Bsc 1st Year-Fariniceous Products

FARINICEOUS PRODUCTS-NOTES

 

 

The word “Farinaceous” is derived from the Latin word “Farina” meaning flour and the French word “Farineux” and “Farinages”. The English term “Farinaceous” indicate a wide range of dishes made with different flours, usually as a main ingredient. These include the vast range of Indian pastas in their many different forms, shapes and sizes and a range of similar uses and value for the menu.
In the traditional menu, these three types of dish are normally served as a subsidiary item for lunch, coming up after the soup or frequently acting as a hors d’oeuvre. When garnished and with a suitable sauce, they can serve as a substantial main dishes any time of the day. When plainly prepared and not over garnished, they make suitable garnishes for a number of fish, meat and poultry dishes. It is usual to serve grated Parmesan cheese or similar, as an accompaniment for most farinaceous dishes and rice dishes.


Gnocchi
There are three main types of small dumplings or Gnocchi:
1. Gnocchi Parisienne (Made from flour, egg and butter, which in effect is a basic choux paste).
2. Romaine (Made from milk, semolina and egg).
3. Gnocchi Italienne (Made from potato, flour and egg).
Basically these are all gratinated with butter and cheese, but can all be lightly garnished or mixed with mushrooms, cooked sausages, poultry or meat. Tomato sauce, jus-lie, Béchamel and cream are used as variations.


Pastas
The name “Pasta” is the Italian word for “paste”; so called because pasta is made from a mixture of durum wheat flour and water and sometimes eggs. Durum wheat (High gluten quality and content) is milled and mixed with water, salt, eggs, oil and at times, vegetable colouring. Semolina or rawa is preferred to flour because less water is required to make the pasta dough, which greatly helps in the drying stage.


Types of Pasta
1. Commercial Pastas
It is made from dough that has been shaped and dried (Pasta second-dry pasta).
a. Macaroni (Refers to pastas made from flour and water. These include spaghetti, lasagna, elbow macaroni etc.).
b. Egg pastas (Contain at least 5.5% egg solids, in addition to the flour and water. They are sold as flat noodles of various widths).
2. Fresh Egg Pasta
Fresh egg pasta or pasta all’uovo are made from flour and eggs and sometimes, a small quantity of water and/or oil. Soft egg noodle products are also available in fresh and frozen form from the manufacturer. They take less time to cook than dried macaroni products.
3. Fancy Pastas
This group contains cut macaroni, which may be straight or slant out and a large variety of fancy shaped pastas.


Pastas may be classified according to their size and shapes as:
1. Long Pasta
This group includes smooth, solid rod forms e.g. spaghetti, vermicelli, tubular forms of which the outer surface may be smooth or corrugated like macaroni and flat from inside.

2. Short pieces of Pasta
e.g. Farafallette (Butterfly shaped Pasta).
3. Pasta suitable for stuffing
These are of two types:
a. Those that are stuffed, while the pasta is in raw stage and then cooked e.g. ravioli, tortellini.
b. Those that are partially cooked before being stuffed and then cooking is completed e.g. cannelloni.
4. Small Fancy Pastas
This group consists of a large variety of small pastas which are used almost exclusively for garnishing. E.g. Capellini (Fine hair-like vermicelli), Alfabeto (Letters and numbers), Stellette (Small stars).




Cooking of Pastas
All pastas should be cooked in boiling salted water, allowing at least 1 liter of water and 10 Gms of salt per 100 Gms of raw pasta. They should be gently stirred with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking together and allowed to simmer gently.
Stuffed pastas like ravioli require very gentle simmering only to prevent breaking. The actual cooking time is determined by the size or thickness of the pasta, but in all cases, it should not be overcooked. Cook all pastas to “al-dente” stage, drain well and use immediately.
If not served immediately, the cooked pasta can be refreshed and kept in a basin of cold water or tossed with oil and kept in the refrigerator. Where possible, pasts should always be freshly cooked and used immediately.
In addition to the standard finishing of butter, cream and grated Parmesan cheese, there are a number of sauces like Béchamel sauce, Crème, Jus-lie, Demi-glace, Sauce Italienne, Sauce Champignon, Sauce Tomate, Pesto and Provenoale. Besides these, there are a few sauces which are special to pasta dishes, as well as some of which become an integral part of the dish e.g. Bolognaise, Sauce Nicoise or Tomato and Basil Sauce.


Noodles:
The word “Noodle” is derived from the German word for dumplings “Nudeln”. Dumplings seem to have originated from the practice of putting uncooked dough or bread pieces into soups or stews. Noodles are defined as “food paste made of flour, water and eggs, which may be either dried or fresh. Noodles are also referred to as “vermicelli”, regardless of whether they come from Italy or Hong Kong. The main areas of production are Central Europe, America and the Far East.
The Germans are the first to make noodle dough with eggs. Egg noodles are also popular with the Italians and the Chinese. Asian noodles may be based on a number of different flour pastes, with or without eggs, including the flour of mung, soy beans, sea weed, corn, chick peas, rice and durum wheat. The Japanese have an impressive range of noodle made of golden buckwheat. Japan shares China for a fondness for cellophane noodles called in Japan as “Harusame”.


Dumplings:
Dumplings are starch products made from soft dough or batter and are cooked by simmering or steaming. They are served as side dishes and in soups and stews. Different National cuisines have their own kind of dumplings e.g. Potato dumplings and Caraway dumplings.


Spaetzle:
Spaetzle are small dumplings or noodles made from a thin egg and flour batter.


Yield:
450 Gms of uncooked pasta yields about 1.4 kg of cooked pasta. This is enough for 4-5 portions of main course or 8-10 side dish or first course portions