Catching a Rainbow

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Malcolm

Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope's true gage;
And thus I'll take my pilgrimage...
The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage

Sir Walter Raleigh

With that poem begins one of the most awaited seasons of the year, not climatic but gastronomic, the Scallops or perhaps the better known, Coquilles St Jacques!
It is not unusual in France for their arrival to attract banner like announcements in the papers such as,
“They have arrived!”
People stop in the street and discuss what the coming season is going to be like: will there be enough, are they going to be more expensive than last year, but most of all, ‘when will they arrive.’
In the region of Brittany in which I live, nothing is anticipated quite like the first Coquilles St Jacques of the year, fairs being organised to celebrate this wonderful harvest from the sea.
Coquille St Jacques, as with other shellfish are not generally popular in England, we seem to find mussels, oysters and other shellfish somewhat daunting and yet, they are what the British want to eat when they come to Brittany on holiday.
France not only produces, but also imported 7840 metric tons of scallops in 2007 alone, including 60% of the UK catch . In the UK during 2007 nearly 18,500 tons of scallops were landed grossing £32,000,000 for the fishing industry, but so few are eaten by the inhabitants.
It is a sad fact that very few children in Britain will taste the wonderful sweet flavour of fresh Coquilles St Jacques and although the sale of frozen scallops has increased two fold in the past ten years, the availability of good fresh scallops, away from the coasts is still abysmal for a country surrounded by the sea. As a nation, unlike the French, we have not grown up with shellfish as part of our diet and our lives are poorer for it.


HISTORY:

The name Coquilles St Jacques is so recognisable; it transcends language barriers, being known as Coquille St Jacque in other tongues apart from French. Even in Britain the name Coquille St Jacque is more recognisable to most than the mundane scallop. The shell is the archetypal shape for a seashell, and the one most easily recognisable by adults and children alike.
The scallop shell is the traditional emblem of Saint James the Great, better known as James an apostle of Jesus or St Jacques in French. The shell is worn by pilgrims following the route to the shrine of St James in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.
More commonly known as Santiago, which is Spanish for St James, was named after the apostle who some believe spent time in Galicia, spreading Christianity. His connection to scallop shells comes from myth and legend and is derived from two similar stories.
In 40AD, James returned to Judea to continue his ministry, which was not long lived; he was put to death by King Herod Agrippa four years later. Following James’s execution, the king refused to give permission for the body to be buried and during the night friends removed the corpse and sailed for Spain, his final resting place.
The first story tells of James wading out into the sea and rescuing a fallen knight who had become unseated from his horse. When the knight emerged from the water he was covered in scallop shells. The other story, along similar lines, attests that whilst St. James's remains were being transported to Spain for burial, the horse of a knight fell into the water, and emerged covered in the shells.
Centuries later a hermit called Pelayo was sitting in a wood, when he saw a strange light shining over the place where James was supposedly buried. Pelayo named the place, "Campus Stellae", or ‘the field of the star.’ That name later evolved into Compostela and hence to Santiago de Compostella or St James- field of the star.


BUYING:

Scallops should, whenever possible be bought in shell, making it easier to tell if they are really fresh. Scallops are heavy. They have a large shell, full of dense flesh and sea water and a Kg of fresh shells will only render five or six scallops. €2-3 (£1.50-2) a Kilo is a good price but in times of poor weather they can increase to €6 (£4.50) a Kg. (French prices)
Shells can be closed or open as most scallop shells will open when brought into the warm but is not a sign that the scallop is dead. They should however close when tapped.
Scallops should never be stored in water and avoid tubs of shelled scallops sitting in their own juice, they are probably defrosted frozen. Frozen scallops are a good second choice and are ideal used in recipes using longer more involved cooking methods, but they should not be stored in water.
Unlike other shellfish such as oysters, mussels and clams, not all the scallop is eaten. In the case of scallops only the adductor muscle or the large off-white meat and sometimes the red or orange roe are eaten. The roe is not always present dependant on the time of year. Although scallops are often sold removed or shucked from their shells, freshness can easily be verified. They should be firm, moist without cracks of fissures and have a sweet pleasant aroma. The meat should be slightly off white. Brilliant white scallops have probably been stored in water, to increase their weight and cost, and should be avoided.
Hand-dived scallops are larger, and more expensive, but taste the same as the smaller dredged variety.


STORING:


Scallops are highly perishable and should be used as soon as possible after purchase and certainly within two days. They can be stored in the bottom of the fridge but as they exude a certain amount of water they need to be kept in a suitable container.
They freeze well.


PREPARING:

How to open and clean a scallop
1. To open a scallop, Hold the curved side up and hinge away from you
2. Insert an oyster knife between the two shells and rock the knife from side to side to break the muscle that forms the hinge. You can tell the scallop is alive for as you cut the hinge the two half’s of the shell try to close and this is an indication of freshness. Scallops should always be bought live.
3. Insert the knife or a spoon between the top and bottom shells from the right side, just in front of the hinge, and cut the muscle away from the inside of the top shell (the curved one) this release the top shell.
4. Open the scallop and discard the top shell.
5. Then scrape off and discard all of the innards except the sweet, white muscle.
6. Do this by gently scraping off the dark innards, starting from the hinge side of the muscle and scraping over the muscle towards the front. You can always pull any bits free with your fingers
7. Properly done, this will peel the innards from the muscle, leaving it attached to the bottom shell.

Cleaning Scallops Part 1



Cleaning Scallops Part 2




COOKING:


Scallops have a delicate sweet flavour which can easily be overpowered by strong spices and seasoning. As with much seafood the simplest methods of cooking are often the best and scallops are no exception.
A favourite method of cooking and one, which only takes a few minutes, is to heat a dry pan until hot, then add some oil,
• Warm the serving plates.
• Open and clean the scallops.
• Carefully dry each with a cloth, so that when they go into the pan the oil will not cool resulting in the scallops boiling in their own juice rather than searing and sealing in their liquid
• Add the scallops and cook for about a minute on one side, without shaking the pan.
• Turn the scallops over and cook for a further ten seconds.
• When cooked place the scallops on the warmed serving plate.
• Add a good sized lump of butter to the pan and when melted and begun to foam and a splash of Noilly-PratTM, give the pan a quick shake and pour the butter over the scallops.
• Grind on some black pepper and a sprinkle of fine Guérande sea salt.
• Serve with a green salad, and fresh bread.
• Sublime with a fruity Muscadet, but not one that is too dry.


Searing scallop video.





OTHER


What are Coquilles St Jacques?



They are bi-valve molluscs, related to the oyster, although scallops have a larger adductor muscle, which is the edible part of the shellfish.
They have the distinction in being the only bi-valve molluscs, which are capable of self-propelled independent movement; which they achieve by rapidly opening and closing their shell thus expelling water at force, and enabling the scallop to move; a natural form of jet propulsion. Scallops use this method to migrate around the seabed their position depending on the season, the tides and the climatic conditions.
Scallops are hermaphroditic, which means they can change sex and it is their sex, which determines if the shell will contain the additional delicacy of the roe or not. A red roe indicates a female scallop; white for male, and it is usually only the bright red or orange roe of the female scallop, which is eaten.
The flesh of a scallop is firm with a delicate sweet flavour. The row has a much softer texture and is less popular owing to its softness.
The Swedish name for a scallop translates as The Pilgrim Mussel and in Dutch Jakobsschelp, which means ‘James shell.’ The French means Shell of St James.


Swimming scallop video.




Fishing for Scallops.


Scallops are traditionally caught by dragging the seabed with a specially designed metal drag net, or dredger. There is however, a market for dived scallops, which are hand selected and usually larger than the fished varieties.
There are two main areas of scallop fishing in Northern France, The bay of the Seine, in Normandy, and the Bay of St-Brieuc in Brittany. In Britain the Irish Sea and the west coast of Scotland are the main areas of scallop farming and more recently large reserves have been found around the Isle of Mann.
In France, which has a far larger scallop rearing industry the rights to the fishing grounds are fiercely protected and fishing for scallops is restricted by a great many statutes. The size and number of dredgers permitted per boat is also controlled. They must not be wider than two metres and have a metal net of interlocking rings fitted whose diameter must be greater than ten centimetres, thus allowing smaller specimens to fall through the net and be returned to the sea bed unharmed. Large boats can drag up to thirty dredgers at a time, but in the Bay of St Brieuc the maximum number permitted is two per boat.
The time permitted for fishing is also strictly controlled and any breach of the regulations results in the fisherman’s licence being revoked and hence his livelihood. The boats are limited to no more than 13metres in length with engines no bigger than 250 hp. They are only allowed to fish twice a week and for no more than 45 minutes at each session. They are only allowed to catch 250 Kg of scallops per fisherman on board regardless of how long it takes to catch them.
The opening of scallops on board is forbidden as is the taking of undersized specimens and the scallops must be no smaller than 102mm in diameter. The open season for scallops is between October and May; the exact date varies from year to year. Diving for scallops is permitted all year round in the waters surrounding Jersey.





References and Acknowledgements.
http://www.sud-goelo.info/
http://www.ouest-france.fr/dossiershtm/coquille/30.htm
http://www.ifremer.fr/envlit/pdf/actualitespdf/20041207Coquille_Saint_Jacques_Bretagne.pdf
http://www.eurofish.dk/indexSub.php?id=3255
http://www.red2000.com/spain/santiago/
http://www.noillyprat.com/default.aspx
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si2004/20040012.htm
Fete de coquilles st jaques 2006, Cotes de Goelo

Both the mandarin and the clementine have the same nutritional value, indeed they are as similar as two drops of water and have become a mainstay of winter citrus fruits. They are often confused as being the same and often one is sold as the other, which can be confusing, especially when other varieties such as the tangerine and the satsuma are also considered.




• The mandarin orange
The Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) or simply mandarin, comes from a small citrus tree which has fruit resembling an orange.
Citrus fruits in general, as with so many other fruits, are native to China, spreading throughout Southeast Asia and ultimately the globe since they were first cultivated 4,000 years ago. The name mandarin refers to the bureaucrats and priests of imperial China who wore bright orange robes and who were often the only class of people permitted to eat the fruit.
Although cultivated for over 3,000 years in China, mandarin oranges did not reach Europe in large quantities until the late 18th century. Specimen trees were imported into England from China in 1805 and by the mid-1800s, the mandarin orange was found throughout the Mediterranean. Later the name tangerine was reserved for a specific reddish orange cultivar of the mandarin found in Algeria, but imported into Europe via Tangiers. (The tangerine is a cultivar of the mandarin and not a distinct subclass).
The tree is more drought tolerant than the fruit but both are easily damaged by the cold. There are many types of mandarin, many bred by cross pollination with another citrus fruit. Most citrus fruit trees are usually self-fertile which results in fruit with seeds although some are parthenocarpic which requires no cross pollination, the fruit developing without seeds as is the case with the increasingly popular clementine.





• Clementine
Said to have been found in Misserghin, Algeria by a Father Clement (Vincent Rodier, 1829-1904) over 100 years ago, the clementine arises from a natural crossing of the common mandarin and a sweet orange. Originally thought of as being a cross with the bitter Seville orange, this was proved not to be the case in 2002 by scientists at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research INRA.
Father Clement was working as the head gardener of an orphanage in Algeria when he found a different variety of fruit in a plantation of mandarins. The trees fruited much earlier than the original Chinese varieties and the fruit tasted much sweeter.
According to Louis Charles Trabut (1853-1929) a botanist working in Algeria, this highly important North African variety originated as an accidental hybrid of the Mediterranean mandarin and a willow-leafed ornamental variety. Following his recommendation the tree and the subsequent fruit were named by the Horticultural Society of Algiers as clementine.
Both Webber (1943, p. 558) and Tanaka (1954) two eminent botanists working in the field expressed doubt concerning the validity of this conclusion and more recently, a distinguished French authority in North Africa, has refuted it with convincing evidence. The current thought is that the clementine is of Oriental origin, probably Chinese, and that it is indistinguishable from and probably identical to the Canton mandarin described by Trabut in 1926, who also remarked on the similarities between the two.
The fruit are small, very sweet, and are usually seedless, unless they have been cross pollinated with another type of citrus fruit. The fact that clementine’s are seedless has led to their popularity in certain parts of the world, including the UK and the USA. However, the eating of seedless fruit in regions surrounding the Mediterranean has in the past been frowned upon as it was anecdotally believed to be a cause of impotence, and not in keeping with a Mediterranean lifestyle!




• Satsuma
The satsuma mandarin originated in Japan, more than 400 years ago, where it is known as mikan. The name satsuma is credited to the wife of a United States minister to Japan, General Van Valkenberg, who sent trees home in 1878 from Satsuma, the name of a former province.
There are some 100 different varieties of satsumas in Japan but only about a dozen varieties are exported. Once readily available in the UK, the satsuma has recently become hard to find and has in many areas been replaced by the clementine or the mandarin orange.
The satsuma has a particularly delicate flesh, which cannot withstand the effects of careless handling or vigorous transportation. The uniquely loose skin of the satsuma, which made it so popular with children, as it is so easy to peel, also meant that it was easily damaged and that any such bruising and damage would not be immediately apparent upon the typical cursory visual inspection associated with assessing the quality of other fruits. In this regard, the satsuma is often categorised by citrus growers as a hit-and-miss fruit and has accounted for its rapid decline in recent years.
One of the distinguishing features of the satsuma is the distinctive thin, leathery skin which is lightly attached around the fruit, enabling it to be peeled very easily in comparison to all other citrus fruits.


OTHER STUFF:
The colour of citrus fruits only develops in climates with a cool winter. In tropical regions with no winter, citrus fruits remain green until maturity.
The first common clementine introduced into Corsica was planted in 1925 by M. Don Philippe Semidei in Figaretto, on the eastern plain of the island.
Most mandarins end up as tinned fruit as they are able to stand the processing.


References
http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/clementine.html
http://www.international.inra.fr/press/a_new_clementine_for_corsica
http://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=100126

January, a time when thoughts turn to root vegetables, hearty soups and slow cooking, when once in a while something comes along to lighten the heart.
Lambs leaf lettuce is just such a thing. At a time when nature is at its deepest slumber, this delicate vegetable steps forward as if to remind us that there will be a spring, and that the interminable cold and gloom will not last forever, in perpetuity.


HISTORY:

Salads originated in the Mediterranean basin. Evidence of such has been found in the tombs of the pharos dating from the 5th century BC.
The culture of corn salad, or lamb’s leaf lettuce first began in France, alongside the River Loire, during the Renaissance period of the 14th Century. Images of the crop appeared in a painting by Leonardo de Vinci, Léda and the Swan, which has unfortunately been lost.
The 15th Century poet Pierre de Ronsard sang of the “small salad of the fields and meadows…” where the lettuce remained, a long time wild. Two centuries later the crop made its way into cottage gardens and its domestication began.
Following the second French Empire a Parisian restaurant owner created a salad in celebration of the Italian king Victor Emanuel II, a salad of lamb’s leaf lettuce, turnip and beetroot - the colours of the Italian flag.
Primarily grown in France and the Netherlands, Lambs leaf lettuce is known by many different names. Clairette, Corn Salad and La Doucette or "the little sweet one" in French. In Germany it is known as Feldsalat (meaning field salad) and in addition mâche,rampion, Rapunzelsalat, Salade de Chanoine, Salade de Prêtre are all common names.


BUYING:

Lambs leaf lettuce looks similar to water cress, but with a milder slightly bitter nutty taste. The leaves are said to be the shape of lamb’s tongues and are found in small clumps. As with all salads it is better not to buy those that are pre-washed and pre-packed and often preserved in a protective atmosphere. Once the bag is opened they degrade very quickly and are best eaten within one or two days.
Buy in clumps, complete with the sandy roots, which are a result of the soil this vegetable prefers to grow in. The leaves are extremely fragile and will not tolerate being crushed, better to place them on the top of a shopping basket where they can be carefully looked after.

STORING:

The lettuce does not store well, better to buy often and then replenish the supply. A few days in the bottom of the fridge are all than can be expected of this hardy, yet at the same time fragile crop.

PREPARING:

It cannot be emphasised enough, when washing lambs leaf lettuce, allot of water is required, a whole sink...and that is for the first washing. Remove any roots, but pinch them off using your thumb and forefinger just below the base, so maintaining the leaves in their original small bunch, which looks more appealing on the plate.
Fill the sink and allow the lettuce to float for about thirty minutes, agitating the water every so often. The sand trapped in the roots will be released and fall to the bottom of the basin.
Drain the lettuce, empty the sink cleaning away any sand, and then repeat the process.
Gently place the salad in a salad spinner, an absolutely indispensible item for any kitchen, indeed no salad should be placed on the table until it has been spun to remove the excess water. (Click on the below link to order one)
All salads should be dressed, it is the utmost in laziness to serve a salad un-dressed as happens all too frequently in the United Kingdom.

COOKING:

Not usually done, however the leaves can be added to a stir fry at the very last minute, or cooked very quickly and used as a replacement to spinach.
As with all salads a vinaigrette dressing of your choice is preferable, but for the same reason care should be taken as when transporting, any vinaigrette should be served apart, and added to the leaves at the last moment. If poured over the salad, and left for any more than a few minutes, the fragile leaves will begin to cook in the acid thus becoming limp, unpalatable and only fit for the dustbin.
In fact, a vinaigrette dressing or other sauces made with strong acidic ingredients are not the best for Salade de mâche. Walnut oil, in which a few slices of green apple have been allowed to soak for twenty minutes, or a small piece of citrus fruit, will provide all the acidity required and provide a subtle yet well balanced dressing which will perfectly complement your salad.


OTHER STUFF:

Lambs leaf lettuce, with its delicate fruity flavour complements strong flavoured food admirably. Fruit, dried fruits and nuts, particularly walnuts, are a wonderful combination. It goes well with pâté, chicken livers and duck. Later in the meal the leaves complement certain cheeses, particularly goat’s cheese from the Loire valley, as well as blue cheeses of all varieties.

All pre-packed salad should be thoroughly washed, even if it claims to be ready-washed. A major cause of food poisoning in France and something which doctors warn against during pregnancy, is supposedly pr-washed salad goods.


Victor Emmanuel II (1820-1878) First king (1861-1878) of united Italy and last king of Piedmont-Sardinia (1849-1861).
Victor Emmanuel succeeded his father Charles Albert to the throne of Piedmont-Sardinia in 1849, following the abdication of Charles Albert after two humiliating defeats by Austria… Victor Emmanuel successfully met various crises in the early years of his reign.
In the 1850s Piedmont-Sardinia remained the only constitutional state in Italy, a haven for persecuted Italian nationalists and liberals who had been involved in the 1848-49 revolutions. By 1859, assured of military support by Napoleon III of France in the Treaty of Plombières, Piedmont-Sardinia once again went to war with Austria. As a result of this conflict, Austria ceded Lombardy. Successive upheavals in the smaller states of central Italy and Giuseppe Garibaldi's successful campaign in southern Italy against the Neapolitan Bourbons led to the creation of a united Italy…

RECIPES:

Lambs leaf salad with beetroot and pine nuts


©Copyright Malcolm Hamilton 2007-2008






References:
http://www.mache-nantaise.com/
http://www.mache-nantaise.com/
http://www.mache-nantaise.com/
Bibliography
F. Cognasso, ed. Le Lettere di Vittorio Emanuele II. (Turin, 1966).
Denis Mack Smith. Victor Emanuel, Cavour and the Risorgimento. (New York, 1971).
Denis Mack Smith. Italy and Its Monarchy. (New Haven, 1989).
H. McGaw Smyth, "The Armistice of Novara: A Legend of a Liberal King," Journal of Modern History (1935): 141-74.
F. Valsecchi, ed. Le Relazioni diplomatiche fra l'Austria e il Regno di Sardegna (1849-1860). (Rome, 1963).

The misnamed Jerusalem artichoke has no real link with Jerusalem at all and only a distant link to the more familiar Artichoke, both coming from the same family of plants the family Asteraceae or Compositae.
It is a relative of sunflower native to eastern North America, from the state of Maine to North Dakota, and south into some of Florida and Texas
It has a distinctive nutty flavor which has been suggested to be similar to that of glove artichoke hearts- being used in many recipes to replace or compliment potatoes. The plant which if left unattended can become an invasive weed is a wonderful source of an inexpensive but delicious food.

HISTORY.

Jerusalem artichokes were found being cultivated in North America and are said to have been introduced into Europe by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Although de Champlain described the vegetable tuber as tasting of artichokes there real taste is similar to that of Chinese water chestnuts. Certainly not native to Jerusalem, the route of the name is thought to derive from the Italian for Sunflower, girasole to which the Jerusalem artichoke is related. Indeed the plant resembles a many stemmed sunflower complete with numerous small sunflower type blooms.
In France the Jerusalem artichoke was synonymous with rationing during the World War II when they were grown as a food staple all over the country.

BUYING.

Roots should firm, dense and free from spongy soft areas. Their shape, not dissimilar to ginger can be very nobly and one should try to buy the largest tubers available.

STORING.

Jerusalem artichokes will keep for several weeks in the salad chiller of the fridge but are better stored in a cool dry area such as a garden shed or garage covered with sand, much the same way as carrots are often stored.

PREPARING.

As potatoes.

COOKING.

A perfumed vegetable without being too scented which can be used to make a different recipe wherever potatoes are called for. Often thought of as peasant food and not fit to grace the tables of high society, the Jerusalem artichoke marries perfectly with the woody aromas of wild mushrooms and dried fruit and nuts. The flavour utterly sublime with lobster and crab can also be used with other seafood such as scallops.
They can be cooked as potatoes – baked roasted, sauté, boiled or steamed, and as with potatoes Jerusalem Artichokes will discolour when exposed to the air. Once peeled and cut maintain their colour by storing in acidulated water, using either a little vinegar or preferably lemon juice.


OTHER STUFF.
Because of the peculiarities in the digestion of Inulin, the form of carbohydrate found in Jerusalem Artichokes, they do have the side effect of causing flatulence.



RECIPES.

Cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup

Seared scallops with bacon, Jerusalem artichoke puree and crushed peas

Chicken and Jerusalem artichoke pie

Jerusalem artichoke and sage gratin

©Copyright Malcolm Hamilton 2007-2008

Cabbage, one of the oldest of the brassica family is the ancestor of modern day broccoli and cauliflower.
Many varieties of cabbage are found today, but here I will concentrate on the green cabbage varieties such as Savoy, Kale, Curly kale and the Drumhead.

HISTORY:

Cabbage has eaten in Europe for more than 4,000 years even before it became a domestic vegetable. The original cabbage, related to the mustard family, was a large open leafed plant, which has been bread since the Middle Ages by northern European farmers to produce the large dense headed vegetable we know today. It soon became a major crop in Europe being perfectly adapted to a northern European climate, produces high yields per hectare and stores well throughout the winter.
The Latin word brassica is said to derive from the Celtic word for cabbage, bresic. The English name cabbage comes from the French slang caboche, meaning head, which refers to its round form.
Common green cabbages have thick leaves, which are tightly wrapped to form a large dense head. The leaves of the Savoy cabbage are crinkled and thinner than common cabbage, and the Savoy has a les pronounced flavour.
Cabbage, as with other brassicas, has a high sulphur content, which is released whilst cooking and is one possible reason for cabbage having such a bad name as a vegetable, we all remember the smell of over boiled cabbage from school.


BUYING:

As with all green vegetables, freshness is the key to success. Cabbage should always be eaten as fresh as possible, as it has the most to make up compared to others. Often wrapped in cellophane making it difficult to fully assess how fresh the vegetable really is. A cabbage should have large outer leaves left intact as it is these which wilt first thus showing the cabbage is not as fresh as it could be. These outer leaves, too bitter to be enjoyed, are removed and discarded, preferable composted. The inner cabbage head should be bright, firm and feel heavy in the hand. The leaves should squeak as they are removed-a sure sign of a fresh cabbage.

STORING:

Cabbages can be stored for a week or so in a cool well ventilated place, the bottom of the fridge is not ideal as the leaves soon become desiccated, losing nutrients and flavour.



PREPARING:

• Discard the large, dark outer leaves leaving just the tightly packed head.
• Carefully remove the leaves one at a time and remove the central vein running up the middle of each leaf.
• Place a manageable quantity of leaves stacked one on the other in a pile on a chopping board.
• Using a large cooks knife cut across the pile of leaves, shredding them as finely as is possible. The finer they can be shredded, the quicker they will cook and the better they will taste.
• If you wish the central stem can also be shredded, it can be bitter, and is not to everyone’s taste, so many prefer to discard it.



COOKING:

The trick to making cabbage not only edible but a joy is to cook it in plenty of lightly salted boiling water and to cook for only 3 or 4 minutes depending on taste. Once cooked, and it must have some bite left in it, drain swiftly and add to a pan containing melted butter, just foaming. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

OTHER INFORMATION:


Cabbage is one vegetable that does not benefit from long cooking or being ‘messed about with,’ quick simple cooking is preferred.
The flavour of cabbage, which is strong and peppery, is well complemented by any of the following spices: black pepper, caraway seed, celery seed, dill weed, garlic, mustard seed, nutmeg, savoury, tarragon and thyme.
Cabbage goes particularly well with other winter vegetables such as carrots, leeks, onions and potatoes.
Cabbage is an ingredient in certain varieties of borscht, when combined with beetroot. In Central Europe it is made into a soup and is also extremely popular in India. Stuffed cabbage is an East European delicacy. The leaves, which are often used in place of vine leaves, which are filled with chopped meat and rice.
Cabbage is the basis for the famous German sauerkraut and the lesser known Korean kimchi.



RECIPES.


Caldo verde (Portuguese green soup)

Wilted cabbage salad with bacon and cashel blue cheese

stir fried green cabbage

assorted cabbage recipes

spiced Indian cabbage

In France the sixth of January is known as the Day of the Kings, and in common with many other countries of the world it is the day when figurines of the three kings are traditionally added to the Christmas nativity scene; thus extending the festival beyond the customary twelve days celebrated in Great Britain.

The French have a rich and varied culinary history and French chefs have for centuries adapted their skills and recipes to commemorate famous historical events.
Whether it is a pastry commemorating the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race, or a chicken stew with eggs and crayfish to celebrate Napoleons crushing victory at the Battle of Marengo (14 June 1800), or even the much-maligned Peach Melba, invented to commemorate the visit of a famous opera singer to England.

In the case of Epiphany they created a cake… the Kings Cake, made in celebration of the three wise men and their visit to Bethlehem 2007 years ago. The moniker kings did not appear until the third century AD and was an elevation of the term, wise men, or magi.




The Gateaux des Rois or the Galettes des Rois, depending on whether you live in the north or the south of the country, fill the shelves and window displays of both Boulangeries and Pâtisseries all over France from just after New Year, right through to Easter. But, the most important day is the sixth of January, Epiphany.











The date for the festival was set Pope Julius II (December 5th, 1443 – February 21st, 1513), the one time bishop of Carpentras, a town situated north east of Avignon on the edge of the Rhone Valley, in south-east France.

In England, Epiphany begins the day after Twelfth Night, which traditionally brings the Christmas period to an end. In France however, Christmas officially ends on February the second with yet another celebration, the feast of Candlemas.
Thus the serving of Galettes des Rois is still thought of as a Christmas time celebration, which has been practiced for years.


It is not clear when the Galettes des Rois were first invented, let alone whether that invention was French or not. Certainly eating special cakes in celebration of the Epiphany is not just a French tradition, as the same exists in North America, Spain, Mexico and other European countries.

In France, during the reign of Louis XIV (September 5th, 1638 – September 1st, 1715) the ‘celebration of the festival of the kings’ was banned.
The church believing that the festival had its roots in early paganism and was contrary to biblical teaching, thus the interdict. The Catholic Church also believed that the day of celebration was merely an excuse for overindulgence and unwanted immoral behaviour and was not something good God-fearing people should entertain.
The French people ever inventive at getting round rules and regulations they do not agree with, re-introduced the day as ‘La fête du bon voisinage,’ or ‘good neighbours day’ and presumably the cake was reintroduced at the same time, but with possibly a different name.

Cakes have been used in the celebration of the Epiphany since the Middle Ages and as with other regions of the world the cake in France varies from one region to another.
Of the two versions in existence in France today, the southern Brioche based bun is probably the elder of the two.



The current version of the Galette, which is indistinguishable from Gateaux Pithiviers, in all but name, was probably not in existence before the 17th Century.



Yeast based buns have been used in pagan festivals since the times of the pharaohs and were being baked in ancient Greece as long ago as 1500BC. Bouns or buns were used in pagan worship in celebration of Cecrops the First, the founder of Athens, which was long before the modern version of puff pastry was perfected by Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême (June 8, 1784–January 12, 1833).



Carême, often called the chef of kings and the king of chefs, perfected modern day puff pastry from which the northern Galettes des Rois and Pithiviers are made. However, Carême did not invent puff pastry. The delicate leaves of this wonderful creation have graced recipes both sweet and savoury since the 18th century, but the original recipe probably a variation of Baklava, was introduced into France during the Islamic occupation of the country in the 8th Century.

Regardless of which recipe was used, all reference to kings, kingdoms and crowns were dropped during the French revolution (1789 - 1799.) when the festival of the kings fell as the executioner’s blade.
The original celebration may have been usurped, but not so the cake. Renamed the ‘Gâteau de l’Êgalité or the equality cake, for obvious reasons, the French drew lots to decide which citizen would present the galettes to the assembled masses and the tradition of dividing and sharing the pastry continued.

The cake, in France has two forms: a pastry and a bun and neither can be called a true cake.
In the north of the country, including Brittany, the Galettes des Rois is more evident. The Galette is based on one of the most famous French Pastries coming from a commune in the Loiret département of France. To all intents and purposes the Galettes de Rois is a Pithiviers made in a slightly different shape. Some recipes however, do call for the addition of cinnamon, cloves or other eastern spices, which make it dissimilar to the traditional pastry, which contain just frangipane or almond paste (not to be confused with marzipan).
The addition of spices reaches back to the nativity and is a reminder of the wise men and their gift of spice and is a strong bond with Epiphany.



In the south, notably in the region of Provence and further west along the Mediterranean coast towards Spain, the preferred recipe uses brioche.
Brioche is a butter enriched yeast dough which for the gateaux is made into a ring and decorated and adorned with candied fruit, glazed with syrup and sometimes flavoured with orange oil. The fruit, brightly coloured, emulate the jewels of a crown and the gateaux is glazed and baked until it glistens, resembling gold.
Neither version can be called a true cake, regardless of where they come from, nor are they the only Kings Cake that exist.



In the Catalan region of Spain, an autonomous region historically associated with France, there are neither the Gateaux des Rois or the Galette des Rois. In Catalonia the Tortell de Reis is King.

The Tortell is a ring or crown shaped enriched sweet bread, similar to the French brioche, which are often stuffed with marzipan and topped with glazed fruit.

The Spanish influence transcends the Atlantic Ocean into Mexico, where the Rosca de Reyes is made to celebrate the magi. This version calls for sweetened bread, decorated with pieces of candied fruit such as orange and lime, which are again representations of the jewels in a crown. The Mexican version is often filled with nuts, dried figs, and cherries, not necessarily an almond paste as in Europe.

In Germany and Switzerland the Dreikönigskuchen or the three kings cake is eaten for breakfast on the day of epiphany and is another derivative of the rich brioche based bun from the south of France.

The Kings Cake, in a similar guise, is also found a few miles north of Mexico, in the southern states of America. Here, vast numbers are eaten, forming a focal point of the celebration of Mardi gras.
In early Catholicism, Epiphany was considered to be the first day of lent and the eating of the Kings cake was also an excuse for using up food not suitable to be consumed during the fasting period: such as almonds, eggs, sugar and butter.
Mardi gras, a French word, literally meaning fat Tuesday, is the same celebration as the British Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, which heralds the opening of the Lenten period.
The word shrove, not common in American English, is the past tense of the old English word to shrive, and describes the period of confession early Anglo-Saxon Christians were expected to perform prior to Lent.
It is not clear whether the American version of the cake is an adaptation of the Mexican and Spanish Rosca and Tortel’s or if the gateaux arrived with the Acadian settlers forced to head south through America, into Louisiana, following the Great Expulsion.

The Acadians were French immigrants who originally settled in the northeastern region of North America, until they were forced from their homes, by the British during the great Expulsion of 1755. This expulsion, also known as the Great Upheaval, was the forced removal of the French speaking population of Nova Scotia between 1755-1763.
The migrants moved south and settled in and around Louisiana where they became know as the Cajuns and it was possibly these people who introduced the southern French Kings Cake into the present day United States of America.
The American version of the Kings Cake, which is similar in style to the one eaten in Spain, pre-dates modern day puff pastry. This further suggests that the southern French brioche based recipe is older than the more recognisable puff pastry based Galettes des Rois eaten further north. It is a simple fact that the French had fully established their colonies in America by the time Antonin Carême worked his magic and the lighter version of the cake, so enjoyed in Brittany, did not make its was across the Atlantic to the Americas.

To be continued ©MalcolmHamilton 2007

Jerusalem artichoke

The misnamed Jerusalem artichoke has no real link with Jerusalem at all and only a distant link to the more familiar Artichoke, both coming from the same family of plants the family Asteraceae or Compositae.
It is a relative of sunflower native to eastern North America, from the state of Maine to North Dakota, and south into some of Florida and Texas
It has a distinctive nutty flavor which has been suggested to be similar to that of glove artichoke hearts- being used in many recipes to replace or compliment potatoes. The plant which if left unattended can become an invasive weed is a wonderful source of an inexpensive but delicious food.

HISTORY.

Jerusalem artichokes were found being cultivated in North America and are said to have been introduced into Europe by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Although de Champlain described the vegetable tuber as tasting of artichokes there real taste is similar to that of Chinese water chestnuts. Certainly not native to Jerusalem, the route of the name is thought to derive from the Italian for Sunflower, girasole to which the Jerusalem artichoke is related. Indeed the plant resembles a many stemmed sunflower complete with numerous small sunflower type blooms.
In France the Jerusalem artichoke was synonymous with rationing during the World War II when they were grown as a food staple all over the country.

BUYING.

Roots should firm, dense and free from spongy soft areas. Their shape, not dissimilar to ginger can be very nobly and one should try to buy the largest tubers available.

STORING.

Jerusalem artichokes will keep for several weeks in the salad chiller of the fridge but are better stored in a cool dry area such as a garden shed or garage covered with sand, much the same way as carrots are often stored.

PREPARING.

As potatoes.

COOKING.
A perfumed vegetable without being too scented which can be used to make a different recipe wherever potatoes are called for. Often thought of as peasant food and not fit to grace the tables of high society, the Jerusalem artichoke marries perfectly with the woody aromas of wild mushrooms and dried fruit and nuts. The flavour utterly sublime with lobster and crab can also be used with other seafood such as scallops.
They can be cooked as potatoes – baked roasted, sauté, boiled or steamed, and as with potatoes Jerusalem Artichokes will discolour when exposed to the air. Once peeled and cut maintain their colour by storing in acidulated water, using either a little vinegar or preferably lemon juice.


OTHER STUFF.

Because of the peculiarities in the digestion of Inulin, the form of carbohydrate found in Jerusalem Artichokes, they do have the side effect of causing flatulence.

RECIPES.

Cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup

Seared scallops with bacon, Jerusalem artichoke puree and crushed peas

Chicken and Jerusalem artichoke pie

Jerusalem artichoke and sage gratin

The morel is an edible cup fungi to the experts and one of the most prized edible wild mushrooms to those of us who cook.

They are rarely available fresh in the shops; they are fragile and do not keep or travel well. The vast majority of fresh morels are picked by amateur mushroom collectors for their own enjoyment and do not make it past the mushroom collectors basket.

Morels grow in either deciduous or coniferous woodlands often hidden beneath the leaf litter, thus making them difficult to find.
There are thoughts that a symbiotic relationship exists between the morel mushroom and the common Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) thus making the fungi prevalent around the base of such trees.

They appear in the late spring and have a cone-shaped cap that is pitted and ridged. They vary in colour and size depending on the species and are particularly partial to woodland hollows or around tree stumps where the soil is kept perpetually moist.

Morels particularly like growing in areas that have been exposed to fire usually three years after the fire has passed. In certain areas of Europe and North America pickers will concentrate on areas previously affected by fire in a hope to obtain these highly prized mushrooms.

The morel is very choosy where it will grow, and the conditions for cultivation are so finely balanced that they prevent the mushroom being farmed commercially.

Morels should never be eaten raw as some people do have an allergic reaction to these mushrooms, which is dispelled by cooking.

For most of us the only experience we will have of this wonderful mushroom is the dried variety. Do not despair, they are wonderful and although not the same as the fresh, they do add a depth of character to almost any dish to which they are added.

There flavour is strong and only a few need to be added to enhance a dish, which is good as they are expensive. They are particularly good when added to stews and casseroles and if so they do not require any pre-soaking.

On occasion the larger morels do contain a small amount of grit, which can be removed by soaking the morels in a small bowl just covered with boiling water and left for one hour. Once soft, cut the morels in half and rinse in the same bowl. Then pass the brown mushroom liquid through a coffee filter paper to remove the grit, but be sure to retain the liquid.

The dried morel has a rich woody flavour and a pleasant smoked earth flavour, which is ideal when added to a mushroom sauce to be served with pasta.



















Acknowledgemets and references.

http://www.agr.gov.sk.ca/docs/crops/northern_agriculture/HarvestWMrms.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morel
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/default~gid~~page~2~startPage~1~chr~m.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscoda
http://thegreatmorel.com/index.shtml
http://www.agr.gov.sk.ca/docs/crops/northern_agriculture/HarvestWMrms.asp
Kuo, M. (2002, December). Types of (true) morels. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/morels/true.html

Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope's true gage,
And thus I'll make my pilgrimage.
The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage
By Sir Walter Raleigh

With that poem we begin one of the most important seasons of the year, not climatic but gastronomic, the Coquilles St Jacques!

It is not unusual for their arrival to attract banner like announcements in the papers, “They have arrived!”
People stop in the street and discuss what the coming season is going to be like, will there be enough, are they going to be more expensive than last year bust most of all when will they arrive.
In this region of Brittany nothing is anticipated quite like the first Coquilles St Jacques of the season and fetes are organised just to celebrate this wonderful harvest from the sea. Watch the Film

The name is so recognisable that it transcends normal language barriers being known as Coquille St Jacque in other tongues apart from French.
Even in Britain the name Coquille St Jacque is more recognisable to most than that of the mundane scallop.
The shell is the archetypal shape for a seashell, and the one most easily recognisable by adults and children alike.

Coquille St Jacque as with other shellfish are not generally popular in Britain, we seem to find mussels, oysters and other shellfish somewhat daunting and yet they are what the British want to eat when they come to Brittany.
It is a sad fact that very few children in Britain will taste the wonderful sweet flavour of fresh Coquilles St Jacques and although the sale of frozen scallops has increased two fold in the past ten years, the availability of good fresh scallops, away from the coasts is still abysmal for a country surrounded by water. As a nation, unlike the French, we have not grown up with shellfish as part of our diet.


Why coquilles St Jacques?


The scallop shell is the traditional emblem of Saint James the Great St Jacques being the French for St James.
It is worn by pilgrims following the pilgrimage to the shrine of St James in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

Santiago, which is Spanish for St James, is named after the disciple who went to Galicia to spread Christianity to the people of that region. His connection to scallop shells comes from myth and legend and is derived from two similar stories.

One tells of St James wading out into the sea and rescuing a fallen knight who had become unseated from his horse. When the knight emerged from the water he was covered in scallop shells.
The other story, along similar lines, attests that whilst St. James's remains were being transported to Spain for burial, the horse of a knight fell into the water, and emerged covered scallop shells.

In the year 40 James returned to Judea to continue his ministry, which was not long lived. St James was put to death by King Herod Agrippa in the year 44.
Following his execution the king refused permission for the body to be buried and during the night his friends stole the body and left Judea with it, by boat. They eventually arrived of the Spanish coast and St James was laid to rest in a secret place in a wood.
Centuries later a hermit was sitting in the wood when he saw a strange light shining over the place where James was laid to rest. The hermit named the place, "Campus Stellae", or ‘the field of the star.’ That name later evolved into Compostela and hence to Santiago de Compostella or "St. James in the Field of the Star".
Incidentally the Swedish name for a scallop translates as The Pilgrim Mussel and in Dutch Jakobsschelp, which means ‘James shell.’ The French means Shell of St James.

What are Scallops?


They are bi-valve molluscs, related to the oyster, although scallops have a larger adductor muscle, which is the edible part of the shellfish.
They have the distinction in being the only bi-valve molluscs, which are capable of self-propelled independent movement; which they achieve by rapidly opening and closing their shell thus expelling water at force, and enabling the scallop to move; a natural form of jet propulsion. Scallops use this method to migrate around the seabed their position depending on the season, the tides and the climatic conditions.

Scallops are hermaphroditic, which means they can change sex and it is their sex, which determines if the shell will contain the additional delicacy of the roe or not. A red roe indicates a female scallop; white for male, and it is usually only the bright red or orange roe of the female scallop, which is eaten.
The flesh of a scallop is firm with a delicate sweet flavour. The row has a much softer texture and is less popular owing to its softness.


Fishing for Scallops







Scallops are traditionally caught by dragging the seabed with a specially designed metal drag net, or dredger. There is however, a market for dived scallops, which are hand selected and usually larger than the fished varieties.
There are two main areas of scallop fishing in Northern France, The bay of the Seine, in Normandy, and the Bay of St-Brieuc in Brittany.
The rights to the fishing grounds are fiercely protected and fishing for scallops is restricted by a great many statutes.

The size and number of dredgers permitted per boat is also controlled. They must not be wider than two metres and have a metal net of interlocking rings fitted whose diameter must be greater than ten centimetres, thus allowing smaller specimens to fall through the net and be returned to the sea bed unharmed.
Large boats can drag up to thirty dredgers at a time, but in the Bay of St Brieuc the maximum number permitted is two per boat.

The time permitted for fishing is also strictly controlled and any breach of the regulations results in the fisherman’s licence being revoked and hence his livelihood.
The boats are limited to no more than 13m in length with engines no bigger than 250 hp. They are only allowed to fish twice a week and for no more than 45 minutes at each session. They are only allowed to catch 250 Kg of scallops per fisherman on board regardless of how long it takes to catch them.
The opening of scallops on board is forbidden as is the taking of undersized specimens and the scallops must be no smaller than 102mm in diameter.
The open season for scallops is between October and May; the exact date varies from year to year. Diving for scallops is permitted all year round in the waters surrounding Jersey.

How to open and clean a scallop

1. To open a scallop, Hold the curved side up and hinge away from you

2. Insert an oyster knife between the two shells and rock the knife from sided to side to break the muscle that form the hinge. You can tell the scallop is alive for as you cut the hinge the two half’s of the shell try to close and this is an indication of freshness. Scallops should always be bought live.

3. Insert the knife or a spoon between the top and bottom shells from the right side, just in front of the hinge, and cut the muscle away from the inside of the top shell (the curved one) this release the top shell.
4. Open the scallop and discard the top shell.
5. Then scrape off and discard all of the innards except the sweet, white muscle.
6. Do this by gently scraping off the dark innards, starting from the hinge side of the muscle and scraping over the muscle towards the front. You can always pull any bits free with your fingers

7. Properly done, this will peel the innards from the muscle, leaving it attached to the bottom shell.

Cooking

Scallops have a delicate sweet flavour which can easily be overpowered by strong spices and seasoning.
As with much seafood the simplest methods of cooking are often the best and scallops are no exception.
My favourite method of cooking and one, which only takes a few minutes, is to heat a pan, preferably non-stick with a tablespoon of oil until hot, but not smoking. This will take few minutes but is very important when cooking scallops.




· Open the scallops as above, discard the waste and remove the white scallop meat. Carefully dry the cleaned scallops with a cloth, as any additional liquid will cool the pan the scallops will not seal but boil in their own juice.
· Add the scallops and cook for about a minute on each side. Very large scallops can be cut in half.
· When cooked place the scallops on a warmed serving plate.
· Add a good sized lump of butter to the pan and when it has melted and begun to foam and a thimble full of Noilly Prat, give the pan a quick shake and pour the butter over the scallops.
· Grind on some black pepper and a sprinkle of fine Guérande sea salt.
· Serve with a green salad, and fresh bread.
· Sublime with a fruity Muscadet, but not one that is too dry.



References and Acknowledgements.
http://www.sud-goelo.info/
http://www.ouest-france.fr/dossiershtm/coquille/30.htm
http://www.ifremer.fr/envlit/pdf/actualitespdf/20041207Coquille_Saint_Jacques_Bretagne.pdf
http://www.eurofish.dk/indexSub.php?id=3255
http://www.red2000.com/spain/santiago/
An Illustrated Guide to Cleaning A Scallop
by Charlie Courtney