Recent posts

#61

Anatomical / Re: Saccharin is Steampunk

Last post by von Corax - April 30, 2024, 01:39:06 PM

I'm not sure that I can agree; for me something so basic, straightforward and undecorated has no place in the Steampunk universe.
Except, of course, as an ingredient in a much more fantastical creation such as a life-sized crystal candy copy of the Eiffel Tower perhaps.

It's food made from coal tar! How is that not Steampunk?

#62

Anatomical / Re: Saccharin is Steampunk

Last post by Sir Henry - April 30, 2024, 09:49:46 AM

I'm not sure that I can agree; for me something so basic, straightforward and undecorated has no place in the Steampunk universe.
Except, of course, as an ingredient in a much more fantastical creation such as a life-sized crystal candy copy of the Eiffel Tower perhaps.

#63

Anatomical / Re: An Abomination: Is America...

Last post by Sir Henry - April 30, 2024, 09:46:01 AM

Next in the series of Lovekraftian culinary delights: American Chocolate 

I hadn't thought of processed cheese being Steampunk (to be honest I hadn't thought of processed cheese at all in a few decades) but it does seem to have just the right mixture of horror, history, absurdity and whimsy. And horror, stomach-churning horror.¹

It is easy to assume that adulterating foods to hold more water (or air) so they are cheaper to produce was a 20th century development, but as with so many things, it turns out to just be 'improvements' on Victorian ethiclessness. Ho hum.

¹ The first time I saw the cover of Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Nausea' I assumed that it was a Dutch/German edition of a book about the North Sea. 

Well, it's not all bad, to be perfectly honest.  I think milk chocolate turned out well (clearly a Victorian and European invention), as well as condensed and evaporated milk.

Have you ever tried to make hot chocolate with coarse ground, unmilled unfiltered and unemulsified cacao nibs?  It's an awful lot of work for just a cup of hot chocolate.  Even the traditional Mexican/Spanish chocolate, the first hot chocolate that ever was, is emulsified nowadays, though they still leave the cocoa and cinnamon fibers in it for authenticity (you find a little grit to chew at the end of your cup).

It was the milk chocolate (particularly Hershey's) that I was thinking of. Spoiling the milk before making chocolate with it makes it keep for much longer. Hershey's won't admit that they do it, but most people can taste the butylic acid that this creates: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hersheys-chocolate-tastes-like-vomit_l_60479e5fc5b6af8f98bec0cd

As for making cocoa with nibs, surprisingly I have. My son is a bit of a 'foodie' and bought some cocoa nibs for a recipe. The simplest recipe I could find to use some of the leftover nibs was cocoa. It's an interesting, earthy flavour and while I could see why they stuck with it and developed it, it tasted a bit watery and one-note to me. As you say, the emulsification makes a bit difference sensually and the addition of vanilla and bucketfuls of sugar over the centuries has definitely made it more palatable to modern tastes.

#64

Off Topic / Re: GAAAAAHHHHHH Mk.VI: The Re...

Last post by LukeHogbin - April 30, 2024, 07:50:42 AM

Had a seizure on the night between Thursday and Friday and I'm still trying to recover from it. Blah.

I hope you're recovering well.
But don't let it happen again, it's just not on.

I wish it were that simple, but I have atypical epilepsy and even the doctors don't know where it came from. :/

#65

Anatomical / Saccharin is Steampunk

Last post by RJBowman - April 29, 2024, 10:55:13 PM

I saw this video last week, and was inspired by J. Wilhelm's post about American Cheese. It was discovered in 1879.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwAKFeqJznI

In the 19th century, coal tar extract were important to industry as a source of textile dies among other uses. I guess it was inevitable that the source of artificially color for the visual sense could also produce artificial flavors.

Be grateful that coal tar only became a source of flavoring, and did not become a source of the substance of synthetic foods.

Additional history from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharin#History

#66

Anatomical / Re: An Abomination: Is America...

Last post by RJBowman - April 29, 2024, 10:46:19 PM

American cheese will never be steampunk. I don't care how many gears you glue to it.

#67

Anatomical / Re: An Abomination: Is America...

Last post by J. Wilhelm - April 29, 2024, 02:08:25 PM

Next in the series of Lovekraftian culinary delights: American Chocolate 

I hadn't thought of processed cheese being Steampunk (to be honest I hadn't thought of processed cheese at all in a few decades) but it does seem to have just the right mixture of horror, history, absurdity and whimsy. And horror, stomach-churning horror.¹

It is easy to assume that adulterating foods to hold more water (or air) so they are cheaper to produce was a 20th century development, but as with so many things, it turns out to just be 'improvements' on Victorian ethiclessness. Ho hum.

¹ The first time I saw the cover of Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Nausea' I assumed that it was a Dutch/German edition of a book about the North Sea. 

Well, it's not all bad, to be perfectly honest.  I think milk chocolate turned out well (clearly a Victorian and European invention), as well as condensed and evaporated milk.

Have you ever tried to make hot chocolate with coarse ground, unmilled unfiltered and unemulsified cacao nibs?  It's an awful lot of work for just a cup of hot chocolate.  Even the traditional Mexican/Spanish chocolate, the first hot chocolate that ever was, is emulsified nowadays, though they still leave the cocoa and cinnamon fibers in it for authenticity (you find a little grit to chew at the end of your cup).

#68

Anatomical / Re: An Abomination: Is America...

Last post by Sir Henry - April 29, 2024, 07:53:28 AM

Next in the series of Lovekraftian culinary delights: American Chocolate 

I hadn't thought of processed cheese being Steampunk (to be honest I hadn't thought of processed cheese at all in a few decades) but it does seem to have just the right mixture of horror, history, absurdity and whimsy. And horror, stomach-churning horror.¹

It is easy to assume that adulterating foods to hold more water (or air) so they are cheaper to produce was a 20th century development, but as with so many things, it turns out to just be 'improvements' on Victorian ethiclessness. Ho hum.

¹ The first time I saw the cover of Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Nausea' I assumed that it was a Dutch/German edition of a book about the North Sea. 

#69

Off Topic / Re: GAAAAAHHHHHH Mk.VI: The Re...

Last post by Sir Henry - April 29, 2024, 07:38:08 AM

Had a seizure on the night between Thursday and Friday and I'm still trying to recover from it. Blah.

I hope you're recovering well.
But don't let it happen again, it's just not on.

#70

Tactile / Re: That 'big project' I've be...

Last post by Sir Henry - April 29, 2024, 07:32:00 AM

I've always loved the shape of the doorways like your neighbour's. Not very practical, but distinctive and eye-catching.