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cooking-oils-msg – 2/22/08

 

Period cooking and food oils. Rendering fat into oil.

 

NOTE: See also the files: butter-msg, nuts-msg, broths-msg, salads-msg,  frittours-msg, fried-foods-msg, aspic-msg.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given by the individual authors.

 

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear at this time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                          Stefan at florilegium.org

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From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>

Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 18:15:51 -0700 (PDT)

Subject: Re: SC - walnut oil

 

This is Elizabeth, following the list a couple weeks late, posting from

David's account.

 

At 3:19 PM -0400 5/8/97, Karen Farris wrote:

>     Would any of you illustrious chefs inform a poor French peasant girl

>     of the periodicity of walnut oil?  What about other nut oils or

>     vegetable oils?  Is there script of any other than animal lards and

>     olive oil?

 

According to a 13th century Book of Trades (quoted in _Daily Living in the

12th Century_), the oil merchant sold olive oil, almond oil, walnut oil,

linseed oil, and poppy oil.

 

 

Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 09:09:04 -0400 (EDT)

From: Uduido at aol.com

Subject: Re: SC - Flavoured oils query

 

<< would like to learn

more about NW Europe, specifically the western part of the British Isles

(Ireland, Wales and Cornwall) in regards of cooking.

I love oil which has been suffused with herbs.  Have attempted to make my

own (I think I was too impatient) and use commercially produced ones a lot.

Are they period?   >>

 

Well, not to disappoint you but it appears as if the lubricants of choice

based on extant recipes were as follows: British Isles, Northern France-

butter; Germany and Teutonic countries- lard; Italy, South France, Spain,

Portugal and the mid-east- olive oil. Of course, since I'm basing this on

memory, I could be wrong.

 

Lord Ras

 

 

Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 16:19:19 -0500

From: gfrose at cotton.vislab.olemiss.edu (Terry Nutter)

Subject: Re: SC - Flavoured oils query

 

Hi, Katerine here.  Lord Ras writes:

 

>Well, not to disappoint you but it appears as if the lubricants of choice

>based on extant recipes were as follows: British Isles, Northern France-

>butter; Germany and Teutonic countries- lard; Italy, South France, Spain,

>Portugal and the mid-east- olive oil. Of course, since I'm basing this on

>memory, I could be wrong.

 

Actually, based on the recipes I've seen in the English corpus, I'd say

that the primary oil-like substances in use in England were white grease

and lard.  You also see suet, but less frequently.  Next in order is

probably oil, usually olive.  One sees butter fairly frequently in the

13th C (about 15% of recipes), but less often than oil or grease, and in

the 14th and 15th centuries relatively rarely (about 3%).

 

- -- Katerine/Terry

 

 

Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 11:29:39 -0400 (EDT)

From: Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu>

Subject: Re: SC - Flavoured oils query

 

Ras wrote:

> Well, not to disappoint you but it appears as if the lubricants of choice

> based on extant recipes were as follows: British Isles, Northern France-

> butter; Germany and Teutonic countries- lard; Italy, South France, Spain,

> Portugal and the mid-east- olive oil.

 

Katerine made some corrections to the "British Isles - butter" part.  I

shall point out that in the cooking of the Arabic-speaking world (which,

being a literate culture, has left us more cookbooks from longer ago

than has Christian Europe), the primary lubricant seems to be rendered

from the tail of the fat-tailed sheep (see the notes on ingredients in

the _Miscellany_).  Butter was also known, and the _Manuscrito Anonimo_

points out that "some people love it, and add it to bread, while others

cannot stand even to smell it."  _Manuscrito anonimo_ goes on to say:

 

    Butter is not employed in kitchen dishes because it is only used

    in the various kinds of rafis [see below] and in some cakes, and

    in similar foods of [made by?] women.  It is needed for its oil,

    over which it quickly forms a dry crust, and for spicy or

    vinegary things so that it may cut their sharpness and make them

    soft and smooth, and do them great benefit.

 

Most of the recipes calling for butter in this cookbook are for a class

of dishes called _rafis_, which appear to all be sweetened, yeast-raised

breadlike or cakelike dishes, cooked in a pan (not baked in an oven).

Butter is also used occasionally for greasing meats to be oven-roasted,

and for making puff-pastry dough, e.g. for "sambusak", which I think is

a cognate for "samosa".

 

Oil (I've been assuming it means olive oil, without much evidence) also

appears frequently in the _Manuscrito anonimo_, often interchangeably

with butter or animal grease.

 

                              mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib

 

 

Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 22:18:43 +0000

From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>

Subject: Re: SC - Flavoured oils query

 

And it came to pass on  6 Sep 97, that Stephen Bloch wrote:

 

> Ras wrote:

> > Well, not to disappoint you but it appears as if the lubricants of choice

> > based on extant recipes were as follows: British Isles, Northern France-

> > butter; Germany and Teutonic countries- lard; Italy, South France, Spain,

> > Portugal and the mid-east- olive oil.

>

> Katerine made some corrections to the "British Isles - butter" part.

>  I shall point out that in the cooking of the Arabic-speaking world

> (which, being a literate culture, has left us more cookbooks from

> longer ago than has Christian Europe), the primary lubricant seems

> to be rendered from the tail of the fat-tailed sheep

 

Not a correction, but an addition: in Spain, though olive oil was

much-used, pork fat appears to have been very popular also.   The

"Libro de Guisados" mentions lard in a number of recipes, but bacon

fat is even more common.  "Sofreirlas con buen tocino gordo" --

"Gently fry them in good fatty bacon".

 

Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba

Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom

 

 

Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 22:43:45 -0400 (EDT)

From: Uduido at aol.com

Subject: Re: SC - Flavoured oils query

 

I have been using my 'free' time' to study this flavored oil question. The

only reference I came across was a recipe for 'flavored' oil in Vehling's

Apicius which is decidedly not English and decidedly not the appropriate

period. The reference uses 'nard', rosemary, etc. as seasonings.

 

Lord Ras

 

 

Date: Sun, 7 Sep 1997 21:45:31 -0400 (EDT)

From: Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu>

Subject: Re: SC - Flavoured oils query

 

Ras wrote:

> I have been using my 'free' time' to study this flavored oil question. The

> only reference I came across was a recipe for 'flavored' oil in Vehling's

> Apicius which is decidedly not English and decidedly not the appropriate

> period. The reference uses 'nard', rosemary, etc. as seasonings.

 

"nard" or "nardo" is probably spikenard.

 

                              mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib

 

 

Date: Mon, 12 Jan 98 22:57:03 PST

From: "Alderton, Philippa" <phlip at morganco.net>

Subject: Re: SC - fat rendering?

 

: Philippa gave a lamb/goat recipe:

: >1 4 lb leg of lamb, deboned and cut into cubes

: >lamb fat, rendered, with olive oil

:

: What does this second line mean? Or more precisely,

: how should you do this?

:

: This is heating the lamb fat to turn it into oil, right?

: What is the olive oil for? Does this keep the fat from

: burning while it melts into oil? Should you strain the

: resulting oil?  How much olive oil should you use?

:

:   Stefan li Rous

 

The rendering you have right, you're merely removing the oil from the fat.

The olive oil was to stretch the lamb fat since I didn't really have enough

lamb fat for the browning I was doing. Olive oil is a flavored oil, not

particularly good for high temperature cooking, though certainly not bad.

Peanut oil can be taken to a very high temperature without smoking, and

this is one case where the cheaper oils can be of benefit, because the

cheap peanut oil has LESS flavor than the expensive ones I've tried, giving

as close to a neutral flavor as possible. Since peanuts are OOP, you don't

want that flavor, but you may want the heating characteristics. As far as

straining, just remove (and enjoy- cooks privilege) the cracklins, or in

other words, the connective tissue left behind from the rendering.

 

 

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 08:59:48 -0600

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

Subject: RE: SC - Shopping savvy for Feasts-revisited

 

I prefer butter to margarine, but will use margarine where it is applicable.

Both are in the refrigerator.  I buy my olive oil in 3 liter cans and my

extra virgin olive oil in smaller quantity.  Regular olive oil is for

cooking, extra virgin is for sauces and dressings.  I also have peanut oil,

corn oil, sesame oil, vegetable oil, vegetable shortening, and canola oil

(canola oil is a scribal error, I was given the bottle). At present, I am

out of lard, walmut oil and almond oil.  Yes, I use all of these for

different applications in cooking and baking.  I may even use the canola for

tempering my cast iron, where the flavor shouldn't matter.

 

Bear

 

 

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 22:53:32 -0800

From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>

Subject: SC - Oils (was: Shopping savvy for Feasts)

 

At 8:59 AM -0600 11/19/98, Decker, Terry D. wrote:

>I buy my olive oil in 3 liter cans and my

>extra virgin olive oil in smaller quantity.  Regular olive oil is for

>cooking, extra virgin is for sauces and dressings.  I also have peanut oil,

>corn oil, sesame oil, vegetable oil, vegetable shortening, and canola oil

>(canola oil is a scribal error, I was given the bottle).  At present, I am

>out of lard, wlamut oil and almond oil.  Yes, I use all of these for

>different applications in cooking and baking.  I may even use the canola for

>tempering my cast iron, where the flavor shouldn't matter.

>

>Bear

 

Isn't canola oil (alias rape seed oil) Old World? Although I can't think of

any specific references to it, as I can for almond, walnut, sesame, and

olive oil. Peanut, corn, and soybean oils would be out of period, of course.

 

Elizabeth/Betty Cook

 

 

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 14:41:58 -0600

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

Subject: RE: SC - Oils (was: Shopping savvy for Feasts)

 

> Isn't canola oil (alias rape seed oil) Old World? Although I can't think

> of any specific references to it, as I can for almond, walnut, sesame, and

> olive oil. Peanut, corn, and soybean oils would be out of period, of

> course.

>

> Elizabeth/Betty Cook

 

The quick ref says canola oil is extracted from Brassica napus, a European

member of the mustard family, commonly referred to as rape or oil rape.

Also according to the quick ref, rape oil is used a lubricant and in

manufacturing processes.  Whether it's medieval or not, I couldn't say, but

the taste is such I don't think any self respecting medieval cook would let

it get anywhere near the kitchen.  I think its use in cooking is recent, due

to its "healthy" properties.

 

Bear  

 

 

Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 01:10:46 -0500

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - another question

 

Stacie wrote:

> instead of shortening what would one use? Lard...? butter?

> if you substituted shortening for butter how would it turn out?

>

> Stacie

 

Ounce for ounce, butter has less shortening power than lard or vegetable

shortening because it is an emulsion containing, what (it's late, I'm

tired, and I don't have the reference in front of me) roughly 15% water.

 

Almost all baked goods require at least _some_ water. Things like

shortbread usually can get enough from the butter, but if you

substituted another fat you might have to add some water. When

substituting whole butter for another fat, you should probably add

commensurately less water. It's probably not a big deal in most cases,

but when multiplying recipes for bulk use, it could be an issue.

 

Adamantius

stgardr, East

 

 

Subject: RE: ANST - Lard

Date: Mon, 20 Sep 99 14:35:17 MST

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

To: "'ansteorra at ansteorra.org'" <ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG>

 

> What is a good substitute for Lard in today's cooking world and for penny

> royal?

>

> F. Havas

> ches at io.com

 

Lard is a pretty good substitute for lard.  It is available in stick form

and by the bucket.  About the same price as solid vegetable shortening.

 

If there are health or religious issues.  Crisco or some other solid 100%

vegetable shortening makes about the best substitute.

 

If you are using this in pastry or a similar dish, I recommend sticking to

the solids, as solid and liquid fats have different characteristics when

blended into a recipe.  If you are planning to fry in it, vegetable oil,

olive oil, corn oil, etc. can be substituted, although they do not handle as

high a heat as the solid shortenings, which may be an issue if you are

trying to flash cook a dough.

 

<snip of pennyroyal substitute. See herbs-msg>

 

Bear

 

 

Date: Mon, 4 Oct 1999 20:46:15 -0700

From: lilinah at grin.net

Subject: Re: SC - Middle Eastern Sesame oil

 

Artemis of St. Malachy wrote:

>I'm currently preparing for a feast at the end of October. Several of

>our dishes are Islamic in origin and require sesame oil. I've been told

>that this is not the same as the sesame oil used in many asian dishes,

>and that middle eastern sesame oil is made from untoasted sesame seeds

>and does not have the strong flavour that asian sesame oil has. The main

>problem is I can't find the stuff anywhere. We have several asian food

>stores in our area, but not middle eastern. I will be require a fair

>amount of the oil (about 1.5 L) and am wondering if there is a good

>substitute for it. I don't know if this sesame oil has a particular

>cooking characteristic. I've found cold-pressed sesame oil in health

>stores. It was a much lighter colour to the asian sesame oil and didn't

>seem to have as strong a taste to it, but the bottle did not say whether

>the sesame seeds were toasted or untoasted.

 

If it is light in color, it is untoasted and shouldn't have a real strong

taste. This light colored oil is what you want. Besides cold-pressed, I

think there are some untoasted expeller pressed varieties available too,

often at the health food store.

 

Anahita

 

 

Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 23:34:10 EST

From: LrdRas at aol.com

Subject: Re: SC - Fat tailed sheep

 

phlip at morganco.net writes:

<< Anybody have any references, whether to recipes, commentary, or other references?

Phlip >>

 

al-Baghdadi (1223 CE) contains many recipes using the tail of these sheep. It

was used much as we use cooking oil or lard in almost every recipe that was

meat based.

 

Ras

 

 

Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 00:40:38 -0500

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Fat tailed sheep

 

"Alderton, Philippa" wrote:

> I remember a fe months ago, we had a thread in fat tailed sheep, and a few

> questions have come up on another List I'm on. Anybody have any references,

> whether to recipes, commentary, or other references?

 

From Reay Tannahill's "Food in History":

 

"The pastoral peasant tradition of the Near East contributed the oil in

which almost every Baghdad dish was put to cook -- alya, the fat

rendered from sheep's tails. Time after time al-Baghdadi began his

instructions with the words, 'Cut meat into middling pieces; dissolve

tail and throw away the sediment. Put the meat into this oil and let it

fry lightly...' The popularity of tail fat may have had something to do

with the existence of the local fat-tailed sheep, though whether as

cause or effect remains a matter for debate."

 

As both Ras and Tannahill state, al-Baghdadi is full of references to

cooking in rendered tail fat. It may not be a 100% valid assumption that

what they're talking about is the fat-tailed sheep we know, but it seems

pretty reasonable. Even if alya is presumed to be a modern term, do we

know if anything like it appears in al-Baghdadi in its original text?

  

Adamantius

 

 

Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 11:52:15 -0000

From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>

Subject: Re: SC - Fat tailed sheep

 

Phlip wrote:

>Anybody have any references,

>whether to recipes, commentary, or other references?

 

There is a very interesting three-page article, "The Fate of the Tail" by

Charles Perry in "Disappearing Foods", the 1994 Oxford Symposium papers.

Basically, he says that in the 9th century Kitb al-Tabib only half a dozen

recipes call for tail fat, but says "the reason may simply be that tail fat

was out of favor at the court of the Caliphs". Most later Arab cookbooks

call for tail fat (al-Baghdadi is "saturated with tail fat", Perry says).

But he does point out that in later versions of al-Baghdadi, there are

several added recipes and they do not usually call for tail fat so its use

may have declined.

 

"The most popular cookbook of the Arab Middle Ages, to judge from the number

of manuscripts that have survived, was Kitb al-Wusla al-Habib. Tail fat has

a prominent place in the book. Recipes for rendering it constitute the

fourth chapter. Alya is expicitly called for in 34 recipes, and the "fat"

referred to in 18 more recipes was almost certainly from the tail, judging

on the basis of similarities in wording or the very quantity of fat called

for. The fat has two principal uses. Boiled meat is typically pounded and

then fried in tail fat before adding to a stew, and in starchy dishes such

as pilaf and lentils, tail fat is for flavoring, commonly poured in shortly

before the dish is done often together with as honey, vinegar, sugar syrup

or spices (even, in some cases, other fats such as sesame oil, olive oil

and/or clarified butter)."