Subject: Caboches in Potage
From: Unicorn (unicorn@indenial.com)
Date: Tue Aug 21 2001 - 02:30:44 EDT
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F O O D F U N N Y
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Here's a story of a practical food joke, which reader Harriet St. Amant
says "sounds like it could be true."
One year at Thanksgiving my mom went to my sister's house for the
traditional feast. Knowing how gullible my sister was, Mom decided to
play a trick. She told my sister that she needed something from the
store and sent her for it. While she was gone, my mom took the turkey
out of the oven, unstuffed it, restuffed it with a Cornish game hen,
put stuffing back over the top of it, and put it back in the oven.
When it came time for dinner, my sister pulled the turkey out of the
oven and proceeded to remove the stuffing. When her serving spoon hit
something, she reached in and pulled out this little bird. With a
look of total shock on her face, my mother exclaimed, "Patricia, you
killed a pregnant bird!" At the reality of this horrifying news, my
sister started to cry. It took my mother two hours to convince her
that turkeys lay eggs.
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T O D A Y ' S R E C I P E
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In the late fourteenth century a Frenchman known to us today only as
"The Goodman of Paris" wrote a book on household management for the
purpose of educating his 15-year-old bride. Here is the English
translation of his recipe for cabbage soup done shortly after the book
was published:
Take caboches and quarter hem, and seeth hem in gode broth with
oynouns ymynced and the whyte of lekes yslyt and ycorue smale. And do
therto safroun & salt, and force it with powdour douce.
"Powdour douce" is a recurring flavor theme in medieval cooking, and
was usually a sweet combination of ground coriander, cinnamon, and
sugar. Here is a modern revision of this ancient soup:
Caboches in Potage (Cabbage Soup)
4 cups (1 L) chicken, beef, or vegetable stock
1 medium cabbage, cored and coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 - 3 leeks, white part only, finely chopped
1/2 tsp (2 ml) ground coriander
1/2 tsp (2 ml) light brown sugar
1/4 tsp (1 ml) cinnamon
A pinch of saffron threads
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil over
moderate heat. Simmer covered for 20 to 30 minutes, until the cabbage
is tender. Serves 4 to 6.
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