Food Words

Vegetable Carpaccio is just fine. Slap the pedant upside the head.

[Jenise]

A new one for me today:

sucs The word sucs, which derives from “sucre” (French for sugar) was invented specifically to describe those caramelized bits that stick to the bottom of a pot or pan. When pan-frying, searing or sautéing, juices from ingredients, in particular meats, caramelize and form these browned bits. Sucs have an intense, sweet flavor, which can be released from the bottom of the pan by the process of deglazing.

I would have called that a fond.

[Jenise]

Another new one today. Thinking about the shirred eggs further to my earlier post in the Learned thread, it dawned on me that maybe there's such a thing as a shir or shirrer. And shir thing! (ha ha), a shirrer exists, and brief glance at some Google Images says that it's a round flat-bottomed dish, personal sized, with one long looped handle. I'll bet no one here has one.

. They were immediately slammed by some pedant who claimed that carpaccio--originating from the word 'carne'--HAD to be meat or fish.

Surely carpaccio didn't originate from carne, but from the artist Carpaccio who was known for his use of dark reds in his paintings. The colour of the thinly sliced meat reminded the creator of the dish of Carpaccio's paintings and thus the dish was named.

That was the story I heard, anyway.

Whether a dish that is not the same colour deserves the name Carpaccio is another matter.

Another new one today. Thinking about the shirred eggs further to my earlier post in the Learned thread, it dawned on me that maybe there's such a thing as a shir or shirrer. And shir thing! (ha ha), a shirrer exists, and brief glance at some Google Images says that it's a round flat-bottomed dish, personal sized, with one long looped handle. I'll bet no one here has one.

I bet we both do - a shirred egg can be made in any small ramekin, with or without handle:

Shirred eggs are eggs that have been baked in a gratin dish with a flat bottom. Traditionally, they have been cooked in a dish called a shirrer, from which the dish gets its name, but the name now applies regardless of the type of dish in which they are baked. They differ from œufs en cocotte, which are baked in a ramekin sitting in a bain-marie, or water bath. They are typically baked simply with butter until the whites have set and the yolks are thickened, and are usually served in the dish in which they were baked

But to answer your question, no I do not own the type of shirrer you refer to - see https://www.chinasearch.co.uk/denby-gre ... er-202408/

They do look rather elegant! I bet the handles tend to break off, though!

Oh, I've got any number of itty-bitty dishes! But one question: do you stir the egg up, or just plop it in? (I can figure out how to flavor the cream!)

Quite awhile ago I bought 4 egg shirring plates at Williams Sonoma which had elongations at both ends. They soon became used for everything but shirring eggs because they were too shallow for bain marie and the tops never cooked to satisfaction despite overcooked bottom and sides. I think they would work well with the Jenise method. The classic egg coddler works well but requires a bain marie. Same issue with a regular ramekin. I think the cold toaster oven is a brilliant idea.

[Jenise]

I bet we both do - a shirred egg can be made in any small ramekin, with or without handle:

Of course, I have plenty of dishes perfect for the job. But none that were specifically a shirrer, in the English sense, and now that I know what it is I wouldn't want one. As you point out, that handle is destined for destruction.

Jeff, what I did was pour a little cream in the bottom of a small oval gratin dish, break in two eggs, salted them, then sprinkled herbs about, then drizzled a little more cream over direct onto the whites and yolks but purposefully not being too deliberate to cover it all. Not sure how much cream I put in, but probably 3-4 ounces. The size of your dish would determine how much you need.

Thanks, Jenise. I've got eggs and cream handy, as well as fresh thyme and a bit of shredded four-cheese blend. And I've got a modern ironstone pudding, which may be a little large but we'll see.

Shirring now... ETA: The ironstone pudding was too tall for the toaster oven so I switched to a kinda thick little porcelain jobbie that I use for the microwave. Two eggs, a couple tbsp half-and-half, a sprinkle of two cheeses, and a few fresh thyme leaves went in. I put it in the toaster oven at 400*F for 12 minutes...

...And I should listen to Jenise. I let it bake for 12 minutes and it seemed a little too jiggly so I gave it a few more minutes. Alas, the yolks set. Very tasty, and the whites were excellent, but not what I was aiming at. Next time, 12 minutes, jiggles be damned!

OK, I'm an idiot: jiggly top... toaster oven... but did Jeffrey put it on broil for 30 seconds? No-o-o-o....

[Jenise]

There you go. That's why it works so well, at least with my oven, to put it in while the oven's warming up with the top element on what is equivalent to broil...the top sets right off the bat.

[Jenise]

Today I was surprised to see a supermarket ad for "bone-in rib-eye roasts". Growing up in Southern California, at least where steaks were concerned the rib-eye (aka Spencer) was by definition boneless. Otherwise, it was just a rib steak and automatically on the bone. So IMHO the same should apply to roasts.

Does anyone see it differently?

Today I was surprised to see a supermarket ad for "bone-in rib-eye roasts". Growing up in Southern California, at least where steaks were concerned the rib-eye (aka Spencer) was by definition boneless. Otherwise, it was just a rib steak and automatically on the bone. So IMHO the same should apply to roasts.

Does anyone see it differently?

I thought that rib eye steak was done-in and Delmonico was the same steak without the bone.

[Jenise]

Dan, after poking around this morning, I found that common use differs somewhat. Generally, though, ribsteak or rib steak with a space, is generally bone-in and rib-eye is typically boneless. I did find one exception on Bryan Flannery's site, however, so that means that all bets are off. Roasts are mostly referred to as rib roasts or prime rib roasts, but I did find other exceptions for 'ribeye roasts'.

I also found this on one butchery site: "The term "rib-eye" is quite universal, but depending where you shop it could also be labeled as Beauty Steak, Delmonico Steak, Entrecôte, Market Steak, Spencer Steak, and Scotch Fillet (in Australia and New Zealand). A rib steak is the same cut as a rib-eye but includes the bone." So most out there is in agreement with my thinking, but common use, no doubt regional in origin, has blurred the lines. No one's right or wrong.