Crawfish Bisque

Crawfish Bisque, the second course, as it first appeared in Gastricolium II.


Shellfish Stock

Place the shells from 3 lbs. of shrimp (or other availble crustacean) into a stock pot along with 2 or 3 chopped carrots, 3 chopped ribs of celery, 4 or 5 smashed cloves of garlic, a bouquet of parsely stems, thyme, and bay leaf. Cover with water and add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain the solids, reserving both the liquid and shells separately. Return stock to heat and continue to reduce until a nice aroma and flavor develop.




Bisque

In a stock pot, heat clarified butter, then add the reserved shells. Saute for several minutes, constantly stirring. Add finely chopped yellow onion, celery, scallions and saute 8 to 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper and cayenne. Next add chopped parsley and thyme and saute for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, followed by minced garlic for an additional minute. Add flour to the mixture, constantly stirring for several minutes until it is thickened and there are no lumps. Once it is smooth, add the reserved stock and stir thoroughly to fully incorporate. Using an immersion blender, begin to puree the vegetables and shrimp shells. This must be done in shifts, with the soup being stirred in between and the blade of the immersion blender being cleaned and shells untangled from it. Blend until solids are pulverized. Season with salt and pepper and more cayenne. Add white wine, approximately a whole bottle. Bring up to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Make sure the alcohol cooks off. Once a good aroma and flavor develop, remove from heat to strain. At this stage the bisque has been done correctly if its color is an brownish-orange in appearance and the aroma makes it unbearable for you not to taste your work. The taste should bring you to your knees. Strain the soup through a sieve and return to a low flame to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, saute 3 lbs. of peeled crawfish tails in clarified butter. Make sure the tails are washed, but try to not to clean off too much of the yellow fat. You will want to include this with the tails for extra flavor. Once thoroughly heated, slide the tails into the bisque and stir to mix. Allow the soup to cook for an additional 15 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently for the flavors to mix. Serve into soup cups or mugs and enjoy.

Tostones with Mango Pico de Gallo

Tostones with Mango Pico de Gallo appetizer, as seen in Gastricolium I.

Tostones

Wash 3 or 4 green plantains (very very green!!!). Peel and cut into cylinders of about 1" height. Deep fry until golden. Use a plate to smash the cylinder into disks. Prepare some salt water with crushed garlic. Dip the disks into the garlic water, and deep fry again until golden. Serve while still hot.

Mango Pico de Gallo

Chop 3 mangos, one purple onion, 6 leaves of recao (culantro), and 3 jalapeños. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix. To be used as dip for the tostones.

The Roux

The assistant of the stock, the roux, brings to the brown sauce only a flavor note of little importance, beyond its thickening principle, and it has the disadvantage of requiring, in order that the sauce be perfect, an almost absolute elimination of its components. Only the starchy principle remains in a sauce properly skimmed. Indeed, if the element is absolutely necessary to give mellowness and velvetiness to the sauce, it is much simpler to give it pure, which permits one to bring it to the point in as little time as possible, and to avoid a too prolonged sojourn on the fire. It is therefore infinitely probable that before long starch, fecula, or arrowroot obtained in a state of absolute purity will replace flour in the roux.

-From Auguste Escoffier's Guide Culinaire.

Planning a Gastrinomicon

We are planning on recording all of our recipes, along with extensive photography of the food at all stages, and incorporating them with a semi-historic legend of Gastricolium throughout the ages of civilization. We will compile and publish this collection under the title Gastrinomicon: A True History of the Gastricolium.  At least these are our plans. 

Respectfully,

Your neighbor, the goat

Hemp Seed Soup

Italy, 1470

To make 12 servings, take a pound of hemp seeds. Clean them and let them boil in a pot until they begin to open, and then add a pound of white almonds, well pounded, and then add them to the seeds. Pound it well and add a crustless bread. Distemper this with meat broth or thin chicken broth and pass through a sieve. Set it to boil in a pot over the coals far from the fire, stirring many times with a spoon. The add half a pound of sugar and half an ounce of ginger, and a bit of saffron with rosewater. Serve it with sweet spices on top.

(Excerted from "Cooking in Europe, 1250-1650", by Ken Albala)