1797 Lond. Art Cookery 149 Serve this ragoo under two ducks, cut into quarters, and brazed in a well seasoned braze.
1846 French Domest. Cookery 41 Braise: to stew meat tender with fat bacon.
So why would I be less likely to eat a baked chicken than roasted chicken?
I suppose it has to do with the personal bias and connotations I have concerning baked vs. roasted chicken. Every time I have a baked chicken the meat is always dry, tasteless, and has a weird, almost leathery texture. Could I just be the victim of badly baked chicken?
On the other hand, roasted chicken always gets an A plus from me.
Seriously though, roasted chicken is always crispy on the outside but tender, juicy and flavorful on the inside. If it did not have a crispy outer layer I do not think you could call it roasted chicken. It would be...baked.
But then, what about braised chicken?
Okay, I just looked up the verb braise on dictionary.oed.com. Apparently if you braise meat, it is done in pan or pot. Well, I was wrong about braising-it is NOT done in an oven.
Sorry guys.
However, I think you could still make the argument that all three terms would be under the same category of "food cooked in an enclosed space."
Except...historically, roasting was done on an open fire.
HOWEVER! What with modern technology, who does that anymore? Granted it could be done if you wanted to, but it is impracticle. I say the verb "to roast" should be updated.
On another note, what about braise versus stew? Above I pasted the historical definition of "braise". Here is the historicall definition for "stew"
2. Cooking. a. trans. To boil slowly in a close vessel; to cook (meat, fruit, etc.) in a liquid kept at the simmering-point. (again taken from Oxford Dictionary online)
The definition of braise includes the word stew. To braise meat seems to be the act of stewing with an added step. Also, if you look up the noun "braze", the Oxford Dictionary defined it as "...to harden in a fire", suggesting that braised chicken would have a hard, perhaps crispy outer layer. It is like a hybrid of stewing an roasting!
Here is a recipe from epicurious.com that shows how you would make Braised Chicken with Garlic and White Wine:
Ingredients:
2 3 1/2-pound whole chickens, each cut into 8 pieces
5 whole heads of garlic, cloves separated (about 70), unpeeled
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 cups dry white wine
6 very large fresh thyme sprigs
Preparation:
Trim excess fat off chicken. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Lightly smash garlic cloves just to flatten slightly, leaving peel attached and cloves as whole as possible.
Heat 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, add chicken and cook until brown on all sides, about 12 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to plate. Add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and garlic to pot. Stir until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add wine and thyme; bring to boil. Return chicken to pot. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, moving chicken pieces from top to bottom every 5 minutes (sauce will not cover chicken), about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer chicken to platter. Spoon garlic cloves around chicken and drizzle sauce over.
As you can see, the braised chicken has a browned outerlayer, much like a roasted chicken would. There are definitely a connection between braising and roasting, though the method may vary.
Well, that is all for today. I hope this post inspires you to try your hands at all the different ways to cook meat.
Tootles
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