Creamy Brazilian Cornmeal Cake: Bolo de Fubá

Brazil is the largest Portuguese speaking country or region in the world. The basic recipe for this cake was given to me by my friend Gustavo of Brazil, whom you can just call "G." Over the years I have helped him with his language, which has left him as one of the few people to speak "Klingon." The problem is, I was helping him with English! Hahahaha  The Brazilian name for the cake is "Bolo de Fubá," in Portuguese, and it is common throughout Brazil, although with many recipe variations, some of which do not include cheese. Those without cheese are very much like American cornbread, although the Brazilian form tends to have more liquid and more sweetener (some use sweetened condensed milk). I read some articles about the cake, including one from a Brazilian cookbook I have, and most note that this cake is often served at breakfast or later in the day, on both occasions with a cup or two of coffee. I also found different pans/dishes used for the cake, and I chose a round pie/cake dish (10 inches x 2 inches), and G uses a round cake pan (Hm, I wonder what 'cake pan' is in Klingon?). I used Pecorino Romano cheese, although Parmesan cheese is traditional. G used a blender/food processor to mix his cake batter, but I just used a hand mixer. The thing is, the batter will be runny, but that is okay; it's supposed to be that way. When poured into the baking pan and put into the oven, the milk and the melting cheese will form a layer of creaminess on the cake (see top 2 photos, below). You do need to keep track of the time or set a timer for this cake, as you can't insert a toothpick to see if it's done, because of the creamy layer. Preheat the oven to 350 F and bake the cake for about 50 to 55 minutes. Since this was the first time I made this cake, I baked it 55 minutes, although slightly less would likely have been fine. The top should be nice and golden brown (see photos, below). I would have just put G's recipe here, but I figured none of you know Klingon. Hahaha  Actually, his English is very good, no thanks to me! But if anybody wants to pretend to learn English while actually learning Klingon, I'm your guy! 

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (I LOVE Pecorino Romano)
1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder

In a blender or a bowl, add all the ingredients (except the baking powder). Mix in the blender or use a hand mixer to mix the ingredients together very well. Add the baking powder and mix it in with a spoon. The batter will have a pretty liquid consistency. Preheat your oven to 350 F and let your cake bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake has a "golden" surface. Let the cake cool down about 30 minutes before slicing.

WORD HISTORY:
Jaguar-This word for "a large cat of prey of the Americas, especially in parts of South America." It goes back to Tupi, also called Tupian, a language family of some of the indigenous peoples of South America, particularly in Brazil. The early 1500s saw the Portuguese colonize Brazil and they took the transliterated Tupi word "yaguara/jaguara," which seemingly meant "a large meat eating animal," and therefore also used for the big cat, which was rendered as "jaguar" in Portuguese (also as yaguareté and jaguareté). English borrowed the word from Portuguese as "jaguar" around 1600. It was used as the name for a British automotive company and their line of luxury and sports cars beginning in 1935, later often shortened by the public to the trendy sounding "Jag."    

German Shrimp Cocktail: Husumer Krabbencocktail

Husum is a German city way up in the north of Germany, not terribly far from the border with Denmark. It is a coastal city on the North Sea in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein and it is a part of the region of North Frisia, called "Nordfriesland" in German, "Noordfreesland" in Low German (which has a strong presence in the area, and in northern Germany, in general), and "Nordfraschlönj" in North Frisian.* By the way, the nearby Danes call it "Nordfrisland." Husum and much of the German North Sea area economy is geared to tourism, as the connection to the sea has a strong pull. It was from this "general area" along the North Sea, that elements of several Germanic tribes left and sailed to Britain, where they founded what would come to be called "England," named after the Angles, and where their Germanic dialects melded into "English." Naturally, seafood is a big part of the cuisine of northern Germany, with both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea providing a variety of "Meeresfrüchte" (literally, "fruit of the sea;" thus, "seafood"). By the way, the word "Cocktail" (German nouns are capitalized) is a word borrowed by German from English, circa 1900.

Ingredients (about 4 servings):

1/2 pound cooked, peeled medium or small shrimp/shrimps** (in Husum they use small shrimp) 
1/2 cup mayonnaise (reduced fat type is fine)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
juice of half a lemon
12 pimiento stuffed olives cut in half
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (I'm including this, but I actually don't feel it even needs any salt, so it's optional)
chopped parsley for serving (you can also add a lemon wedge for each serving) 

In a bowl, add the chopped apple and sprinkle the lemon juice over it and mix to coat to prevent the apple from turning brown. In a cup (I used a measuring cup), mix together the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup, briefly set this aside. To the apple, add the halved olives, the shrimp(s) and the ground black pepper (and salt, if using). Now gradually add the mayonnaise mixture, mixing it into the shrimp and apple as you add it. Give the dish a little time in the refrigerator before serving, then sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top of each serving. Good with some crackers or crispy wafers. 


* There isn't a "standard" North Frisian language, but rather a number of dialects; thus, there are several renderings of "North Frisia" in these dialects, but I chose "Nordfraschlönj" for a very simple reason... it was FIRST on the list! North Frisian itself is a dialect of Frisian. 

** In the U.S., the plural "shrimps" is seldom heard, as "shrimp" is overwhelmingly used as both singular and plural.

WORD HISTORY:
Maiden/Maid-"Maiden" goes back to Indo European "maghu," which meant, "young person, unmarried person" (it seems not to have been gender specific). This gave its Old Germanic offspring "magaþi" (=magathi), a feminine form; thus, "young woman, virgin, unmarried woman." This gave Old English "mægþ" (þ=th), meaning, "woman, girl, wife," and the diminutive form, "mægden," meaning, "young unmarried woman, girl."  The "g" sound later disappeared, and the word became "maiden." Beginning in the second half of the 1100s, the "en" was dropped in some cases, leaving "maid," but it kept the  meaning of "maiden." "Maid" was used at times as part of a name or as a sort of title, as in the famous "Maid Marian," a character developed in the 1600s from the English folklore and legendary Robin Hood stories. "Maid," however, was "seemingly" historical in its usage dating to the 1100s and 1200s, the general time frame often given for Robin Hood. By the mid 1300s (?), "maid" had altered in its primary meaning to, "female servant to a noble woman," then this broadened to "female servant who performed household duties." Forms in other Germanic languages: German has "Magd" (maid, maidservant), "Mädchen" (once also spelled "Mägdchen," meaning mainly "girl"), "Mädel" ("girl, lass"), "Maid" (pronounced as if, "might," meaning, "young woman, maiden"), Low German has "Määk" (girl), apparently Frisian doesn't use a form of the word in modern times, but it had "mageth," Dutch has "maagd" (virgin, maiden, maid), "meid" (girl, lass, maid), "meisje" (pronounced similar to "may-zha," meaning, "girl, maiden"). I didn't spend a lot of time on this, but it "seems" the North Germanic languages did not develop the feminine form, or at least did not carry it forward. "Maiden" also developed adjectival use to mean, "previously undone;" thus also, "first time," as in "maiden voyage" or "maiden trip."  

Brussel Sprout Salad

A great salad with no cooking, except for a few seconds to toast the seeds, and that's not absolutely necessary. It's good as a side dish or with some bread or rolls as a nice lunch. The only time consuming part is with the Brussels sprouts themselves. The best way to prepare them is to split the sprouts lengthwise, then to remove the stem from the sprout halves by cutting a 'V' at the bottom (see more in the instructions below). You can easily vary the amounts of the ingredients if you prefer; for instance, if you like pears, just chop up some more and eat them yourself, don't fool with the recipe!!! You thought I was going to say "add them to the salad," which you certainly can do. Haha  I suggest making a good quantity of the dressing by adjusting the amounts below, and then storing the extra amount in a jar or other glass container, not metal or plastic, as the vinegar can interact with these materials. I don't care much for sour foods, so I use more honey in the dressing, but I don't recommend reducing the amount of vinegar, as you want the vinegar to help preserve the salad, and it will keep in the refrigerator for a few days. If you make some extra dressing, you can add a little of it to future servings. 

Ingredients (numerous servings):

1 pound Brussels sprouts, washed, stem removed, then sliced
1 pear, green or red, skin on, rinsed, cored and chopped  
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pepitas (or sunflower seeds), lightly toasted
1/2 cup crumbled or shaved Pecorino Romano

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons honey (your preference for sweetness)
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
(optional) 1/2 teaspoon salt (the cheese has salt)

Rinse the Brussels sprouts, remove the stem and any discolored leaves. To remove the stem, split the sprouts lengthwise. You can then easily see the split stem. Remove it by cutting a 'V' shape. Slice the sprout halves crosswise into 3 or sometimes 4 pieces. Add the sprout slices to a bowl of water as you go. Stir the sliced sprouts around in the water with your hand. Drain the sprouts and lay them out on some doubled paper towels to drain well. The "heavy duty" work is done. Put the sliced sprouts into a large bowl, add the chopped pear, dried cranberries, seeds and Pecorino Romano. (It isn't necessary to toast the seeds, but if you'd like to do so, simply heat a skillet over medium heat and then add the seeds. Shake the skillet or stir the seeds and toast them until they just begin to turn lightly browned.) In a glass jar, bottle or other glass container, add the dressing ingredients and shake or mix to blend everything. Give it a little taste to see if you want to add more honey (or more vinegar, if you like a more sour taste). Add the dressing to the salad and mix well to distribute the dressing throughout the salad. You can serve the salad then, but it's better if it has a minimum of a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Cover and store the unused portion in the refrigerator for a few days.   

WORD HISTORY:
Brook-There is a verb in English that has come to be spelled the same way as the noun, but it is unrelated to the noun. If you are interested in the verb form, here is the link,^ but this is the noun meaning, "a small stream," but also meaning "marshy land" in some parts of England (see relatives below). While the origin of this word is considered to be uncertain to some, I'm pretty much convinced it goes back to Indo European "mrog/mreg," meaning "marshland,"^^ which was from Indo European "mereg," which meant "borderland," with the idea that particular geographic features have always been used to set the boundaries of land possession, until surveying became the legal means for doing so. "Mreg/mrog" produced Germanic "broki/broka," meaning "wetland, marshland," with Indo European "mr" becoming Germanic "br." Old Irish, a Celtic language, had "mruig," meaning "parcel of land, homestead," but later this became "bruig," which means it also changed to "br," or that it borrowed this form from Germanic. The Germanic form seemingly did not take hold in the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, but it did become a part of the West Germanic branch and it gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "broc," meaning "small stream" (perhaps from the notion of runoff from marshy lands producing steams; thus, "brooks''), but it also means "marshy land, wetland" in parts of southern England, which is right in line with the original meaning. This later became "brook." Relatives in the other West Germanic languages: German has "Bruch" (marshy land with trees and bushes), Low German has "Brook" (marshland, swampy ground), but there are variant forms in Low German, as Low German is not standardized, with "Bröcke" being another common form, Dutch has "broek" (marsh, swamp). Frisian is tough to research for many words, but I found "brôc" and "brouk," but I'm not certain if either word is still in use as a stand alone word.       

^ The history of the verb form "brook" is in the article at this link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/06/tyrolean-style-liver-tiroler-leber.html

^^ If "brook" does go back to "mreg/mrog," this would make it a distant relative of "mark," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "margin," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French, with likely reinforcement from Latin.   

Mongolian Steamed Dumplings: Buuz

Mongolia is an Asian country with no outlet to any of the world's great seas. The country has great variation to its landscape, generally with the Gobi Desert in the south, and the Altai mountain range in the west and north. The land and the climate have naturally molded the people's view of food, with fatty meats being seen favorably as a way to give people endurance against the long cold winters. Mutton and beef are common types of meat used in Mongolia, and Mongolians use both types to make these dumplings, which are then steamed. "Mutton" is meat from older sheep, as opposed to "lamb," from young sheep, generally less than about 14 or 15 months old. In the United States, mutton has long been out of favor, and you likely will have great difficulty finding it in supermarkets or butcher shops. My parents and grandparents talked about mutton being fatty and with a strong taste, but I don't believe I've ever eaten it, unless it was when I was quite young. Exactly why mutton lost popularity in the U.S. seems to have something to do with price (the older the sheep, the more it costs to raise them to that age) and the steep decline in the use of wool as a common fabric (less need to raise sheep to be old enough for them to develop their thick coats), and I would assume increasingly health conscious people turned away from fatty mutton. As Americans got away from eating mutton, many of those who then tried the meat found its greasy and stronger taste to be unappealing, which led to mutton being left out of meat cases in most parts of the country. Myself, I generally like strong flavors, but when I checked on getting some mutton, the owner of the lamb and goat meat shop I go to told me he can get it, but only in fairly large quantities, like 50 to 100 pounds. Since my living space is too small to host a significant part of the U.S. Army, I decided against buying such a large amount, and so I bought ONE POUND of ground lamb instead (I hope this guy doesn't go on vacation now!).

"Buuz" (pronounced kind of like "buss," with the 'u' like the double 'o' of 'book') are easy to make, although shaping the dumplings can take some trial and error, with emphasis on the 'error' part for me. I checked about 25 recipes and I found very little variation in recipes, and many recipes mentioned that Mongolians tend not to use lots of flavorings in their foods. The variations I did find in recipes were relatively minor. For example, a few put a pinch or two of salt in the dough, but most recipes used only flour and water for the dough. Those with no salt in the dough made up for this, however, by adding a good dose of salt to the meat filling. As for other variations in recipes, I found, in a recipe or two, some grated carrot added to the filling, or some ground coriander was used, rather than caraway seed. And that was about it; so, a pretty consistent recipe. About the dough. I haven't put precise measurements in the text below, and I used these amounts to simply provide some very general idea of what you'll need. Use an amount of water to form a dough that isn't terribly sticky. When you take the dough out to roll it into a log shape, you can dust it with some flour to remove stickiness. The same is true for when you roll out the small clumps of dough for the dumplings and you can dust it with some flour to remove any remaining stickiness. If you aren't into making the dough, you can buy a package of wonton wrappers, but they are usually made with eggs, and likely some other ingredients beyond flour and water, so they won't be quite the same. Or you can buy spring roll wrappers, some of which are made with flour, water and a little salt, if you are looking for more authenticity, but many use rice flour and other ingredients, if that matters to you. So, to be honest, much of what makes Mongolian "buzz" more unique is the use of the simple flour and water dough for the wrappers. One of the other variations in recipes is about the shape of the dumplings, and there are several, but I'm more than a little bad at such things, so I chose what I felt was easiest (see below). "Buuz" are commonly served with soy sauce or ketchup for dipping.             

Ingredients:

Dough:
2/3 to 3/4 cup flour + more for dusting and rolling
about 4 to 5 ounces water

Filling:
1/2 pound ground mutton or lamb or beef
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon caraway seed
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 or 4 tablespoons water

Make the dough by gradually mixing water into the flour until a dough forms. Mix it until the dough is less sticky and then cover it for about 15 to 20 minutes. Use that time to make the filling by mixing the ingredients together, but add only 2 tablespoons of water to start. After getting the filling well mixed, add another tablespoon or two of water so that it's "moist," but not "wet." Make sure your onion is finely chopped, as it will cook easily that way. Sprinkle some flour on your counter or board and knead the dough briefly, and roll the dough into a log shape of about 3/4 inch thickness. Then cut the "log" into pieces of about 1 inch in length. Take a piece of the dough and flatten and round it in your hand until it's about 3 to 3 1/2 inches diameter. You can also use a rolling pin to roll out the pieces of dough, which is what I do. Whether you use a rolling pin or just your hands, the rounds should not be extremely thin. Hold a round in your hand and put about a teaspoon of the meat filling in the middle. Begin pulling the dough up around the filling, leaving an opening at the top, but pinch the dough together at four places to form sort of a rectangle. Use a steamer basket (I have a stainless steel steamer) and add and heat the water per the instructions for your own steamer. I use my finger to just dab a bit of oil onto the bottom of each dumpling to prevent sticking. Cover the steamer or steamer basket and steam the dumplings for about 15 to 20 minutes (more likely the latter). Carefully remove the dumplings from the steamer, as there will be a little "broth" in each one; that is, the rendering of the filling from cooking, and it is to be eaten along with the dumpling. I've tried both soy sauce and ketchup with these dumplings, but I'm a ketchup man, although I found I liked them with ketchup mixed with a little soy sauce.   


The top two photos are of "buuz" made with packaged sheets of dough. The other two photos are of "buuz" with traditional homemade dough, simply made with flour and water ...

WORD HISTORY:
Bushel-The origin of this word is uncertain, with some speculating that it goes back to an Indo European form, "gwosdh," meaning "branch," but I'm not convinced. "Bushel" does go back to Old Celtic,^ a language of the Indo European family of languages. Old Celtic had "bosta" meaning "palm or hollow of the hand," but also "fist." This gave Gaulish "bostia," meaning, "handful," which became a part of the Gallo-Roman dialects of Gaul, and evolved into Old French "boisse," which meant "a measurement of grain," and this produced "boissel," "a unit of measurement." English borrowed the word (initially as "busshel?") in the first half of the 1300s (meaning: 4 pecks or 8 gallons). Baskets were developed to hold a "bushel," thus, "a bushel basket," and the translated biblical expression, "hide (a light or lamp) under a bushel."    

^ See "Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic" by Ranko Matasović, Brill (Publisher), 2009

Galliano Hot Shot

I totally LOVE this "layered shot drink;" that is, it is 3 different ingredients, layered one on top of the other, and it is intended to be drunk all at once, not sipped. As such, you'll want to use a shot glass or a cordial glass that can hold 2 ounces or slightly less. I don't have an espresso machine, so I just used my regular black coffee. I grind my own coffee with my little coffee grinder (3 parts whole medium roast Brazilian coffee beans and 1 part whole French roast coffee beans, which are dark). 

Ingredients:

equal parts (if you want a little extra cream or whipped cream, go for it):
Galliano
hot espresso (or other hot black coffee)
heavy cream (or whipped cream)

In a small glass, as noted above, add the Galliano to make it one-third full. Next, use a teaspoon to gradually layer the hot coffee (not boiling!) on top of the Galliano. It is best to tilt the glass and then spoon the coffee down the tilted side onto the Galliano, which will naturally be near the top of the glass because of the tilt to the glass. Use enough hot coffee to add an additional one-third fullness to the glass. Lastly, spoon the heavy cream on top (you can also use whipped cream and spoon it on and even make it protrude from the top of the glass, if you'd like).  

WORD HISTORY:
Viscous-This word is related to "virus" and to "virulent," Latin-based words borrowed into English. "Viscous" goes back to Indo European "weis," with the meaning, "slimy liquid." This gave Latin "viscum," meaning, "sticky matter, sticky substance made from mistletoe and used to trap birds (also known as 'birdlime'), which produced the Latin adjective "viscosus," meaning, "sticky," from the notion, "covered with birdlime." This passed to Old French as "viscos/viscous," which Anglo-Norman also had. This was borrowed by English, initially as "viscouse," in the latter part of the 1300s.

Negroni Cocktail

I love this cocktail. As with a number of cocktails, its origins are somewhat sketchy, but it does seem to go back to the Negroni family from the French Mediterranean island of Corsica. 

https://www.liquor.com

Ingredients:

1 ounce dry gin
1 ounce sweet red vermouth
1 ounce Campari
ice
orange peel

In an "old fashioned glass," also known to some as a "rocks glass," add some ice, then add the gin, sweet vermouth and Campari. Stir for a few seconds, then add the orange peel (twisted to secrete a bit of the orange flavor).

WORD HISTORY:
Obesity-This prefixed word, the main part of which is related to "eat," a word from the Germanic roots of English, goes back to the Indo European root "ed/et," which meant "to bite;" thus also, "to eat." This gave Latin the verb "edere," meaning "to eat." The prefix part goes back to Indo European "epi/opi," which had the broad and varied meanings, "towards, near, against." This gave Latin "ob," meaning, "about;" thus also, "because of," and also, "toward, at, upon, near." Together these gave Latin "obedere," meaning "to eat (away at)," and its past participle form was "obesus," meaning, "eaten away until fat." This produced the Latin noun "obesitas," meaning, "fatness." This passed to French as "obésité," meaning, "the state of being fat." English borrowed the word from French in the first half of the 1600s.   

No Excuses, VOTE!

* I'm omitting the "Word History" today. 

Don't sit on the sidelines and then complain. If you're not registered to vote, REGISTER! Remember, voter registration procedures are set by the STATES, not the national government. So, you must comply with the laws of your state of residence. SOME states have online voter registration, as well as other ways for people to register. Below, I've put the link to one of the great organizations for the support of democracy ... The League of Women Voters.

Remember too, if you are already registered to vote, or at least believe you are registered, CHECK your registration to be sure! There are occasions where people go to vote, only to be told their names are not on the registered voter lists. Also if you are already registered to vote, check your registration for any outdated information or errors. In these times of voter suppression, DO NOT take it for granted that you will be able to easily vote because you've been registered to vote for some lengthy period of time. It is best to check your registration.

Okay, so now you've registered to vote, now what? VOTE! Know where you have to go to cast your vote in person and what you will need in order to vote; that is, what type of identification you need. If you will be out of town on election day, contact your election officials to see how you can vote absentee (there may be other reasons you can vote absentee, but again, these laws are set by the individual states, so you will need to contact your state or local election officials for more information and that means, for example, if you live in Nebraska, just because Aunt Helen says they do things such and such a way in Florida, that may not have anything to do with what the laws are in Nebraska). SOME states allow voting by mail, so if that's how you would like to vote, find out from election officials the exact procedure you need to follow to vote by mail. DO NOT just ask Aunt Martha, cousin Sally, your brother, your sister, Grandpa Jones, or your next door neighbor about the procedures, find out from election officials.

In spite of the things I've written here, it is really not overly complicated to vote, although some despicable people have tried to make voting akin to running a marathon on a 100 degree day, but that's because they don't want you to vote! Most things about registering and then voting are common sense. If your personal doctor wants you to see a specialist 20 miles away, you would follow a certain procedure: make an appointment, find out the exact location of that specialist and get the information on the specific things you will need for your appointment, like identification and your insurance card. The 2020 election is likely to be the nastiest election campaign in the history of the United States and there are those who will do just about anything to prevent you from voting. DO NOT aid them in their attempts to silence your voice by not voting. If Americans do not see and counter the shadow of fascism hovering over our democracy, that shadow will darken the landscape and stifle the freedoms that many have fought to gain, preserve and expand since the latter part of the 1700s. VOTE!   

Here is the link to voting information:

https://www.vote411.org/

 

Keeper of the Flame: Tracy & Hepburn Fight Fascism

It's important to understand, while the film is set in 1941; that is, BEFORE the United States entered World War Two, the film was made in 1942, less than a year after the U.S. entered the war. The film takes on American fascism of those days, and while I find some of the story to be beyond the bounds of being believable, I wholeheartedly agree with its notion that fascists need to be exposed and opposed. The story in this picture is from the early 1940s, but it could just as easily be about today, because some Americans let down their guard and allowed themselves to be herded like sheep to the call of overt patriotism, phony religiosity and attempts to make the past sound better than what they could do to make the present and the future the shining example of our ideals.    

Cast:

Steven O'Malley ...........................................Spencer Tracy
Christine Forrest ........................................... Katharine Hepburn
Clive Kerndon .............................................. Richard Whorf
Mrs. Forrest .................................................. Margaret Wycherly
Geoffrey Midford ......................................... Forrest Tucker
Dr. Fielding .................................................. Frank Craven
Freddie Ridges ............................................. (Horace) Stephen McNally*
Orion Peabody (taxi driver) ......................... Percy Kilbride**
Jane Harding ................................................ Audrey Christie
Jeb Rickards ................................................. Darryl Hickman***
Mr. Arbuthnot ............................................... Donald Meek ****
Jason Rickards .............................................. Howard Da Silva
Piggot ............................................................ William Newell

The film opens with a dark stormy night in 1941 and a car plunging off of a partially collapsed wooden bridge. The driver killed in the car was Robert Forrest, a hero from the Allied Argonne Offensive in France in 1918 which had helped end the World War. Forrest is beloved and respected by many. Steven O'Malley, a journalist, has just returned from Europe where he had been covering the war (the film is set before the U.S. entered World War Two), and he plans to write a book about Forrest's life, as he admired Forrest greatly. While O'Malley watches Forrest's funeral procession, he meets a young boy, Jeb Rickards, who is visibly upset about Forrest's death, even telling O'Malley, "If it hadn't been for me, he'd be alive today." Inside the bar and lounge of the hotel, O'Malley tells some friends he wants to talk with Mrs. Forrest about her husband. A tall man at the bar, Geoffrey Midford, hears the comment and comes over to O'Malley and threatens to knock his head off if he bothers Mrs. Forrest. The hotel owner tells O'Malley that Midford is Mrs. Forrest's cousin. Then in comes Clive Kerndon, Mr. Forrest's private secretary, and while he is happy to see Steven O'Malley, he dodges a question by O'Malley about seeing Mrs. Forrest. When O'Malley takes a taxi to Mrs. Forrest's home, he chats with the taxi driver who says, "... there's always good and evil up against each other. A man's gotta take sides sooner or later. You'll know that one of these days, young fella." When O'Malley gets to the Forrest home, the gatekeeper, Jason Rickards, hobbles out and won't admit O'Malley through the gate, but the two men talk briefly, and Rickards says he was Forrest's captain in the war, and that Forrest got a medal for saving him when he was wounded, the reason he hobbles when he walks. Further, he tells O'Malley that he had been with Mr. Forrest ever since.

O'Malley hears crying a short distance away and it turns out to be the boy Jeb again. The boy is still terribly upset over Forrest's death, but O'Malley tells Jeb how he himself has cried about things he has seen in France and in Poland during the present war, and how there are people in Europe who are slaves, and that maybe Americans could be the next target. Jeb asks how that could happen and O'Malley explains that it is a big subject, but that generally, "they try to get us all confused and scared and sore at each other, and before you know it, they clamp the handcuffs on us." Jeb assumes O'Malley means that he could literally have chains put on him, but O'Malley explains he means the chains would be on his mind and tongue. O'Malley tells Jeb how they have to keep Mr. Forrest's memory alive to preserve the freedoms they have, and Jeb offers to help O'Malley get into the grounds and hopefully to see Forrest's wife, Christine. Once inside the enclosed property, O'Malley checks out the collapsed section of the bridge where Forrest plunged to his death inside his car. O'Malley enters the house and meets Mrs. Forrest, but she offers him no help in providing information about her husband's life. Clive Kerndon tells her she should invite O'Malley back; otherwise, he may think she is hiding something. As O'Malley exits the front gate, in comes Geoffrey Midford on a motorcycle. On the way back to the hotel, O'Malley and the taxi driver discuss Midford, with the taxi driver saying that Midford wasn't allowed inside the gates to the Forrest property when Forrest was alive. He also notes that Midford's own house is being repossessed and sold by the bank. Not long after O'Malley gets to the hotel, Christine Forrest comes calling and offers to help provide information about her husband. She and O'Malley agree to meet again the next day at her house. When O'Malley escorts her from the hotel to her waiting car, he finds that Geoffrey Midford is driving the car. Back inside, O'Malley finds out that the auction of Midford's house has been canceled due to the mortgage now having been paid.

The next day O'Malley stops to see Jeb and his father before going to his meeting with Mrs. Forrest. He uses the Rickard's telephone to call for Mrs. Forrest and a woman answers saying she is Mrs. Forrest, but Jeb tells McNally that she is "old Mrs. Forrest;" that is, Robert Forrest's mother, someone seemingly unknown to the public, in spite of her son's celebrity. O'Malley goes to see Christine Forrest, and Geoffrey Midford comes in again. It's easy to get the notion that Mr. Midford isn't Christine's cousin, unless it's a "kissing cousin," and I do mean "kissing cousin." O'Malley returns to his hotel where he sees a group of young people who've come to town to see Mrs. Forrest to express their sympathy for her husband's death. O'Malley hears the group tell another reporter how they came to belong to Mr. Forrest's organization, "Forward American," a movement Forrest subtly promoted during speeches and radio broadcasts by asking young people to write in to him, and then the letters were answered by Forrest's staff people. The next day O'Malley goes to see Christine again, but she has gone out of town; however, Forrest's private secretary, Clive Kerndon, proceeds to give O'Malley standard information about Robert Forrest, and he mentions that the "Forward American" organization has branches in almost every American town and village and that it represents "true Americanism" (hm, does that mean there's an "untrue Americanism?"). After providing photos, letters from young people and an album about Forrest's marriage, Kerndon is startled when O'Malley asks about Forrest's mother and tells him he'd like to speak with her. Kerndon says that would be impossible, because she is old and an invalid. Kerndon leaves the room and O'Malley sits back and thinks over the situation. Not long thereafter, O'Malley talks with the doctor who has been treating Jeb, who hasn't been feeling well. The doctor essentially tells him that Jeb is sick from hero worship of Robert Forrest and then Forrest's death, and that the boy's sister, who is several years older than Jeb, had had a nervous breakdown and was sent to a sanitarium by Mr. Forrest, and that she had been his secretary. When O'Malley asks if the girl was in love with Mr. Forrest, the doctor says, "No, you don't fall in love with a god, you just worship ... wear yourself out."

Later O'Malley sees Christine again and asks her about Robert's mother, but she simply says the same thing Mr. Kerndon had said. As they are being driven to Christine's home, O'Malley asks about an old building with no windows on the property and she says it was built in the 1700s as a fort, but that Robert used it to be alone and that it's called "the Arsenal." O'Malley asks if he can see inside the building and Christine says she'll have to find the key. When they get to the Forrest mansion, Mr. Kerndon privately mentions to Christine, that if she'd given him the key to the Arsenal, "I could have taken care of everything," but she says that she'll tell him when she has decided what to do. This brings Kerndon to say, "You'll tell ME?" (The intonation of his reply suggests that he's in the business of telling, not of being told.) Kerndon goes off to talk with O'Malley and Christine gets into a briefcase and takes out the key to the Arsenal and heads off for the building. She goes inside and begins gathering papers, photos, maps and letters, and she starts a fire with them in the fireplace. Meanwhile, Kerndon has been playing recordings of Robert Forrest's speeches for O'Malley, and he tells O'Malley how persuasive Forrest was with his audiences. He also mentions that his job is now almost finished with the Forrests, and he asks O'Malley if he knows of any job openings for a secretary. O'Malley suggests the name of some company, which brings Herndon to ask what that company does. O'Malley tells him the company is an advertising firm, "They manufacture 'rousing affirmatives;' for instance, if you wanted to create nice feelings in the minds of the public about someone, say Mrs. Forrest for example, (the firm) would plant little articles in the newspaper about what a helpful wife she was and so forth. Before long the public would give her a 'rousing affirmative.' " Herndon replies, "That's rather clever, isn't it?" But O'Malley says, "A little sad too. It's a pity how easily people can be fooled." (Note: The 'rousing affirmative' expression had been used by Herndon to O'Malley in an earlier meeting when Herndon showed him an album of photos and stories about the Forrests' marriage. When O'Malley remarks that the marriage must have been a good one, Herndon says that deserves "a rousing affirmative.") When O'Malley walks by the window, he sees smoke coming from the Arsenal's chimney and he tests Herndon by asking him about what the building is (Herndon cannot see the smoke coming from the chimney), and Herndon lies and says it hasn't been used for years, except as a storehouse. O'Malley excuses himself by saying he's going to take a stroll. This gets Herndon's attention and looks out the window and sees the smoke coming from the Arsenal's chimney. Herndon quickly calls long distance to New York and in a short conversation with a man we cannot see or hear (Herndon calls him 'sir'), he says that everything is being taken care of AND that he knows what has to be done and that NOTHING will stop him from doing his duty. (Damn, I think I smell a Nazi, but he didn't click his heels or say, 'Sieg heil.' Of course, maybe he hadn't seen Dorothy click her heels in the Wizard of Oz, and maybe he didn't shout 'Sieg heil' because he doesn't know German ... that must be it; after all, he's an American Nazi.)

Christine Forrest sees O'Malley coming towards the Arsenal, so she quickly goes outside and locks the door. She explains to O'Malley that she remembered there were some love letters from Robert to her that she wanted to destroy. As they walk off, we see Herndon hiding a can of gasoline nearby. Christine and O'Malley go to the stable where the doctor, who doubles as a veterinarian, has been treating Christine's horse, which had injured its hoof and leg when a horseshoe came off during the storm the night Mr. Forrest died. The two go out riding together and O'Malley throws out the possibility that the bridge may have been tampered with by someone to aid in its collapse, thus leading to her husband's death by a person who wanted him dead. Thunder rumbles and the two ride on near Robert's mother's house. O'Malley wants Christine to take him to meet her, but she won't do it, and she rides off. O'Malley goes to the house, where the butler tries to discourage him from trying to see Mrs. Forrest, but the old Mrs. Forrest calls to O'Malley to come to her room when the butler momentarily seeks out the housekeeper. The old lady tells O'Malley her son was murdered and that she wants O'Malley to write a play about him and that she'll help him. In comes Christine and Robert's mother says that her son said, "You are a very good actress," and she tells O'Malley that they should get Christine to act in their play. The old lady states her contempt for Christine and she begins to slide into a different world of rambling talk, and talking as if Robert were there. In the midst of this, she tells of Christine having been at the house the night Robert was killed, and that Christine had been told in a telephone call by someone to warn Robert about the bridge being out, but that she hadn't done so. Christine says the old woman is confused and that such a thing hadn't happened. Christine and O'Malley go outside and she hopes he won't report about Robert's mother's hatred for her and about his mother's mental condition. (Note: She doesn't say anything about the fact that Robert's mother has been held as a virtual prisoner in her home, rarely being able to see anyone.) O'Malley tells Christine he has an obligation to report the truth and that his readers are owed that. He says he is giving up doing the biography because he can't get at the truth and that she (Christine) has misled him all along the way. Christine gets on her horse and rides off alone. O'Malley rides to the bridge again and he finds the missing horseshoe from Christine's horse (she had earlier denied being near the bridge and thus having knowledge of the bridge being damaged).

O'Malley goes to the Forrest mansion, but before he gets there, Christine and Herndon have words about Herndon wanting the key to Forrest's filing cabinet in the Arsenal. He tells her she may not have burned all of the important papers. Now O'Malley arrives and Herndon leaves the room. O'Malley puts the horseshoe on the table in front of Christine and he tells her she killed her husband. She tells him Herndon was not involved, and when O'Malley includes Geoffrey Midford, she says he knew nothing of it. He asks her why she did it, but she sits silently, even when O'Malley says he'll have to write the truth, although she quickly says nothing will reflect on Robert Forrest's status as a hero and an inspiration to many. O'Malley walks out and Herndon returns to Christine's presence. He wants to go to the Arsenal and destroy any remaining papers, but she refuses and he tells Christine to go do it herself.

The scene shifts to the gatekeeper Rickards' house, where Geoffrey Midford and a woman arrive in a car. The woman turns out to be Rickards' daughter who had suffered a nervous breakdown. She and Midford are to be married, so one mystery, or I guess that's two mysteries, are solved (Midford is not romantically involved with Christine and we now know Rickards' daughter is alive and out of the sanitarium). The girl's father tells O'Malley he hated Robert Forrest because of the way his daughter and son (Jeb) became hero worshipers of Forrest. He also says it was actually Christine who got his daughter the treatment she needed and further, that is where Christine had disappeared to when she was suddenly gone for a few days (so I guess that's mystery number three solved). With this info, O'Malley takes Midford's car and heads back to find Christine (with no romantic involvement with Midford, that was then not her motive for letting her husband die). He sees Herndon along the road by the Arsenal and he tells O'Malley Christine is inside. O'Malley enters to find her burning more papers, and he asks her who she is shielding. He tells her he'll tear Robert Forrest down to find out the truth. This causes Christine to again leap to Robert's protection, but then O'Malley discloses in a roundabout way that he has affections for Christine and she admits that she's in trouble and needs him. She tells O'Malley he will be hurt by what she knows, because it will destroy his belief in someone. To put it quite bluntly, Christine explains that powerful moneyed interests had cultivated a glorious image of Robert Forrest, an image that many people, including herself, had been unable to resist, but she had come to realize there was a terrible purpose in the time taken to build Robert's public image, and she knew she had to destroy the person, but to preserve the image. O'Malley asks what the terrible purpose was and Christine continues that Robert began to change and that he despised and looked down on the people who worshiped him. She says, "I saw the face of fascism in my own home: hatred, arrogance, cruelty. I saw what German women were facing ..." She explains further that she stole Robert's key to his file cabinet at the Arsenal that contained documents about Forrest's American Forward organization, which she calls a "fascist organization," which naturally wasn't called "fascist," as they "painted it red, white and blue and called it Americanism." The cabinet also has funds contributed by wealthy people interested in political power, "who knew they could never get it (power) by democratic means." The files contain a list of these people's names. Christine pulls out a binder which she says contains "the essence of their plan," a series of articles to be released "to stir up all the little hatreds of the whole nation against each other." She reads off the targeted groups with attacks on Jews, Catholics, labor unions, city dwellers, Negroes (the 'proper' word in those times), plus "a subtle appeal to the Ku Klux Klan," and a list of people "who were designated to be America's first storm troopers." She says Robert "envied the dictators." Christine tells O'Malley that when she read these papers, she knew "Robert Forrest was a traitor to his country." She explains further that Robert was on his way to give instructions to saboteurs and that she knew he would use the bridge and she also knew the bridge was out and that he would die. O'Malley asks Christine to help him tell people about the real Robert Forrest. Her first reaction is, "And destroy people's belief in their hero?" O'Malley replies, "He wasn't their hero, he was their enemy, and they must know it. Christine protests further, "It will destroy them," but O'Malley says, "Christine, people aren't children. Sometimes they may act that way when they get scared and confused ... but they want the truth..." Christine tells O'Malley to do what he thinks is right. Suddenly smoke begins to cloud the Arsenal and we see Herndon locking the door from the oustide. This door is the only way out of the relatively small building. Herndon fires through the only small opening in the building with a pistol and hits Christine, who falls. Herndon flees, fearful that the shots will bring others to the building. O'Malley cradles Christine as she's dying and she says, "Write the story. Tell the truth." Meanwhile, Herndon uses his gun to knock out a man running with an ax toward the Arsenal, but also coming along the road in a car is Midford, the doctor, the gatekeeper Rickards and his daughter. Herndon stands and fires as the car approaches and the car strikes and kills him. The group takes the ax and gets the door open and carries O'Malley from the burning building to safety.

We next see O'Malley sitting at a typewriter writing his story, "The Truth About Robert Forrest," but we then see the accompanying story entitled, "She Died For Her Country," about Christine Forrest and then a picture of O'Malley's book about Christine's life. The film ends with barely visible American troops and the American flag going off to continue the fight against fascism.

* Horace McNally was his real name and it was used in the credits of this film, but he later used "Stephen McNally" as his stage name.

** A few years later, Percy Kilbride would become well known to many as "Pa" in the "Ma & Pa Kettle" films in the post-World War Two era.

*** Darryl Hickman and his brother Dwayne Hickman were pretty well known actors when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s.  

**** Donald Meek was a well known face from many movies, but not necessarily as well known by name. Even if you are a somewhat younger person, if you've watched films from made in the 1930s and the 1940s, you've likely seen Donald Meek.

Photo is of 2011 Warner Home Video DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Monitor-This word is related to a number of words, including, through Indo European, to "mind," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "mental," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English, and to "mentor," a Greek-derived word borrowed by English. "Monitor" goes back to Indo European "men," with the notion of "to think, to develop an idea or ideas," which produced the extended Indo European form "moneie," meaning, "to remind, to make or to cause to think of or about ( from: "The Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages," by Michiel de Vaan). This gave Italic "moneje," meaning, "to remind," and by extension, "to warn," which passed to Latin as "monere," meaning, "to warn, to remind, to advise (thus also, to teach)," and this produced the Latin noun "monitor," meaning "one who advises and warns." This was borrowed into English in the mid 1500s, initially meaning, "a student charged with overseeing other students," several additional meanings have developed since those times, including: "a device used to keep track of certain statistics," and that device, "may inform (warn) if a certain level increases or decreases beyond a desired point;" further, the name of the screen displaying such information, later also used for the device that displays computer information in graphic form for viewing; the name for a type of lizard (first half of the 1800s), "perhaps" because of its behavior when dangerous creatures were nearby, thus "warning" humans; the name for a type of ironclad naval vessel, "seemingly" because it was very low level with no masts and could 'monitor' or approach areas of harbors or rivers without being easily seen. The verb form "seems" to have first gained use in the early 1800s in the sense, "to advise, to guide," with "keep track of" added in the 1900s, initially about radio signal transmission, but then expanded to mean all sorts of things, including health related information: "monitor blood pressure," "monitor glucose," "monitor heart rate."