Room 222 Took On Issues of Tolerance

With student activism now so prevalent, I thought back to the days when my generation was in school. We didn't have the super communication of today, with cellphones or the Internet, and while I can't cite a poll or a study, my feelings are, from having lived through those times, most Americans didn't know much about other Americans, especially about Americans who were from a different background than their own. And as for the peoples of the world, knowledge was likely even far less, as we sat here, between two great oceans, seemingly protected from any adversaries, but also closed off from other parts of the world, unless you were fortunate enough to have traveled to other parts of the world. Of course, in those times, there were literally millions of Americans, mainly men, who might not have considered their travels to have been fortunate, as they had served overseas in World War One, World War Two, Korea, or in the then ongoing war in Vietnam. But in the 1960s, an activism arose in a number of Americans, an activism that grew in size, and an activism that did make changes. The 1960s saw antiwar activism develop over the war in Vietnam, a war that gradually lost support among the American public by the late 1960s and early 1970s. I lost friends in that war, two right from my neighborhood. I still find it tough to think of them, because the pain doesn't go away. The other activism was over civil rights and the very right of Americans of any race to be treated fairly in all matters of society. The two activist movements pretty much gradually joined together.

"Room 222" was a mixture of comedy and drama that dealt with the issues of the time, issues that were altered by the activism of people in the 1960s and 1970s. The show was set in a racially diverse school, "Walt Whitman High School." Besides the Vietnam War and racial issues, the show also delved into the then hot topics of school dress codes, marijuana, air pollution, student teaching and the very meaning and role of activism in American society (in one episode, the students proudly get arrested at a protest). Anyway....   

Basic information about the show: 
Cast
Lloyd Haynes as Pete Dixon, a history teacher whose classes are held in room number 222 (Hm, that must be how they got the name of the show! See, give me close to 50 years, and I can figure it out). Pete is a steady influence on his students. He's not afraid to listen to their concerns and he's also not afraid to admit mistakes of his own. The students have great respect for Mr. Dixon, as I did too. This series made Lloyd Haynes a favorite of mine, and sadly, he died in the 1980s, when he was only in his early 50s.

Denise Nicholas, as Liz McIntyre, guidance counselor and Pete's girl friend.

Michael Constantine, as Seymour Kaufman, the always weighed down by his duties principal. Mr. Kaufman likes to complain about the school cafeteria food. Michael Constantine won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for his role.

Karen Valentine, student teacher Alice Johnson, working in Pete Dixon's class (she won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress for her role)

The show won an Emmy for Best New Series for the 1969-70 season

One outstanding episode was used to highlight the different life views we have, and to symbolically talk about race and family backgrounds in the United States in the late 1960s. While we continue to struggle with racial issues in the country to this very day, the 1960s saw more and more of a dialogue develop, although often a contentious dialogue, which would have been fine, but there was a lot of violence too. In this one episode, Jason, a black student (played by Heshimu Cumbuka), is interested in dating one of the girls at the school. She is black too, so this is not about the hot button interracial dating of those times... or, hm, maybe it is? The girl's family is solidly middle class and her father is more to the conservative side in many of his views. He naturally wants the best for his daughter. Jason is from a poorer background and he talks with much of the modern hip talk of those times. He's not an ambitious student and he's moody. When Jason goes to the girl's home to take her out on a date, he wears a flashy modern style shirt, and this begins the generational and class conflict between Jason and the girl's father. The father asks Jason if he is studying so that he can go to college, to which the ever blunt Jason answers, "No." So the father asks if Jason is on one of the high school's noted sports teams, which brings the answer from Jason, "I ain't innerested (interested) in that jazz." The uncomfortable father decides to go in a different direction and he asks if Jason would like a cup of coffee, to which Jason, again in his blunt manner, says, "Don't drink coffee." The bad vibes draw to a conclusion when the girl and her mother finally appear, and the father makes up a story to keep his daughter at home for the evening, thus canceling her date with Jason.

Jason then gets his friend Richie, a good student and a guy much more likely to get the approval of the girl's father, to ask the girl out. When the father meets Richie, he likes him and the two students go out the door. A little ways from the house, Jason is waiting and he now takes over. When the two return to her home, Richie is waiting to escort the girl to the door. Here the father is returning from the store and he confronts Jason, saying, "I sized you up from the moment I saw you." Jason quickly answers, "You didn't even know me." Bringing the angry father to say, "Don't worry, I know you. At least I know your type." The father presses on, ending with his order for Jason to stop trying to see his daughter. Jason is devastated, and he knows he did wrong by fooling the father, but he doesn't like the way the father put him down and how he never got to tell his side of things. Jason mopes around and stops going to school. Teacher Pete Dixon gets involved. He finds Jason and tells him, "Somebody's getting it socked to them every day, they don't just give up." Jason says, "No matter what I do, a man like that thinks I'm nuthin' (nothing)." Mr. Dixon says, "You've been put down before. So have I, 'cause (because) there's always somebody trying to step on your neck, but you don't give in." Jason says, "It hurts, Mr. Dixon." Dixon replies, "I know it hurts Jason, but you can't let that man keep you down, you're better than that, you know it." Jason explains that he just wanted to give his side to the father, but that he was cut off.
    
When the girl's father gives a little speech at a school event about kids getting a fair chance, Dixon tells his girlfriend and the school's guidance counselor, Liz McIntyre, "(The father) is a good speaker. I wonder how well he listens?" Dixon takes the father upstairs to meet Jason, and Jason tells him, "You hurt me pretty good the other night. I guess it's your business who your daughter sees, but that's no reason to put me down the way you did. You made me feel like nuthin' (nothing). For a while, I even believed I was nuthin'. No man has a right to do that to another man, because it's not true. And that's what I wanted to tell you, that you were wrong, I'm somebody, no matter what you say." Pete Dixon gives a prideful smile at Jason's words.

When I watched this episode, I cried. I really did. I didn't recall it from all of those years ago, but I'm sure I saw it. The thing is, we don't always comprehend the meaning of things as they happen, because it can take time to gain an appreciation for events from an earlier point in our lives. I looked through one of my high school yearbooks, and there was Randy in a picture of the interracial committee set up by the school administration at my school. They called it the "Student Advisory Committee," and they wouldn't have dared to call it "interracial" in those times, but that's what it was, and that's why it was set up. In the 1960s, there was much strife, and black Americans were seldom, if ever, "getting a fair chance." Many white Americans saw black Americans as beneath them, and the words and ideas used in this great episode of "Room 222" are so tied to those times. I hope the young people today of all races and backgrounds can unite and lead the way to drive a stake through the heart of hatred, whose ugly head has risen to prominent positions of power in the world today, like Putin, and including in the United States with Trump and others.    

Photo is of the 2009 Shout Factory DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Twenty-This numerical word, actually a compound, the first part of which is closely related to "two" and "twain," and the last part of which is related to "ten," with the compound literally meaning, "two tens," goes back to Indo European "dwoh/dwah/duwo," which meant "two." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "twaina," with the same meaning. This gave Old English "twegan," which was an old form of "two," masculine in grammatical terms, as English used grammatical gender back then. This later became "tweyne," before the modern version "twain." The second part goes back to Indo European "dekm," which meant "ten." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "tekhan," which then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "tien/tene" (depending upon dialect), which then became ten. The Old Germanic form "tekhan," also produced Old English "teg/tig," which was used to form compounds for the numbers from twenty up to ninety-nine. Old English had "twentig," and this then became the somewhat contracted form, "twenty." ^ The other Germanic languages have: German "zwanzig," Low German Saxon and Dutch "twintig," and West Frisian "tweintich;" while Danish "tyve," Icelandic "tuttugu," Norwegian "tjue," and Swedish "tjugo" are all more closely related "two;" thus to the first part of "twenty."

^ The loss of "g" in English words passed down to later times was quite common, as for example, "day" was once "dæg," "may" (verb) was once "mæg," and rain (noun) was once "regn." Compare these to the modern German forms, as German is a close relative of English: "Tag" (some Germanic dialects often used "t" rather than "d"), mög (the root form), and "Regen" (the capital letters on Tag and the Regen are due to the German spelling rule that all nouns are capitalized). Further, the "tig" endings morphed into the later "ty."

A Bit of Morocco: Taktouka

Morocco is a North African country that borders on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Morocco is an overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim nation, and Arabic* and Berber** are official languages, although French is commonly used in governmental business and within the business community, and Spanish is not uncommon. Both France and Spain controlled parts of Morocco until the mid 1950s; thus, the ability of large numbers of Moroccans to speak French or Spanish, besides Arabic, Berber, or both. This dish is referred to as a salad by some, and as a dip by others. There are variations in the recipe to this common Moroccan dish.   

Ingredients:

2 green bell peppers, roasted, skin removed, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon paprika
1 heaping teaspoon cumin
a pinch of cayenne pepper (or a squirt of hot pepper sauce)
pita bread

Heat the oven to 400 F. Wash and dry the peppers. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the peppers in the oven; roast the peppers, turning them about every 10 minutes, until they begin to darken (likely about 30 to 45 minutes). Let the peppers cool enough that they can be handled. Halve the peppers, remove the seeds and stem and peel off the skin (much of it is will easily pull off), then chop them. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Add the tomatoes, garlic, paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper; mix well. Let the mixture cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the chopped peppers; stir again. Add the parsley and cilantro and mix again. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Serve warm with toasted pita bread pieces or wedges. Can be refrigerated and served chilled. 

* Arabic is from the Semitic languages, the most common of which are Arabic, Amharic, Hebrew and Tigrinya. Arabic and Hebrew are commonly known in much of Europe and North America, but Amharic is spoken in a large part of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is also spoken in parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, another East African nation.

** The Berber language is a branch of the Hamito-Semitic languages. It is largely spoken in North Africa, with Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco having the largest numbers of Berber speakers.

WORD HISTORY:
Kasbah-This word, also spelled "casbah," goes back to transliterated Arabic "qasaba," which means, "fortified part of a city." Borrowed, sort of, by English in the 1700s, and later with the further meaning, "native part of a northwest African city," as opposed to parts of a city which had been more "Europeanized." The word is best known in English because of the late 1930's movie "Algiers," starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr, which spawned the later Warner Brothers' cartoon character "Pepe Le Pew," which was patterned after Boyer's character, complete with references to "the Casbah."    

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Six

WORD HISTORY: 
Shut-This word is related to "shoot" and "shot," both of which are English words from its Germanic roots. It goes back to Indo European "skeud," with the notion of, "to project, to throw, to thrust outward, to move quickly." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skeutanan," with the same general meanings. This then gave West Germanic "skutjanan," meaning, "to bolt/to lock" (from the notion of "thrust, project); thus also, "to enclose, to close off." This gave Old English "scyttan," meaning, "to close off with a bolt;" thus also, the figurative, "to finish something, to pay off." This then became "schutten/shutten," before the modern version. Forms in other West Germanic languages: German has "schützen," meaning "defend, protect," which developed from the idea of "closing off from danger, keeping out something harmful;" Low German Saxon "schütten," meaning, "to shut, to shut or lock in;" Dutch "schutten" meaning, "to lock;" Frisian "apparently" does not use a form in modern times, but it once had "sketta," meaning, "to lock, to close off."  

What's In A Name: Peter, Rebecca

Peter-This male name goes back to Greek "Petros," meaning "stone," as a translation of Aramaic* "Cephas," the name given to Simon by Jesus in the New Testament of the Bible. Latin took the name as "Petrus," and it spread to other European languages by way of Christianity. The feminine form is "Petra," meaning "rock," as in "rock formation." The Norman influence in England brought the form "Piers" into use, but the English form "Peter" rebounded after a century or two, and it has remained the main form in English. Other European forms: Italian "Pietro," Spanish "Pedro," German "Peter" and "Petrus," French "Pierre," Serbian and Croatian "Petar." "Pete" is a common shortened form of "Peter."  

Rebecca-This female name goes back to transliterated Semitic** "rbq," which had the notion, "to tie together, to bind;" thus further, "to join." This gave transliterated Hebrew "ribqah," meaning, "connection, joined, teamed," thus the basis for the name of the biblical wife of Isaac. The name was translated into transliterated Greek as "Rhebekka," which was taken by Latin as "Rebecca."  The name was not common in English until the 1500s. The spelling "Rebekka" is an alternative form in English, as well as a primary form in a number of languages, like Norwegian, Dutch and some others. "Becky" is a common shortening for "Rebecca."

* Aramaic is a Middle Eastern Semitic language (see next note) akin to Hebrew.

** Semitic is a language family centered in the Middle East. The most common modern Semitic languages are Arabic, Amharic, Hebrew and Tigrinya. Arabic and Hebrew are commonly known in much of Europe and North America, but Amharic is spoken in a large part of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is also spoken in parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, another East African nation. 


I consulted the following, so for more information on any of the names see, 1) "A World Of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003. 2) "A Greek-English Lexicon," by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Roderick McKenzie, and Eric Arthur Barber, published by Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1940. 3) Behindthename.com

WORD HISTORY: 
Rock-This is the noun^ for "stone." The ultimate origin is unknown. It appears in Old English in the compound "stanrocc" (literally "stone rock"), but meaning, "high pile of stones, column of stone, obelisk," with the "rocc" part a borrowing from Latin  "rocca." This was later reinforced and given staying power by Norman French "roche/roce," which was also from the Latin form.

^ The verb "rock," with the meaning, "to move something back and forth, to make something move in such a way," is an original English word from Germanic. It also came to be applied to the "rock" part of, "rock-n-roll." It is a completely different word from the noun form above. For the verb's history, it is included in this article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/02/german-question-part-seventy-eight.html

Country Pâté (Pâté de Campagne)

"Pâté" is simply the modern French word for "paste," and the old form of the French word was also spelled "paste." The word provided the basis for a dish of chopped or ground seasoned meat. Some pâté is spreadable, and other pâté is firmer and better suited for slicing, as in this recipe here, but whatever the texture, pâté is not a fat free food. When you get right down to it, this is actually a kind of meatloaf. It is "typically" served with some Dijon mustard, bread (sometimes toasted) and cornichons (small pickles). 

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pounds ground pork
1/2 pound slab bacon, chopped
1/2 pound pork liver, coarsely chopped (or chicken livers)
1/2 pound smoked ham, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Cognac
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound sliced bacon
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground mace
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream 
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)

Melt the butter in a skillet over low heat. Add the onion and cook until softened; let cool. Mix together the ground pork, the chopped slab bacon, the chopped pork liver, the chopped ham, garlic, softened onion, white pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, cloves, mace, thyme, Cognac, eggs, cream and bread crumbs. Mix very well. Cover and refrigerate for about 12 hours.

Line a loaf pan or terrine with parchment paper or foil, then line the dish with bacon strips, leaving any length of bacon slices to be folded over the top, once the meat is smoothed out in the pan/dish. Leave up to an inch of space between the top of the meat and the top of the pan.* Cover and top the meat with the folded over bacon and finish covering the top with lengthwise slices of bacon. Cover the pan/dish with a lid (if using a terrine) or foil. Put the loaf pan or terrine into a somewhat larger pan and add warm or hot water about 2/3 of the way up the loaf pan. If you are using a metal or heavy crock ware loaf pan or terrine, you can use hot tap water, but I used a glass loaf type dish, so I used just "warm" tap water, as hot water could crack the dish filled with the cold mixture. Put this all into a 350 F oven and let bake for 2 hours. Let the pâté cool, then place the loaf pan/terrine into the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.** Because I had the glass dish, I put a couple inches of warm water into the sink and I let the dish sit in the barely warm water for about 3 minutes, just to loosen it. You want the pâté to remain cold, not only for serving, but if it warms up, you will have fat running everywhere. You should be able to grasp the parchment paper or foil to make sure the pâté is loosened. Turn it out onto a plate/platter, cover with plastic wrap or foil and put it back into the refrigerator for about 20 to 30 minutes. Slice and enjoy. 

* I had just a little of the mixture left over and I just fixed it separately. 

** Some put a piece of foil or plastic wrapped cardboard over the top of the pâté and then they put canned food or other such things on the cardboard to act as a weight to compress the pâté while it is refrigerated. This step does help to firm the pâté even more, but it's up to you, as it isn't totally necessary.          


After the wrapping was removed, I returned the meat to the loaf dish for this photo. Say "Cheese!"

Served with some Dijon mustard, slices of baguette and some cornichons (small pickles)

WORD HISTORY:
Grind-This word has a somewhat difficult history, but it is distantly related to Latin "frendere," which meant, "to rub, to gnash the teeth." It is related to "ground," the noun meaning, "the Earth's surface, the soil making up the Earth's surface." It goes back to Indo European "ghrendh," which had the notion, "to rub, to rub together to break a substance down," with the extended meaning, "to crush." This gave Old Germanic "grindanan," with the same meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "grindan" (as well as a couple of compounds) meaning "to crush, to mill." This then became "grinden," before the modern form. The noun form was derived from the verb (circa 1000?), originally with the meaning, "a grinding or gnashing with the teeth." Until more recent times, if water power was not available, grinding grain required animal or human power to move the stones to crush the grain. This likely gave rise to the expression "the grind;" that is, "hard and boring work." Many of the modern Germanic languages use forms of "mill" and "to mill" for their words related to "grinding grain," but Dutch has the noun "grind" for "grit;" thus also, "gravel." I found a form in West Frisian, but whether this is a borrowing from Dutch or English, or an original form, is unclear. Swedish has "grand," meaning, "particle, dust particle, atom." German once had "grint," a noun meaning "skin ailment of flaky skin," which later progressed to mean, "crusty sore or wound," and also, "skin ailment of the scalp, ringworm (Kopfgrind)." Low German once had "grint," meaning "sand, grit," and Old Norse had "grand," meaning, "particles, grains, grit, pebbles," which also might have been borrowed by Low German as "Grand," but meaning "wheat bran." As can be seen, all forms tie in with "small items, particles of something."    

Hungarian Pancakes With Walnut Filling

This is a Hungarian pancake, a "palacsinta," called "Gundel Palacsinta," in Hungarian, after the dessert's inventor, Károly Gundel, a Budapest restaurant owner of the early to mid 20th Century.   

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

1 1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup sparkling mineral water (or club soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
oil/butter for frying

Filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 to 1 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts
1/4 cup chopped raisins
2 tablespoons rum
2 tablespoons grated orange peel

Chocolate Sauce:

4 ounces dark chocolate
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cocoa powder
1 tablespoon rum

Put the raisins and grated orange peel into the rum in a small bowl or cup about an hour before you will use them. In a bowl, mix the flour, the eggs, the salt and the sugar. Gradually stir or whisk in the milk to form a batter. Add the sparkling water (it will foam) and stir to mix. The batter should be neither too thick (like most cake batter), nor too thin, but rather like the thickness of gravy, so you can adjust the ingredients slightly to achieve that. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. In a sauce pan, heat the cream to just a simmer, then stir in the sugar until it is well dissolved. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Keep the heat very low, so that the mixture just barely simmers for a few minutes, stir frequently. The mix should form a paste-like consistency. In another pan, heat the cream over low heat. Add the chocolate and keep stirring until the chocolate has melted. KEEP THE HEAT LOW! Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and cocoa and then gradually whisk the mix into the chocolate, whisking constantly. Whisk in the rum. Let the chocolate sauce remain over VERY low heat, stirring or whisking occasionally, until it is nicely thickened.

Make sure to oil the pan you will use to fry the crepes (pancakes, palacsinta). I used an 8 inch nonstick fry pan with a little butter and oil mixture for each palacsinta. I used low heat, but some recipes I've seen used medium heat. Put enough batter into the pan to just coat the bottom. These should be pretty thin pancakes. Cook until lightly browned, then flip the pancake to the other side and do the same. Spread some walnut mixture (paste) onto half of each palacsinta, fold over the other half and then fold again. Drizzle some chocolate sauce over each palacsinta and serve while still warm.  


Spread some of the walnut paste onto half of each pancake ...

Fold the palacsinta and drizzle with some chocolate sauce ...

WORD HISTORY: 

Meander-This word goes back to a river in southwestern Asia Minor (now modern Turkey). The transliterated Ancient Greek name was "Maíandros," which was borrowed by Latin as "Maeander." English borrowed the word in the late 1500s as "meander," meaning "a winding path or course," seemingly initially for rivers and streams and then broadened to land courses. The verb developed about a decade later meaning, "to flow in a winding course," but it too then broadened beyond water, eventually even taking on a further meaning for humans or animals of "wandering about." 

Hungarian Cheese Filled Pancakes

"Palacsinta" (pronounced as if, "palah-cheen-tah") is the Hungarian word for pancake. From what I've found, these cheese filled pancakes are called "Túrós Palacsinta" (curd cheese pancake) in Hungarian. These are a sweet crepe-like pancake. If you can't find dry cottage cheese, you can use small curd cottage cheese.

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup sparkling mineral water (or club soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
oil/butter for frying (I used a mix of the two)
powdered sugar for dusting

Filling:

8 ounce package cream cheese (let warm to room temperature), mashed
2/3 cup dry cottage cheese (room temperature), mashed 
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Mix the flour, egg, milk, sugar, salt and sparkling water together into a batter. Heat a little oil in a small to medium frying pan over medium heat. Add enough batter to just cover the bottom of the pan and shake the pan to spread out the batter to form a relatively even thin layer. Fry the pancake until it gets a little brown, then flip it over and brown that side. You will have to watch the palacsinta carefully, as they will cook quickly, with the first side likely requiring only 25 to 30 seconds and the second side needing only 15 to 20 seconds, but the cooking time will naturally depend upon how thick you make the pancakes. Remove each fried pancake to a separate plate, then fry another pancake.

Make sure to let both the cream cheese and cottage cheese come to room temperature. In a bowl, mix the cheeses and other ingredients well. Spread a heaping tablespoon or two of the cheese filling into each pancake and then roll up the pancake. Serve the pancakes seam side down and dusted lightly with powdered sugar. Alternatively, to serve the pancakes warm, you can place the palacsinta on a baking sheet (parchment paper lined helps with any clean up), seam side down, and put them into a 350 F oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve immediately. 

I overfilled this palacsinta with cheese filling so it could be easily seen.

WORD HISTORY:
Callow-This word, meaning, "young, inexperienced," in modern times, goes back to Indo European "galwh," which meant, "bare, naked." There is disagreement over the next step in this word's history, with some believing there was an Old Germanic offshoot from the Indo European form, while others point to the Latin form derived from Indo European, and that this was borrowed into Germanic. I go with the latter, but it seems to me the borrowing was into the West Germanic branch of Germanic, as forms of the word were (and still are) in West Germanic, but not in the Germanic languages in general in the past.^ So, the Indo European form gave Latin "calvus," which meant, "bald." This gave West Germanic "kalwas," which meant, "bald, bare." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "calu," with the same meanings. This then became "calwe," before the modern version of "callow." The meaning gradually came to be applied (adjectivally) to young birds not yet old enough to have feathers. Later the meaning broadened to young living things in general; then, to the notion of "young," to "inexperienced." The other West  Germanic languages have: German and Low German Saxon "kahl" (bald, bare), West Frisian "keal(e)" (bald), Dutch "kaal" (bald, bare). (Karl/Charles II, the grandson of Charlemagne, and also a Frankish king and emperor, has been known to history as "Charles the Bald," which in German is, "Karl der Kahle," from Latin "Carolus Calvus.")

^ Present versions of a word don't necessarily tell much about the history of its ancestor, as words are frequently borrowed between languages; so, in this case, while English has always had a form of "callow," just knowing that English has "callow" in modern times does not mean it originally had it; thus, if Swedish had a form of "callow" in modern times, would not mean it always had it.  

Savory Hungarian Stuffed Pancakes: Hortobágyi Palacsinta

Slight update to "Word History" 8-14-22

This crepe-like stuffed pancake dish is called "Hortobágyi Palacsinta," in Hungarian. It is often made with veal, but other meat is not uncommonly used, especially ground pork, which is what I often use. Chicken is also commonly used, but it is not always ground chicken, but rather pieces of chicken are cooked as part of the stew, then the meat is taken off of the bones and chopped to the desired size. Of course, you can make the pancakes using a smaller skillet (like 6 inch) up to a large skillet (like 12 inch skillet), or something in between, which is what I do, as I generally use a 9 inch skillet. 

Ingredients:

Stew:

1 pound ground pork (or ground veal)
1 medium onion, chopped (smaller type pieces)
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes, with some of the juice
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
2/3 to 1 teaspoon salt
2/3 teaspoon pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons sweet paprika (preferably Hungarian, but use what you have)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil

sauce:

1 cup sour cream
1 cup broth from the meat preparation
3 to 4 tablespoons flour

for the crepes:

1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
oil or butter for frying

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and let cook for a couple of minutes, then add the ground meat. Keep breaking up the meat as it cooks with the onion, as you don't want large chunks of meat in the filling. When the onions are softened, add the tomatoes, the caraway, salt, pepper and paprika, and mix well. Add the broth and continue to simmer the stew for about 20 to 25 minutes. Strain the stew using a sieve.

Put the strained broth into a pan over medium low heat. Mix the flour with a little water and whisk it into the broth. Let the mixture cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the thickened broth from the heat and let it sit for a few minutes, then whisk in the sour cream.

In a skillet (preferably non-stick), add a little oil or melt some butter over low heat. In a bowl, mix together the flour, eggs, milk and salt. Add enough batter to the heated skillet to form a thin crepe-like pancake. Let the crepe cook until the liquid is no longer runny on top, then turn the crepe over. Both sides of the crepe should be lightly browned.  

Put a couple of tablespoons of the meat mixture into each pancake (crepe). Tuck in the sides and roll up the palacsinta around the filling. Serve the palacsinta with the sour cream sauce over them, or put the filled pancakes into a baking dish, pour the sour cream sauce over them and bake at 350 F for about 12 to 15 minutes, then serve.

 Served with a small green salad of kale, tomato and red onion ....

WORD HISTORY:
Hinder-The ultimate origin of this verb (and sometime adjective) is uncertain, "perhaps" going back to Indo European "kom," which meant, "beside, near, together, by;" but I'm not totally convinced of this. Whatever the source, "hinder" does go back to Old Germanic "hindronan," which meant, "to put to the back, to keep back, to keep to the rear." This gave Old English the verb "hindrian," which meant, "to hold back, to obstruct, to impede or prevent advance." Later condensed to "hinder." The adjective use shows reference to "behind, in the rear, in the back." Other Germanic relatives (verb forms): German has "hindern" (prevent, hamper, impede), Low German Saxon "hinnern" (stop, hold in, hold back), Dutch "hinderen" (hamper, hold back, keep back from), Swedish "hindra" (prevent, keep back, hold in). This was all I could find, but Old Norse seems to have had "hindra" and Frisian once had "hinderia." By the way, German has the derived noun, "Hindernis," meaning, "barrier, obstacle," with the obvious tie to the verb, and English has the noun, "hindrance," originally spelled "hinderance," which dates to the mid 1400s. It is one of those mixed words, with "hinder," an English word derived from Germanic, with the "ance" suffix from French, from Latin "antia/entia." 

Palatschinken, Austrian Pancakes

Generally, standard German uses "Pfannkuchen" as the word for "pancake" (the relationship between the German and the English words is clear), and "Eierkuchen" (literally, "egg cake") is another common word, but there are some other regional terms in German, like "Plinse" in Saxony (in eastern Germany), "Flädle" in Swabia (southwestern Germany), "Flädli" in Switzerland and "Palatschinke" in Austria. The fact that these terms exist and continue to be used is not uncommon in German, as dialect terms for specific dishes tend to show regional pride, and to be quite honest, there is no strong desire or societal pressure to change them. They are a part of the food history of these various regions."Palatschinken" are thinner crepe-like pancakes (but not super thin), spread with fruit jam (or sometimes with cheese) and then almost always rolled up, rather than folded over or folded into angles. The word is of Latin derivation, but came into German by way of Hungarian "palacsinta," likely with strong reinforcement from Czech "palačinka." The Habsburg family ruled Hungary, as well as Bohemia (heavily Czech populated, with a German minority in those times, but since the end of  World War Two "almost" exclusively Czech), for quite some time, and Vienna became a very cosmopolitan city from the extensive reach of the Habsburgs. 

Ingredients (4 to 6 Palatschinken, depending upon size):

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
pinch of salt
1 or 2 tablespoons sugar (optional) 
butter for cooking (about 4 tablespoons)
apricot preserves
powdered sugar for dusting

Beat the eggs. Mix the flour and milk well, then add the eggs and salt. Mix well. Drizzle in the melted butter, stirring to mix it in. I used 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, making sure to spread the batter around, so that each pancake will not be too thick (but they shouldn't be super thin, either). You can make the Palatschinken as big around as you like. Brown each pancake lightly on both sides. Spread some apricot preserves over each palatschinke, leaving a good border around the entire pancake. Roll up the pancakes and sprinkle on a little powdered sugar.

WORD HISTORY:
Pan-This word's ultimate origin is unknown. It comes from Germanic, perhaps the more specific West Germanic branch of Germanic (there "seem" to be no forms in the North Germanic or East Germanic branches long ago), but whether Germanic had a form from its parent language, Indo European (or even borrowed it from another language family), or whether Germanic borrowed the word into the West Germanic branch long ago (perhaps circa 400 AD?) from Latin, is the question. Latin had "patina," other forms of which were, "patna" and "panna," which meant, "dish, bowl, cooking dish, pan," a word that it had borrowed from Greek "patánē," which meant, "bowl, dish." Again, where Greek got the word is unknown. "A 'hollowed out' utensil or dish for serving or preparing food" seems to be the connecting meaning. Anyway, Old Germanic or West Germanic had "panna/panno," which meant, "pan." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "panne" (the ending 'e' would have been pronounced back then as "eh/ah"), and this later was shortened to just "pan." The other Germanic languages have: German "Pfanne," Low German Saxon "Pann," West Frisian "panne" (?), Dutch "pan." Swedish has "panna," meaning, "pan, kettle," but this is a borrowing from Low German a few hundred years ago. 

Fried Camembert

I first tried this dish about 40 years ago in Frankfurt, Germany, at the "Dippegucker Restaurant am Hauptbahnhof." * It is called "Gebackener Camembert" in German.** Camembert is a cheese made from cow's milk, with a creamy inside and a relatively soft edible rind, which is grayish or off white in color. Camembert is from Normandy in northwestern France, a region famous as the location of the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied France in June of 1944. Cherbourg and Caen are two of Normandy's important cities. It is also famous for William, Duke of Normandy, who sailed with an army from there across the English Channel to England in the latter part of 1066. England's King Harold was killed at the decisive battle of Hastings, thus making William the king of England.
 
Fried Camembert is used as an appetizer or even for a light lunch. In Germany and Austria it is often served with "Preiselbeeren;" that is, "lingonberries," which come in jars as a jam, but Americans can certainly use whole berry cranberry sauce, although lingonberry jam is not uncommon in stores anymore (it's often from Sweden).

Ingredients:

1  8 to 10 ounce round of Camembert, cut into 8 wedges   
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs 
1 cup fine bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Put the flour, the beaten eggs and the breadcrumbs into separate shallow bowls. Whisk the salt, pepper and paprika into the egg. Dip each cheese wedge into flour, then into the egg to coat, and then roll each in the bread crumbs. Repeat the process, flour, egg, breadcrumbs, so that the cheese is double coated. Heat about an inch or so of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Drop in a small piece of bread. If the bread is golden brown within about 15 seconds, the oil is ready. Put 4 coated Camembert wedges into the hot oil. You must watch the cheese carefully. In about 30 to 45 seconds, the wedges should be browned and ready to turn. Let it fry on the other side for about 15 to 25 seconds, or until nicely browned, which should not take more than 30 seconds, and likely no more than a 15 to 25 second range. Remove the cheese pieces to a plate with paper towels to drain excess oil. Fry the next four pieces. Serve hot, as the inside will be filled with creamy, runny, melted, delicious cheese. Serve with lingonberry jam or cranberry sauce on the side. A slice of toasted bread is another common  accompaniment. 

* For a little more information about my memories of the "Dippegucker Restaurant" and Frankfurt, here is the link to another article:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/03/memories-am-hauptbahnhof-frankfurt.html

** In this case, "gebacken" is the adjectival use of the participle form of the verb, "backen," the close relative of English "bake." Most often "backen" also means, "to bake," but it can mean "to fry," at times, "more so" in the southern German speaking regions. In order to clarify the meaning of "bake," German speakers may use, "im Ofen backen" (to bake in the oven, and yes, "Ofen" is the close relative of English "oven.").

WORD HISTORY:
Heart-This word is related through Indo European to "core," a word of Latin derivation borrowed by English from French. It goes back to Indo European "ker(d)," which meant, "heart." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "herton," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "heorte," which meant, "heart," and figuratively, "will, spirit, courage." This then became "herte," before the modern spelling. Forms are common throughout the Germanic languages as: German "Herz," Low German Saxon "Hart," West Frisian "hert," Dutch "hart," Danish "hjerte," Norwegian "hjerte," Icelandic "hjarta," Swedish "hjärta." By the way, the expression, "to know or learn something by heart," comes from the idea long ago that the heart was the center of intelligence and, thus, memory and emotion, with the emotion part still expressed to this day by "hearts" signifying love and, usually, good thoughts and deeds, as in, "John donated his pay this week to the family who lost everything in the fire. He has a big heart."