Browsing ‘A’
Sometimes when I am bored and hungry I will pull out our battered copy of Larousse’s Gastronomique and just wander through it. The boys enjoy looking over my shoulder and admiring the charts of of sea fishes and lush photos of e.g. asparagus mousse with orange butter, and I always learn something useful, interesting, bizarre, or all three. Three little bits from the ‘A’ section.
A R Q U E B U S E A herby liqueur that was originally supposed to possess therapeutic qualities in cases of gunshot wounds. The recipe for eau d’arquebuse or d’arquebusade was recorded in the 19th century by a Marist monk from the Hermitage Abbey (Loire) and includes agrimony and gentian. Today it is used as a digestive and ‘pick-me-up’ — it is said to be the French answer to Fernet Branca!
I hadn’t thought about Fernet Branca in a while. It was high on the menu in Argentina, though, and I hardly ever got shot there.
A R R O W R O O T The starch extracted from the rhizomes (underground stems) of several tropical plants. It is called so because of the therapeutic qualities attributed to it by American Indians in the treatment of arrow wounds. A fine white powder, it is useful in the kitchen as a last-minute thickener of sauces…Unlike corn[starch], which gives a cloudy sauce, arrowroot clears when it boils…Traditionally it is also used in soups and to prepare gruels for invalids and desserts.
A, I wasn’t aware desserts were big fans of gruels, and B, cornstarch has been on my list of ingredients to import for exactly the thickening thing mentioned here. Maybe arrowroot would be more versatile, what with the whole arrow thing.
A R T I C H O K E, G L O B E [This entry runs to four pages, including the chart above and several recipes, as well as instructions on how to deal with the things.] …Originating from Sicily and still very widely used in Italian cooking, the artichoke was first regarded in France mainly as a remedy for various ailments [crossbow wounds, I wonder?]. At the beginning of the 18th century, Louis Lemery said in his Treatise on Food: ‘Artichokes suit elderly people at all times, and those of a phlegmatic disposition.’ It was also reputed to be an aphrodisiac and women were forbidden to eat it. Catherine de’ Medici, who was fond of artichokes, encouraged their cultivation in France.
I always knew that that Catherine de’ Medici was a skank.
Do you remember my old Bill Cosby record that had a whole Fernet Branca riff that we all thought was HI-larious? ‘Cause, you know, it mentioned burping.
Comment by gaoo — Saturday 14 February 09 @ 19.44 MST+2.00
Are you kidding me? Remember it? I can recite it.
Comment by jds — Saturday 14 February 09 @ 20.22 MST+2.00
Perhaps since you have been abroad you missed this SNL skit some years back- the female news anchor reporting a segment on Christina Aguilera cancelling shows because of an acute throat infection. The male anchor replies: Christina Aquilera? She used to be acute. But now she’s just a-skanky.
Comment by gaoo — Sunday 15 February 09 @ 04.12 MST+2.00