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> | > What do you find hilarious in Larousse, bulka?
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A fair question. I was pretty tired at the original post.

I know it is an historical reference, but I've been enjoying just
reading it through. The alphabetic arrangement makes for some odd
juxtapositions, the constant cross-references makes it read like a law
book, the long lists of recipes, each with a fancy name, that differ
only in garnish. It is hard to believe that people ever really ate
this way. The whole thing reads like a fantasy encyclopedia written
by Borges, or some science-fiction description of alien culture.

And then, there are passages like this :

"At the last moment, fill the middle with a ragout composed of lambs'
sweetbreads, cocks' combs and kidneys, truffles and mushrooms, in
Veloute sauce (see SAUCE) flavoured with Madeira-laced Truffle fumet
(see FUMET) ." Good luck shopping at Kroger.

I've always assumed all animals have kidneys, but have never seen one
from a chicken. For as often as "cocks' combs" show up, I'd assumed
it was a fanciful name for a plant, like horseradish or foxglove. No,
they want you to pull something off the head of a rooster.

Maybe my sense of humor is a little off, but this is cracking me up.
And I might accidentally learn something.

OBFood - I thought I was just baking the same old chicken tonight,
but looks like it might be damned close to a la Matignon. Wonder if
it'll taste any better.

Bulka

"CAT. Chat - Domestic cat whose edible meat has a flavour halfway
between that of rabbit and that of hare. . . Legend has it that in the
cook-shops the cat is often used in the making of rabbit fricassees.
Examination of the bones would easily enable one, in case of doubt, to
distinguish between the one animal and the other."