Blancmange
Blancmange is a sweet dessert made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with gelatin, corn starch or Irish moss, flavoured with almonds. It is set in a mould and served cold. Although traditionally white, blancmanges are given alternative colours; some similar desserts are French chef Marie-Antoine Carême's Bavarian cream, Italy's panna cotta, China's annin tofu, Turkey's muhallebi, Hawaiʻi's haupia and Puerto Rico's tembleque. The historical blancmange originated some time in the Middle Ages and consisted of capon or chicken, milk or almond milk and sugar and was considered to be an ideal food for the sick. Tavuk göğsü is a sweet contemporary Turkish pudding made with shredded chicken, similar to the medieval European dish; the true origin of the blancmange is obscure, but it is believed by some that it was a result of the Arab introduction of rice and almonds in early medieval Europe. However, there is no evidence of the existence of any similar Arab dishes from that period. Variants of the dish appear in numerous European cultures with related names including biancomangiare in Italy and manjar blanco in Spain.
Additionally, related or similar dishes have existed in other areas of Europe under different names, such as the 13th-century Danish hwit moos, the Anglo-Norman blanc desirree. The oldest recipe found so far for blancmange is from a copy of the oldest extant Danish cookbook, written by Henrik Harpestræng, who died in 1244, which dates it to the early 13th century at the latest; the Danish work may be a translation of a German cookbook, believed to have been based on a Latin or Romance vernacular manuscript from the 12th century or earlier. The "whitedish" was an upper-class dish common to most of Europe during the Middle Ages and early modern period, it occurs in countless variations from recipe collections from all over Europe and was one of the few international dishes of medieval and early modern Europe. It is mentioned in the prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and in an early 15th-century cookbook written by the chefs of Richard II; the basic ingredients were milk or almond milk and shredded chicken or fish combined with rosewater and rice flour and mixed into a bland stew.
Almond milk and fish were used as substitutes for the other animal products on Lent. It was often flavoured with spices like saffron or cinnamon and the chicken could be exchanged for various types of fowl, like quail or partridge. Spices were used in recipes of the Middle Ages since they were considered prestigious. On festive occasions and among the upper classes, whitedishes were rendered more festive by various colouring agents: the reddish-golden yellow of saffron. In 14th-century France, parti-colouring, the use of two bright contrasting colours on the same plate, was popular and was described by Guillaume Tirel, one of the primary authors of the editions of Le Viandier; the brightly coloured whitedishes were one of the most common of the early entremets, edibles that were intended to entertain and delight through a gaudy appearance, as much as through flavour. In the 17th century, the durian was compared to the blanc-mangé by Alexandre de Rhodes: il est plein d'une liqueur blanche, épaisse & sucrée: elle est entierement semblable au blanc-mangé, qu'on sert aux meilleures tables de France.
In the 19th century and cornflour were added, the dish evolved into the modern blancmange. The word blancmange derives from Old French blanc mangier; the name "whitedish" is a modern term used by some historians, though the name was either a direct translation from or a calque of the Old French term. Many different local or regional terms were used for the dish in the Middle Ages: English: blancmanger, blank maunger, blamang Catalan: menjar blanch, menjar blanc, menjablanc Portuguese: manjar branco Italian: mangiare bianco, blanmangieri, bramangere Spanish: manjar blanco Dutch/Flemish: blanc mengier German: Blamensir Latin: albus cibus, esus albusThough it is certain that the etymology is indeed "white dish", medieval sources are not always consistent as to the actual colour of the dish. Food scholar Terence Scully has proposed the alternative etymology of bland mangier, "bland dish", reflecting its mild and "dainty" taste and popularity as a sick dish. Annin tofu Custard Flummery Maja blanca Medieval cuisine Food in the Middle Ages: A Book of Essays edited by Melitta Weiss Adamson ISBN 0-8153-1345-4 Ossa, Germán Patiño.
Fogón de negros: cocina y cultura en una región latinoamericana. Scully, The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages. ISBN 0-85115-611-8 Blanc-Manger: A Journey Through Time More Intelligent Life article
Onion gravy
Onion gravy is a type of gravy prepared with onion. Various types of onions are used in its preparation, some onion gravies use several types of onions in their preparation; some preparations caramelize the onions. Onion gravy may be served to accompany many foods, such as pork, beef steak, hamburger and mash, hot dogs, French fries, among others. Vegan onion gravy exists, which may use seitan cooking broth in its preparation. Premade mixes and formulations exist, such as solid sauce bars. Primary ingredients include onion, broth or stock, such as beef or chicken stock, flour. Sweet onion is used in some versions, some versions incorporate beer or red wine in the gravy. Additional ingredients may include cream, bread crumbs, vegetable oil, brown sugar, among others. Various herbs and spices may be used, such as salt, sage and thyme. List of gravies List of onion dishes List of sauces Onion sauce Food portal
Gougère
A gougère, in French cuisine, is a baked savory choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese. There are many variants; the cheese is grated Gruyère, Comté, or Emmentaler, but there are many variants using other cheeses or other ingredients. Gougères are said to come from Burgundy the town of Tonnerre in the Yonne department. Gougères can be made as 3 -- 4 cm in diameter. Sometimes they are filled with ingredients such as beef, or ham. In Burgundy, they are served cold when tasting wine in cellars, but are served warm as an appetizer. While the term refers to savory choux pastries and nineteenth century records suggest that it was once an umbrella term for a number of preparations, some composed of just cheese and breadcrumbs; the presentation was a flat circle, neither a sphere nor a ring. Earlier forms of gougère were more a stew than a pastry, including herbs, eggs, cheese and meat mixed with an animal's blood, prepared in a sheep's stomach. In medieval France, it was a kind of cheese pie.
It was unknown outside what is now Belgium, where it became associated with Palm Sunday. But it was attested in Auxerre in the 19th century under the name gouere; the word gougère was spelled gouiere, gouyere, goïère, goyère, or gouyère. The modern spelling appears to date from the 18th century; the ultimate origin of the word is unknown. Pão de queijo Scone List of choux pastry dishes
Wheat flour
Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or bread flour, is high in gluten, with 12% to 14% gluten content, its dough has elastic toughness that holds its shape well once baked. Soft flour is comparatively low in gluten and thus results in a loaf with crumbly texture. Soft flour is divided into cake flour, the lowest in gluten, pastry flour, which has more gluten than cake flour. In terms of the parts of the grain used in flour—the endosperm or protein/starchy part, the germ or protein/fat/vitamin-rich part, the bran or fiber part—there are three general types of flour. White flour is made from the endosperm only. Brown flour includes some of the grain's germ and bran, while whole grain or wholemeal flour is made from the entire grain, including the bran and germ. Germ flour is made from the germ, excluding the bran.
To produce refined wheat flour, grain is tempered, i.e. moisture added to the grain, before milling, to optimize milling efficiency. This softens the starchy "endosperm" portion of the wheat kernel, which will be separated out in the milling process to produce what is known to consumers as white flour; the addition of moisture stiffens the bran and reduces the energy input required to shatter the kernel, while at the same time avoiding the shattering of bran and germ particles to be separated out in this milling process by sieving or sifting. The endosperm portion of the kernel makes up about 80% of the volume and is desirable because the products made from this white flour are considered to have milder flavor, smoother texture, and, in the case of bread, greater volume; the balance of the kernel is composed of the germ which tend to be coarser. With the invention of the roller milling system in the late 19th century, the bran and the germ were able to be removed improving the appeal of baked products to the public.
The moistened grain is first passed through the series of break rollers sieved to separate out the fine particles that make up white flour. The balance are coarse particles of bran and germ; the middling makes multiple passes through the reduction rolls, is again sieved after each pass to maximize extraction of white flour from the endosperm, while removing coarser bran and germ particles. To produce whole wheat flour, 100% of the bran and germ must be reintroduced to the white flour that the roller milling system was designed to separate it from. Therefore, these elements are first ground on another mill; these finer bran and germ fractions are reintroduced to the endosperm to produce whole wheat flour made of 100% of the kernel of wheat. Wheat flour is available in many varieties. Whole wheat flour in Canada may have up to 5% of the grain removed. Whole grain flour contains the whole grain, including bran and endosperm, but not the chaff Sharp flour is produced in Fiji and used in Indian cuisine.
Indian flours are categorized by how much of the grain is stripped away. Wheat powder/flour –'whole grain' Atta flour – mixture of endosperm and bran Maida flour – endosperm, bleached, it is used in Vietnamese cuisine, where it is called bột lọc trong. American flours are categorized by gluten/protein content and use. All-purpose or plain flour is a blended wheat with a protein content lower than bread flour, ranging between 9% and 12%. Depending on brand or the region where it is purchased, it may be composed of all hard or soft wheats, but is a blend of the two, can range from low protein content to moderately high, it is marketed as an inexpensive alternative to bakers' flour, acceptable for most household baking needs. Bread flour or strong flour is always made from hard wheat hard spring wheat, it has a high protein content, between 10% and 13%, making it excellent for yeast bread baking. It can be white or whole wheat or in between. Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat.
It has low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. American cake flour is bleached. Related to cake flour are masa harina, maida flour, pure starches. Durum flour is made from Durum wheat and is suited for pasta making, traditional pizza and flatbread for doner kebab. Graham flour is a special type of whole wheat flour; the endosperm is finely ground, while the bran and germ are coarsely ground. Graham flour is uncommon outside of the United States. Graham flour is the basis of true graham crackers. Instant flour is pregelatinized for easier incorporation in sauces. Pastry flour or cookie flour or cracker flour has higher protein content than cake flour but lowe
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is carbon with variable amounts of other elements. Coal is formed if dead plant matter decays into peat and over millions of years the heat and pressure of deep burial converts the peat into coal. Vast deposits of coal originates in former wetlands—called coal forests—that covered much of the Earth's tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous and Permian times; as a fossil fuel burned for heat, coal supplies about a quarter of the world's primary energy and two-fifths of its electricity. Some iron and steel making and other industrial processes burn coal; the extraction and use of coal causes much illness. Coal damages the environment, including by climate change as it is the largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide, 14 Gt in 2016, 40% of the total fossil fuel emissions; as part of the worldwide energy transition many countries use less coal. The largest consumer and importer of coal is China.
China mines account for half the world's coal, followed by India with about a tenth. Australia accounts for about a third of world coal exports followed by Russia; the word took the form col in Old English, from Proto-Germanic *kula, which in turn is hypothesized to come from the Proto-Indo-European root *gu-lo- "live coal". Germanic cognates include the Old Frisian kole, Middle Dutch cole, Dutch kool, Old High German chol, German Kohle and Old Norse kol, the Irish word gual is a cognate via the Indo-European root. Coal is composed of macerals and water. Fossils and amber may be found in coal. At various times in the geologic past, the Earth had dense forests in low-lying wetland areas. Due to natural processes such as flooding, these forests were buried underneath soil; as more and more soil deposited over them, they were compressed. The temperature rose as they sank deeper and deeper; as the process continued the plant matter was protected from biodegradation and oxidation by mud or acidic water.
This trapped the carbon in immense peat bogs that were covered and buried by sediments. Under high pressure and high temperature, dead vegetation was converted to coal; the conversion of dead vegetation into coal is called coalification. Coalification starts with dead plant matter decaying into peat. Over millions of years the heat and pressure of deep burial causes the loss of water and carbon dioxide and an increase in the proportion of carbon, thus first lignite sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, lastly anthracite may be formed. The wide, shallow seas of the Carboniferous Period provided ideal conditions for coal formation, although coal is known from most geological periods; the exception is the coal gap in the Permian -- Triassic extinction event. Coal is known from Precambrian strata, which predate land plants—this coal is presumed to have originated from residues of algae. Sometimes coal seams are interbedded with other sediments in a cyclothem; as geological processes apply pressure to dead biotic material over time, under suitable conditions, its metamorphic grade or rank increases successively into: Peat, a precursor of coal Lignite, or brown coal, the lowest rank of coal, most harmful to health, used exclusively as fuel for electric power generation Jet, a compact form of lignite, sometimes polished.
Bituminous coal, a dense sedimentary rock black, but sometimes dark brown with well-defined bands of bright and dull material It is used as fuel in steam-electric power generation and to make coke. Anthracite, the highest rank of coal is a harder, glossy black coal used for residential and commercial space heating. Graphite is difficult to ignite and not used as fuel. Cannel coal is a variety of fine-grained, high-rank coal with significant hydrogen content, which consists of liptinite. There are several international standards for coal; the classification of coal is based on the content of volatiles. However the most important distinction is between thermal coal, burnt to generate electricity via steam. Hilt's law is a geological observation, the higher its rank, it applies if the thermal gradient is vertical. The earliest recognized use is from the Shenyang area of China where by 4000 BC Neolithic inhabitants had begun carving ornaments from black lignite. Coal from the Fushun mine in northeastern China was used to smelt copper as early as 1000 BC.
Marco Polo, the Italian who traveled to China in the 13th century, described coal as "black stones... which burn like logs", said coal was so plentiful, people could take three hot baths a week. In Europe, the earliest reference to the use of coal as fuel is from the geological treatise On stones by the Greek scientist Theophrastus: Among the materials that are dug because they are useful, those known as anthrakes are made of earth, once set on fire, they burn like charcoa
Bebinca
Bebinca known as bibik or bebinka, is a type of pudding and a traditional Indo-Portuguese dessert. Traditional Bebinca has seven layers; the ingredients include plain flour, ghee, egg yolk, coconut milk. It is a traditional sweet of Goa, it is easily available to carry and preserve for a long time or eaten fresh. Bebinca was adopted as a typhoon name in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, contributed by Macau, it is prepared in Portugal and Mozambique although traditionally it is a Goan layered cake. Pudding Tropical Storm Bebinca
Yorkshire Pudding at Wikibook Cookbooks
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