes, as cooking base in the US, or as Oxo cubes in Britain, after a common brand of stock cube sold there.
Many cooks and food writers use the terms stock interchangeably. In 1974, James Beard wrote emphatically that stock and bouillon "are all the same thing". While many draw a distinction between stock and broth, the details of the distinction differ. One possibility is that stocks are made from animal bones, as opposed to meat, therefore contain more gelatin, giving them a thicker texture. Another distinction, sometimes made is that stock is cooked longer than broth and therefore has a more intense flavor. A third possible distinction is that stock is left unseasoned for use in other recipes, while broth is salted and otherwise seasoned and can be eaten alone. In Britain, "broth" can refer to a soup which includes solid pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables, whereas "stock" would refer to the purely liquid base. Traditionally, according to this definition, broth contained some form of fish. Bouillon is the French word for "broth", is used as a synonym for it. Chicken stock is cooked for 6 to 8 hours if the traditional method is followed.
Fish stock is made with finely chopped mirepoix. Fish stock should be cooked for 20 -- 25 minutes -- cooking any longer. Concentrated fish stock is called "fish fumet." In Japanese cooking, a fish and kelp stock called dashi is made by cooking skipjack tuna flakes called katsuobushi in nearly boiling water. Fond blanc, or white stock, is made by using white mirepoix. Chicken bones are the most common for fond blanc. Fond brun, or brown stock; the brown color is achieved by roasting the mirepoix. This adds a rich, full flavour. Veal bones are the most common type used in a fond brun. Tomato paste is added; the acid in the paste helps break down the connective tissue helping accelerating the formation of gelatin, as well as giving color to the stock. Glace viande is stock made from bones from veal, concentrated by reduction. Ham stock, common in Cajun cooking, is made from ham hocks. Jus is a rich reduced stock used as a sauce for roasted meats. Many of these are started by deglazing the roasting pan reducing to achieve the rich flavour desired.
Lamb stock is cooked for several hours. To make a lamb jus, start with a chicken stock and roasted lamb necks and bones. Master stock is a special Chinese stock used for poaching meats, flavoured with soy sauce, ginger and other aromatics. Prawn stock is made from boiling prawn shells, it is used in Southeast Asian dishes such as laksa. Veal stock is cooked for several hours. Vegetable stock is made only of vegetables. Remouillage is a second stock made from the same set of bones. A few basic rules are prescribed for preparing stock: The stock ingredients are simmered starting with cold water; the collagen from connective tissue and skin is denatured into gelatin through gentle, long simmering, thickening the stock somewhat. Stocks are simmered with bubbles just breaking the surface, not boiled
