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Just kidding.
Cookbooks are wonderful insights into changing tastes; the early twentieth century preoccupation with gelatin, for example, being just one case in point. Among my cookbooks, I can also find recipes for elephant, opossum, and bear paw.
Modern concerns with conservation, of course, steer us away from elephant, and bear paws, and opossums – well – they’re just plain creepy*. Other beasts, too, appeared on the menus of the past. I ran across the following entry in my worn copy of Hering’s Dictionary of Classical and Modern Cookery:
- Ragout: Ragoût de bièvre: meat cut in large cubes, pan-fried with chopped onion, sprinkled with flour, moistened with white wine, brown stock and a dash of vinegar, seasoned, chopped lemon peel and anchovy filets added, braised in oven.
- Tail: Queue de bièvre: marinated in red wine with pot herbs, sliced onions, fine herbs, water and a little vinegar, stewed in brown stock and a part of the marinade, stock reduced, strained, thickened with arrow root.
- Tail, grilled: Queue de bièvre grillée: cooked in the marinade, dipped in eggs and breadcrumbs, moistened with oil, grilled, served with devil sauce.”
Hering's Dictionary of Classical and Modern Cookery: Edited and written by Walter Bickel, this is a must have for anyone with a professional or just passionate interest in cooking. Detailing everything from cooking techniques to ingredients to planning a menu, it's been through at least 13 editions I know of (mine is the 6th edition, published in 1980). It's also simply a wonderfully entertaining read.
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