Glossary S
Sea Cukes is another name for Sea Cucumbers which is a staple in peoples' diets, mainly in soups, stews and stir-fries, and demand for this homely undersea animal — cucumber is a misnomer, they're really echinoderms — is high.
The Sea Cucumber is a prized food, particularly on Asian markets, where it fetches good prices in a smoked, dried form which are used in soups and, according to some reports, as an aphrodisiac.
In its prepared form, Sea Cucumbers are known as trepang or béche-de-mer and, earlier this century and through much of the nineteenth century, the animal was the basis of a major export industry across northern Australia.
The fishery itself goes back even further in time. Explorer Matthew Flinders sighted a fleet of 60 Indonesian vessels collecting Sea Cucumbers in the Gulf of Carpentaria while charting the Australian coast in 1803, and there is substantial evidence that the activity has been carried out since Macassans from South Celebes first visited Australia around 1700.
There are many varieties of sea cucumber available including Sandfish, Surf Redfish, Black Teatfish, White Teatfish, Blackfish and Prickly Redfish.
Interestingly, the Sea Cucumber is closely related to sea urchins and starfish, although its hard to see the resemblance at a glance. Their hard calcareous skeleton, reduced to microscopic spicules, is buried under the skin. Some Sea Cucumbers can expel sticky white threads to entangle or distract would-be predators, and some even expel their internal organs when disturbed. Amazingly the organs can be regenerated and life for the animal will go on normally. Worldwide, their body sizes vary from 2cm to 200 cm, and thicknesses between 1 and 20 cm. They are found in all oceans, mostly in warm shallow waters, but sometimes at great depths. However they are most common in the Indian Ocean and the South West Pacific.
Their mouth, which is at one end of their body, is surrounded by a crown of between 10 and 20 retractable tentacles. These tentacles can be used to trap passing plankton or, depending on the species, used to sweep up the sandy mud in which they live. The mud is swallowed, the food particles removed, and the sand is passed through the body.
Sea cucumbers move in a slug-like manner, using a series of little tube feet. Some of them are soft and flaccid but others are quite tough and leathery.
Sea cucumbers are harvested from the wild by experienced licenced divers and then transported to drying facilities where they are cleaned and dried ready for export.
Information for this page is from www.sea-cucumber.com
Sea Cucumbers, Class Holothuroidea: With body shapes ranging from spherical to long and worm-like, bizarre rings of tentacles circling a non-descript head-end, these slow-moving, drab to brightly colored and marked invertebrates are well-known at least by sight, by most aquarists.
Unfortunately they have a dark side. Like many other spiny-skinned animals, Sea Cucumbers should only be tried in captivity with knowledge, trepidation and utmost vigil. The reasons for my cautioning are offered here, as well as notes on general selection and care for the still curious.
Classification:
Sea Cucumbers make up the Class Holothuroidea of the "Spiny-skinned-animal" phylum Echinodermata. Other living Classes comprise the familiar Sea Urchins, Sand Dollars, Sea- and Brittle Stars and the Crinoids, aka Sea Lilies and Feather Stars. Holothuroids are the odd-Class out in being secondarily non-radial appearing; often looking like strange ornamental sausages, some translucent, others opaque and warty. Cucumber-like!
There are some 900 described species, almost exclusively marine, distributed worldwide. Sea Cucumbers are a major component of the deep sea fauna. Most are black, brown or olive in color, but many brilliant colored and patterned species are encountered. They range in size to barely over an inch (@ 3 cm.) end to end to over a meter in length.
Samloka refer to sandwiches in Iceland.
The following are some of the Street Foods of Italy:
1. Focaccia Genovese is a flat oven-baked bread from Genoa, which has been part of the history of the region since the 16th century in Liguria. It is risen bread or focaccia with sage and olive oil.
2. Fritolin are fried fish cones in Venice. Also available in the "Bacaro", typical Venetian bar
3. Cicchetti are little snacks prepared with different ingredients, cold cuts, boiled eggs, pickles, anchovies, etc accompanied with a glass of Italian wine.
4. Piadine Romagnole is an Italian flatbread typical of Emilia-Romagna, a region which is also known for Tigelle, Gnocco fritto and many other fast dishes. See Gnocco Fritto in another article please.
5. Lampredotto which is cattle stomach cooked with tomatoes, onion, parsley and celery and served as a sandwich filling in Tuscany. Please see another article about this food
6. Porchetta di Ariccia is made of pork slowly roasted with herbs and wild fennel is something to try in Latium. Please see artcile on Porchetta di Ariccia
7. Supplì are balls of rice with tomato or meat sauce, while in Campania, notably in Naples- An important role is played by pizzas and Focacce, like the Parigina which are flat oven-baked bread with ham and mozzarella. Please separate articles about Suppli and Parigina
8. In Sicily, a region that has a lot to offer as far as street food is concerned have Arancini, fried rice balls filled with meat sauce, mozzarella and peas; and
9. Pani ca meusa are spleen sandwiches. Sicilian street food specialties are among the most appreciated and famous ones.
10. Gelato - with which Italian is most famous for is for their delicious ice cream which is available around the world.
Scullion refers to a kitchen servant who does menial work.
Shivaree refers to the noisy, mock serenade to a newly married couple, involving the banging of kettles, pots and pans.
Shivaree also known as Chivaree, Chivari, or Charivari.
Spatchcock means to split open a fowl for grilling. Spatchcock also refers to a fowl prepared in this manner (split open) . Spitchcock is also used to describe a similar way of cooking an eel.