Stuffing, filling, or dressing is an edible mixture, often composed of
herbs and a
starch such as
bread, used to fill a cavity in the preparation of another food item. Many foods may be stuffed, including
poultry,
seafood, and
vegetables. As a
cooking technique stuffing helps retain moisture, while the mixture itself serves to augment and absorb flavors during its preparation.
Poultry stuffing often consists of breadcrumbs,
onion,
celery,
spices, and herbs such as
sage, combined with the
giblets. Additions in the United Kingdom include dried fruits and nuts (such as apricots and flaked almonds), and chestnuts.
History
It is not known when stuffings were first used. The earliest documentary evidence is the
Roman cookbook,
Apicius ''
De Re Coquinaria'', which contains recipes for stuffed
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...
,
dormouse,
hare, and
pig. Most of the stuffings described consist of
vegetables,
herbs and
spices,
nuts, and
spelt (a
cereal), and frequently contain chopped
liver
The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...
,
brain
The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head ( cephalization), usually near organs for special ...
s, and other
organ meat
Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but usually excludes muscle. Offal may also refe ...
.
Names for stuffing include "farce" (~1390), "stuffing" (1538), "
forcemeat" (1688), and relatively more recently in the United States; "dressing" (1850).
Cavities
In addition to stuffing the body cavity of animals, including
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s,
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...
, and
mammals, various cuts of meat may be stuffed after they have been deboned or a pouch has been cut into them. Recipes include stuffed
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...
legs, stuffed
pork chops, stuffed breast of
veal
Veal is the meat of calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, however most veal comes from young male calves of dairy breeds which are not used for breeding. Generally, ...
, as well as the traditional holiday stuffed
turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
or
goose
A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...
.
Many types of vegetables are also suitable for stuffing, after their
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...
s or flesh has been removed.
Tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word , ...
es,
capsicum
''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit.
Etymology and names
The generic name may come from Latin , mean ...
s (sweet or hot peppers), and
vegetable marrow
A marrow is a fruit used as a vegetable, the mature fruit of certain '' Cucurbita pepo'' cultivars. The immature fruit of the same or similar cultivars is called '' courgette'' (in Britain, Iran, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Singapore, Ma ...
s such as zucchini may be prepared in this way.
Cabbages and similar vegetables can also be stuffed or wrapped around a filling. They are usually
blanched first, in order to make their leaves more pliable. Then, the interior may be replaced by stuffing, or small amounts of stuffing may be inserted between the individual leaves.
Purportedly
ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
, or else
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, cooks developed
engastration recipes, stuffing animals with other animals. An anonymous
Andalusian
Andalusia is a region in Spain.
Andalusian may also refer to:
Animals
*Andalusian chicken, a type of chicken
*Andalusian donkey, breed of donkey
*Andalusian hemipode, a buttonquail, one of a small family of birds
*Andalusian horse, a breed of ho ...
cookbook from the 13th century includes a recipe for a
ram stuffed with small
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s. A similar recipe for a
camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...
stuffed with
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...
stuffed with
bustard
Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bust ...
s stuffed with
carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
stuffed with eggs is mentioned in
T.C. Boyle's book ''Water Music''. Multi-bird-stuffed dishes such as the
turducken or gooducken are contemporary variations.
Fillers
Almost anything can serve as a stuffing. Many American stuffings contain a
starchy ingredient like
bread or
cereals, usually together with vegetables, ground meats, herbs and spices, and
eggs. Middle Eastern vegetable stuffings may be based on seasoned rice, on minced meat, or a combination thereof. Other stuffings may contain only vegetables and herbs. Some types of stuffing contain
sausage
A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...
meat, or
forcemeat, while
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat ( red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetaria ...
stuffings sometimes contain
tofu
Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super fi ...
. Roast pork is often accompanied by sage and onion stuffing in England; roast poultry in a Christmas dinner may be stuffed with sweet chestnuts. Oysters are used in one traditional stuffing for
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
. These may also be combined with
mashed potato
Mashed potato or mashed potatoes ( American and Canadian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as ...
es, for a heavy stuffing. Fruits and dried fruits can be added to stuffing including apples, apricots, dried prunes, and raisins. In England, a stuffing is sometimes made of minced pork shoulder seasoned with various ingredients, sage, onion, bread, chestnuts, dried apricots, dried cranberries etc.
The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish. This may still be called stuffing or it may be called dressing.
There has also been a long time debate on who uses the term stuffing or dressing and which one is the correct term. Stuffing and dressing or two different things even though both items are being "dressed" with almost the same ingredients, stuffing is being stuffed inside the cavity of a bird and uses white bread while dressing is considered a side dish and uses cornbread. Southerners who are from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are known for its search of dressing recipes while Northerners who are from Delaware, Montana, and New Hampshire are known for its search of stuffing recipes.
Food safety
The
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
(USDA) states that cooking animals with a
body cavity
A body cavity is any space or compartment, or potential space, in an animal body. Cavities accommodate organs and other structures; cavities as potential spaces contain fluid.
The two largest human body cavities are the ventral body cavity, and ...
filled with stuffing can present potential food safety hazards. Even when the meat reaches a safe temperature, the stuffing can still harbor bacteria, and if the meat is cooked until the stuffing reaches a safe temperature, the meat may be overcooked. For turkeys, for instance, the USDA recommends cooking stuffing separately from the bird and not buying pre-stuffed birds.
See also
*
Breadcrumb
Bread crumbs or breadcrumbs (regional variants including breading and crispies) consist of crumbled bread of various dryness, sometimes with seasonings added, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thicke ...
*
Breading
Bread crumbs or breadcrumbs (regional variants including breading and crispies) consist of crumbled bread of various dryness, sometimes with seasonings added, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thick ...
*
Forcemeat
* ''
Kousa mahshi'', squash or zucchini stuffed with rice and meat
*
List of stuffed dishes
This is a list of stuffed dishes, comprising dishes and foods that are prepared with various fillings and stuffings. Some dishes are not actually stuffed; the added ingredients are simply spread atop the base food, as one cannot truly stuff an o ...
*
List of bread dishes
This is a list of bread dishes and foods, which use bread as a primary ingredient. Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history it has been popular around the world and is one of ...
*
Panada
*
Paxo
*
Sarma and
dolma
Dolma (Turkish for “stuffed”) is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Ottoman cuisine, and common in modern national cuisines of regions and countries that once were part of the Ottoman Empire. Some types of dolma are made with whol ...
*
Stove Top stuffing
*
Stuffed pepper
References
External links
*
{{Bread
Cooking techniques
Food ingredients
Poultry dishes
Christmas food
Culinary terminology
Bread dishes
Rice dishes
Thanksgiving food