Information about Stuffing

In cooking, stuffing is usually a mixture of various ingredients used to fill a cavity in another food item. The term stuffing also refers to the process of filling a cavity with this mixture.

History

Some claim it was invented in Yorkshire, England as a way to fill out chicken and other forms of bird. The Roman cookbook De re coquinaria, by Apicius, contains recipes for stuffed chicken, hare, pig, and dormouse. Most of the stuffings described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (an old cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other organ meat.

In the Middle Ages, stuffing was known as farce, from the Latin farcire (via the French farcir), which means to stuff. The term stuffing first appears in English print in 1538. After about 1880, the term stuffing was replaced by dressing in Victorian English. Both terms are used today, occasionally to differentiate between varieties.

Foods that are stuffed

In addition to stuffing the body cavity of animals, including mammals, birds, and fish, various joints of larger animals may be stuffed after they have been deboned or a pouch has been cut into the joint. Popular recipes include stuffed chicken legs and stuffed breast of veal, as well as the traditional holiday stuffed goose or turkey. Many types of vegetables are also suitable for stuffing after their seeds or marrow has been removed. Tomatoes, capsicums (sweet or hot peppers), and vegetable marrows (zucchini) may be prepared in this way. Cabbages and similar vegetables can also be stuffed. They are usually blanched first, in order to make their leaves more pliable. Then, the interior may be replaced by stuffing, or small amounts of stuffing may be inserted between the individual

Surplus stuffing may be cooked separately and served as a side dish. In Southern US cuisine, the term dressing is typically used, and it is generally served only as a side dish and not stuffed inside the body of the animals. Placing the stuffing underneath the skin of the breast will help ensure moistness of the breast meat in poultry.

Types of stuffing

Basically, any food that won't liquefy is suitable as stuffing. Many popular stuffing recipes contain bread or cereals, usually together with vegetables, herbs and spices, and eggs. Other stuffings may contain only vegetables and herbs. Some types of stuffing contain sausage meat, or forcemeat, while vegetarian stuffings sometimes contain tofu. Oysters are used in one traditional stuffing for Thanksgiving. These may also be combined with mashed potatoes, for a heavy stuffing.

Variations

Stuffing can be prepared separately from the meat, or be served separately, in which case it is often referred to as dressing. Dressing is sometimes made with bread or cornbread as a base, particularly in the Southern United States.

Animals stuffed with other animals

It is occasionally claimed that the ancient Roman, as well as medieval, cooks stuffed animals with other animals. An anonymous Andalusian cookbook from the 13th century includes a recipe for a ram stuffed with small birds (recipe). A similar recipe for a camel stuffed with sheep stuffed with bustards stuffed with carp stuffed with eggs is mentioned in T.C. Boyle's book Water Music.

The turducken, a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken is a more recent creation.

British celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has championed the ten-bird roast, calling it "one of the most spectacular and delicious roasts you can lay before your loved ones at Yuletide". An 18lb turkey is stuffed with a goose, duck, mallard, guinea fowl, chicken, pheasant, partridge, pigeon and woodcock. The roast feeds around 30 people and as well as the ten birds, also includes stuffing made from two pounds of sausage meat and half a pound of streaky bacon along with sage, port and red wine.

See also

• Stove Top stuffing
• Filling

External links

• Stuffing recipes at recipesource.com
• The 10 Bird Roast