Cook's Encyclopaedia by Tom Stobart & Tom Stobart

Author:Tom Stobart & Tom Stobart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: COOKING / Reference
ISBN: 9781910690833
Publisher: Grub Street Cookery
Published: 2016-11-22T00:00:00+00:00

Lotus Seed Sweet

Put a pinch of wood ash on the seeds (a pinch of bicarbonate of soda might do as a substitute) and pour boiling water over. Cover and leave to stand till the skins can be peeled off easily. Break the seeds in half and take out the bitter germ. Wash and boil in water with sugar added according to taste. When the seeds are soft, eat hot or cold or, if you like, add beaten eggs.

[Lotus – French: lotus, lotos German: Lotos, Lotusblume Italian: Loto Spanish: loto, ninfea]

LOVAGE. An umbelliferous plant (Levisticum officinale) rather like celery, with strong-smelling leaves and a taste like lemony celery, but with distinctive musky overtones. It grows wild all over Europe and on America’s North Atlantic coast. This is one of the most rewarding of all herbs, though neglected these days. It is particularly useful in soups, but should be added sparingly as the flavour is strong. Scottish lovage (Ligusticum scoticum) – which is, of course, just known as lovage in Scotland – grows wild on rocky coasts there; its aromatic leaves can be added to salads and are sometimes used as a pot herb.

[Lovage – French: liveche German: Liebstückel Italian: levistico Spanish: ligústico]

LUGANEGA. See salsiccia.

LUMPFISH. See caviar.

LYCHEE, litchi, or other spellings. The lychee (Litchi chinensis) is native to subtropical areas of southern China and Thailand. The fruit is borne in clusters on small trees. Typically – but varying from type to type – ripe lychees are about the size of a plum, with a beautiful red, leathery, knobbly or spiny skin. Very shortly, the skin goes brown and becomes rather brittle. Lychees are gathered at once in whole bunches – they keep better that way. If they are for export, this is done when they just begin to turn red and are not fully ripe. The skin is very thin and easily separates, and inside is a juicy fruit, looking like a jumbo peeled grape. It even tastes something like a grape, though it is much more scented. There is a single, large, dark (and bitter) pip. Lychees will keep for up to three months in the refrigerator at around 5°C (40°F) and are best eaten chilled. The fruit cans well, and canned lychees taste remarkably like fresh ones. Dried lychees – Chinese nuts – have been either dried in the sun or kiln dried, and rattle when shaken. They are a common product and taste like raisins. Lychees also deep-freeze well and will no doubt become more available in the future.

The lychee was certainly being cultivated in China 2000 years ago, and there is a possible reference 1500 years before that. It was tried in Europe in the 19th century, but the climate is not right, for though it seems possible to grow lychees in some Mediterranean areas, the fruit needs heat and high humidity to come to perfection. In the dry conditions of a southern European summer they crack open and go bad while ripening. In fact, the lychee is choosy.

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