Saturday, January 14, 2012

Apple vs apples

Pasta with brussel sprouts in tomato sauce
Food Diary (January 13, 2012)
Breakfast: Sourdough toast
Lunch: Pasta with brussel sprouts in tomato sauce
Dinner: Pork and veal aspic with sautéed carrots

Whoever is responsible for naming aspic was certainly in a strange mood when he or she thought of the names. Aspic sounds more like the name of a chemical rather than a culinary delight. And head cheese was the name chosen for aspic made from the head of an animal. The head part of the name makes sense, I wonder how cheese fits into the picture. Aspic is also called brawn. Brawn sounds quite normal especially when compared with aspic and head cheese. In Swedish aspic is called sylta, which is also the word for jam. Sometimes google translates kalvsylta as calf or veal jam. 

Aspic is quite nice, pity about the name. I wonder whether aspic would have been more popular if it had a better name. Pork and veal terrine or even jellied pork and veal sound far more appealing.

And while on the strange theme, here are couple of photos taken not far from my home. It was quite cloudy, not great conditions for taking photos but I felt like it anyway. The water should be frozen but this has been a very warm winter. November and December were the warmest since records began 250 years ago. Very strange weather.





Today's Favourite Photo
Pear Crostata with Chocolate-Almond Frangipane (Crostata di Pere)


Today’s Favourite Blog
Source: mbaonline
Interesting chart comparing apple the fruit with apple the computer



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15 comments:

  1. What a delicious looking crostata!

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  2. I have never had aspic. It is such an off putting name. I love your outdoor photos.

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    1. Darn typos. Here's what I meant to say; head cheese- such a great/terrible name for a fabulous product. Add some pickles, good bread and a glass of wine and it's hard to want for much more...

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    2. Head cheese and pickles - divine combination. Now I wish I had it with pickles

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  4. hi three cookies, the pasta looks yummy, the Pear Crostata with Chocolate-Almond Frangipane looks simply authentic, wow, i wold love two pieces please... you always have great photos, clear and crisp and subject very pretty also, sometimes sexy "food" l
    have a nice day

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  5. I love the apple charts! Very funny.
    Do you mean you have had the warmest Swedish Winter for 250 years???
    I didn't know what was a head cheese... I know aspic of course and I have heard of brawn.

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    1. Nov and Dec was the warmest. Usually the water in the photos above is frozen and people walk and ski on it.
      I don't know where head cheese originated, its available in UK, US etc - maybe British origin perhaps, sound like a British name! It tastes similar to aspic, same concept except only the head is used for head cheese.

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  6. Gimme a warm winter any day!
    Never liked aspic ... dad loves them. Jellies are meant to be sweet.
    Love the chart!

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    1. I totally understand, bit like savoury custard.
      Maybe you can make a jam version, could be delicious. There is only one way to find out:)

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  7. We've been having a really mild winter here too, really different from last year.

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    1. And I heard summer is cooler than usual in Australia!

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