On Mon, 31 May 2004 09:11:05 GMT, "M&M" >
wrote:

>Seasoning a pan is a trick that is difficult for many Americans. Our
>culture demands hot soap and water. It takes a conscious effort to
>simply deglaze with water, swish the sides and dump a wok, pan,
>skillet, whatever, out and then leave it on the heat just long enough
>to dry.

This is true. I remember the hell that I had to pay when I washed
and scrubbed my West Virginia hillbilly granny's (now in her nineties)
cast iron skillet when I was living with her.
I didn't realize that in a couple of moments of cleanliness, I was
literally wiping out about hundred years (it was her mother's) of
flavor and culinary history and making the "frying pan" unusable!
It took her about a week of treating the pan with the "drippings" that
she still saves from bacon and sausage, to get the skillet back in
proper working order. She told me that it wasn't so much of
retreating the cast iron, but of what it was treated with.
Now that she is well in her declining years, I've asked her to leave
but one thing to me in her will--that skillet! I kid you not,
everything that is cooked in that skillet, tastes of Appalachia and
history. You can't buy that at Williams-Sonoma at any price.