🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <11ppl8jqnnrice@corp.supernews.com>, Max Hauser
<maxREMOVE@THIStdl.com> wrote:


> From Francois Picart's (often whimsical) book on truffles and their biology 
> and harvesting:
> 
> "Because of its strong fragrance, one _fresh_ [Tuber melanosporum or black 
> truffle], placed in the corner of a room, preferably the kitchen, will 
> act -- in a matter of a few hours --  to overpower completely any other 
> scent.

...much elided...

> It is vital to choose your own fresh truffles in person, and develop 
> experience with this or bring someone experienced, because they vary in 
> quality and strength.  Unfortunately the traditional, powerful species are 
> extremely expensive now (and undoubtedly sought by some people just for that 
> reason).  This challenge unfortunately doesn't diminish but rather enhances 
> the importance of getting past those distractions if one is to learn what 
> fresh truffles are about, in smell and taste and cooking.  (And therefore 
> among other things undistractedly appraise alternatives, therefore maybe 
> find real value when it appears.)


Max Hauser knows a lot more about truffles and sauces and suchlike than
I am likely to ever know.

However, this reminds me of something I think is dominating our
American cuisine situation: an _inversion_ of nearly everything which
made French (and related) cooking what it was.

To cut to the chase:

-- in France, many dishes were made of meats which were organ meats,
nonstandard cuts (by modern American/Californian standards), old meat
(in the sense of the animal being old, stringy, etc.), and sometimes
with either poor refrigeration or no refrigeration at all. 

(I lived for a year between Nice and Monaco, in 1964, and the local
butcher shops were an eye-opening experience. The stench alone almost
made me a vegetarian, except that in 1964 that would have mostly meant
a diet of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Uncle Ben's. So when my mother
cooked with beef bought at the local French butcher shops, she
disguised the taste with a variety of sauces, gravies, wines, etc.)

-- truffles were, as Max said, much, much less expensive  (we didn't
buy them, that I know of, but I expect that in our part of France,
close to the Italian Piedmont, and in that year, truffles would have
been less expensive than most meats). Even in relative terms. The world
demand for them had not yet hit

-- many of the most famous French sauces, I understand from my
readings, were designed to  either obscure the taste of substandard
meats, or had various tenderizing effects (as with various wine sauces,
where the acid in the wine acts as a tenderizer of tough cuts).

-- as with tradition Asian (esp. Indian) cooking, lots of time was
available...the cook often spent hours preparing the evening meal

The situation in modern America is INVERTED:

-- young, tender, prime cuts of nearly any meat are readily available
and are, by historical standards, quite inexpensive

--  obscuring the flavor is not needed, nor is tenderizing 

(I mean the aggressive tenderizing of truly tough, old cuts, not the
tenderizing which makes a meat able to be "cut with a fork.")


Frankly, when fresh, tender, prime cuts are available, it's amazingly
easy to just toss them on a grill, or in a hot skillet, and have them
taste just great. With little or no seasoning, with little or no
saucing.

Meanwhile, some of the once-much-LESS-expensive flavor enhancers, like
truffles, have increased in price by maybe a couple of orders of
magnitude. Which is a lot, even in the "inflationary" times of today.

(Though beef and chicken prices have "only" gone up by a factor of
perhaps 3 in 30 years. I recall what I was paying for ground beef in
1972-73 and it's not even 3 times that today. Some of the beef I buy
for $5 a pound is better than any I could have found for $3 a pound
back then. "Word.")

Maybe this analysis belies my ambivalence about French cooking. I
wasn't a big fan of it in 1962-63, before I lived in France, I didn't
become a fan of it during my year in France, and I certainly haven't
found much to like about it in the past 40 years.

Which is not to say what they do with inferior cuts, or old cuts, is
not impressive. Anthony Bourdain's visit to a Parisian bistro on his
new "Travel Channel" show, "No Reservations," was eye-opening. But,
again, consistent with making do with organ meats, lesser cuts, tough
cuts, etc. Hence the sauces, stews, braisings, etc. All things we
Americans can avoid by just throwing our Tri Tip on the grill.

Me, I ride the inversion.

--Tim May