Indonesian Chicken Satay: Sate Ayam

There are many kinds of satays or kebabs from various countries, and with different names for the food product, but they are all based upon meat, fish, vegetables or fruits on skewers that are cooked, often by grilling or broiling. "Shish kebabs" and Peruvian "anticuchos"* are examples.

 

"Kecap manis" is a sweet and thick soy sauce, unlike most other types of soy sauce, and it is available in many supermarkets and Asian grocery stores. From my experience, it comes in taller bottles than regular soy sauce. You can use boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh meat, and while bamboo skewers are traditional, any wooden skewers are fine; just be sure to soak them in water for 20 to 30 minutes before using. Of course, you can use metal skewers too. 

Ingredients (for 15 skewers):

15 wooden skewers (soaked in water for 20 to 30 minutes, traditionally bamboo, but I'm sure Indonesians won't put you onto a skewer and then throw you into Mt. Krakatoa, although you will undoubtedly cook well, YEEEOOOWWW!)

1 to 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, cut into about 1 inch cubes

2/3 cup sweet soy sauce (traditionally 'kecap manis,' or substitute slightly less than 2/3 cup regular soy sauce mixed with 2 tablespoons molasses or maple syrup, but ... see the note in 'skewers' above about the potential 'penalty')

(optional) 1 teaspoon fresh chopped chili pepper or 1 teaspoon sambal oelek** 

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon sesame oil for the sauce + a little more for basting the chicken when cooking

1/2 cup coconut milk

Mix together the kecap manis (or soy sauce/molasses/syrup), chili pepper (if using), ground coriander, garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper and tablespoon of sesame oil. Toss the chicken cubes in the sauce mixture, cover the dish and refrigerate to marinate the chicken for a minimum of 1 hour, but 8 to 12 hours is better. You can grill or broil the chicken. Be sure to soak the skewers in water for 20 to 30 minutes before putting the chicken onto them. Let excess marinade drain into the bowl you used for marinating the chicken pieces and keep it (see further below). Put like 4 to 6 pieces of the chicken on each skewer, and allow a little space between the pieces. Grill or broil the chicken, turning the skewers often, and use a brush to baste the chicken pieces with a little sesame oil as it cooks. Cook the chicken until the pieces are getting a little charred appearance (I said "a little charred appearance," not burnt or ashes ... hahaha), likely 6 to 10 minutes. Pour the marinade liquid into a pan, then stir in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to maintain a bare simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often. Serve the sauce in a separate dish for dipping the chicken and serve the chicken along with some rice.

 

* For Peruvian Anticuchos, here is the link:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/09/peruvian-kebabs-anticuchos.html

 

** Sambal Oelek is a chunky hot chili pepper sauce. It should be easily found in the Asian section, or in the hot sauce section, of supermarkets. It is pretty common is the U.S.and it is not expensive, although the price may vary by brand. 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cockatoo-This word for some of the prominently crested birds of the parrot family has an uncertain origin, although it may simply be a name derived from the imitation of the sounds made by such birds, as these birds are chatty. It goes back to Malay^ "kakatua," which was borrowed by Dutch as "kaketoe" (the Dutch were very involved in southern Asia from the 1500s until 1945. Indonesia was long a Dutch colony called "(the) Dutch East Indies" until 1945. Dutch "kaketoe" was borrowed by English in the 1630s (some sources say about 15 years earlier) as "cockatoo." Note: While the name may be from the sound of the birds, Malay "kakatua" pretty much literally translates to "older sister." If true, why the use of the term is difficult to understand, but far stranger words have developed among humans. Of course too, it could indeed be from the imitation of the bird sounds and the word adjusted to conform to the "older sister" term's phonetic spelling.

^  "Malay" is from the overall Austronesian family of languages of southeast Asia and many Pacific islands, where "Malay" is part of the subfamily "Malayo-Polynesian." 

Get Smart Episode: My Nephew the Spy

This episode originally aired in December 1965 and it guest starred Conrad Janis, who became known in the 1970s for playing Fred McConnell, the father of Mindy on the popular ABC comedy "Mork and Mindy." As I write this, Conrad Janis is 93 years old. Charles Lane was one of those actors who was recognizable, but not generally known by name to much of the public. Lane appeared in many movies and television shows, especially in Lucille Ball's various television shows, often portraying a stern or gruff character. He also played one of the reporters in the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Charles Lane died in 2007, age 102! Maudie Prickett was another well known face from her many appearances in films and on television, but as with Charles Lane, she was not generally known by name. She was familiar to many of us from playing Hazel's friend Rosie on the 1960s television series "Hazel."

Episode Cast: 

Don Adams as Maxwell Smart

Barbara Feldon as Agent 99

Edward Platt as the Chief of CONTROL

Conrad Janis as Victor/KAOS agent

Charles Lane as Uncle Abner

Maudie Prickett as Aunt Bertha

Vincent Beck as Herman/shoe salesman/KAOS agent

Max investigates a men's shoe store as a possible KAOS front, only to be followed home by one of the salesmen and KAOS agents. As the two men wrestle on the floor of his apartment, Max's Aunt Bertha and Uncle Abner come visiting, and Max can't let them find out he's a secret agent. Max introduces the KAOS agent to his aunt and uncle as "Victor," an old army buddy. As Max tries to keep Victor guarded, his Uncle Abner sets off a few of the special devices in the apartment. (A funny little note: when Max initially tells Victor to play along in his cover to his aunt and uncle by saying they are old army buddies, Victor says, "Yes, we served together in the Luftwaffe," to which Max says, "Wrong army!" No need to take any offense, as KAOS was often depicted as being pro-Nazi/fascist and pro-communist. But to the Nazi part, never fear, Don Adams' paternal side was Jewish and Conrad Janis is Jewish, and besides, the creator of "Get Smart" was Mel Brooks, who is Jewish, and he often poked fun at Nazis and by doing so, he reminded us of how despicable they were. I love Mel Brooks! By the way, at the time of this article, he is 95!) When Agent 99 comes to the door, Max introduces her to his aunt and uncle as the maid, and Aunt Bertha, a take charge kind of person, promptly puts 99 to work cleaning the apartment. Finally, Aunt Bertha pushes a button and a net drops from the ceiling over Max and Victor, and this allows Victor to escape, but Max follows him, and Aunt Bertha and Uncle Abner follow Max. Victor goes back to the shoe store and Max goes in, but here come his aunt and uncle. They assume Max sells shoes, so his uncle wants to buy a pair of shoes from Max, who bungles trying to get his relatives out of the store before the KAOS agents discover them. Max's behavior at the apartment and at the store make his aunt and uncle believe he is involved in some illegal operation, like gambling (Note: In the 1960s, unlike today, lotteries, cassinos and many other forms of gambling were illegal, except in a very limited number of places in the U.S.). Max goes into the back room and brings out ONE shoe for his uncle, who promptly sends him back for the other shoe. Victor and the other salesman, Herman, are suspicious and they go out into the front of the store. Max's aunt and uncle yell to Victor, and Abner says that Max didn't tell them that the two friends worked in the same store too. Victor says, "Too? Where is Max?" When they say he's in the back, the two KAOS agents dash into the back room and a big fight breaks out with Max, who ends up knocking them out. When Aunt Bertha and Uncle Abner question all of the happenings, Max says they had a salary dispute (hahaha!). Max reports in to the Chief and the shoe store is exposed as a KAOS operation that was smuggling secret information out printed on the inside of shoes. (Hmm, I always wondered why shoes have all that print on them.) Bertha and Abner are concerned that Max won't have a job now, and Bertha tries to convince Abner to buy the shoe store, and letting Max run it. Abner likes the idea of buying the store, but NOT of letting Max run it. Max comes in and tells them not to worry, and that he can sell something besides shoes. He then accidentally kicks the switch that triggers the rug to roll up around his aunt and uncle.    

  

 Picture is from the 2008 HBO Video release of "Get Smart: The Complete Series" (Season 1, with sleeve cover)

WORD HISTORY:

Talon-The ultimate origin of this word is uncertain, but what is known is "talon" goes back to Latin "talus," which meant "ankle, knuckle bone of animals (the bones were also used as dice, which gave the word that meaning too)," which later produced Medieval Latin "talonem," which meant "heel." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "talon," which meant "heel, back of the foot." English borrowed the word around 1400, initially as "taloun," perhaps from an Anglo-French form, or from the influence of some Anglo-French spellings (Anglo-French seems to have mainly used "talon"), meaning "claws of beasts or birds," but later more tendency towards "claws of birds of prey."   

Scampi

True scampi are a type of lobster and a fairly common source of food, especially in parts of Europe, as the delectable 5 to 10 inch lobsters live in areas of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean from Norway down the western European coast to Portugal, and also in the Adriatic Sea. Scampi were a fairly common food in some parts of Italy, and when some Italian immigrants to America arrived, scampi were not available, so they used the much more plentiful shrimp, but the term "scampi" persisted, which brought a number of Americans to use the term for large-size shrimp. By the way, the singular form of this type of lobster is "scampo," a form not often heard in American English, while "scampi" is the plural, although I've heard "scampis" many times, as the plural has mistakenly become confused as being the singular form by many Americans.

In the early 1960s, we ate at "Captain Frank's," a seafood restaurant right on the East Ninth Street pier on Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland. Visitors often called it "The Lobster House," as the front had those words displayed for many years, but to Clevelanders, it was "Captain Frank's," and EVERY Clevelander had heard of it, whether they had ever been there or not, and I doubt there were many who hadn't been there at least once. Up until then, I don't believe I'd ever heard of "scampi," which were on the menu there, but after that day, they became a favorite of mine. Years later in the 1970s, none other than Captain Frank himself, an Italian immigrant, explained to me how scampi were different from what many Americans believed them to be. Captain Frank's family name was Visconti, and he was born on the Italian island of Sicily, but he had lived in the United States for many decades. He opened "Captain Frank's" in the 1950s and he died in 1984; a couple of years after which, the restaurant began to go down hill and it closed in 1989. The building was torn down and this part of the lives of so many Clevelanders and visitors to Cleveland was gone, except from the file marked "fond memories" stored within our minds.  

This was the first time I ever made scampi at home. In honor of Captain Frank:

Ingredients:

 

scampi

butter

garlic

lemon juice

breadcrumbs

(optional) chopped parsley

As with other lobster, open the scampi shells. Briefly saute some thinly sliced garlic in some butter over low heat, and add a sprinkle of lemon juice and, optionally, a little finely chopped parsley. When the butter is all melted and the garlic has softened, add a little to the scampi and bake at 400 F for about 16 to 18 minutes (until golden), turning once at the 9 minute mark. Serve with small dishes (ramekins) of more garlic butter for dipping.  

WORD HISTORY:

Fist-Closely related to "foist," a word borrowed by English from Dutch, to "five," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to the prefix "pent(a)," which is Greek derived, although Latin borrowed some words with the prefix from Greek and passed them to its descendants (example: "pentagon," Greek to Latin to French to English, but "pentagram" was borrowed by English directly from Greek). "Fist" goes back to the Indo European root "penks/pengs," meaning, "having to do with a hand," a shortened form of "penkwe/pengke," which meant "five." This gave Old Germanic "funshtiz/funstiz" (Indo European "p" became Old Germanic "f"), meaning "balled up fingers or hand;" thus, "fist," which became "fusti" in the West Germanic branch of Germanic. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "fyst" meaning "fist," this then became "fust" and "fist," where it has been for several hundred years. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Faust," Low German "Fuust," West Frisian "fûst," Dutch "vuist." The North Germanic branch languages use forms from Old Norse "hnefi," which means "fist, fistful," but why Old Norse had the word is unknown, as is the origin of the word.

Mashed Potato Cakes

To make mashed potato cakes, you'll need MASHED POTATOES, believe it or not. This is really good for leftover or store bought mashed potatoes, but you can make mashed potatoes just for these cakes. Generally for mashed potatoes, cut up some peeled potatoes (although there are mashed potatoes made with skin on potatoes), boil the cut up potatoes, drain them, add butter, salt and milk (I almost always use canned evaporated milk, NOT condensed milk, and I heat a little of the milk and melt the butter along with it in the microwave; this prevents the milk and butter from cooling down the potatoes as you mash them, which can make them sticky like glue), and then use a potato masher, or better yet, an electric beater to make the mashed potatoes smooth and creamy (be careful on the amount of milk, or you'll end up with runny mashed potatoes, so it's best to add milk a little at a time as you mash the potatoes). You can also buy commercial brand mashed potatoes or use leftover mashed potatoes from last night's roast beef or roast chicken dinner. The key thing is, you want thick mashed potatoes, so you want them cold, or at least chilled, not warm right from being mashed. As I note in the recipe below, the amount of flour I list is approximate. When you begin to mix the potatoes for the cakes, it's best to add the flour a bit at a time to achieve a good consistency for your mashed potato cakes to hold together fairly well (you're not looking for a consistency to patch your cracked sidewalk, but you want the cakes to hold together once you've put them into a pan or on a griddle and spread them out to cook. Too much flour may give you a raw flour taste for your cakes; too little and they will be runny and mushy. 

 

Ingredients (about 12 potato cakes, but depends upon the size potato cakes you want):

 

3 cups of mashed potatoes

1 cup flour (approximately... use more or less for a potato cake that holds together well)

2 large eggs

4 or 5 green onions, chopped (green included)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar or sharp American cheese

(optional) 4 bacon strips, cut into 1 inch pieces 

salt (your mashed potatoes and the cheese will have salt, so use any additional salt to your own taste)

oil for frying (I use regular olive oil, but vegetable oil/canola oil is fine)

 

Get your cold mashed potatoes, and if using bacon, fry the bacon until just done (you don't want it leathery), then drain it on paper towels. In a bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes, flour (as noted above), eggs, chopped green onions, salt, bacon bits (if using) and shredded cheese. Heat enough oil in a skillet (cast iron is good, but not necessary) to completely cover the bottom of the skillet over medium heat. I use about 1/4 cup potato batter for each cake, but you can use 2 or 3 tablespoons each (you don't want them too thick, so that they cook properly; after all, there is raw egg involved; so, like pancake thickness, not like Texas toast thickness). Once added to the hot skillet/oil, press down to spread out the batter into pancakes. Fry the cakes until golden brown on both sides. You can serve with some extra chopped green onions and/or bacon pieces on the side, as well as with some sour cream.

WORD HISTORY:

Noun-This word is related to quite a number of words, including: "nominal," "nominate" and "nomination," Latin-derived words borrowed by English from Latin, to words with "nym," like "synonym," another Latin word borrowed by English, probably from Latin-based French, but with heavy reinforcement from Latin (or perhaps the other way around), and to "name," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Noun" goes back to Indo European "nomen," which meant "name." This gave Latin "nomen," meaning "name, name for things, materials, qualities or actions, typically used in a grammatical sense." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "nom" and "non," and this became "noun" in the Anglo-French dialect of the French spoken by the descendants of the Normans in England (also "nom" was used by some). English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1300s as "noun," but also as "nowne."

Nigerian Salad

Nigeria is a country in the western part of Africa with a population of about 210 million. The 1500s saw the Portuguese begin to have lots of contact with the Nigerians for trade, primarily via the city of "Eko," which the Portuguese called "Lagos," which has remained the name of the city. (Note: Lagos is one of the world's largest cities, with a metro population of some 25 million.) The slave trade was centered in the Nigerian region and by the early 1800s, the British had outlawed slavery, and they actively fought against slave traders, which brought their involvement in that general area of Africa, and by the early 1900s, Nigeria became a colony of Britain, a status that lasted until 1960. While there are hundreds of languages and dialects spoken in modern Nigeria, English is the official language.  

There are naturally variations to some of the ingredients, and some recipes include pasta or boiled potatoes. Green cabbage is traditional, but I like to use red cabbage at times, if I have it, which I did when I made the salad for the photos below (it adds great color). You can peel the cucumber or leave the peel on, or partially peel it.

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 full servings):

 

2 cups shredded lettuce

2 cups shredded cabbage 

1 cup shredded carrot

1 cup chopped cucumber, small chop

1 cup chopped tomato, small chop

1/2 cup chopped red onion, small chop

1 cup baked beans*

3 or 4 hard boiled eggs

1/2 cup corn (canned, frozen/thawed/off the cob) 

1 to 1 1/2 cups salad cream, Heinz or homemade**

 

In a large bowl/dish, add the lettuce, cabbage, carrot, cucumber, tomato and red onion. Mix to combine (I use my hands). You can serve up the vegetable mixture in individual servings, then add some corn over the top of each serving, then add some dabs of baked beans around the top. Quarter the hard boiled eggs, then place a few pieces of the egg around each serving, followed by some salad cream in the middle of the salad. Otherwise, you can put the corn, baked beans and hard boiled egg pieces on the top of the vegetable mixture in your large bowl/dish for everyone to serve themselves. Put the salad cream in a separate dish for each person to add to their salad.   

 

* Heinz beans are, and have been, very popular in Britain and in some former British colonies. While they are "similar" to the beans the company markets in the U.S., they are slightly different. You can find the British style Heinz beans in some U.S. supermarkets (if they aren't with the other canned beans, check the international section) and in some specialty shops that deal with international products. If you like looking for products, and you want to try to make as close to a genuine "Nigerian Salad" as possible, the recipes I've seen over the years for the salad all had the Heinz beans, an influence carried over from the time when Nigeria was a colony of the British; so, you'll want to try to find the British style Heinz beans. If the type of beans isn't that important to you, use the baked beans of your choice. By the way, the same is true of the salad cream, as the Heinz brand is very popular in Britain and in some of the former colonies, including in Nigeria. It is not easy to find in the U.S., and while it is available online, it will cost you more than a couple of dollars for a bottle, perhaps more like about $8.00 or more, and then there are the shipping charges. I'm not here to market for Heinz, but these are the products commonly used by Nigerians, so it is what it is.   

 

** For homemade salad cream, here is the link to the recipe:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2021/08/british-salad-cream.html

WORD HISTORY:

Jumbo-This is one of those words that requires the use of "could be," "possibly," "maybe," "perhaps," as the reason for the name is not really known, although the speculation for the name makes some sense, but that does not guarantee that it's true. "Jumbo" was the name of an orphaned elephant calf captured in East Africa in the 1860s. It was said to have been an unusually large elephant calf, and it grew into a huge adult. The young growing elephant was sent to Europe, spending time in Italy, Germany, France and England, before being sold to American circus showman and promoter (and exploiter) Phineas "P.T." Barnum in the early 1880s. The elephant's immense size had proven to be an attraction in Europe and Barnum popularized the attraction even more. Of course, the question of the day is, why was the baby elephant named "Jumbo?" Some have speculated that the name was taken from Swahili "jumbe," which meant "chief, leader." The abnormally large elephant certainly fit with its name as a "chief" or a "leader," and as initially Europeans turned out in considerable numbers to view "Jumbo," the name also tied in nicely with a creature from Africa.^ The name became so well known, that the idea of its size provided the basis for other abnormally large objects to have the word applied to them as an adjective, a use still in existence to this day. Another possibility is that the name came from a European-ized version of "nzamba," a word that meant "elephant" in Kikongo, a language spoken in and around the Congo region. I use "European-ized," as one of the elephant's original captors was a German.

 

^ By the mid 1800s, many European countries were colonizing regions of Africa (or had already colonized some areas).   

 

German Ham with Sour Cream: Schmantschinken nach Ostpreußischer Art

There are other recipes in German cooking called "Schmantschinken" (also spelled "Schmandschinken"), but this general recipe originated in East Prussia (German: Ostpreußen), a former German province in northeastern Germany, and the provincial capital was Königsberg (now the Russian city of "Kaliningrad"). The "nach Ostpreußischer Art" means, "East Prussian style." 

 

After World War Two, East Prussia was divided between Poland and the then Soviet Union (Russia), with Königsberg itself renamed Kaliningrad as part of the Soviet Union. East Prussia had come to be known for dairy products, including sour cream, a product in common use in much of eastern Europe. The Germans arrived in what became East Prussia in the 1200s and many of these German settlers were Low German speakers; and thus, Low German formed the basis of the particular dialect that developed in East Prussia. The dialect incorporated some vocabulary from the Slavic people in the area, as well as additional German settlers from elsewhere and also Dutch speaking settlers. As the Russians approached the region in the last months of World War Two, the German population was largely evacuated from East Prussia into the interior of Germany. While I'm not completely certain of this, I'd have to believe that there are few East Prussian dialect speakers still around, especially those truly fluent in the dialect. East Prussia was known for having been cut off from the rest of Germany as part of the territotrial adjustments after World War One, with the Polish territory between East Prussia and the main part of Germany being called the "Polish Corridor." It is also known to World War Two history buffs as the location of Adolf Hitler's main military headquarters from 1941 until late 1944. It was at this headquarters that the Nazi nutcase was nearly assassinated when a bomb was placed under the map table during a military conference on July 20, 1944. The area of Hitler's former headquarters has been a part of Poland since the end of the war, but remnants of its many structures remain.  

 

I use a center slice ham steak, which has the small round bone in the middle, with the ham being about a half inch thick. 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 center slice ham steak (with the small round bone), about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds  

3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup milk (I use canned evaporated milk, NOT sweetened condensed milk)

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground white pepper (or black pepper)

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Heat a large (12 inch) skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the ham slice and brown it lightly on both sides. Remove the ham and add the flour to the melted butter used to fry the ham and stir lightly until the mixture turns light brown/tan. Add the sour cream and stir well, then stir in the milk to thin the sour cream a little. Stir in the lemon juice, sugar, white (or black) pepper and salt; mix well. Add the ham slice back to the skillet to reheat it and cut it into serving pieces. Serve with ham pieces topped with the sour cream sauce, and boiled potatoes and a salad alongside.    

 

WORD HISTORY:

Finch-This name for a common type of bird is closely related to "fink" (keep reading). "Finch" goes back to Indo European "(s)pingo/(s)pingos," the name for the "chaffinch," the name for which seems to come from the idea of the birds feeding on seeds found in the chaff of harvested grains. The Indo European form gave Old Germanic "finko" (the 'p' becoming 'f' in Germanic), which then became "finkiz," as a diminutive. This gave Old English "finc," which meant "finch," and this then became "fynche" (ending 'e' would have been normally pronounced 'ah/eh'), and this then became the modern form "finch." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Fink," Low German has "Fink," but it seems to now be limited to regional usage (in Westfälisch dialect?), although it was long in broader usage as "fink(e)" and "vink(e)" until a couple of hundred years ago, West Frisian "fink," Dutch "vink," Danish and Norwegian have "finke," but this is a borrowing from Low German in the Middle Ages, Icelandic "finkur" (from English or Low German?), and Swedish has "fink," but also borrowed from Low German. Note 1: The North Germanic languages seem to have had a Germanic form with a beginning 's' and the 'p,' instead of 'f.' This gave forms like "spink, spinke," which was used for a type of sparrow, but the West Germanic form was borrowed and overtook those forms and they also took forms of "sparrow" from West Germanic. Note 2: German "Fink" (all German nouns are capitalized) is the strong candidate for English "fink," used to indicate a person of contemptible ways, especially "a person who provides information to law enforcement about another person or people." This developed in the German criminal world from the idea of a finch (German: Fink) being a talky and singing bird, and in the American criminal world it was often said, "If the cops press Randy, he'll sing about us to the heavens, fink that he is." Hey, I can hit the high notes too!

Malaysian Ginger Tea: Teh Halia

Ginger tea is a delightfully flavorful drink. There are variations to the recipe I have below that sweeten the tea with sugar or honey and then milk is added instead of sweetened condensed milk. I add orange peel and whole or ground cloves (which is perhaps a Chinese influence?), but that is something you can leave out if you prefer. You can certainly use more sweetened condensed milk if you like a sweeter drink. And make no mistake, there are also other variations. It is a beverage served in Malaysia and in Singapore.

 

Serve with cake, bread and jam or sandwiches.

Ingredients (2 servings of 6 ounces each):

2 teabags of black tea or 2 teaspoons loose tea (I add 2 1/2 teaspoons, I like stronger tea)

12 ounces water

1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced 

2 pieces fresh orange peel 1 inch each (1/2 inch wide)

2 cloves or a pinch of ground cloves

2 teaspoons sweetened condensed milk, 1 teaspoon for each cup, plus more to preference

Add the water and the sliced ginger to a pan. Bring the water to a steady simmer and simmer the sliced ginger for 10 minutes. At the 5 minute mark, add the black tea, orange peel and cloves. At the 10 minute mark, remove from the heat and let set for about 1 minute. Strain and add sweetened condensed milk to taste. 

 

  Malaysian ginger tea with sliced Portuguese roll and blackberry jam ...

 

WORD HISTORY:

Pumice-This word is related to "spumoni," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from Italian, and to "foam," a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to the Indo European root "(s)poih-," seemingly meaning "froth, foam." This gave Latin "pumex," meaning "porous, low density rock formed from bubble-filled solidified volcanic lava;" thus, sort of "frothy rock." This then became "pomex" (accusative: "pomicem") and this passed to Latin-based Old French as "pomis," with the same meaning. English borrowed the word in the early 1400s from Anglo-French, the French dialect that developed among French speakers in England in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest.    

British Salad Cream

British salad cream is similar to mayonnaise, but it ISN'T mayonnaise. Salad cream is commonly used as a topping for ... wait for it... SALADS, and for hard boiled eggs, boiled potatoes and it is used as a spread for sandwiches and as a dip for vegetables. It seems salad cream was a homemade type of dressing in Britain, with the first commercial brands making an appearance in the World War One era, with Heinz leading the way, with this brand is still heavily identified with salad cream to this day. Salad cream was taken by the British to a number of their colonies, where the creamy delight is still common in some of the now former British colonies. There are many variations in recipes, with some people making mayonnaise first, then adding ingredients to turn it into their version of salad cream.

Ingredients:

 

6 ounces heavy cream, very cold

2 hard boiled egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 heaping teaspoon powdered sugar

1/4 ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt   

Put all of the ingredients into a small blender and blend until it thickens. If the salad cream is too thick, add a teaspoon of milk and stir it in by hand, repeat until the desired thickness is reached, but keeping it a little too thick is best, as the cream will begin to break down the longer you keep it. I tend to like sauces that are thick, I mean THICK (see photos below), so I blend my salad cream until it is the consistency of mayonnaise, but it's my understanding that commercial brands are more like salad dressing; that is, thick, but pourable.

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Ceiling-This word is related to "conceal" and "color," words of Latin derivation borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and it is distantly related, through Indo European, to "hell/Hell," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Ceiling" goes back to Indo European "kel/khel," which meant "to cover." This gave Latin the verb "celare," meaning "to cover, to cover up, to hide," which passed to Latin-based Old French as "celer," meaning "to hide, to keep secret," with a secondary meaning of "to cover walls with paneling." English borrowed this as "celen," meaning, "to put a cover over," and not long thereafter, "to cover the walls with paneling" (seemingly then specifically "oak paneling"), circa 1200? A noun, "celynge" developed in the mid 1300s, meaning "the action or process of covering walls with paneling" (the ending "ynge" was an old form of modern "ing"). The 1530s saw the word, now spelled "ceiling," used for "the interior overhead part of a room," with likely influence in meaning from the similar Latin word "caelum," which meant "sky," but used in religious contexts for "heaven," which was usually seen as "in the sky/skies." (Note: Latin "caelum" is thought to be from a totally different source, which makes it unrelated to "ceiling.") The meaning "cover with oak wood paneling" died out over time, but lasted regionally until the second half of the 1800s. The word is used figuratively to indicate an upper limit on something, for example: "The city puts a ceiling on rents," or "The building has a ceiling on the number of occupants because of fire safety regulations."  

Beets, Kale & Fennel Salad

A great salad!

 

Ingredients:

 

3 roasted beets (tennis ball size), sliced into about 1 inch length and 1/4 inch thickness *

1 1/2 cups fennel, raw, chopped

some fennel fronds 

2 1/2 cups curly or lacinato kale leaves, torn or cut into bite-size pieces, not fine pieces

2 1/2 cups beet greens, torn or cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup pecorino romano shavings

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

homemade blue cheese dressing for serving** 

                               or

homemade ranch dressing***

In a large bowl, add the cut beets, fennel, fennel fronds, kale, beet greens, pecorino romano shavings, ground black pepper and salt; toss to mix everything well (I do it by hand). Serve topped with homemade blue cheese dressing. You can serve the salad with a side dish of extra pecorino romano shavings for those who like more cheese.  

* For oven roasted beets, here is the recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/06/roasted-beets.html 

 

** The recipe for homemade blue cheese dressing:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/07/homemade-blue-cheese-dressing.html

 

*** The recipe for homemade ranch dressing:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/06/homemade-ranch-dressing.html

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Balm (Balsam)-"Balm" goes back to transliterated Hebrew "basam," which meant "spice, pleasant smell." Greek borrowed the word as "balsamon" meaning "the Arabian balsam tree, or the oil of this tree," which was used for perfume, and Latin borrowed this as "balsamum," with the same meanings. Old French rendered the word as "basme," and English borrowed that form circa 1200, but also "baume," a form from Anglo-Norman, also spelled "bawm/bawme" in English, and this later became "balm" (1500s?) in imitation of the Latin spelling with "l". The meaning also moved from "perfume," seemingly to a parallel meaning, "annointing oil used to soothe," to "oily substance used to treat pain or wounds;" thus also "any person or anything that soothes someone's emotional pain." The word "balsam" is from the Latin "balsamum," mentioned above, and indeed, it was used in that form by English more than a thousand years ago for "soothing oil of some plants," and later it was also used for "the resin of these plants," which was chewed. By about the mid 1500s, the word was whittled down to "balsam," where it has remained ever since, but the meaning for the resin died out, but the "soothing oil" meaning expanded to many types of "ointment used to soothe wounds, injuries or certain inflammatory conditions;" thus it is really synonymous with "balm."    

Egyptian Potato Salad

Mention Egypt to people and likely several things will pop into their minds: the pyramids, the Nile River, the Suez Canal, the pharaohs of ancient times, and perhaps a few biblical references, especially to Moses. Egypt has long been a fascination to people beyonds it's own area, and this country of about 100 million people is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, but with a Christian (usually Coptic) minority of "somewhere around" 10%. Egypt saw more than 300 years of Turkish rule (Ottoman Empire) beginning in the 1500s, which was interrupted for three years by Napoleon's French occupation (1798-1801). The British maintained "a kind of protectorate" with Egypt beginning in the 1880s and many British and French business people invested in the company that helped to build, and then to run, the Suez Canal during much of the last quarter of the 1800s and into the 1900s (Note: the territory of the canal was Egyptian, but the foreign owned company provided money to complete, maintain and operate the canal, with the canal's operation being totally turned over to Egypt in 1956). While some important and famous battles took place in Egypt during World War Two (especially "Tobruk," "El Alamein") "technically" Egypt was a neutral country during the time of those battles, and Egypt did not declare war on any country until 1945, when it declared war on Germany and Japan. I know it was an odd situation, and Egypt had its own armed forces and for a couple of years air raids were fairly common, but the British had long kept military forces stationed in Egypt, especially around the Suez Canal, Cairo and the Mediterranean port of Alexandria. It wasn't until 1956 that Britain, by agreement, withdrew its military forces from Egypt.  

 

There is no mayonnaise or vinegar in this potato salad, rather it is something right out of Egyptian cuisine, with olives, lots of various herbs and lemon juice. The optional use of honey is my own addition, as I'm not a fan of sour tastes, but if Egyptians were to use a sweetener, it likely would be honey, and maybe some do use it. Be sure to use fresh herbs, not dried. Regardless of the type of potatoes you use, you want them more or less cut into bite size pieces. I often prefer to leave the skins on potatoes, as I have done for the photos here, but to be honest, most recipes I've seen use peeled potatoes.

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes (or a dozen small), boiled in their skins, then cooled, peeled, cut into chunks

6 green onions, chopped (with green part)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

10 pitted Kalamata dark olives, halved

10 pitted green olives, halved

1 heaping tablespoon chopped dill

2 tablespoons chopped coriander (also known as cilantro)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped mint

(optional) 1/2 to 1 teaspoon finely chopped red chili

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup olive oil

(optional) 2 to 3 tablespoons honey (mixed into the lemon juice)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt 

 

In a large bowl, add the potato pieces, chopped green onions, chopped garlic, dark and green olive halves, chopped dill, chopped cilantro (coriander), chopped parsley, chopped mint, optional finely chopped red chili. Mix everything together. In a mixing cup or bowl, mix together the lemon juice, optional honey, olive oil, ground cumin and salt. Mix it well to incorporate the honey, if using. Sprinkle the ground cumin and salt over the salad, then pour the dressing over the salad and mix everything together well. Serve immediately or chill it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

 

WORD HISTORY: 

Pyramid-There is a theory about the origin of the word "pyramid" and its application to this tomb structure that rests upon the belief that a type of wheat cake was the basis of the name. One of the problems for us in modern times is, how can we confirm what these wheat cakes looked like? Here is why this theory is prevalent to some: transliterated Greek had "puramis" or "pyramis" (plural: "pyramides"), which meant "a pyramid of Egypt," but also, "a cake of wheat grains and honey." The idea is, the Greek word came from transliterated Egyptian "pimar," which apparently meant "pyramid," but may have also been the name for the wheat cake, as the assumption is, the Greeks not only took the word, but also its meanings from Egyptian. The thing is, Ancient Greek "pyrós" or "purós" meant "wheat" (perhaps more specifically "roasted wheat," as the root of the word means "fire"); so in other words in this case, the Greeks may have named the wheat cake, but as for the burial structure, no. Anyway, Latin borrowed Greek "puramis/pyramis" as "pyramis/piramis," and the plural form, which in Greek was "puramides/pyramides," as "pyramides" in Latin. Old French originally took the Latin form as "piramide," which then became "pyramide." English originally borrowed the Latin form as "piram" in the latter part of the 1300s, but then borrowed the form now in use from French "pyramide" circa 1550.

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail: Cóctel de Camarones

This is so good and refreshing on a hot summer day, but actually for any time of year, in my opinion. And it's super easy to make. I use 36/40 size shrimp and then I halve them, but you can certainly use 41/50 size. I love serrano chilies, so that's what I typically use, but you can use jalapeño chilies, and for heat shy people, the recipe below won't numb your tongue. Of course, for those who love the heat, you can use habanero chilies and add Mexican hot sauce until your little heart is content. It's a good idea to put a bottle of hot sauce out for people who want to add more.

 

Ingredients: 

 

1 pound 36/40 cooked shrimp, peeled and cleaned

1 cup tomato juice

1/2 cup clam broth (not heated)

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon celery salt

2 to 3 tablespoons Mexican hot sauce (I use Tapatio)

1 cup chopped seedless cucumber (small chop, peeled, unpeeled or partially peeled, your choice)

1 or 2 serrano chilies, chopped

1 cup chopped roma tomatoes

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 medium avocado, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also known as fresh coriander)

 

Add 5 or 6 cups of water to a pan, add 1 teaspoon salt and the juice of 1/2 lime. Bring to a boil and add the shrimp, cook for about 3 minutes or until tender. Drain the shrimp immediately and run cold water over them. Let them sit and you'll be back to them shortly. Add the tomato juice, clam broth, ketchup, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, ground black pepper, celery salt and Mexican hot sauce to a bowl (a glass bowl with a lid is great, and definitely NOT a bowl of aluminum or other metals that react to acidic elements like tomato juice and lime juice). Mix well, especially to get the ketchup mixed in. Add the chopped cucumber, chopped chilies, chopped roma tomatoes, finely chopped onion, chopped avocado and chopped cilantro and mix everything together very well. Cut the 36/40 shrimp in half, then add the shrimp to the bowl and mix again. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but 5 hours is better. Serve with saltines and don't forget to make extra hot sauce available for those who like more heat.  

WORD HISTORY:

False-This word is closely related to "faux," a word derived from the roots of "false," but with an inconsistent history in English since the latter part of the 1600s up to the present, but it was borrowed by English from French, and it is also related to "fail," a Latin-derived word borrowed via French. The origin of "false" is uncertain, although Dutch linguist and etymologist Michiel de Vaan has proposed an Indo European form, like "sgwhel," that meant "stumble," as the original source, but I'm not sold. What is known is that Latin had "fallere," meaning "to deceive," but also, "to disappoint." One of its participle forms was "falsus," meaning "deceived, cheated;" thus also, "mistaken" (adjectivally: "deceitful, deceptive;" noun use: "cheater, deceiver"). Latin-based Old French had it as "faus" and "fals," meaning, "not genuine, untrue, incorrect, deceitful, fraudulent," and English initially borrowed both forms between like 1050 and 1100, reinforced by the Latin "falsus." Later the forms became "fals," before the modern version, the primary meanings of which are: "untrue, fake, incorrect, deceitful." The other Germanic languages have forms of the word, as it was borrowed by Low German as "fals/vals" and then passed on to the North Germanic languages, and it was borrowed by Dutch (from Latin? from French?) as "valsch," then as "vals," and it was passed on to German, which has "falsch" (to simplify things, German originally borrowed a form as "fals" and then "vals"  from Old French "fals," but later the spelling was influenced (borrowed in that sense) by Dutch (from the spelling "valsch," with 'v' being pronounced as 'f', and it became "falsch," the spelling that has continued into the present).    

Sardinian Pasta Bits & Shrimp: Fregola Sarda ai Gamberi

Fregola sarda is a type of pasta similar to couscous that is common on the Italian island of Sardinia. Sardinian fregola is different from couscous, however, in that it is toasted. In the U.S. you can find fregola in Italian specialty stores and likely in an increasing number of supermarkets, and of course, it is available online. If you're in Cleveland, you can also find it at the West Side Market.

 

Only Sicily, another part of Italy, is a larger island than Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. Sardinia is known for its beaches, abundant seafood, as well as lamb and goat, as the island also has mountainous areas for the raising of these animals. Another part of Sardinian food culture is the serving of a crispy flatbread called "pane carasau," which is typically served with olive oil. 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

1 1/2 cups fregola pasta

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp

4/1/2 cups water with 1 teaspoon salt

6 ripe roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 or 2 red chili peppers, left whole, with a slit cut into them

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 or 8 basil leaves, halved

a squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice to top each serving

Soak the shrimp for about 15 to 20 minutes in some cold water with the juice of half a lemon added, then drain them. In a large sauce pan, bring 4 1/2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil, then add the shrimp and simmer for 90 seconds. Immediately drain the shrimp, but pour the cooking water back into the pan, you will use it shortly. In a large skillet (or sauce pan), heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the garlic and saute for 1 minute, then add the chili peppers and chopped tomatoes. Turn the heat to low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the chili pepper and garlic (of course, if you like them, leave them in the dish, but cut them up), and mash the tomatoes with a large fork, until you have a chunky sauce, but with no really large pieces. Add the white wine, ground pepper and salt, stir and cook the chunky sauce a further 7 or 8 minutes over low heat (or even very low heat), stir occasionally to prevent sticking or burning. Meanwhile, let the reserved water you used to cook the shrimp come to a boil. Increase the heat for the skillet to medium and add the boiling water to it from the pan. Now add the fregola pasta and let it cook until the water is absorbed ("about" 20 to 25 minutes). When there is still a little water left to be absorbed, add the shrimp and let the shrimp cook in the fregola until tender over low heat, turning the shrimp to make sure they cook evenly. Add the halved fresh basil leaves and stir. Add a squeeze of lemon juice over each serving. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Frugal-This word is related to "fruit," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French, and it is distantly related to the verb "brook" (meaning in more modern times, "to bear or tolerate something unkind or unpleasant," as in, "I will not brook any more rude behavior"), a word from the Germanic roots of English (its original meanings in Old English were: "to enjoy, to use, to eat and to enjoy food"). "Frugal" goes back to Indo European "bhrugh," which had the notion of "to use, to make use of;" thus also, "to have the enjoyment of." This gave Latin "frux" (plural "fruges") meaning "fruit, produce," with extended meanings like: "success," "value." Either "frux," its plural "fruges, or its dative form "frugi" (hey, did I narrow this down or what? haha) provided the basis for the Latin adjective "frugalis," meaning "having to do with fruit or produce," but also, "to use virtuously, to use wisely and economically;" thus also, "thrifty." French had the word from Latin as "frugal," and English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1500s meaning "economical, thrifty, sparing in waste or expenditure." The word's roots still show through in the modern underlying meaning, "useful in an efficient way."

Czech & Slovak Fried Cheese: Smažený Sýr/Vyprážaný Syr

In Czech it's "Smažený Sýr," pronounced kind of like "shmah-zhawny seer," and in Slovak as "Vyprážaný Syr," pronounced like "vee-prah-zhawny seer," they both simply mean "fried cheese." Typically they use Edam cheese in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia. Edam cheese is a round-shaped, off white colored Dutch cheese, encased in red wax, but Edam is also made outside of the Netherlands. If you can't find Edam, you can use gouda, another cheese originally from the Netherlands, but also produced elsewhere, or in the U.S. you can even try Monterey Jack, an American cheese that is pretty much available in any supermarket. The thing is, these cheeses all have relatively low moisture, which is what you want. I hadn't bought Edam cheese for many years. It's not that I don't like it, but for whatever reason, it just wasn't on my mind, but when I went to buy it recently, I couldn't find it at cheese shops or at the supermarket. I don't know if this is because of the pandemic, which disrupted the suppy of some items, especially from outside the country, or if Edam has fallen in popularity (of course, it's possible that your local store will have it). Anyhow, I ended up buying it online. Gouda is readily available in cheese shops and supermarkets, and I actually bought some of it too, just to have it.    

Serve with french fries, Czech tartar sauce and don't forget a nice cold glass of beer. The Czechs have a good reputation for pilsner beer.

Ingredients (2 to 4 servings):

 

4 pieces of Edam, gouda or Monterey Jack cheese, cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick, 2 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches long

2/3 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup breadcrumbs (fine type)

oil for frying

 

Add enough neutral flavor oil to provide a quarter inch of oil in a skillet, then heat the oil over medium high heat (NOT just medium heat). Spread the flour out onto a plate, then beat the eggs in a separate shallow bowl/plate, then spread the breadcrumbs out onto another separate place. Roll a cheese slice in the flour to coat it, shake off excess, then dip the cheese slice into the beaten egg to coat it, then roll the cheese in the breadcrumbs to coat. I dip my cheese slices back into the egg and then back into the breadcrumbs to make sure they are well coated (no need for another dose of flour). Do the same with each cheese slice. Fry the cheese quickly over medium high heat, turning the cheese pieces to brown them on both sides. Frying the cheese quickly helps to prevent the cheese from running out (the double breadcrumb coating naturally helps too). Stay alert, because the frying does not take long, and if you blink twice, the breadcrumb coating may become too dark, or even burn. Not that I know anything about that ... Actually, the first time I fixed this recipe, I turned around to simply rinse a dish off in the sink, and when I turned back to the stove, the breadcrumbs were so dark and burned, they looked like I had doused them in soy sauce, which gave me an idea, but that's another story. 

 

For the Czech tartar sauce:

 

1 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon vinegar

1/4 cup sweet gherkins, finely chopped (you can use somewhat less, to your own preference)

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped or grated

1/4 teaspoon chopped dill

1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, add all of the ingredients and stir well to mix. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour, but preferably for several hours. Stir the sauce before serving it.  

 

Fried cheese with fries, Czech tartar sauce and a glass of beer ...

WORD HISTORY:

Howitzer-This word is related to "heap" (both noun and verb), which are from the Germanic roots of English. "Howitzer" goes back to Indo European "k(h)oup," which had the notion of "raised surface;" thus, "hill." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "houpaz/haupaz," which "seems" to have reduced the meaning from "hill" to the lesser "pile or stack of something," although the reduced meaning may have first come in the West Germanic branch of Germanic. This gave Old High German "hufo" (heap), which then became "hufe (heap) (this also was used in the sense "group/band/crowd"). This was borrowed by Czech (often called "Old Czech" for the time period until the early 1500s) as "houf," which meant "heap, crowd, flock," and this gave Czech the noun "houfnice," initially a "catapult," seemingly from the trajectory (an arc) of the objects hurled by the device. German borrowed the word from Czech during the Hussite Wars (wars within Christianity in Bohemia, but before Christian "protesters against the Church" took the name "Protestants") for a "catapult" in the 1400s, apparently initially in German as "huffnitze," but also as an occasional name for some small Czech cannons. As artillery became more common, the name shifted to the shell-firing mortar-type gun that can be used to fire indirectly upon targets; that is, upon targets that cannot be seen by the gunners, as the shells are fired over all types of visual obstructions, and in German the term became "Haubitze," which was then borrowed by Dutch as "houwitser," and this was borrowed by English, initially as "hauwitser," in the latter part of the 1600s.   

Montserrat Goat Stew: Goat Water

Thank you Montserrat for this dish! I really enjoy it.

 

Montserrat is an island in the Caribbean named by Christopher Columbus for the Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat near Barcelona in the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain, which was founded about a thousand years ago. Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory and Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state, but the island has its own legislative branch. The island saw many Irish Protestant settlers beginning in the mid 1600s, and a large, but unknown number of African slaves also. In the mid 1990s, volcanic eruptions on the southern part of the island led to devastation and evacuation, and that entire area is excluded for living or travel. As a result of the volcanic activity and evacuations, the population of Montserrat is about 4700, down from about 12,000-13,000 prior to that time.    

 

There are many variations in recipes for "Goat Water," as it's the national dish of Montserrat, and everyone has their own way of preparing it. The native population of Montserrat (including the people who have had to move elsewhere) often uses bone-in goat meat, or a mixture of bone-in and boneless meat, and I have the butcher bone the meat, but he bundles up the bones for me to use in the stew. Admittedly, the bones are tough to chew, but then I realized they were just for seasoning. hahahahaha And I'm glad I figured that out, because if you think they're tough going down, wait until the next day, as their exit doesn't get any better! 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 1/2 to 2 pounds goat meat, boned shoulder meat

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 to 3 Scotch bonnet chilies (or habanero or other chili pepper), according to your heat preference, cut into thirds

1 cup peeled and sliced carrots

2 stalks celery, chopped

5 whole scallions (green onions), chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground mace

1 tablespoon thyme leaves

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup flour mixed with 2/3 cup water

1 tablespoon Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet

 

In a pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir for about 45 to 60 seconds, then add the onion, garlic and meat (if you have the bones separate, as I do, you can add them a little later). Let the mixture cook over medium heat, stirring to allow the meat to brown, but not to stick or burn (about 6 to 8 minutes). Add the chilies, carrot, celery and scallions, stir to mix and let cook another 5 or 6 minutes. Add the allspice, mace, thyme leaves, ground black pepper and bay leaves, as well as the plain water; stir well to mix (you can add the separate bones after you've mixed everything together well), let the stew come to a simmer and adjust the heat to maintain a simmer, not a rolling boil. Cover and let cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the meat is tender. Uncover, remove the loose bones (if using) and add the Gravy Master/Kitchen Bouquet and stir to mix it in. Add the flour/water mixture and stir, then let the stew come back up to a simmer until the stew thickens somewhat. It's not supposed to be highly thickened; after all, they call it "Goat Water."

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Kilt-This word for a "pleated skirt" is strongly identified with the Scots, although kilts are also common with the Irish. There is a good deal of uncertainty about this word's distant history, but it is likely in some way related to "child," a word from the Germanic roots of English (the Old English ancestor of modern "child" was "cild," and "cildhama," literally "child home," was one of the Old English words for "womb"). "Kilt" was borrowed into English from North Germanic, "probably" Danish, first in the verb form, as "kilten," in the 1300s. Danish had "kilte," meaning, "to tuck," and "kilte op," meaning, "to tuck up"), which went back to Old Norse "kjalta," which seems to have had the meaning "to tuck or fold up around the upper legs or knees;" thus, the noun meaning, "lap." Gothic, a language from the East Germanic branch of Old Germanic had "kilþei" (=kilthei) meaning "womb," and Gothic "inkilþo" meant "pregnant." Anyway, you get the idea of the words being related. The "kilt" was initially a piece of clothing worn to cover much of the body in the 1500s, but by the 1700s the lower half of this clothing (a type of skirt) began to be worn with other garments being used for the top of the body. By the 1800s the hatch-patterned cloth (tartan) of wool became strongly identified with Scotland. It "seems" the word was borrowed by English in the early decades of the 1700s. Note: Whether the word "kilter" (sometimes also spelled "kelter") is connected in some way is unknown.