Morcilla

[Bob]

I have to add that the blood serves not only as a colorant and flavoring agent (remember the juice that leaks from a rare steak when it is cut? Heavenly.) but also as a binding agent to hold everything else together. To be a bit crude about it, blood clots with time when fresh and coagulates through protein denaturation when cooked. The heat breaks down the red blood cells and coagulates the hemoglobin, albumin and other proteins. Think about what happens to an egg white when you fry an egg.

My dad never liked morcilla, but only because of the onions (which he still doesn't eat at age 89) not because of the blood. There is blood in any meat that we eat. Morcilla merely deconstructs the meat (I'll not go into the litererary analogy any more than this) and allows us to reconstruct it in delicious sausage form.

[Bob]

Vince,

As I understand it, manjar blanco is blancmange, a kind of white pudding or custard, and whether it is sweet or savory would depend on the proportion of the various ingredients.

The description you have posted sounds very medieval to me. Sugar was very expensive well into fairly recent times, so it probaby wasn't used in great quantity except by the ostentatiously wealthy.

[Mafalda]

¡¡¡JA, JA, JA!!! Bob, realmente veo que te gusta la cocina asturiana, solamente una pregunta ¿no hay en ingles un vocablo para distinguir la hierbabuena de la menta?, veo en mi diccionario que las dos se traducen igual, "mint", solo espero que nadie le ponga menta a las morcillas.

Ahora me voy a cenar: unos callos ¡que estan para comerselos!

[Bob]

Neither of my dictionaries offers anything other than "mint" for hierbabuena, but I didn't think mint was a good translation even when I wrote it. The mint family has several thousands of species in it, including spearmint, peppermint, field mint, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, sage, coleus,etc., most of which are not very minty. Oregano, marjoram, rosemary or thyme might be good in morcilla, but I certainly wouldn't use any spearmint or peppermint.

Callos? My mouth is watering just thinking about it. If you have a good recipe for callos, please post it. My grandmother's had callos, tomatos, pimientos, callos, chorizos and pigs feet (for the 'gelatin), but I don't have the exact proportions.

[Bob]

Here's an interesting link to local and regional plant names (in castellano). Unfortunately, it sheds little light on hierbabuena other than to list several spe cies to which the name is applied in Spain, of which Mentha sativa is the first meaning given.

http://www.hispanicus.com/drle/muestras ... Planta.htm

[Mafalda]

Mmmm...realmente tenemos un problema ¿como explicar la diferencia entre una y otra?, son de la misma familia, eso es seguro, las plantas se parecen muchisimo, aunque la menta se ve una planta mucho mas dura, el tallo se pone morado y en cuanto la acaricias un poco desprende un inconfundible olor a...menta. En cambio, la planta de hierbabuena es mucho mas tierna, de color verde claro y las hojas mas suaves y pilosas.

Si tuviese que definirlas mediante un concepto culinario que las diferencie, diria que la menta aporta "sabor", y la hierbabuena "aroma", si tu pruebas un plato que lleve menta, rapidamente dices "esto lleva menta" el sabor es rotundo y contundente, inconfundible, mas poderoso que el del resto de los ingredientes que lleva el plato, en comidas solo se me ocurre que le vaya bien a la sopa de melón, por supuesto están geniales los mojitos, pero eso es otra historia.

En cambio, si aromatizas un plato con hierbabuena, es mucho mas sutil, es necesario olerlo y saborearlo detenidamente para notar que la lleva.

Las fotos las he sacado de internet, son las que mas se parecen a las que yo tengo plantadas en su macetita, que a saber de que variedad son.


Hierbabuena-------------------------menta

[Bob]

I've check a couple of other dictionaries and consulted with some of the faculty in our Spanish Department (as well as a visiting professor from Spain), and no one has suggested any translation for hierbabuena other that mint (specifically peppermint). Still, the photo you posted clearly shows two different species, even if not in enough detail to identify them with certainty. I still can't imagine adding a heavy mint flavor to morcillas, so maybe there is a local usage of the word hierbabuena in Asturias, or maybe there is a local and milder cultivar of mint.

In any event, my next step is to consult with some of our botanists.

[Art]

Here's something that may be helpful from:
http://www.foodsubs.com/HerbsHisp.html

yerba buena = wild spearmint = hierba buena Pronunciation: YER-buh BWAY-nuh Notes: The Spanish name "yerba buena" ("good herb") is used to describe several varieties of mint, including Satureja douglasii, Satureja chamissonis, and Mentha spicata (spearmint). Substitutes: spearmint

But other sites indicate that there is a yerba buena (Satureja douglasii) on the West Coast of the US:
http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/S ... +douglasii

yerba buena (yĕr`bə bwā`nə), trailing evergreen perennial (Micromeria chamissonis) of the family Labiatae. It is native to W North America and especially common to woodland areas along the Pacific coast. Its aromatic leaves were gathered by the Native Americans of California for use in a medicinal tea. Yerba buena is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Lamiales, family Labiatae.

I'd guess that Asturian hierbabuena is yet another species.

[Raquel M]

Bob, manjar blanco is like a custard...we also call it in Cuba " majarete".

Bob, manjar blanco es como una natilla...nosotros le llamamos en Cuba
"majarete".