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Question for "foodies"???

I have a friend who recently acquired a menu from an early sailing of one of the CPR Empress ships - I think it was the Empress of China around 1910. Anyhow, one of the breakfast menu options was "poached eggs with minced collops" ... does anyone know what collops are?

As an aside, one item on the breakfast menu was "liver and onions" which he though sounded really barf-worthy!

I'm assuming that collops is a British name for something fairly common that we call by another name in N.America ... maybe corned beef hash?

Thanks, Glenda

I always thought it meant bacon, but according to this site it's more likely to be slices of meat...or bacon...or oysters...
Which makes it seem very odd that they referred to "minced collops." :confused:

Quote:

Collop is the English equivalent of the French word, escalope.

At various times since the 1500s, the word in English has been used to mean either thick slices of meat -- or thin slices of meat. In any event, it has generally meant smallish slices, as opposed to huge slabs. Generally the meat is pounded first to make it flat.

In the 1500s, it meant primarily a rasher (a slice) of bacon. Later, it came to be applied to other types of meat, and now can be beef, lamb, mutton, pork, veal or venison.

At a later point, Collop even became confused with the verb to "scollop" ("scallop"), which might lead you to ponder a connection with the name of scalloped potatoes, which are sliced. Hannah Glasse (1708-1770) in "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy" (1747) lists a recipe for "Collups of Oysters", which is oysters cooked in scallop shells. This may show the start of the confusion between the word "scollops" (as it was then spellt) and "collops".

Nowadays, the word is applied to everything from aubergine (eggplant) to monkfish.

ETA: Unless it was "mince" collops? Because in the UK (and here) "mince" is what we call ground beef, so maybe they are talking about little chunks of beef?

I give up. :D

Roz

That's interesting Roz ... my first guess was that it might be an early Brit term for something like hash-browns which would certainly fit in with the scalloped potatoes - especially the "minced" description!

Thanks for the ideas ....

a traditional recipe from the MC-AllEthnic list...

...one of my (too) many email lists, comes up with some fun stuff (heck, you should see the Mediaeval Cookery!):

Quote:

* Exported from MasterCook *

COLLOPS OF BEEF

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 pound braising steak -- sliced into 4
1 onion -- chopped
6 oz mushrooms -- sliced
2 tablespoons flour
2 oz butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bay leaf (optional)
3/4 pint beef stock

Set oven to 350°F or Mark 4. Mix the flour with the salt and pepper. Coat the beef slices with seasoned flour. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Fry the collops for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside. Gently fry the onion and the mushrooms. Put the onion and mushrooms and a bay leaf (if desired) into a casserole. Lay the collops on top. Pour in the stock, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with buttered mashed potatoes and a green vegetable. Rowan or redcurrant jelly goes well with this dish.

Serves 4

Description: "Collops of beef are traditionally served on Burns Night."
Source: "favorite Scottish recipes traditional caledonion fare"
S(mc formatted by): "chef Dave"
Copyright: "salmon publishing"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 145 Calories; 12g Fat (73.5% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 31mg Cholesterol; 916mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.

I can certainly see this dish of braised and tender beef, diced and served warm under a couple of poached eggs for a hearty breakfast. An early beef hash, perhaps?

...but frankly, I think this civil war recipe is more likely, though I can definitely see the relationship in the recipes:

Quote:

MINCED COLLOPS

Beef, raw, minced fine
Clarified butter
Salt
Pepper
Onions, sliced

This is a favorite Scotch dish; few families are without it; it keeps well, and is always ready to make an extra dish.
Take beef, and chop and mince it very small; to which add some salt and pepper. Put this, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on the top some clarified butter [note: old preserving technique excludes air | jude]. When intended for use, put the clarified butter into a frying-pan, and slice some onions into the pan, and fry them. Add a little water to it, and then put in the minced meat. Stew it well, and in a few minutes it will be fit to serve up.

The Cook's Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Comment: Kitchiner notes this as being originally from a work called Seaman's Guide by The Hon. John Cochrane, 1797, p. 42. There is nothing dishonorable about one cookbook author using material from another (particularly if the other is so old as to be presumed dead) but it is pleasant to see the earlier source given credit.

The use of the term "collop" for a small circular piece of meat is evidently peculiar to Scotland and the far north of England. The origin of this word is rather obscure, except for hints that it may be related to Swedish kalops "beef stew" and German Klops "meatball".

...though this auld alliance (i.e., Scotland/France) site thinks slightly differently -- though the recipe is, again, very similar but for the use of oatmeal instead of flour:

Quote:

The French word "escalope", meaning thin slivers of meat, brings us Minced Collops, a very popular dish:
Minced Collops:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 oz. toasted oatmeal
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1-2 T vegetable oil
1 ¼ C stock or broth
1 small can mushrooms, very finely chopped
2-3 T Worcestershire sauce
Heat the oil in a pan, and then add onions and saute until golden brown. Add the ground beef and cook until brown. Toast oatmeal either: under broiler or bake until golden brown---must watch very carefully so does not burn. Add oatmeal to mixture, season to taste, then add the stock. Cover and simmer gently for ½ hour. Add mushrooms and Worcestershire sauce, stir well. Serve with mashed potatoes

:wave:

...to add to the confusion, (current) Recipezaar says, under British Terms (must be that dang germanic influence in there):

collops = meatballs

:lol:

Thanks Jude ... I'll pass on your recipes to my friend - I know he'll be relieved to find it's not something revolting! Sounds a lot like my hamburger stew that I like to serve over mashed cauli!

Glenda

... I just picked up on the reference to Swedish "kalops" meaning beef stew ... that makes sense considering a lot of Scotland and N. England was invaded by early Vikings who eventually settled there and inter-married with the locals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandGirl

...to add to the confusion, (current) Recipezaar says, under British Terms (must be that dang germanic influence in there):

collops = meatballs

:lol:

Yes my grandmother growing up always called her homemade meatballs collops...

My friend has asked me to thank you all for your help and he's impressed at the speed of results! He's also impressed with the recipes for collops, which he might just try to duplicate (without the poached eggs, which he hates!!).

Thanks to all of you, Glenda

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, finely diced beef in a mushroom and onion gravy, under a couple of poached eggs!

Deeeeelicious!

:wave:

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandGirl

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, finely diced beef in a mushroom and onion gravy, under a couple of poached eggs!

Deeeeelicious!

:wave:

:lol: :lol: Baby, I like the way you think!!!

Do you suppose we could REconstruct Montana's menu to include collops and poached eggs, and could we add a tad of garlic to that gravy?

G....

We really need to have a BBQ this summer!!

SUMMER?? Did someone say SUMMER??!!! Are we getting one of those this year?