Scottish Mince & Tatties

I really couldn't find anything much about the history of this Scottish dish, but potatoes came from the New World and they were only introduced to England in the late 1500s, and then from there to Scotland and to the rest of the British Isles. Once potatoes became available in Scotland, the basic ingredients needed for the dish means it could have easily developed at any time. The thing is, whenever "Mince & Tatties" first appeared, it remains a popular dish in Scotland to this day.   

 

Ingredients:

 

1 pound coarsely ground beef

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or sunflower oil)

1 cup chopped onion (relatively small chop)

1 cup chopped carrots (small chop)

2 cups beef broth + 1/2 cup, if needed

1/2 teaspoon Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet

1 tablespoon thick ketchup 

2 to 3 tablespoons flour 

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

salt (according to salt amount in broth)

potatoes, boiled, then mashed according to your own method

In a skillet or pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the finely chopped onion and saute for 1 1/2 minutes, then add the carrots and saute another 1 1/2 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook the meat, breaking up any clumps of ground beef and mixing the vegetables into the beef. Stir in the ketchup, then sprinkle the flour over the ingredients and mix it in. Add the beef broth, ground black pepper and salt, stir well to mix. Lower the heat to low and cover the skillet/pan, either with a lid or foil. Cook the "stew" for 30 to 35 minutes, but at the 20 minute mark, add the Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet, stir well and add any more beef broth, if the gravy is too thick. Replace the lid or foil and continue cooking over low heat for another 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water, drain and mash the potatoes according to your own recipe. Serve the stew with some mashed potatoes right on the side. 

WORD HISTORY:

Clan-This word is closely related to "plant," a Latin word borrowed from that language. "Clan" goes back to Indo European "plat," which had the notion "to spread, to broaden, to make flat, to flatten," and adjectivally meaning "flat." This picked up an "n" in Old Italic, which then gave Italic's Latin offspring "planta," meaning "sole of the foot" (the 'flat' part of the foot), which took on the meaning "offshoot, a (plant) shoot," and on the verb side, "to plant" (I will elaborate more on this when I do the history of "plant"). The Latin form spawned lots of borrowings, including into Old Irish, which in ancient times used the harder "k" sound for borrowed words with "p," and this gave Old Irish "cland," meaning "plant," but thus also, "offspring," and this was borrowed by Gaelic as "clann," meaning, "offspring, children, family, family group of the same stock, tribe." This was borrowed by English in the early decades of the 1400s with essentially the same meanings. Since those times, its meaning has broadened to use for some animals, especially for hyenas. In the United States, the word has a strong association with the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group founded in the post-civil War era and known for using terror tactics to intimidate the group's targets.    

What's In A Name: Bertha, Oscar

Bertha-This name is also spelled "Berta" in some languages, for example: Czech, Hungarian and Spanish. The name is from Germanic and was originally a shortening of some compound names, although it quickly became a common name in its own right. The primary element of "Bertha" was from Germanic "berhtaz," which had the notion of "shining, gleaming;" thus, "bright." The Germanic form gave Old High German "beraht," which also meant "bright," and indeed, the Germanic form is the source of English "bright." It seems that Charlemagne's mother had the name, as a shortening of her proper name, "Bertrada," and this greatly popularized the name. The name "Big Bertha" was a nickname given by the Allies to the German 420mm howitzer of the World War I era, likely as a play on Bertha Krupp, who had headed the German armaments manufacturer "Krupp" prior to the war. In actual usage, the nickname was often used for various large German artillery pieces, and the beginning letter "B" for both words was perfect in sound and made it easy to remember. The use for large artillery made a tie of the nickname to heavy set women which became so strong, the term was used in a comedic way, and likely this unfortunately made many English speaking parents think twice about naming their newly born daughters "Bertha."     

Oscar-This name, also spelled "Oskar," is a compound derived from Germanic, with the first part, "Os," going back to Indo European "ansu," which meant, "(a) spirit." This gave Old Germanic "ansu(z)," meaning "god, deity;" thus also, "godliness." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "ós," which meant "god," in a general sense. The second part of the name is from Germanic derived "gar," which meant "spear," and it is related to the first part of "garlic." Together they gave Old English the name "Osgar," meaning "god's spear." The change to the spelling "Oscar" is more contentious, although quite simply it could just be a variant spelling of the English name "Osgar." On the other hand, Irish had the name "Oscair/Oscar," 1) perhaps borrowed from the English form, 2) perhaps borrowed from Old Norse "Ásgeir" (the Norse landed in Ireland in circa 800 and continued involvement with landings/settlements there for a couple of hundred years, and longer if you take up when they were called "Norsemen" and later "Normans" 3) perhaps from Gaelic "os," meaning "deer" (the animal) and "cara," meaning "friend." Of course, there may be some truth to many or all of these things, from the Old English form and the Irish form, or the Irish form influenced the Old English form. Oscar I King of Sweden and Norway helped popularize the name in the 1800s (Oscar was a middle name for him, but it had been "given" ("suggested?") by Napoleon, whom the boy's father served as Minister of War when the child was born.    

I consulted the following for this article: 1) https://www.behindthename.com  2) "A Dictionary of First Names (Second Edition)," by Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle and Flavia Hodges, Oxford University Press, 2006

WORD HISTORY:  
Borrow-This word is related to "bury," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "bargain," a word of Germanic origin, absorbed by Latin-based French and later borrowed by English via the Normans. "Borrow" goes back to Indo European "bhergh," which had the notion "to hide, to protect, to secure." This produced the Old Germanic offshoot "borganjan/burganan," which meant "to borrow, to lend," and borrowing/lending have the notion of "something given with security," thus showing the "secure/protect" notion of the word, but it did not necessarily mean collateral was used to "secure" the transaction, but often an agreement or pledge was what was meant, which required some  "give and take," "back and forth;" that is, haggling, to finalize, the idea behind the verb form "to bargain." The Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "borgian," meaning "to borrow, to lend, to pledge security for," which then morphed into "borwen," before the modern form. "Borg" was the Old English noun and it meant, "pledge (also the more specific "bail")." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German and Low German have the verb "borgen," meaning both "to borrow" and "to lend," depending upon usage in the sentence; German has the nouns "Borg" and "Borgen" meaning "the act of borrowing (with a pledge of payment)," Dutch has "borgen" meaning "to guarantee," and the noun "borg," "a pledge, a guarantee," also, "bail;" Frisian once had "borgia," Swedish has "borga" meaning "guarantee a payment."      

Irish Potatoes: Colcannon

There are many variations to this recipe. Some people use savoy cabbage (it has wrinkled leaves), others use kale; further still, some include leeks and some use bacon mixed into the main dish. Others use crumbled bacon as a topping, and cheese is another topping used by some, as is a fried or poached egg (I kept the egg to the side, see photo below). Traditionally the dish has a lot of butter, but I hope the Irish forgive me, because I replaced half of the butter with olive oil. "Colcannon" also has milk, but some use cream. 

Ingredients (about 4 to 6 servings):

2 pounds white or Russet potatoes, peeled and diced (large dice)
2 1/2 cups chopped or shredded green cabbage (it will cook down substantially)
1/2 cup chopped green onions (also called spring onions or scallions, and use the green part)
3 tablespoons of butter (but more for serving)
3 tablespoons olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil)
1/2 cup warm milk (I use canned/evaporated milk, you may need more milk)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. While the potatoes are cooking, in a skillet, melt the butter and mix in the olive oil. Add the cabbage and green onions and cook over low heat until tender. Add the salt and pepper. The cabbage and onion mixture may get lightly browned, but remember, this is supposed to provide some green to the dish, although I must admit, I've seen colcannon with browned cabbage and onions. Drain the potatoes well and mash the potatoes with a potato masher, gradually adding a little warm milk as you go (potatoes can vary, so you may need more milk). Fold the cabbage/onion mixture into the mashed potatoes (this is why you needn't add butter to the potatoes as you mash them). With each serving, use a spoon to make a small indentation in the top and add a piece of butter.

Some have an egg with these potatoes, which is what I chose to do, along with a piece of toast...

WORD HISTORY:
Bog-This word is distantly related to the various forms of "bow": with the form that rhymes with "how," and meaning, "to bend the body," as well as to the noun for that verb; also the same pronunciation of "bow" for the noun meaning "the front of a ship;" and the form with a long "o," meaning "to curve," as a verb, and meaning "a weapon that shoots arrows," as a noun. These are all from Germanic and their relationship to "bog" is through Indo European. "Bog" goes back to Indo European "bheugh," which meant, "to bend." This gave Old Celtic the adjective "buggo," which meant, "easily bent, flexible, soft." This passed to Old Irish as "bog," meaning, "soft, soft from moisture." This then produced the Irish and Scots Gaelic noun "bogach," meaning, "marshy land" (thus, 'a bog'). English borrowed the word in the early 14th Century. The verb, often used with "down" ("bog down"), and meaning, "become stuck in the soft ground of a bog," developed in about 1600. 

Life Has Consequences

More than a decade ago, Warren Zevon, a pop/rock musician best known for the song "Werewolves Of London" from the 1970s, released an album called, "Life'll Kill Ya." You can't sum things up any better than that. Yep, life has consequences. What is troubling to me though, is the notion pushed by the right wing that seems to say, "only government has negative consequences." That's absolute NONSENSE! MALARKEY!

Individuals make decisions every day that have consequences, and corporate CEOs make decisions that affect the lives of their employees all the time. The "war on government" (at all levels) wasn't pushed by the political right because government consistently made bad decisions, but because they feared government stopping them from exploiting people and resources. The bankers concocted the mortgage scam... I mean scheme, and we're still paying the price for it. They couldn't bring themselves to be honest about it either, and step up and take responsibility. No siree. First they concealed it, even from  their own investors, then they tried to pin it on government, with this stuff about "Uncle Sam made us take risky people for mortgages." There's some truth to that, but the idea that TRILLIONS of bucks in mortgages were influenced by a relatively small number of bad loans is more malarkey. And Uncle Sam didn't make them bundle risky or bad mortgages together to back securities, which were then marketed worldwide! C'mon folks! THINK! Government isn't perfect, but the private sector isn't heaven either; in fact, in more recent times, it's been hell!

WORD HISTORY:
Bard-This word goes back to Indo European "gwer," which had the notion of "voicing praises of someone." This gave its Old Celtic offspring "bardos," with the meaning "poet who praises or sings the praises of someone," which then gave forms of the word to Scots Gaelic, Irish Gaelic and Welsh. English borrowed the word in the 1400s.

A Wee Bit Of Ireland

I've intended to do a "Word History" article for St. Patrick's Day for a couple of years now, but I always get distracted. I've actually had the words picked out and much of the info done, but I keep procrastinating. So, to move along without waiting for St. Paddy's Day here are some words associated with Ireland. 

Celt-This word traces back to Greek "Keltoi," a word used to describe a particular tribe of ancient people, the Gauls, but where the Greeks got the word is unknown. Latin borrowed the word as "Celtae," and Old French, a Latin-based language, inherited a form as "Celtes." English borrowed the word in the very early 1600s. Interestingly the word was not used by the Romans for the people living in the British Isles, and it was only because of archaeology and language study much later that the term came to be applied to the ethnic-linguistic group the Celts, or Celtic peoples, which include the Irish, the Welsh, and the Scots of the British Isles. A large part of western and southern Europe was once dominated by Celtic settlements, but other groups gradually moved in, often destroying or absorbing the Celtic population in many regions, which is what happened in most of what became the English part of Britain; that is, England. In Ireland, the Celtic population was able to maintain a large degree of its own existence, although North Germanic raiders made incursions, and of course the English eventually gained control of the island, which continued until the early 1920s, with the exception of the northern region, Northern Ireland, often called Ulster, remaining a part of the United Kingdom thereafter.

Irish-This word apparently traces back to Indo European "peiwr," which had the notion of "fat, fertile." This gave its Old Celtic offspring "Iwerju/Iweriu," which seems to have meant "fertile land area." This then gave Old Irish "Eriu," which produced "Eire," the ancient name for Ireland (later "Erin"). Old English borrowed the word as "Irland/Iraland" ("land" being a common Germanic word, with one of its meanings being "home territory/region"), the base of which gave Old English "Iras," meaning "an inhabitant of Ireland." This then became "Irisce, before the modern version. The "isc(e)" (modern English "ish") was a form of a common Germanic suffix used to denote "belonging to a particular group" (like modern Engl"ish", German has "isch").  

Whiskey-(Also spelled "whisky") This word was actually a compound of Old Irish "uisce," which means "water," and "beatha," which means "life." This has usually been translated as "water of life," but I have also seen it as "lively water," which was perhaps the actual old meaning behind the term, if you get my drift..."Hic! 'scuse me." "Uisce" traces back to Indo European "wed," which meant "water." This then gave its Celtic offspring "uisge," which was passed to Old Irish as "uisce." "Beatha" traces back to Indo European "gwei/gwej," which had the notion of "alive, lively, life." This gave Old Irish "bethu" ("life") which then spawned "beatha." English borrowed "uisge beatha" as "usquebaugh" in the early 1500s, which then became "usquebea/whiskybae," before the modern version.