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Switzerland: Capretto alla Locarnese (Potroasted Kid or Lamb in Herbs, Cream and Wine)

In those central European countries where people raise goats for dairy purposes, spring is the time when a lot of tender young milk-fed kid starts turning up in the local butcher shops. This is because about half the kids born each spring are male, and no dairy herd really needs more than one billy goat to keep things ticking along.

The southern Swiss canton of Ticino, where Locarno is situated, has as many herds of dairy goats as anyplace else in the country. Possibly there are even more, as the milder climate on the southern side of the Alps means the mountain herds will find more good grazing at the higher altitudes than they might elsewhere in Switzerland (and earlier in the year, too). This recipe was very likely devised as a local response to the yearly problem of how to deal with the springtime surplus of kid. And for times of the year when kid isn't in the local butcher -- or for those who don't care for the idea of kid whether they can find any or not -- this recipe is perfectly delicious with good lamb.

The technique of long slow simmering in wine and herbs is one that turns up in other Ticinese dishes, especially some involving rabbit. The addition of the cream at the end of the recipe produces a beautifully rich sauce, fragrant with sage and (a little unusually) mint and cinnamon, possibly speaking of some passing influence from further south and east in the Mediterranean regions. As for the rum, it may have been an ingredient from the beginning, or may have slipped into the recipe as a substitution for grappa in the days before that unique spirit was easy to obtain outside of Switzerland.

Click on "read more" for the recipe.

Belgium: Witte Kool in Roomsaus (Shredded Baby Cabbage in Cream Sauce)

Creamed cabbage. Oh dear.

It doesn't sound particularly exciting ... and especially not around here, as EuroCuisineGuy has been at war with the entire Brassica family from a very young age. And not just the cabbage side of the family, either. ECG isn't even wild about mustard, and when he was astonishingly spotted eating the (admittedly wonderful) sesame-oiled flash-grilled cauliflower at Deane's in Belfast, his profoundly skeptical mother suggested that the BBC (just around the corner) should have been asked to send in a camera crew for verification purposes.

In retrospect, this was understandable. Way too much overboiled big-head cabbage, way too many school lunches where the air was full of the persistent reek of broken cabbage-y sulfur bonds, have turned EuroCuisineGuy into one of the many who leave the room muttering when the word "cabbage" is mentioned.

But not today.

A sweetheart cabbage

During a shopping trip meant to prepare for a picture-taking session involving côtelettes de porc a la Flamande, EuroCuisineLady more or less accidentally acquired a small and handsome young cabbage labeled "Sweet Heart", grown in Spain. A little searching reveals that this is a newish cabbage variety; "sweethearts" are also called pointed cabbage, hearted cabbage, Duchy cabbage, and hispi. Anyway, the cabbage came home, and became part of this recipe adapted from one in van Waerebeek's Everybody Eats Well in Belgium.

The recipe involves shredding or finely chopping the cabbage, boiling it for exactly three minutes, draining it, spreading it into a buttered casserole, pouring cream over it, grinding over it fresh nutmeg and black pepper, and baking it for fifteen minutes. Any recipe that simple already has a lot going for it.

EuroCuisineLady proceeded stealthily, doing the slicing and brief cabbage-boiling without saying anything to EuroCuisineGuy about what she was doing until the dish was in the oven. "Smells good," she said. EuroCuisineGuy, amazingly, agreed.

This was encouraging. The casserole came out of the oven, and looked and smelled terrific. It was sampled, found super, then dished out and photographed. And then, "What do you think it is?" said EuroCuisineLady.

EuroCuisineGuy (who was upstairs at the time) said he didn't know. EuroCuisineLady told him. EuroCuisineGuy was very surprised. And then -- encouraged to eat it -- he did. And he liked it. Cries of "Hey Mikey!" filled the air, and these had to be explained to ECG, as he has never seen a Quaker Life commercial.

No matter. If you are acquainted with a cabbage hater, this is the recipe to try. Among cabbage recipes, it is a veritable Rolls-Royce.

Click "read more" for the recipe.

North/Central Europe: Sour Cream From Scratch (Method 2: Pasteurized)

If you are in any doubt whatever about the cleanliness of your raw ingredients, are concerned about making sour cream without pasteurizing it, or or don't know whether your ingredients have been pasteurized or not, this is the recipe to use.

If you are working with raw milk straight from the cow, use this recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 qt cream

  • 1/2 cup buttermilk

Scald out with boiling water a stainless steel container.

North/Central Europe: Sour Cream From Scratch (Method 1)

There are two ways to proceed when making sour cream at home: you can either pasteurize it, or not bother. This recipe does not pasteurize the cream, making it properly a "clabbered" cream. this one does include pasteurization. The flavor in this recipe may be better than in the other one, depending on the quality of your cream.

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