In cooking, stuffing or dressing (specifically for poultry) is a substance used to fill a cavity in another food item. Many foods are stuffed, including meats, vegetables, and fruits.

History

It is not known when stuffings were first used. The earliest documentary evidence is the Roman cookbook Apicius, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, hare, pig, and dormouse. Most of the stuffings described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (an old cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other organ meat.

In the Middle Ages, stuffing was known as farce (from the French); the root of the word 'forcemeat'. The term 'stuffing' is first attested in 1538. After about 1880, the term stuffing was replaced by dressing in Victorian English. Both terms are used today, occasionally to differentiate between varieties.

Foods that are stuffed

Many types of vegetables are also suitable for stuffing after their seeds or marrow has been removed. Tomatoes, capsicums (sweet or hot peppers), and vegetable marrows (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.

The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish, in which case it may still be called 'stuffing', or in some regions, such as the Southern US, 'dressing'.

Types of stuffing

Almost anything can serve as a stuffing. Many popular Anglo-American stuffings contain bread or cereals, usually together with vegetables, herbs and spices, and eggs. Middle Eastern vegetable stuffings may be based on seasoned rice, on minced meat, or a combination. Other stuffings may contain only vegetables and herbs. Some types of stuffing contain sausage meat, or forcemeat, while vegetarian stuffings sometimes contain tofu. Oysters are used in one traditional stuffing for Thanksgiving. These may also be combined with mashed potatoes, for a heavy stuffing.

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