Annie Hedden wrote:

> Haha, alright, I came off as anal, but I assure you, I live in complete
> squalor.

Intellectually, anyway.

> I've made soup stock many times, but the reason I say "construct"
> and "chemsitry" is because --

I don't believe you because of what you say below.

> when making meat stock, the gelatin is prized from the animal. So, for
> instance, is there a replacement for the gelatin?

The gelatin is integral to the process; it comes from the animal sources
of the flavor in the stock. If you'd ever made it, you'd know that.

> Okra produces a sappy
> liquid, which is used for gumbo, but what about using it in stock itself?

"Sappy liquid..." What's in your head. You just mipselled "snot," right?

> What about fruit pectin instead of gelatin?

<LOL>

> This is why chemistry is
> important, so one thing can be replaced for another and still stay in the
> boundaries of being stock.

Nonsense. Stock is long since settled. Defined. Detailed.

> Stock is a serious subject if you come from the
> French side of cooking

Every culture makes stocks. And they all do it the same ways. And
they're all serious about it.

>(aka, everything the Joy of Cooking bases itself
> around).

Not really. The initial few editions were much more tilted towards
German cooking. The newer ones are more attuned to contemporary American
approaches.

> To change what stock you are using changes everything.

How does one spell "duh" on your planet?

> Developing
> a unique stock is necessary for anyone seeking an anal originality in their
> cooking.

What an attractive picture that sentence conjures. Even suggests flavors
in your cooking.

> I don't know about you guys, but I won't be able to call myself a
> cook until I can find a stock recipe that says "I am a anal, brilliant
> ******* who can make a great Veloute sauce because no one has any clue
> what's in my stock".

You won't ever be able to call yourself a cook with thinking like that.
Better to make a veloute' with the ingredients that actually define it
and do it so well that knowledgeable people recognize the depth and
skill it took.

Anyone can scribble on a wall so it defies analysis. Not a big skill.

> Stock in French is "Fond" (did I miss an 'e'?) and
> this means "base". I don't want to put make-up on my cooking, I want to
> build it up from the genes.

Sure. Sure. Now put down that crack pipe and finish straightening up
your room.

> Applying my God Complex to Cookery,

What fatuous bullshit. You haven't the remotest chance of becoming a cook.

Pastorio