Shrimp & Scallop Pasta with Saffron Cream Sauce

Saffron is a spice from the stigma of the crocus flower. The work needed to produce the spice saffron makes it the most expensive spice in the world, but a little saffron goes a relatively long way. If you don't have saffron and you don't care to buy it, you can substitute ground turmeric, as both spices will give a yellow/golden color to the sauce. 

Bay scallops are smaller than sea scallops and so is the bill for them, as they are cheaper.

 

Pappardelle is a type of pasta that is wide and flat, similar to many types of noodles, except that pappardelle is in long strands or ribbons. As with many types of pasta, you can get it fresh or dried. 

 

Neither Italian restaurant cooks nor Italian home cooks add cheese to sauces with seafood, nor do they sprinkle it on top of finished seafood dishes, but I'm of the feeling that a little cheese can't hurt anything, and I only put a couple of tablespoons of grated cheese in the sauce, which also helps to thicken the sauce.

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

To cook the shrimp:

 

2/3 pound raw shrimp, cleaned, shells saved

2 cups water

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt 

Bring 2 cups water to a boil, add 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt and shrimp shells, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer for 5 minutes; then add the shrimp and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until opaque; remove the shrimp to a separate plate temporarily. Strain the broth and return it to the pan.

 

For the overall dish:

 

2/3 pound raw shrimp (prepared with the ingredients above)

2/3 pound bay scallops

1 pound pappardelle

4 tablespoons butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup shrimp broth from cooking the shrimp (see preparation above)

1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron threads in 1/4 cup dry white wine

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan cheese)

2/3 cup heavy cream

pinch of ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

In a cup or a small bowl, add the white wine, and crush the saffron threads in the palm of your hand, then add them to the wine, stir to mix, then set it aside temporarily. Melt the butter in a large skillet over low heat; add the scallops, season with a pinch of ground black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt; saute for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes, remove skillet from the heat and let scallops sit in the skillet for about 30 to 60 seconds; remove scallops individually to the separate plate with the shrimp temporarily, leaving the seasoned melted butter in the skillet. Put the skillet back on low heat, add the minced garlic and saute for about 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the garlicky butter and mix it in to make a roux and keep cooking the roux over the low heat for a total of about 2 minutes (it's okay if the roux acquires a little light tan/golden color, but you don't want it to be dark at all). While stirring constantly and steadily, add about 1/2 cup of the shrimp broth to the roux and as it thickens, add another 1/2 cup of broth, while continuing to stir. Add the saffron/white wine and stir to mix it through, then stir in the lemon juice and grated cheese. Continue on low heat for about 1 minute, then stir in the heavy cream. The sauce should have a nice pale yellowish tint to it. If you use fresh pappardelle, add it and gently mix it around in the creamy sauce. It only takes like 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes to cook fresh pappardelle al dente. If using dried pappardelle cook it separately as per the instructions on the box/bag, drain it very well, then add it to the sauce. Add the cooked shrimp and scallops and mix them through the pasta and sauce (be sure to add any juices that may have collected on the dish). Let the shrimp and scallops come up to temperature, then remove the skillet from the heat and serve.    

WORD HISTORY:

Arrest-This word is used as both a verb and a noun and the "rest" part of it is related to the verb "stay" (with the meaning :"to halt, to stop movement," also, "to hold back"), a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French, to another verb "stay" (with the meaning: "to support, to secure, to steady"), also borrowed from French, which had it from Germanic Frankish, to another verb "stay" (meaning: "to halt some process, usually in legal matters, to halt legal proceedings"), and to the noun "stay" meaning "support," borrowed from French, which had it from Germanic Frankish, and which overlaps with "stay" meaning "rope or cable supporting a ship's mast," a word and meaning from the Germanic roots of English. "Arrest" goes back to Indo European "ad," which had the notion "at, to, toward" (it is also the ancient ancestor of English "at"), which gave Latin "ad," with the same meanings, but also, "having a connection to, in relation to;" thus also, "regarding, with or in regard to." The main body of the word goes back to Indo European "sta(h)/steh," which meant "to stand, to be stable, to be firm or in place," which gave Latin "stare" meaning "to stand," and with the prefix "re,"^ which meant "back, again, against," with the combined parts "re" and "stare" giving Latin the verb "restare" meaning "to halt, to stop, to stay back, to stay behind." "Restare" was then given the prefix "ad" with the shortened form "a," to produce Latin "arrestare" (yes, double 'r;' why, I don't know), meaning "to stop, to cause to stop;" thus also, "to hold back or restrain." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "arester/" with the meaning "to stop, to stay" and English borrowed this in the late 1300s as the verb "aresten" (then "arresten" under the influence of Latin spelling) meaning "to cause or to make someone or something to stop, to make stop for legal reason(s)." The noun had been formed in Old French from the verb as "areste," meaning "a stopping, a stoppage;" thus also, "a delay," which became "arest" in the Anglo-French used in England and English also borrowed this in the late 1300s as "arest," with the "stopping," "stoppage" meaning, and it then too came to be spelled "arrest," under the influence of Latin. The first part of the 1400s saw the word used for "a stopping and detaining by some legal authority to determine liability, if any, for some criminal act." That is by far the main meaning in modern times, although occasionally you might hear something like, "The doctor prescribed some medication to arrest the woman's hay fever." German has the noun "Arrest" (all German nouns are capitalized), "seemingly" from medieval Latin "arrestum," and meaning "to seize or confiscate, to take into custody (person or goods/property), the verb "arrestieren," borrowed from Dutch in the 1300s, which had it from either French or medieval Latin (from "arrestare," see above) and another noun, "Arrestant," meaning "one taken into custody, one put under arrest" (I didn't spend a lot of time on this, but one source says it came from a participle form of medieval Latin "arrestare," "apparently" used as a noun for "prisoner, one in custody"). Regardless of how German acquired these forms, the main noun, "Arrest," is pronounced very similarly to the pronunciation in English, and I have to believe English has influenced the pronunciation. I initially thought German may have borrowed the word from English, but that does not seem to be the case at all. When using "Arrest" in German (it is 'der Arrest,' by the way), the way to say "You are under arrest" is, "Sie stehen unter Arrest," literally, "You stand under arrest."        

^ The prefix "re" has an uncertain origin, although Indo European forms such as "ure," "wret" and "wurt/wert," have been suggested, all with some relationship to the meaning "to turn, to turn around."

Red Lentil, Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

This is an Indian influenced soup and it is vegetarian, which is also true of a number of Indian dishes.

 

I love chili peppers, so I almost always leave the seeds in, but if you are not especially fond of chili pepper heat, instead of using 2 small chilies (1 to 1 1/2 inches long), you can substitute one small jalapeno chili, seeded, then chopped.

 

Ingredients (6 to 8 servings):

 

1 1/2 cups red lentils

3 tablespoons sunflower oil or corn oil or vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 inch piece peeled ginger, grated

2 small red or green chilies, chopped (or one medium jalapeno, seeded and chopped)

1 1/2 cups peeled, chopped sweet potato

1 cup peeled chopped carrot

6 cups vegetable broth

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cinnamon stick (2 to 3 inches)

1 teaspoon ground red pepper (like cayenne) 

1 teaspoon salt

1 can coconut milk (14 to 15 ounces)

1/4 cup cilantro (also known as fresh coriander), chopped

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the oil over medium heat and then add the onion; cook while stirring the onion around, until it softens, then add the minced garlic, grated ginger and chopped chilies; cook for just one minute, stirring everything around during that time. Add the sweet potato and carrot, then add the vegetable broth, stir to mix everything around. Let the broth come to a boil, then immediately adjust the heat to maintain a steady low simmer, stirring occasionally. After ten minutes, add the spices (ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric, ground black pepper, cinnamon stick, ground red pepper and salt, stir well to mix. Keep simmering the soup until both the carrot and sweet potato are tend (but not mushy). Now add the lentils, stir well and bring the soup back up to a low steady simmer. Check the lentils after about 3 minutes (red lentils cook pretty fast), if they are tender, add the coconut milk, stir well again and let the soup come back to a bare simmer, then turn off the heat and stir in the chopped coriander (cilantro). 

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Pare-This word is closely related to "prepare," a word derived from the noun "preparation," a Latin-based word borrowed from French, but with Latin influence, to "parent," another word of Latin derivation borrowed from French, but with Latin influence, to "parade," another Latin-based word borrowed from French, and to "parasol," another borrowing from French, which had it from Italian, which had it from Latin. "Pare" goes back to Indo European "pere," which had the notion of "to bring forth, to produce, to bring or move to the front," with slightly altered forms that differentiated meanings like "to give birth, to spawn, to beget," and "to arrange, to make ready," and more. The Indo European form gave Latin the verb "parare" meaning "to make ready;" thus, "to prepare, to make available, to put into order;" thus, "to arrange, to get, to purchase;" so, a whole series of meanings. This gave Old French "parer" meaning "to arrange, to prepare;" thus also, "to trim, to decorate;" thus also, "to dress lavishly" (from the idea of "prepare oneself for an occasion"). English borrowed the word in the early 1300s as the verb "paren" meaning "to trim off the peel/skin/crust of foods (often fruits and vegetables, but also bread and certain meats). The early 1500s saw the idea of cutting away part of something giving the verb the further meaning "to make something less in size, often incrementally." When English shifted to a different way of conjugating verbs, "paren" became "(to) pare." The 1400s saw a noun developed from the verb as "parer" (the stem par + er) meaning "tool used to pare fruits and vegetables," and this then became "paring knife." While the term "paring knife" is still around, I don't hear it all that often in American English anymore (I don't know about in Britain or other English speaking areas), but from the time I was a kid and into young adulthood, just about any small knife in a kitchen was called a "paring knife," and the term was heard very often.    

Egg & Sausage Sandwich

This is a pretty quick and easy sandwich for breakfast, lunch or for a snack, and it's tasty.

 

As for oil, it will depend upon the type of sausage you use. If you use fatty sausage, you will likely only need a few drops of oil to get it started, and the sausage will then create its own "oil" to finish cooking it. If you use less fatty sausages, you will likely need a little more oil. Whatever you choose, when you finish cooking the sausage or sausages, you can pour off some of the oil/sausage grease to use to fry some potatoes, if you'd like. As for sausages, you certainly can use raw sausages if you have the extra time needed to cook them, but generally this recipe is for already cooked sausages like wieners or cooked bratwurst, so that frying them relatively briefly will brown them a little and heat them through. When I did the photos for this article, I used knockwurst (also spelled knackwurst). I used about 2/3 of a knockwurst per sandwich. I use extra large or jumbo eggs. Typically, I just use sandwich bread, but you could certainly use a little sturdier type of bread, if you'd like.  

 

Ingredients (per sandwich):

 

1/2 to 1 sausage, cut up

1 extra large or jumbo egg

1 tablespoon milk or water

1 slice Swiss cheese

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1 pinch ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt (I actually use seasoned salt)

2 slices of bread

ketchup

(oil to fry the sausage and onions) 

It's best to have the ingredients ready to go before you actually start cooking and I crack the egg into a small bowl first and then mix in the milk, black pepper and salt, then set it aside until needed. To a small skillet over medium heat, add the amount of oil you think you'll need to fry the sausage and onions. Add the sausage pieces and onions and cook until the sausage pieces begin to brown, then flip them over to brown a little on the other side. Always mix the onion around to keep it from burning. After you flip the sausage pieces over, add the egg mixture, trying to evenly distribute it in amongst the sausage slices. Lower the heat to low and cover the skillet briefly to let the top of the egg mixture set. When the egg is set, lay the slice of Swiss cheese on top for just a few seconds, then remove the egg/sausage/cheese piece to the bread, add some ketchup and the other slice of bread. You're ready to eat. 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Entice (Enticement)-The ultimate origin of the main part of this word is unknown, but Latin had the noun "titio," meaning "torch, stick lit at one end, firebrand," which had the prefix "in" (from Indo European "en," meaning "in, into"); thus meaning, "to set in fire" (of course in English we say "set on fire," and "set afire," which does not seem to be said much today, but it was commonly heard when I was a kid). This passed to Latin-based Old French as the figurative "enticier," which meant "to excite, to stir excitement or anger, to incite," or as is sometimes said in American English, "to fire up (emotion)."^ English borrowed the word circa 1300, initially as "intice," with the spelling perhaps from Latin influence, with that same meaning, but also with the religious input of "to stir someone to sin," which helped to move the word to mean "to lure someone to do something by stirring their emotions" (bad intent is usually implied). The noun "enticement" was formed in French and it too was borrowed by English (about 1300) with the French meaning of, "the act of inciting someone to do something;" thus also, "instigation, incitement." 

 

^ I'm not sure if they also say that in England or in other parts of Britain, or in Australia.

Uzbek Lamb & Vegetable Soup: Shurpa

The name "shurpa" has variant spellings, like "chorba," "shorba," "shorwa," "shorpa," "çorba" and others. The many names are because the general dish is not only known in Uzbekistan, but also in parts of the Middle East, in parts of the Indian Subcontinent and in parts of southeastern Europe. Just as there are many names, there are also many recipes, with some versions being more like soup, and others being thick like stew, and there are variations even within a given country.When I've made this dish, the chilies have not made it spicy hot, so unless you use super hot chilies, I can't imagine it being hot. Also, I use boneless lamb, but the people of Uzbek almost always use lamb bones or lamb on the bone when making this dish, as the broth is what makes this tasty, and the lamb bones impart flavor; so, if you can get a lamb bone or two, great; if not, the world won't end because of it.

 

Uzbekistan is a central Asian country that was formerly part of the Russian Empire, as Turkistan, and then became the Uzbek Soviet Republic when the former Russian Empire became the Soviet Union after World War One. The capital of Uzbekistan is Tashkent, and the county's population of about 36 million is overwhelmingly Muslim. The principal language is Uzbek, which is from the Turkic family of languages, but the Uzbek area's long association with Russia/the Soviet Union has left many people with varying degrees of knowledge of Russian.    

 

Ingredients (6 servings):

 

1 to 1 1/2 pounds lamb shoulder, cut into bite-sized pieces 

(optional) a lamb bone or two from your butcher shop

2 onions (baseball size), sliced, then halve the slices

2 potatoes, each cut into 8 pieces 

1 cup chopped carrot

1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 chili peppers, sliced

6 cups water (to start, + additional 1/2 to 1 cup if needed)

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

5 green onions, chopped (with the green)

1 can garbanzo beans (14.5 ounces to 16 ounces), drained

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 

 

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat, then add the lamb pieces. Brown the meat for about 3 minutes, then add the onion and cook a further 3 minutes, stirring the meat and onion around. Now add the potato pieces and the chopped carrot (and lamb bones, if using). Add the water and increase the heat until the mixture begins to boil, then adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer. After about 8 minutes, add the red bell pepper slices, bay leaves, ground cumin, ground coriander, black pepper and salt. Stir well and continue simmering until the lamb and vegetables are tender. By that time, you will likely need to add some more water, as the soup will have cooked down a bit. Add another 1/2 cup up to 1 cup of additional water and stir well, then add the cilantro (coriander), turmeric and green onions; simmer another 3 to 4 minutes, then add the drained garbanzo beans, heat for another 3 minutes, then remove from the heat. Serve.  

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Sty- This word, long with the meaning "pen for animals, primarily used in reference to an enclosure for pigs," is a word of unknown ancient derivation, but Old Germanic had "stigjan," seemingly meaning "enclosure of wood," as the usage by its Germanic descendants imply that broad meaning, and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "stig," meaning "animal pen, pig pen, house, hall (with its meaning of "room," as in "dining hall, dance hall"). "Stig" then became "sti," then "sty," and the meaning became specific to "a pen for pigs." ^ The compound word "pigsty" also came to be used in the second half of the 1500s for "dirty or messy room or home." The other Germanic languages have: German has "Stiege," meaning "wooden box/crate for fruit or potatoes," although originally meaning, or "perhaps" more prominently used for, "animal stall for livestock" (seems also to have been used at some point to mean "cage"), Low German once had "stiga" meaning "pig pen, pig stall," which then became "stege," with the same meaning, but also "lattice for enclosing areas," I could not find a form in modern Frisian, and it's a tough language to research, but it very likely had a form in the past, but uses in modern German, Low German, Dutch and Frisian, in reference to animal pens, has shifted to forms of "stall," and their cousin, English, still retains the word "sty," but unless perhaps in dialect usage, it is almost always used in the figurative sense of "dirty house or room" in the compound "pigsty," as English too often uses "pen" or "stall" for animal enclosures, Danish has (or had?) "sti," "pen for pigs," Swedish has "stia," "pen for pigs (seemingly in the past also for some fowl)," Icelandic has (had, antiquated?) "stia" meaning "animal pen."        

^ This noun meaning "pen for pigs," is not related to the other noun of this spelling,"sty," and meaning "swollen and inflamed area on the eyelid."

Tunisian Poached Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce: Chakchouka

Also spelled shakshuka, this is a Tunisian dish, but common in other parts of North Africa and the Middle East, with many variations in recipes. It is eggs poached in a spicy, chunky tomato sauce.
Serve with pita bread or toast.

If you don't have fresh tomatoes, you can use canned tomatoes with their juice.

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

2 cans (14 to 15 ounces each) tomato sauce

1/3 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (or halved grape tomatoes)

1 or 2 hot chilies (if you don't like much heat, use just 1/3 teasoon of ground cayenne pepper)
4 eggs

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1/2 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 medium green bell pepper or anaheim pepper, thinly sliced 

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 heaping tablespoon sweet (smoked) Spanish paprika

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also called coriander)

(optional) 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

 

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion slices and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the garlic and saute for about a minute, stirring or shaking the skillet around. Add the red and green pepper slices and the hot chilies; saute a further 2 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes and saute a couple of minutes, then add the tomato juice, cumin, sweet smoked paprika and just 1/2 teaspoon salt (at this time; you can add more later if you prefer) and continue cooking and stirring occasionally for a few minutes, then add 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also known as coriander). Continue cooking until the sauce begins to thicken (don't let it get too thick). Use a spoon to make some depressions in the sauce and crack an egg into each depression. Turn the heat to low and let the eggs poach in the sauce. Optionally, you can sprinkle some crumbled feta cheese over the finished dish. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Noise (Nausea)-For what has become a common word, the origin of this word is shaky, but I am convinced that this history has the strong possibility of being accurate; in which case, "noise" is related to "nautical," a word of Greek derivation borrowed by Latin and then borrowed by English via French, and to "navy," a word of Latin derivation borrowed by English via French. "Noise" goes back to Indo European "nau(s)," which meant "ship, boat." This gave transliterated Greek "naus," also meaning "ship, boat." This then produced transliterated "nausia/nautia" (by dialect), which meant "seasickness," and this was borrowed by Latin as "nausea," with the "seasickness" meaning, but seemingly also with the more general meaning, "uneasy feeling in the stomach, stomach discomfort;" thus also, "disagreeable situation;" thus, "quarrel, commotion, uproar." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "noise" meaning "fight, brawl, commotion, loud disagreement," but later expanded to "loud sound, generally unpleasant sound," not necessarily from a fight or disagreement; thus, "noise" (Old Occitan, also known as "Old Provençal," had "nauza" meaning "loud sound, quarrel"). English borrowed the word from French circa 1200, as "noice, noyse, noise." The meaning then added "nasty rumor, scandal" in the 1300s, and this was accompanied by a verb form "noisen," meaning "to gossip, to spread rumors," and the more general, "to make noise," but the usage declined along with the general meaning of "to gossip." By the way, "nausea" was borrowed by English directly from Latin in the early 1400s.

Lost Eggs

There are various recipes under the name "Lost Eggs," including in German, in which the name is "Verlorene Eier," which is literally "Lost Eggs." German 'verloren' (the v is pronounced f) is the close cousin of English 'forlorn.' I've seen "Lost Eggs" made with Parmesan cheese, Gouda, cheddar and havarti. Uncooked spinach or other greens always form a mountain in a pan or skillet, but they cook down to the point where you begin to ask yourself, "Am I going to have anything left to eat?" 

 

I generally use one poached egg per serving, but I'm fairly certain the roof won't fall in if you use more than one egg for a serving. (Ah, what's that creaking, cracking sound?) Serve with mashed potatoes.  

 

Ingredients (4 servings): 

 

4 eggs

1 pound fresh spinach

1 cup chopped onion (=1 medium onion)  

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons butter

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

For the sauce:

 

3 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup flour

1 1/2 cans evaporated milk

3/4 cup shredded white cheddar

 

paprika or ground red chili powder to garnish the finished dish 

Begin by heating water in a pan over medium heat to poach the eggs.

For the sauce: Melt butter in a skillet over low heat, stir in the flour to form a roux; cook while stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes to remove the raw flour taste. Stir in about a third of the first can of evaporated milk and keep stirring until it is incorporated into the roux, then add another third of the evaporated milk and repeat the process (you may want to change from a spoon to a whisk at some point), then add the final third and repeat, then add the half can of evaporated milk and stir it in well. You should now have a smooth creamy sauce. Get the spinach cooking, then come back to add the shredded white cheddar and stir to incorporate the cheese into the sauce. 

For the spinach: Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, then add the onion and saute for about 2 minutes, then add the minced garlic and saute the onion and garlic mixture for another minute, then add the spinach. It may look like a lot, but it will cook down. Add a lid or foil over the pan and when the mound of spinach shrinks in size, add the salt and pepper and stir to mix. 

For Serving: Poach the eggs, then put some of the spinach on the plate, then top the spinach with a poached egg, then spoon some of the cheese sauce over the egg/spinach

I spooned the cheese sauce around the egg yolk, so that the egg can be seen in the photo; after all, they don't call it "Lost Eggs" without reason. I put some sauce on the mashed potatoes too.

WORD HISTORY:

Hedge-This word is distantly related to "quay," a word English borrowed from French, which had it from Gaulish (a Celtic language), which had it from its Old Celtic parent, and to the first part of "hawthorn," a word from the Germanic roots of English (German has the closely related "Hagedorn"). "Hedge" goes back to Indo European "kagh," which had the idea of "to enclose, to seize (enclose with claws or fingers);" thus by extension, "fence, wickerwork (both used to enclose something)." This gave Old Germanic "hago," meaning "hedge shrub," which then produced West Germanic "hagjo" meaning "a hedge, a fence,"^ and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hecg" meaning "hedge, fence, enclosure." This then became "hegge/hege," as well as some other spellings, before the modern spelling. "Apparently," the meaning originally didn't necessarily just mean the "shrubs and bushes that enclose some piece of land," although that meaning was there too, but the meaning was rather simply the idea of an enclosed area and the material used to enclose it. The more specific meaning of "shrubs/bushes" finally became the main meaning and the word was used in the Old English compound "hegeræw," the earlier form of modern "hedgerow." The other Germanic languages have: German has "Hecke," and German also has the modern developed compound "Heckenschütze," literally "hedge shooter," from the notion of "a shooter from the hedges;" thus, the German term for "a sniper," Low German has "Hegg" and "Heeg,"^^ Dutch has "heg," West Frisian has "hage." In North Germanic, Danish has "hæk," Norwegian has "hekk" and Swedish has "häck," all "supposedly" borrowed from German in the Middle Ages, while Icelandic has the noun "hekk, which "may" well have been borrowed from Danish or Norwegian. ^^^  The verb form of "hedge" came from the noun in the second half of the 1300s as "heggen," meaning "to put hedges or fencing around an area of land;" thus also a little later, "to hinder with a barrier." The more common meaning in modern times seems to have developed in the latter part of the 1500s, "to protect oneself from loss," from the notion of hedges providing some security from harm.

 

^ The idea for many sources is that Old Germanic had a word, but that it did not survive in North Germanic, but it did pass into West Germanic in a slightly altered form; thus, English has "haw," the berry of the hawthorn tree/shrub, and a type of hedge, and also "hedge." 

 

^^ There is no "standard" Low German language, rather Low German is a collection of dialects which are not necessarily always mutually intelligible; thus, spelling variations (and pronunciations) are common for many words.

^^^ The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish forms all are close to the German form, but the borrowing came at a time when the Low German form in some dialects was "heck/hecke." Just my feeling, but the North Germanic languages were in constant contact with the Germans of northern Germany, where the language back then was Low German. Unfortunately, the German dictionary of the Brothers Grimm doesn't shed any light on this. Icelandic also has "limgerði" (=limgerthi), which means "leafy barrier or fence;" thus, "hedge." The "lim" part is related to English "limb," while the "gerði" part of the word is related to English "yard."