Word Is Out: Some restaurant critics, I suppose, know everything. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.
I have a shelf full of reference works to help me overcome my ignorance. The latest aid: Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts, compiled by Steven Labensky, Gaye Ingram and Sarah Labensky (Prentice Hall, $25.95 paperback).
There are more than 16,000 entries, ranging from Aal--German for eel--to Zytnia--a Polish vodka.
Like any good reference book, this one is fun to go through even if you're not in search of something specific. Sometimes you can go on quite a linguistic journey.
Under "B," for instance, I ran across beechwood aging. Well, I've probably sat through 10,000 Budweiser commercials boasting about their "beechwood-aged" brew, and never had a clue as to what it meant. (Naturally, though, I assumed it was something rare and wonderful.) Here's how this book defines the process: "During kraYsening, the period when beechwood chips or slats are immersed into a tank of beer to attract impurities and help clarify the beer; the beechwood does not impart flavor."
A helpful definition, I'd say, as far as it goes. But what if you don't know what kraYsening means? I looked it up: "The process of adding unfermented or partially fermented wort to fermented beer to increase natural carbonation through a secondary fermentation."
Uh-oh. A little knowledge is starting to get out of hand. Now I've got to turn to wort. What does the dictionary say?: "The solution of grain sugars, proteins and other substances that are produced by mashing and straining the mash; the substance from which beer and certain distilled spirits is ultimately produced."
At this point, my head is beginning to spin. Still, it's obvious I'll need to check mash. It's defined as "a thick mixture of crushed malted barley or other grains steeped in hot water; this causes the malt enzymes to convert the grains' starches into the sugars necessary for making beer and distilled spirits."
Thanks to the Dictionary of Culinary Arts, it's apparent that "beechwood aging" is just a marketing slogan for something brewers routinely do.
The book is also full of foreign-language information, much of it useless but nevertheless oddly compelling. I can't imagine needing to know the Serbo-Croatian word for lamb ("jagnje"), the Swahili word for crab ("kaa") or the Hindi word for asparagus ("shataavar"). But it's nice to know I can find them if the need arises.
The same principle applies to exotic dishes. Should I run across "beyin salatsi" on a local menu, I'll know what I'm in for if I order it: "A Turkish salad made from sheep's brains simmered with onions and vinegar, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice and garnished with olives." I might also have second thoughts about dining on "abrestir"--"An Icelandic dish of coagulated beestings milk served with thick cream, sugar and cinnamon."
What's beestings? It's "the first liquid a cow gives after birthing." Yikes.
--Howard Seftel
Suggestions? Write me at hseftel@newtimes.com or New Times, P.O. Box 2510, Phoenix,
