Post by blackcrowheart on Mar 31, 2008 14:20:52 GMT -5
Culinary Ashes
Posted by: "Mignonne" topazgirl@minsrecipes.com minsrecipes
Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:03 am (PDT)
From: Jim Weller
Subject: [Native-Cooking-L] Culinary ashes
Date: Thursday, December 13, 2001 12:46 AM
From: susancatt@
Subject: Re: Digest Number 813
> Could you explain more about "culinary ashes"? What are they? Where
>to get or how to make them?
Some herbs are salty or have a good residual flavour after they are
burned. So small pinches can be used for flavouring foods. Colts foot
ash was used as a source of salt in the past.
Ashes are also alkaline so act as a leavening in the presence of an acid
(vinegar, sour milk etc.) Before baking powder, people made "perlash"
out of washed wood ashes.
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
Title: Coltsfoot and Other Culinary Ashes
Categories: Wild, Herb, Info
Yield: 4 Servings
Coltsfoot
Juniper
Hickory twigs
Four-wing saltbush or
(Atriplex canescens)
Desert saltbush or
Atriplex polycarpa
Coltsfoot leaves can be burnt and the ash residue used as a salt
substitute...
Ashes played an important role in cooking. While most the info available
refers to Native American practices, I'm willing to bet that it was pretty
common throughout the world. Juniper ash was used in the Southwest. Probably
still is for that matter. As you folks are probably aware, hardwood ash
produces lye, which in turn is used to make hominy. Also, hickory twigs can
be chopped fine, then boiled dry. The resulting residue is used for
seasoning. More Ash lore. An old Alaskan Sourdough told me once that during
the
goldrush days, they used ashes as a substitute for baking powder. I have no
personal experience with this - just passing information.
Luck!
Nita
Culinary ash, ash used for cooking with foods, can come from a variety of
plants. In Nevada and probably other dry saline soil areas, a plant called
four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) grows where many other plants
cannot. It actually takes up salt from the soil. The ash from this plant
would definitely contain salt, and is also used as a salt substitute.
Another variety is Atriplex polycarpa, desert saltbush. This variety is
described in Bowers' Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Desert as drawing
salt up from the soil into the leaves, where it is "flushed into the
bladderlike leaf hairs, which eventually burst . . . and discharge salt
granules onto the leaf."
Other sources of culinary ash are/have been juniper trees, oaks and sage.
Oak and other hardwood ash is used as a source of lye, for making hominy.
From: EdibleWild@onelist.com
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
Title: History - Cooking Ashes
Categories: Native, Info, Historical, Spice
Yield: 4 Servings
Cedar, juniper, maple or
Hickory ashes
Coltsfoot leaves
Native Americans used and mixed ashes with many foods. Wood ashes of cedar,
juniper, maple, and hickory were used for flavorings and additives. Ashes
also have chemical properties which help prepare
some foods and add trace minerals that improve the food. When you gather the
ashes make sure you get clean white or gray ash without coals, tars or other
residues from the fire. Native people burned dried Coltsfoot leaves to add
to many foods as a salt substitute. Note, not all species of Coltsfoot
produce ashes with salts. You will have to try what you get to check its
flavoring. From: the Cowasuck Band - Pennacook/Abenaki people
www.cowasuck.org/
MMMMM
Cheers,
YK Jim
Posted by: "Mignonne" topazgirl@minsrecipes.com minsrecipes
Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:03 am (PDT)
From: Jim Weller
Subject: [Native-Cooking-L] Culinary ashes
Date: Thursday, December 13, 2001 12:46 AM
From: susancatt@
Subject: Re: Digest Number 813
> Could you explain more about "culinary ashes"? What are they? Where
>to get or how to make them?
Some herbs are salty or have a good residual flavour after they are
burned. So small pinches can be used for flavouring foods. Colts foot
ash was used as a source of salt in the past.
Ashes are also alkaline so act as a leavening in the presence of an acid
(vinegar, sour milk etc.) Before baking powder, people made "perlash"
out of washed wood ashes.
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
Title: Coltsfoot and Other Culinary Ashes
Categories: Wild, Herb, Info
Yield: 4 Servings
Coltsfoot
Juniper
Hickory twigs
Four-wing saltbush or
(Atriplex canescens)
Desert saltbush or
Atriplex polycarpa
Coltsfoot leaves can be burnt and the ash residue used as a salt
substitute...
Ashes played an important role in cooking. While most the info available
refers to Native American practices, I'm willing to bet that it was pretty
common throughout the world. Juniper ash was used in the Southwest. Probably
still is for that matter. As you folks are probably aware, hardwood ash
produces lye, which in turn is used to make hominy. Also, hickory twigs can
be chopped fine, then boiled dry. The resulting residue is used for
seasoning. More Ash lore. An old Alaskan Sourdough told me once that during
the
goldrush days, they used ashes as a substitute for baking powder. I have no
personal experience with this - just passing information.
Luck!
Nita
Culinary ash, ash used for cooking with foods, can come from a variety of
plants. In Nevada and probably other dry saline soil areas, a plant called
four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) grows where many other plants
cannot. It actually takes up salt from the soil. The ash from this plant
would definitely contain salt, and is also used as a salt substitute.
Another variety is Atriplex polycarpa, desert saltbush. This variety is
described in Bowers' Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Desert as drawing
salt up from the soil into the leaves, where it is "flushed into the
bladderlike leaf hairs, which eventually burst . . . and discharge salt
granules onto the leaf."
Other sources of culinary ash are/have been juniper trees, oaks and sage.
Oak and other hardwood ash is used as a source of lye, for making hominy.
From: EdibleWild@onelist.com
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
Title: History - Cooking Ashes
Categories: Native, Info, Historical, Spice
Yield: 4 Servings
Cedar, juniper, maple or
Hickory ashes
Coltsfoot leaves
Native Americans used and mixed ashes with many foods. Wood ashes of cedar,
juniper, maple, and hickory were used for flavorings and additives. Ashes
also have chemical properties which help prepare
some foods and add trace minerals that improve the food. When you gather the
ashes make sure you get clean white or gray ash without coals, tars or other
residues from the fire. Native people burned dried Coltsfoot leaves to add
to many foods as a salt substitute. Note, not all species of Coltsfoot
produce ashes with salts. You will have to try what you get to check its
flavoring. From: the Cowasuck Band - Pennacook/Abenaki people
www.cowasuck.org/
MMMMM
Cheers,
YK Jim