Swiss Glazed Gingerbread Cookies: Basler Leckerli

"Leckerli," which is also spelled "Läckerli" and "Läggerli," is from the German verb "lecken," a close cousin to English "(to) lick." This produced the adjective "lecker," meaning, "delicious," which then produced the noun form "Leckerli," with the "li" ending being a common Swiss German dialect diminutive. "Leckerli" can be translated as, "tidbit," and while the standard German word for "tidbit" is "Leckerbissen," the term "Leckerli" is known in many German-speaking regions beyond Switzerland as a kind of "gingerbread spiced cake or cookie" developed in Basel, which is about 80% German speaking. German regions are famous for gingerbread in many forms, including gingerbread houses, gingerbread men and gingerbread horses or other animals. There are various regional names for gingerbread or specific types of gingerbread in German: Lebkuchen (heavily associated with Nuremberg), Printen (strongly associated with Aachen), Lebzelten (primarily used in Bavaria and Austria) and Pfefferkuchen, although there are likely even others. Leckerli are common during the Christmas holiday season. While almost all of the recipes I've seen for Leckerli are virtually the same, one difference is that some recipes add eggs to the dough, but the recipe I've had and used for many years does not use eggs at all. You can add some freshly grated orange or lemon peel to the glaze if you'd like, but that's not typical, although I've done so on occasion, just to add variety.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup candied lemon peel, diced
1/3 cup candied orange peel, diced
(optional) 2 tablespoons Kirsch or a not too sweet cherry brandy*
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup blanched almonds, chopped

Glaze:

3 tablespoons water
(optional) 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange or lemon peel 
1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

Heat the honey and sugar in a small sauce pan over low to medium heat and stir until the sugar melts, then remove it from the heat and set aside. In a bowl or mixing bowl mix the flour and baking powder together well. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the fairly cooled honey/sugar mixture, and mix into a dough (it will be thick and heavy). Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes; in the meantime, heat the oven to 350 F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.** Put the dough onto the baking sheet and sprinkle a little flour onto it, and put some flour onto a rolling pin. Roll the dough out in all directions on the baking sheet. You can flour your hands to finalize the dough shape. It's not really a good idea to press the dough up the sides of the baking sheet like a pizza, as these edges will become too hard when it bakes. The dough should not be paper thin or very thick, but rather like the thickness of a doubled layer of dough for a typical pie (remember, it will puff up some during baking). Bake the Leckerli for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned.*** While the Leckerli bake, in a small sauce pan heat the water (with lemon or orange peel, if using) over low heat, then stir in the powdered sugar. Turn to VERY low heat and let cook just below a simmer for about 5 or 6 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking or scorching. Remove the Leckerli from the oven and cut into rectangles, squares or diamond shapes. I spoon the glaze over the top of the Leckerli, but you can also use a brush to give the tops a coating.        

* "Kirschwasser" (literally German for, "cherry water") is a type of clear, unsweetened cherry brandy common in southwestern Germany and over the border in to the German-speaking areas of Switzerland, which comprise about two-thirds of the Swiss lands. The brandy is also called by the shortened form "Kirsch." It is available in many liquor outlets in the U.S., both in imported and domestic brands. Most cherry brandy is not a substitute for Kirsch(wasser), because it is "usually" sweetened; sometimes, heavily so.

** You can use just about any type of baking sheet or even make the Leckerli round by using a round pizza pan. The thing to remember is, you can use a larger baking sheet than you'll need. The dough doesn't have to fit into every part of the sheet. I used a 17 x 11 baking sheet, and while I didn't measure the actual rolled out dough, it was "probably" about 13 x 11, just to give you an idea. Notice I said "probably" and "about," just to be precise. hahahaha

*** Baking time will naturally depend upon the thickness of the dough, so just check the Leckerli after about 15 minutes to see how things are going, then check again about every 3 minutes. The thing is, you don't want to over bake the Leckerli by much, or some parts will become too hard.
   

WORD HISTORY
Hasp-This noun for a "type of hinged fastener for a door or window," and also "a spindle for yarn," has an uncertain origin, with some connecting it to the Indo European source of words having to do with "taking, seizing, grasping, holding," and a hasp (fastener) uses an inserted pin or lock to secure whatever is being locked, and a spindle "takes" yarn or thread. Others have connected it to the Indo European source of words relating to "bend, arch, crimp," as a hasp is "hinged" (bends/swings/moves back and forth) and it has a hoop or ring (bent metal) through which a pin or locking device is inserted. Even an Old Germanic form is unclear, although forms of the word seem to go well back in history in Germanic languages. Old English (Anglo-Saxon) had "hæpse," and meaning, "fastener," and a verb form, "hæpsian," meaning, "to fasten with a hasp," but in later Old English the noun became "hæsp," with the p and s swapped places. This later became "haspe/hespe," before the modern version. The "spindle for yarn" meaning seems to have developed in the 1300s, perhaps from previous Old Norse speakers in northern England, as Old Norse had "hespa," meaning, "door hook, door latch," but also, "a specific amount of wool or yarn taken from a spindle/reel." In modern times, besides English "hasp," other forms in Germanic languages: German "Haspe" (hasp, fastener), German, Low German, Dutch and West Frisian have "Haspel" (spindle, reel, winch),  Icelandic has "hespa" (clasp, fastener; perhaps also, "spindle/reel," but that meaning may now be antiquated), Danish "haspe" (hasp), Norwegian "hespe" (reel of thread), and Swedish "hasp" (hasp).     

Butternut Squash, Apple & Pear Curry

You can easily make this on the stove top or in a slow cooker. If you like some "kick," you can add some fresh chili pepper or cayenne pepper. To thicken the curry, I use some cornstarch and water. "Cornstarch" is the North American term, but in England and other parts of Britain and many former British colonies, the term used is "cornflour."

Ingredients:

3 to 4 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (1 medium to large butternut squash)
1 1/2 cups chopped apple (you can leave the peel on, if you'd like)
1 1/2 cups chopped pear (should be firm, not soft, and you can leave the peel on, if you'd like)
2 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped or sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1/3 cup chopped green onions (including most of the green)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2/3 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
(optional) 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and/or 1 fresh red or green chili pepper, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water, mixed very well 
1 can coconut milk (about 13.5 to 14 ounces, depending upon brand)
serve with rice

Put all ingredients, except the cornstarch/water mixture and the coconut milk, into a slow cooker or a heavy bottomed pan. If using a slow cooker, set on "high" for one hour, then turn to low and let the curry cook for another three hours, or until the squash, in particular, is just about tender. You don't want the squash, apple and pear pieces falling apart mushy though, and the dish will cook a little more, so the squash will be completely tender by then. If cooking on the stove top, set the heat to low and cover the pan from the beginning; otherwise, the liquid will evaporate, but just check the curry occasionally, stir it a bit, then replace the lid. When the squash is tender, stir in the cornstarch mixture and allow the curry to thicken, then stir in the coconut milk and let the curry heat up completely again. Serve with rice.

WORD HISTORY:
Rural-This word is related through Indo European to "room," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Rural" goes back to Indo European "reu/rew/row," with the basic notion of "open space." This gave Latin the noun "rus," meaning, "open land, countryside, farm land." Its genitive form was "ruris," which produced the Latin adjective "ruralis" and meaning, "of, or relating to, the countryside." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "rural," with the same meaning. English borrowed the word in the first quarter of the 1400s.

Chinese Red Braised Pork Belly: Hong Shao Rou

This is a pretty common dish in China, but there are variations in the dish. This was the first time I made this braised pork belly, and I must have looked over 20 recipes before I put together the recipe below. For those unaware, the pork belly used is raw, NOT cured and smoked, as that would make it "bacon," as this is the typical meat used for bacon. I ended up choosing to use brown sugar, but some Chinese use regular sugar, which they then caramelize during the preparation process, while other Chinese use a type of reddish/brownish rock sugar. A few recipes use cornstarch as a thickener for the sauce, but most recipes let the sauce thicken by natural reduction, and some cooks are adamant that cornstarch should never be used in this dish. The sauce gives the pork belly pieces a reddish or reddish, brownish tint that gives the dish part of its name. This is not really supposed to be a "spicy hot" dish, but some recipes do use a little dried hot chili flakes. I almost always have fresh hot chilies in the house, so I actually used a fresh chili when I made this, but use what you have, or you can even leave it out. I decided to go ahead and publish this recipe now, rather than wait until I tried any variation, like using regular sugar, but I thought you could have some fun making this yourself, so here we go. It is not hard to make. Ah, by the way, if you use cornstarch to thicken the sauce, I won't tell, but I want you to do me a favor, though... Ah, I take that back, no quid pro quo!
     
Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds pork belly, cut into 2 to 3 inch cubes/chunks, per your preference*
2 cups water 
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 inch piece of ginger, chopped or sliced (thinly)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 scallions (green onions), cut into about 2 inch pieces
10 to 12 Sichuan peppercorns
1 or 2 dried red chili(es) (or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes) 
2 star anise
1/2 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
3 tablespoon dark soy sauce
3 tablespoon light soy sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar (this is in addition to the 2 tablespoons listed above)
serve with rice

Bring the water to a boil in a skillet or pan. Put the pork belly pieces into the boiling water and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes. Remove the pork, but save the now pork flavored broth. Heat a large skillet (or wok) over low heat, then add the oil and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Let the sugar melt into the oil and color the oil. Put the pork belly pieces into the oil and saute lightly for a few minutes, turning the pork to coat all pieces with the sugary oil. You want to turn and stir the pork carefully, so that the pieces don't come apart. Add the rice wine vinegar, the light and dark soy sauces, the saved hot pork broth; gently stir to mix. Now add the chopped ginger, chopped garlic, green onion pieces, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chilies, star anise and piece of cinnamon stick and bring the whole thing to a boil, then reduce the heat to keep a steady simmer. Cover the skillet/pan/wok with a lid or foil and let the pork belly braise until it is completely tender, including the layer of skin; this will likely take "about" an hour and a half (periodically remove the lid/cover to check the pork belly). Remove the lid or foil and add the remaining 4 tablespoons brown sugar. Do not cover again, but let the sugar dissolve and let the liquid evaporate a bit to concentrate the flavors and to let the liquid become more of a sauce. Serve with rice.

* Because pork belly has layers of meat and fat, with skin covering one side, it can be difficult to cut. If you have a nice sharp knife, you can easily cut the pork belly yourself, but if you don't have such a knife, you can try putting the pork belly into your freezer for a few minutes to help "tighten" it, and make it easier to cut, but you don't want it to actually freeze. Of course, you can also get your butcher to cut the pork belly into pieces for you.

WORD HISTORY:
Spade-This word is distantly related to "spoon," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "spatula," a word English borrowed from Latin, which had gotten the base word from Greek. It goes back to the Indo European root "speh" (flat piece of wood) and an elongated form "speh-deh," which had the notion of "flat piece of wood for doing work." This gave Old Germanic "spadon," meaning, "tool for digging up the ground, a spade." This gave Old English "spadu," with the same meaning. This then became "spade," with the ending "e" pronounced "eh/ah," before the modern pronunciation. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German "Spaten" (once spelled "spade," but pronounced "spawdeh"),^ Low German "Spaad," Dutch "spade" (pronounced "spawdeh"), West Frisian "spa" (?), North Frisian "spade" (as listed by the Brothers Grimm), Danish, Norwegian, Swedish "spade," Icelandic "spaði" (ð=th).

^ It's unclear whether the German form was a progression from Old High German or a borrowing from Old Saxon (Low German). I cannot find a form in Old High German, although that doesn't necessarily mean there wasn't one, but even the Brothers Grimm wrote that spade was a "fremd" word in Old High German. "Fremd" means "strange, unfamiliar, foreign," and English once used the same word.   

Refrigerator Chocolate Pie

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cookie pie crust or shortbread pie crust
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour  
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk or semisweet chocolate bits (broken up chocolate bar, pieces shaved off of a chocolate block)
3 tablespoons strong black coffee  
(Optional) 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cans milk (18 ounces total, evaporated milk)
whipped cream or topping for serving
(Optional) chocolate shavings for serving

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter over low heat and stir in the flour to form a roux. Keep stirring the roux to prevent browning or burning and allow the roux to cook for about 90 seconds. Stir in the evaporated milk a little at a time (keep stirring) until it is all incorporated and the mixture thickens. Add vanilla and coffee and stir to mix in, then gradually add the chocolate, whisking until it melts and all is blended into a thickened pudding (it will thicken even more and truly set when refrigerated). Pour into pie shell, chill. Top each serving with whipped cream sprinkled with chocolate shavings, if desired.

WORD HISTORY:
Lath-This word is pronounced in two distinct ways among English speakers: England and the UK in general as, "lahth/lawth," with the "a" of father, and American "lath" with the more nasalized "a," as in "cat." "Lath" is related to "lattice," a word English borrowed from French, which acquired it from Germanic Frankish (see "note" below). The ultimate origin of "lath" is unclear, but Old Germanic (or West Germanic?) had "laþþo," which meant, "(a) board, plank, beam." The "þ" is called a thorn and in modern times is equivalent to "th," although it is still used in Icelandic. "Laþþo" gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "læþþe, which then became "laþþe," as well as the contracted form "lætt." These meant, "wooden support;" thus, "beam, strip of wood used for support." The spelling changed to "lath" in about 1300 (?). Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Latte" (lath, fence paling, horizontal pole/beam of a soccer goal), Low German "Latt" ^ (long board), Dutch "lat" (lath, slat). I could not find a form in modern West Frisian, although there were earlier forms. I found no forms in the North Germanic languages, neither in modern times nor in earlier times. This makes me wonder whether this word is a development in West Germanic rather than in earlier Old Germanic. (NOTE: French absorbed a form of the word from Germanic Frankish, which was passed to Latin and from Latin to other Latin-based languages.)  

^ Low German is not a standardized language, and there are numerous dialects; as such, there is also "Latte" in Low German, which might be a carry over from the Low German of a few hundred years ago when that same spelling was used, or it could be the influence of standard German, which, as noted above, uses that form.        

Austro-German Salt Rolls: Salzstangen/Salzstangerl

There are many regional names for bread rolls in German, with the standard German word "Brötchen," a diminutive word literally meaning "(a) little or small bread," serving as a general term. Rolls of various shapes and sizes sprinkled with or rolled in salt and caraway seeds are common in a number of German (broad sense) areas. The relatively narrow and rod-shaped rolls with salt and caraway are called "Salzstangen" by some Germans and "Salzstangerl" by some others, primarily in Austria.* Both terms can also be used for "pretzel sticks." The "Stange" part of both words is related to English "sting," and English once had the noun "steng," derived from the earlier form of "sting," and it essentially meant what German "Stange" still means; that is, "rod, bar, pole," but it is not hard to see how English developed "stinger" from the idea of a "rod or pole that punctures."

I used a mixture of bread flour and all purpose flour, but you can certainly use just all purpose flour.

Ingredients (8 rolls):

1 cup bread flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 packet (1/4 ounce/7g) dry yeast (quick rise is fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt**
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
salt, coarse (or pretzel salt)
caraway seed
1 beaten egg to hold the salt and caraway seeds

Mix together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Melt the butter and mix with the milk, then add this to the flour mix. Mix this all very well and knead the dough for several minutes until it is smooth. Roll the dough into a ball and cover with a towel or paper towel and let the dough sit for about 35 to 45 minutes in warm place. Roll the dough out into a circular form, like making a pizza, but then cut the dough into 8 equal segments. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take one of the eight "pizza slices" of dough and roll it out by rolling from the wider part toward the pointed end, so that the dough is pretty thin, like you would think of pie crust or noodles. Roll up the dough, again beginning at the wide end. Place the dough on the baking sheet and continue with the remaining 7 rolls. Leave about an inch of space between the rolls. Beat the egg and brush some of the egg onto the tops of rolls, then sprinkle the rolls with some coarse salt and some caraway seeds. Cover the baking sheet with a towel or paper towel and let the dough sit for a half hour. Heat the oven to 350 F and bake the rolls for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until they are lightly browned.      

* The "erl" suffix is a pretty common form for diminutives in parts of Bavaria and Austria.

** Remember, you will be adding salt to the outside of the rolls. 

WORD HISTORY:
Tote-The origins of this word are not known, and even its beginning in English is not totally clear. It was borrowed by English circa 1675 "likely" from its Low German cousin "Tute" (now "Tuut"), which means "bag," but it "could" be related to "toot," from the idea of a horn being used as a container, and we still have the phrase, "horn of plenty," with a horn filled with various food products, and the Low German word originally meant "a cone shaped form of container," and there are connections even in Icelandic, a language to this day not all that far removed from its ancestor  Old Norse. German has "Tüte," but this was a borrowing from Low German in the 1500s, and it means "cone shaped holder/container," which then also broadened, as in Low German, to "bag." By the way, in German, an "Eistüte" is an ice cream cone. On the other hand, "some" believe "tote" to have come to English from an African language, where some similar words had similar meanings like "pick up, pile up, load."  

Egg Foo Yung

Egg Foo Yung seemingly developed as a part of the cuisine of Canton in China, and it came to the United States in the 1800s with Chinese immigrants. The dish is really a type of omelet (also spelled omelette) and it is often, but not always, served in the U.S. with a sauce or gravy spooned over the top, which is something that became common in Chinese-American cuisine. Believe it or not, before I made Egg Foo Yung myself, I only recall having eaten it one time in my life, and that was at a Chinese restaurant buffet. I've used no meat in this recipe, but you can easily do so by using some chopped up ham or precooked pork or chicken (a good way to use leftovers). If you like a "kick" to your food, mix in some chopped hot chili pepper with the bell pepper. Make sure to drain the bean sprouts well, or they will add lots of liquid to the mixture (I actually squeeze them in my hands to get rid of excess water). Because of the chicken stock, the oyster sauce and the soy sauce, the gravy will have a salty taste, so you really don't need to add much salt to the actual omelet mixture itself.     

Ingredients:

8 eggs
1/3 cup chopped green onions/scallions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup carrot shavings
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (red, orange, yellow, green or some mixture)
1/3 cup beans sprouts (drained and dried)
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
vegetable oil or peanut oil for frying

(for the sauce:)
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 inch pieces ginger, peeled and grated
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

For the sauce, in a sauce pan, add the chicken stock, the oyster sauce, the soy sauce and the ginger. Bring to a gentle boil over low to medium heat and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep the sauce at a simmer while gradually whisking in the cornstarch/water mixture. Let the sauce thicken, then remove from the heat and cover. Chop/cut the vegetables and assemble the ingredients for the omelets. In a skillet (a non stick skillet is good for this), begin to heat some oil over medium heat.* In a large bowl, add the eggs and cornstarch and whisk until the whites and yolks are well combined. Add the other ingredients and stir to mix and distribute everything. Use a ladle to put the egg mixture into the hot oil of the skillet. Let the eggs begin to set and you can reduce the heat a bit. When the bottom half of the omelet is nicely browned, carefully (they're kind of fragile) turn the omelet over to cook on the other side. Be careful not to burn the omelets, as the outsides should be browned, but the insides should be somewhat airy and fluffy, and there should still be some crispness to the vegetables, not mushiness. Unlike the traditional omelets of the "western" world, these omelets are not folded over. Serve with some of the brown gravy spooned over the top.

* I've found the using a 5 or 6 inch non stick skillet for Egg Foo Yung works very well. I add about 2/3 teaspoon vegetable oil for each omelette. The small size of the skillet keeps the omelets uniform in size and appearance, but you can also use a larger skillet and cook more than one omelet at a time.

Two omelets per serving is likely better, but I found that in doing so, it is difficult to see in a picture, so I used one omelet with some sauce for the photo.

WORD HISTORY:
Logic-This word is related to a number of English words, including to the last part of "apology," a word borrowed by English from Latin, which had borrowed it from Greek. "Logic" goes back to Indo European "leg," which had the notion "to gather, to collect, to pick;" thus also, "select, choose," with the extended form "lego/logo,"meaning, "to pick out/choose words;" thus, "to speak." This gave transliterated Greek the noun "logos," meaning, "something said, something uttered;" thus also, "speech, an expressed thought/expressed thoughts," thus a further meaning of "thoughtfulness, reason, rationality." This produced the transliterated Greek adjective "logikós," meaning, "of or about speech or reasoning," which gave Greek the noun, "logikē," meaning, "logic;" that is, "rational thought, reasoning." This was borrowed by Latin as "logica," which passed to Latin-based Old French as "logique." English borrowed the word from French initially as "logike"^ in the mid 1300s meaning, "way of thinking things through, use of rationality to determine conclusions;" in every day usage, "the process of determining what makes sense and also that which one determines to make sense."  

^ While I could not find the evidence for this, I "wonder" if this spelling is from the Anglo-French dialect that developed from the Norman dialect and other French dialects carried to England beginning in late 1066, and which was then influenced by French from the Continent over time.       

Noodles Romanoff

Back in the 1960s "Noodles Romanoff" was a fairly popular dish, because there was a boxed version that was mass marketed by General Mills under its "Betty Crocker" brand and there may have even been other brands too. There are variations in recipes, but they all have the same basic idea; that is, creamy noodles and cheese. Apparently "Noodles Romanoff" was invented at "Romanoff's," a restaurant in Beverly Hills in suburban Los Angeles, and thus had nothing to do with Russian royalty, although the restaurant's owner, who went by the name "Michael Romanoff," did nothing to discourage patrons from believing the dish was somehow connected to the long ruling and last Russian imperial family. In truth, the only connection to "royalty" was in the sense that many of Hollywood's "royalty" patronized the restaurant, thus promoting both the place and the dish. The owner was actually born in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, but for a time he successfully fooled many into believing him to be a cousin of the last Tsar.     

Ingredients:

10 to 12 ounce package egg noodles (I used wide noodles, but use whatever you prefer)
3 tablespoons butter 
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 to 4 tablespoons canned (evaporated) milk 
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup grated Romano cheese (or Parmesan)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cook noodles in salted water until "almost" tender, then drain well (they will cook briefly again soon). Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a sauce pan over low heat, then add the onion and garlic. Cook over low heat until softened. Keep the heat low, and add the Worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt, sour cream and milk. Mix together well, then add the drained noodles, and then most of the cheese. Gently mix everything to get the noodles well coated with the sour cream mixture. Add the last tablespoon of butter, let it melt and sprinkle the small amount of remaining cheese on top.    
     

WORD HISTORY: 
Vapor-This word goes back to Latin "vapor" meaning, "steam, heat, breath," but where Latin got the word is unknown. This passed into Latin-based Old French as "vapor," which became "vapour" in the French dialect established by the Normans in England. English borrowed the word as "vapour" circa 1400, with likely reinforcement from Latin. American English changed the spelling to "vapor." The meaning of "mist" is from about 1800 (?). The verb form "vaporize" developed from the noun in the first half of the 1600s, meaning, "to convert liquid into vapor, to become vapor," but also initially, "to smoke tobacco," which was still a relatively new activity in Britain in those times, but that meaning died out.    

Bhutanese Chilies & Cheese: Ema Datshi

Bhutan, pronounced "boo-tawn," is a country located in the Himalayan Mountains. When India was a colony of Britain,* Bhutan was heavily tied to British foreign policy, but it remained independent in domestic rule. When India gained independence, which resulted in Pakistan becoming a separate country,** India assumed the same role in foreign policy with Bhutan, until Bhutan finally achieved total control of its own affairs. The people of Bhutan LOVE hot chili peppers, so don't be surprised by the amount of chilies used in this dish, which is a stew and it is one of the national dishes of Bhutan. You can certainly tone down the heat some by using fewer chilies, or by substituting bell pepper for some of the hot chilies, but to be quite honest, if you don't like much heat, this dish is not for you, and it IS SUPPOSED TO BE HOT. I use a mixture of green and red chilies. The first time I made this, while I love chilies, I thought I would likely have to call the fire department to extinguish the fire in my mouth, but it wasn't nearly as hot as I had thought it would be. Cooking chilies often reduces some of the heat, and that's what happens with this dish, but it IS HOT. When seeding and slicing hot chilies, use rubber gloves to protect your hands. In Bhutan they tend to use homemade yak cheese, but I checked with my neighbors, and nobody had a yak; so, after looking over some 20 recipes for this dish, I found that a mix of blue cheese (I like Gorgonzola piccante) and feta works well, but I've used cheddar or Muenster as the second cheese too. I'm hoping by the next time I make this dish, someone nearby will have a yak. 
  
Ingredients:

2 inch piece of ginger, chopped
2 cups hot green or red chilies (or mixed), seeded and cut into lengthwise strips
1 1/2 cups sliced onion strips 
zest of 1/2 lemon, grated
juice of 1/2 lemon  
1 teaspoon ground or crushed Sichuan peppercorns (or ground black pepper/crushed peppercorns)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (or sweet paprika for no heat)
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes, they can be juicy (or use tomato puree)
1/3 cup water (if needed, or use less than 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup mixed pieces Gorgonzola cheese and feta cheese
2 tablespoons vegetable oil + 1 tablespoon butter (or 3 tablespoons ghee/clarified butter)

Heat the oil/butter in a skillet or sauce pan, then add the ginger and the ground turmeric and saute for just a minute or so. Reduce the heat to low, then add the onion strips and saute gently for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent browning. Add the chili peppers and saute a further two or three minutes, again stirring to prevent browning of the ingredients. Add the lemon zest, peppercorns and ground cayenne pepper. Cover and cook over very low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the chilies and onions are softened, but not mushy. Add the tomatoes, lemon juice and water (if needed). Cook another 5 minutes (still very low heat), then cover and cook 5 more minutes. Add and stir in the cheeses, cover again until the cheeses melt; stir to mix everything well. The dish should not be like soup, but rather it should just have some flavored liquid. Serve with rice. "Traditionally" this dish is served with red rice in Bhutan. You can find red rice in some supermarkets, or grocery stores with products from the Indian Subcontinent. For Clevelanders, it is available at the West Side Market (I'm sure other places have it too, and there is actually a little grocery store operated by a Bhutanese family not terribly far from me here in Cleveland). You can also use brown rice, or white rice.    

* In the times of British Colonial India, the areas comprising modern Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of India.

** Pakistan became a separate country with two separate and distinct geographical regions about a thousand miles apart comprising the nation. By the early 1970s, the eastern region became the separate nation of Bangladesh.

I had the Chilies & Cheese with red rice ... 

WORD HISTORY:
Mother-This word is distantly related, through Indo European, to "maternal," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French. It goes back to Indo European “mater/mehter," meaning "a female who bears offspring," and the offshoots of Indo European have given similar words to most of the modern European languages. The Old Germanic offshoot was “moder,” which then gave Anglo-Saxon “modor,” which then became "moder." The modern spelling with "th" didn’t evolve until the 1500s. The basic form is used throughout the other Germanic languages, as German has “Mutter,” Low German Saxon “Moder” (also "Mudder" in special cases), Dutch has “moeder," Danish has "mor," but also "moder," Swedish has “moder,” but also "mor," while Norwegian has “mor” (the "mor" forms are simply contracted forms) and Icelandic has "móðir" (essentially =mothir). Frisian once had "moder," which then became various forms in Frisian dialect (moer, Muur, Mooter), but modern West Frisian, the largest of the modern Frisian dialects, has "mem." Whether this is some form of the earlier "moder," or a development like English "mum" (British English), "mom" in American English (both from "mamma/mama/momma/mommy"), I don't know.  

Get Smart Episode: Tequila Mockingbird

This episode, first broadcast in January of 1969, has long been a favorite of mine, primarily because of two scenes, both of which brought me to hysterical laughter (I'll note them below). Back in the 1960s, while Oscar Beregi was not known to many people by name, his face WAS well known. Beregi was born in Hungary and almost always played "bad guy" roles, often Nazis, although in real life, Beregi was Jewish. Don Adams, whose real family name was "Yarmy," was also of Hungarian Jewish descent on his father's side, but he was raised Roman Catholic after his Irish and German mother's religion. I'm pretty certain I once read that his brother, Richard Yarmy, was raised Jewish, so the family was raised by tolerant parents who were willing to compromise. They also had a sister, Gloria (Yarmy) Burton. Richard appeared in two or three episodes of "Get Smart," and Gloria was one of the writers for two or three episode scripts for the series. Further, their father appeared briefly in an episode and Robert Karvelas, who played Larabee, was their cousin from their mother's side of the family.

This episode's title is a play on the book and movie, "To Kill A Mockingbird," both very popular during the 1960s, but it also uses the notion of "The Maltese Falcon," the famous Humphrey Bogart film. Last, but not least, it also has elements of a parody of the Clint Eastwood film, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," which had been released less than a year before the filming of this episode. One other thing, Max and 99 had been married in an earlier episode, so they are husband and wife in this episode. I note this, because in those days, a couple of the scenes, including the ending, would likely have caused great hand wringing and promises of damnation and hell if the two characters hadn't been married. Even married couples were still shown on television as sleeping in separate beds. So at one point in this episode, it is made clear that Max and 99 are "Mr. & Mrs. Smart." Leaving the Middle Ages has been, and still is, difficult for some people... hell, leaving caves has been difficult for some.            

Cast:
Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 -----------Don Adams
Agent 99 -------------------------------Barbara Feldon
Edward Platt ---------------------------the Chief
Dietrick---------------------------------Oscar Beregi
Ignacio Valdez ------------------------Lewis Charles
Esperanza ------------------------------Poupee Bocar
Larabee ---------------------------------Robert Karvelas  

"Esperanza" is a CONTROL secret agent in Mexico. She gets hold of a valuable ceramic figure called "the Tequila Mockingbird." She works in a cantina (bar/saloon) as a dancer and castanet player. In one of the "special devices" used in this series, the castanets are used by the agent to send a message to CONTROL headquarters in Washington DC, where another set of castanets receives the message. As she performs her routine in the cantina, chief of police Ignacio Valdez and a KAOS agent named Dietrick discuss how to get the Tequila Mockingbird, but they are unaware of Esperanza's involvement with the Mockingbird at that moment. Dietrick has promised Valdez $500,000 for the valuable ceramic bird.* As the two men sit and listen to Esperanza, Valdez taps on the table to the castanets and Dietrick picks up that the sequence is a message. In a brief, but hilarious scene, Dietrick says to Valdez, "She's sending a message with those castanets, do you know who she works for?" Valdez asks, "Western Union?" (To this day when I hear this exchange, I can't help but chuckle and to think back all of those years ago and how that scene struck me so funny.)**  Of course Dietrick was looking for Valdez to answer, "CONTROL," and he orders Valdez to kill Esperanza.

Esperanza is killed before she can transmit where she hid the Tequila Mockingbird, so the Chief assigns Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 to go to Mexico and to find and bring back the Tequila Mockingbird. 99 uses the name Rosita Delgado, and she is hired at the cantina as the replacement for Esperanza. Max is sent as a down and out doctor, Earl Lybecker, and he arrives by burro rented from "Hernandez Rent-a-Buro." He quickly meets both Valdez and Dietrick, but then he gets into 99's room through the window. 99 is preparing for her opening performance, but the two find a clue that had been left behind by Esperanza when she had the room. The clue is a small ax with a red "w" on the handle. After Max leaves, 99 determines that the clue means the red candle (red 'w' + ax= red wax) on one of the barroom tables holds the secret to the Tequila Mockingbird's location.

99 goes out into the barroom to perform her songs. Max is seated at the table with the red candle, with Dietrick and Valdez standing nearby, and Dietrick has received a telegram telling him the real identity of Max and 99. In another hilarious scene, as 99 sings and dances, she tries to signal to Max to look at the candleholder, but he simply mimics the gestures she makes of pointing to the candle. Valdez too is caught up in 99's singing and dancing, and he doesn't get the signal she is giving to Max, but Dietrich sees what she is doing. 99 finally picks up the candle to light Max's cigarette, after which she turns the candleholder over to expose Esperanza's message that "the bird is in the fountain," located just outside the cantina. Max dashes outside as Dietrick gets the candleholder and sees the message too. Max gets the Tequila Mockingbird out of the fountain, but then Dietrick and Valdez approach. A "Mexican standoff" ensues, as the townspeople and 99 look on, and a man takes a siesta as the next move is awaited by the others. Dietrick wants the Tequila Mockingbird, and he no longer needs Valdez to help him get it, so he sees Valdez as expendable. Valdez now sees a chance to make a lot of money, and he can get it from any KAOS agent, not just Dietrick, so he doesn't need Dietrick either. Max wants to keep the ceramic bird for CONTROL. Finally Valdez starts to draw his gun, and Dietrick draws his gun and wounds Valdez, who fires and knocks Max's gun out of his hand. Then in a split second, the man who seemingly was asleep off to the side points and fires a pistol and wounds Dietrick. This man is the Chief, disguised as a Mexican citizen of the town. The Chief and Larabee take Dietrick and Valdez into custody and Max and 99 ride off on the "Hernandez Rent-a-Borro."

* $500,000 from those times is now equivalent to more than $3,500,000.

** For those too young to understand the connection between some clicking castanets and Western Union, it goes to Western Union being the main and best known telegraph company in the country and the world dating back to the about the mid 1800s. Telegraph used the dot and dash system of Morse Code, but in more modern times, as technology changed, telegraph usage went into decline, culminating in Western Union ceasing actual telegraph service in 2006, although the company is still in business with other services, including its long time business of money transfers.

 Picture is from the 2008 HBO Video release of "Get Smart: The Complete Series" (Season 4)

 

WORD HISTORY:

Castanet-This word, commonly used in the plural, "castanets," is related to "chestnut." Its ultimate origin is not known, but it goes back to transliterated Greek "kastáneia," meaning "chestnut." This was borrowed by Latin as "castanea," which passed to Latin-based Spanish as "castaña" (chestnut), and then produced Spanish "castañeta," meaning "castanet; a hollowed piece of wood or shell typically used in pairs fastened together at one end, then clicked together to provide a sound to keep time with music." English borrowed the word from Spanish in the mid 1600s.         

French Pizza of Nice: Pissaladière

"Pissaladière" is a type of pizza that is a part of the cuisine of the city of Nice in southern France. The name is derived from French "peis salat," meaning, "salted fish;" thus, the anchovies in the recipe. Even if you don't like anchovies, you can give this pizza a try by simply adding a couple of anchovy fillets to the cooking onions, where the salty little fish will disintegrate into the onions, but they will not have the strong taste many people associate with anchovies used on salads or on some Italian-style pizza. "Pissaladière" seems to have been borrowed from the Liguria region of Italy, which is also known to some as "the Italian Riviera." The Italians used salted fish for their pizza, but later many recipes added tomatoes. Tomatoes came from the New World and Europeans at first thought they were poisonous, but once that idea was dispelled, tomatoes became a part of various European cuisines, and a major ingredient in Italian cuisine.

The easiest way to make Pissaladière is to simply buy some prepared bread/pizza dough, but if you prefer your own bread dough, go for it! I've read where some cooks now even use pie dough for Pissaladière. I bought black olives in olive oil, then pitted them myself, but you can certainly use green olives or a mixture of both black and green olives. I made a 10 inch round Pissaladière; so, the amounts below are for that size pizza, but you can use a pizza pan or a baking sheet of any size and then adjust the other ingredients accordingly. Good served with a glass of white wine. 

Ingredients:

bread dough (or you can use pie dough)
1 1/2 large onions, halved, then thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
black olives in olive oil, pitted (amount to your preference)
4 anchovy fillets  + more for garnish (optional)
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 sprig fresh thyme or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

I used a round 10 inch dish for this. If you buy frozen dough, be sure it is well thawed and brought to room temperature. I use a little olive oil to coat the dish or pan. Use enough dough to create a somewhat "thin," but not a "super thin" crust. You also don't want the dough to puff up the size of a loaf of bread (remember, pizza/bread dough will have yeast or a leavening agent and will "puff up" to some degree). In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the onions until they soften, then add the anchovy fillets and sprinkle the sugar over the onions and mix it in. Lower the heat and let the anchovies dissolve into the onions, stirring occasionally. Let the onion mixture cook until the onions caramelize, stirring occasionally to prevent the onions from burning. During this process, add the thyme to the onions. Spread the onions over the dough, leaving a small edge around the dough. Place some olives on top of the onions and optionally, you can also add some anchovy fillets (whole or chopped). Bake at 400 F for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the crust edge is lightly browned.      

WORD HISTORY:
Jewel-The origin of this word is shaky, but it seems to be distantly related to "joke," a Latin derived word borrowed by English. It "seems" to go back to Indo European "yek," which meant, "to speak, to utter." This gave its Italic offspring "joko/ioko," meaning, "something said, an utterance," but also, "something said in jest." This gave Latin "iocus," meaning, "a joke, amusing entertainment," further, the broader, "that which brings happiness or rejoicing." This gave Latin the noun "jocale," meaning, "object that brings joy;" thus also, "decoration, adornment;" thus, "jewel, gemstone." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "jouel," meaning, "jewel, gemstone." Carried to England by the Normans as "juel," and then borrowed by English about 1300.