Canadian French Fries & Gravy: Poutine

Often pronounced like, "poo-teen," in the U.S., but more like, "poo-ten," in Canada, its birthplace (Quebec).

If you mess up the recipe, no problem, just call it, "Putin," send it to Trump, and he'll never utter a word of criticism about it.

You can make this recipe very simply by getting some french fries at your neighborhood fast food outlet and by opening a jar or can or beef gravy. If you enjoy cooking and don't mind a little more involvement, you can buy frozen french fries and cook them per the instructions on the package, or make the fries yourself from scratch (see below). You can fry them in oil, or you can forgo the oil and put the potatoes on a baking sheet and pop them into the oven. Cheese curds can be found in many cheese shops or supermarkets (for Clevelanders, I bought my cheese curds at the West Side Market). Then you can make your own gravy (see below), but you can use store bought beef broth to streamline the gravy making process a bit.  

Ingredients (5 + servings):

2 pounds baking potatoes, skin on, cut into fries
1 1/2 cups cheese curds
2 tablespoons oil + 1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups beef stock/broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 heaping tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (remember, the beef stock will have salt)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

If you want to fix the potatoes from scratch, scrub and rinse the potatoes well, cut a small slice off of the unpeeled potato to form a flat base for the potato. Place the potato on its cut side, then cut through the potato to make about 1/4 inch thick pieces. Cut each of those pieces into uniform fries. Soak the fries in cold water. While the fries soak, add the butter and oil to a sauce pan over low heat. Add the chopped onion and the garlic and let cook, stirring occasionally to prevent burning or heavy browning, until the onion softens. Stir in the flour and let cook a minute or two to take away the raw taste from the flour. Increase heat to medium and gradually add the beef stock, stirring constantly. Add the Worcestershire sauce, the ketchup and the dried thyme, stir to mix. Bring the gravy to a boil and lower the heat to maintain the gravy at a simmer. Let the gravy simmer until it reduces by about a quarter or until it reaches the thickness you want.
 
Heat about a 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium heat (or if you have a deep fryer, follow the fryer's instructions). Drain the potatoes and dry them well onto paper towels (otherwise, big time spattering ... ah, someone once told me that). Add the potatoes and cook for a few minutes until they are about "half" done. Remove the potatoes and allow them to cool. Turn the heat up a notch and return the potatoes to the hot oil until they are nicely browned. Drain the potatoes on paper towels (you can sprinkle on a little salt, if desired). Put some fries onto a plate, sprinkle some cheese curds over them and ladle or spoon some (or a lot) of hot gravy over the fries and cheese. It doesn't get much better than this ... 

WORD HISTORY:
Imp-This word is distantly related to "boor," "bower" and to the last part of "neighbor" (British: "neighbour"), all words from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "bu/bhu," which meant "to be," with extensions: "to dwell, to live upon/on, to grow." This gave Ancient Greek "phyein," which meant, "to make grow," and when given the prefix "em" (=in), it meant, "to implant." This produced the Greek adjective "emphytos" (implanted), which was borrowed by Latin as "impotus" ("implanted;" thus also, "grafted"), which was contracted to "imptus," with the same meanings. This was borrowed by Germanic, but the actual form is unknown, although it gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "impian," meaning, "to implant, to graft." This produced the English noun "impe," meaning, "a shoot from a plant, a shoot grafted to another plant." From this meaning the word began to shift in meaning to, "a child," from the notion of a "young plant shoot." By the second half of the 1500s, the word was used in the expression, "imp (child) of the devil/Satan," which added the meaning to the word of, "a small demon," and thus also, "a mischievous child." German eventually took a different turn with the word, as it has the verb "impfen" (to inoculate^) and "Impfung" (inoculation).  Low German has "empen" (graft, implant), Swedish has "ympa" (graft).

^ A few hundred years ago, the main meaning of the word "inoculate" was, "to graft buds onto a plant," a meaning still around, but more in agriculture than in the general public. It wasn't until later that the idea of  "implanting dead or inactive virus into a person to help prevent illness" came about and then it became the primary meaning in English. 

Caesar Cocktail: Here's To Canada!

This drink could be called a "Bloody Mary," Canadian style, and indeed, like its close cousin, it is considered by some to be a hangover cure, as well as a popular drink in its own right with our friends and neighbors in Canada. And make no mistake about it, Canadians are our friends and neighbors, in spite of the nasty nutcase named Donald Trump with all of his bluster and insults. He's a disgrace!

Ingredients (per drink):

1 1/2 to 2 ounces vodka
3 to 4 ounces tomato juice
2 ounces clam juice (easily found in supermarkets)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 to 4 drops hot pepper sauce (or 1/4 teaspoon sambal oelek*)
celery salt for glass
lime
leafy stalk of celery 
ice

Spread a little celery salt on a small plate. Rub the edge of a 10 to 12 ounce glass with a piece of lime, then dip the glass into the celery salt to give a coating to the glass rim. Put some ice cubes into the glass and add the vodka, the clam juice, the Worcestershire sauce and the hot sauce (or sambal oelek). Then add the tomato juice to fill the glass; so, you may use more or less than the amount I have in the recipe. Stir well. Garnish with a leafy stalk of celery and a slice of lime. Here's to our friends, the Canadians! "May no orange haired horse's ass put our friendship asunder."

WORD HISTORY:
Ounce-This word for a "measured unit of weight" is related to a large number of words, including "inch" (a word borrowed by English from Latin), and to "one" and "an" (both original English words from its Germanic roots). "Ounce" goes back to Indo European "oinos," which meant, "one." This gave its Latin offspring "unus" ("one"), and then the derived "uncia," which meant, "one twelfth part of  something." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "once" (initially "unce?"). English borrowed the word in the early 1300s. From what I can find, English is the only Germanic language to use a form of "ounce."

Burger King and Warren Buffett, More Greed At The Nation's Expense

Unless you've been visiting either another planet or a relative who lives under a rock, you have likely heard that "Burger King" recently announced that it is buying the "Tim Hortons" coffee and doughnut chain of Canada and moving its corporate headquarters to Canada, at least partially to save on taxes, although officials of the corporation have tried some fancy language to "dance around the subject," and to claim there won't be much tax savings. The deal is being partially financed by Warren Buffett through his "Berkshire Hathaway'' holding company. If you think any tax savings will be passed on to workers, in the form of higher wages, or to the public, in the form of lower prices, you ARE visiting another planet. The benefits will end up going to stockholders, and who owns most of the stock? VERY WEALTHY investors, including majority owner 3G Capital, a company headquartered in Brazil, led by one of the world's richest men, Jorge Lemann, a banker.

This is the second such deal announced in recent times, as Walgreen's, the drug store giant, had announced it "might" move its headquarters to Switzerland to save on taxes. After a huge American public outcry, Walgreen's announced it would keep its headquarters in the U.S. What will happen with the Burger King deal? Will many Americans choose from a whole bunch of other fast food outlets to punish Burger King, thus turning the deal into a "whopper" of a fiasco? Or will we take it and let them get away with the move? The Walgreen's pullback shows that corporate executives understand and fear lots of public pressure. If we let corporations, including Burger King, get away with these deals without penalty, they're going to keep doing it. This isn't like body management, "no pain, no gain." If they don't feel pain, they'll just do what they want, at anyone's expense. We do have power folks, but we've been lax about using it. That must change, for the good of the country and its citizens. If we go after the Burger King deal, trust me, neither Lemann nor Buffett will have to worry about where they'll get their next meal; after all, there's always a Whopper and fries.

This is all just another blatant example of how sheer greed is driving the world's egomaniacs to no longer pledge allegiance to their own respective country's flag, but to the flag flying the symbol of "$$$." Guess who will have to make up lost tax revenue? For the answer, go look in the mirror. While Warren Buffett has spoken out in favor of higher tax rates on super wealthy Americans, these kinds of Burger King shenanigans just show how extreme wealth disconnects people from the rest of society. Buffett deserves criticism for the deal, as an ''enlightened" money-grubber, is still a money-grubber. He's in his mid 80s, but he can't stop the quest for "mo' money, mo' money, mo' money!" If your child helps an elderly lady across the street, then kicks the dog on the other side, the good deed doesn't offset the bad act. I live just a few hundred feet from a Burger King, a place I'll no longer enter.

WORD HISTORY:
Seven-This word for the numerical value between 6 and 8 goes back to Indo European "septm," which meant "seven" This gave its Old Germanic offspring "sebun/seban," which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "seofan," which later became "seven," where it has remained for centuries. The other Germanic languages have: German "sieben," Low German "seven" (there are dialectal variations), Dutch "zeven," West Frisian "san" (notice the lost consonant sound), Danish and Norwegian "syv," Swedish "sju," and Icelandic "sjö." Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish are all from the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages and they have all lost the ending with "n," which has been retained by all of the languages from the West Germanic branch, which includes English.

The Winter Olympics

NOTE: No "Word History" for this article

So the 2014 Winter Olympics, held in Sochi, Russia, have ended without any terrorist incident, as the biggest problem was the warmer than expected temperatures wreaking havoc with ice and snow conditions for some events. From comments made on television, Russia did a really good job. The great thing is, athletes from all over the world come together to compete in front of large television audiences, as well as the live audiences at the various event venues. They have given much time in training to perfect their skills and in using those skills in various competitions leading up to their being selected for their Olympic teams. Some have their dreams shattered early on, others enjoy the ultimate triumph of winning a gold medal. All can be proud for just having been chosen to participate.

For about two weeks the world comes together briefly to compete and to show national pride, but hopefully not so much national pride as to get in the way of showing respect for the achievement other nations' athletes. Yes, we want our own athletes to win, but there is no shame in giving credit to athletes from other countries, in spite of the broken hearts felt when others triumph over us. No nation will go into decline because their athletes didn't win a ski, skating, snowboarding, hockey, sledding or curling match. All participants have tremendous athletic abilities, which I appreciate, seeing that I've never even tried ice skating, not that I'm about to try at my this point in my life, as I have enough physical ailments and I don't need to shorten any time I have left on this earth, if I can help it. I'll miss the games, but their absence makes me appreciate them more when they return.

ABC Wide World of Sports debuted in the early 1960s when I was a kid, mainly televising track and field, swimming and winter sporting events. I watched it often and their introductory segment became famous for the saying, "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat," which brought the comedic paraphrase, "The thrill of victory and the agony of da feet," a saying which will become pertinent again in just two years, as the Summer Olympics will occupy center stage.

The Olympics gives small nations the chance to compete and to excel. A special mention here for the Jamaican bobsled team. I'm not a weather historian, but when was the last time it snowed in Jamaica? Maybe like the Ice Age? The triumphs of countries like Norway and the Netherlands should not make any American fear that Norwegian ski troops will soon be invading the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, or that Dutch skaters may come skating across the Atlantic to reclaim Manhattan, although they may drink a "Manhattan." * Perhaps the likes of Lush Limbaugh and other spewers of hate have had nightmares about Canadian hockey players occupying parts of our northern states, but no, I think the nation is safe and we can be proud of all of our Olympic athletes, and they don't have to have a medal for us to be proud of them, but to those who won medals, a special ovation and pat on the back for a job well done. Now... about that Manhattan ... where are those Dutch skaters?

* For those unaware, a "Manhattan" is a cocktail typically of whiskey, sweet vermouth, angostura bitters, and a cherry, but there are variations.

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Ten

First published September 2012 
See NOTE at bottom of article for update


The Reagan Coalition and the Rise of the American Political Right, Part Two

You can't really understand the election of Ronald Reagan, unless you understand the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter and the nation faced a serious problem over a continuing energy problem, or perhaps it would be better to say, over a lack of energy. Oil and gasoline prices soared, dragging the price of everything else along. The long time Democratic coalition continued its disintegration, and overseas, a fundamentalist Muslim revolution in Iran brought down the American supported government of the Shah of Iran, only to be replaced by a fanatical fundamentalist Muslim cleric, the Ayatollah Khomeini. Iranian students and revolutionaries took over the American embassy in November 1979, along with more than fifty Americans who were held hostage. The crisis had grave consequences, which are still with us today.* As the crisis went on, it was eventually covered by the news media as, "Day 79 of the Iran Hostage Crisis," .... "Day 101 of the Iran Hostage Crisis," .... Day 250 of the Iran Hostage Crisis..." and so on and so on. Americans were angry and frustrated, as no one really knew what to do. After the first couple of months of the crisis, it was revealed that Canada had hidden several American diplomats in their embassy in Iran, eventually granting special "Canadian passports" to the Americans and then flying them out of Iran to safety. All over the United States the announcement was greeted by standing ovations for the Canadians and Canadian flags were displayed and the Canadian national anthem played on radio stations and at sporting events, it was a little victory in a dismal situation, as the actual hostages remained in Iran.

In the midst of all that was going on, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. This prompted President Carter to have the American team boycott the 1980 Olympic Games, which were held in Moscow. It was a decision that brought mixed reviews, as many critics, fairly or unfairly, believed the Olympics should have been free of international politics.** 

President Carter also negotiated a treaty with Panama to turn control of the Panama Canal over to Panama on December 31, 1999, while maintaining the neutrality of the canal, so it could be used by all nations, and giving the U.S. the right to enforce that neutrality. Conservatives exploded, accusing Carter of giving away control of a necessary American shipping passageway to a dictator (which was true, as the ruler of Panama had taken power in an overthrow of the government several years before). The Senate ratified the treaty anyway, but conservatives fumed for years over the loss of what was "like sovereign American territory," as I believe some of them put it, and perhaps even Ronald Reagan said it, I just forget, as he opposed ratification of the treaty.

With inflation a constant problem, and gasoline prices at record highs (the Middle East/Iran situation),*** the economy stumbled along in a period of what was termed "stagflation;" that is, stagnant economic growth, but persistently high inflation which was threatening to climb to double digits. President Carter wore a sweater, told Americans to adjust their thermostats to help control energy costs, and a 55 mph highway speed limit had already gone into effect under President Nixon in 1974. At first, many Americans saw the need for such measures, but Americans were not used to such things, and many people began to resent the conservation measures. In an effort to get control of rising prices and restore economic growth, President Carter, a moderate, appointed Paul Volcker as Federal Reserve Chairman. Volcker began to raise interest rates, but with rate increases came a downturn in economic growth, which brought Carter trouble from labor unions and businesses. The 1980 election season was then underway. 

* The U.S. imposed economic sanctions against Iran back then, which were later intensified over other matters, and these sanctions continue to the present, President Obama having turned the screws even more tightly. The American public was so outraged over the hostage taking (countries had long agreed to the non arrest of foreign diplomatic personnel and to help protect such personnel from harm), that politicians were careful not to be seen as in any way associating with Iran, thus keeping any diplomatic ties from being reestablished, and preventing talks aimed at averting other crises. With no presence in Iran, when the anti-government protests developed there a year or two ago, the U.S. was pretty much out in the cold. Now, the other side of this is certainly true; that is, while Khomeini died in 1989, the religious fundamentalist governmental system he established is still in place, and this government not only allowed American embassy personnel to be held captive, but actively supported it. The problem is, no one, Republican or Democrat, really knows what to do about the situation, in spite of hot-air rhetoric to the contrary. The Middle East has been a powder keg for decades, seemingly waiting for the lit match. The world dependence on oil from the Middle East has given countries there a daunting trump card, as anything that threatens the world oil supply sends oil/gasoline prices skyrocketing, threatening economic turmoil everywhere. 

** In retaliation, the Soviets boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.   

*** For much of the 1970s gasoline prices were high compared to previous decades, and this was in large part due to the Middle East being so unstable, including war between Israel and Arab nations, and revolution in Iran.

NOTE: The situation with Iran goes far beyond the revolution there and the taking of American hostages in late 1979, but the tensions between many nations, including the U.S., and Iran do trace back to the Iranian Revolution. In more recent times, Iran began research and development in the nuclear field. This brought more sanctions from the U.S. and others. In 2015, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, and several other countries reached an agreement with Iran over nuclear research and sanctions against Iran. 

WORD HISTORY:
Shot-This word, closely related to "shoot," goes back to Indo European "skeud," with the notion of "to project, to throw, to move quickly." This gave its Old Germanic offspring a noun "skot(an)," "something thrown or discharged, the result of shooting." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceot," with the same meaning, but also "a payment, a contribution" presumably from the notion of "handing over; that is, projecting the payment to another." It had this same ("payment") or similar ("tax") meaning in the other Germanic languages too, but this meaning has died out, except in the expression "scot free;" literally, "payment free," and the original hard "c" or "k" sound is still present, while in "shot" the sound softened. Common in various forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Schoss," which means "lap (of a person);" that is, "a projection from a sitting person," and also "a young sprout from a plant, for which English uses the related "shoot;" further, German has "Schuss," meaning "shot." Low German Saxon has "Schott" (shot) and "Schoot" (lap of a person). Saterland Frisian has "Schoat" (shot) and "Schoot" (lap); Dutch has "schot" (shot) and "schoot" (lap of a person). Danish has "skud" (shot) and skød (lap); Icelandic has "skot" (shot); Norwegian has "skudd" (shot); Swedish has "skott" (shot). Notice that the North Germanic languages, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish have all retained the "k" sound.