Madeiran Sweet Potato Flatbread: Bolo do Caco

Madeira is a group of four islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 325 miles west of Morocco and about 675 miles from mainland Portugal. The four islands are: "Madeira" and "Porto Santo," both of which are inhabited, and also "Desertas" and "Selvagens," which are uninhabited. Madeira is a constituent part of the Portuguese Republic, commonly simply referred to as "Portugal." Madeira is most famous for its wine with the well thought out and original name "Madeira," a favorite of mine; the wine, I mean, but the name's nice too.

 

This flatbread is not typically made very thin; and in fact, it is able to be cut open into two distinct pieces of bread. They, therefore, can be used, and are also used, to make sandwiches.  

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 packet yeast

1 pinch sugar

3/4 to 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups lukewarm (NOT HOT) water (hot water will kill the yeast)

oil for cooking (small amount for each flatbread)

Wash the sweet potato, then prick the skin with a fork or knife a few times. Microwave (or bake in an oven) until tender; then let cool a bit, cut the potato open and scoop out the flesh and mash it well. It is best to rub your hands with some vegetable oil or olive oil before handling the dough, then mix the mashed sweet potato and all other ingredients together to form a dough; it will be sticky, so that's not abnormal. Remember too, the dough's color will be influenced by the color of the sweet potato you use. Cover the bowl and let the dough sit for 45 minutes to an hour to rise. Then divide the dough into balls of a size that when you flatten them, they will fit into the skillet you will use. Pat the dough balls into rounds about 1 inch thick, like a thick pizza crust ("Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake baker's man, bake me a cake as fast as you can, pat it, pat it and mark it with a 'B' and put it in the oven for baby and me." Wow, I haven't heard that for a while; at least 3 or 4 years.). Put the patted out rounds onto a plate and cover with a dish towel or paper towel; let them sit in a warm place for about 30 to 40 minutes. Put a small amount of oil (I use olive oil) into the skillet (I've used both a cast iron skillet and a nonstick skillet to make these), over medium heat. Regarding the oil, the thing is, you don't want the bread to be greasy when done, but you also don't want it to stick to the skillet. Once it is in the skillet for a brief period of time, it will begin to form a crust; and thus, it will be far less likely to stick. The same thing will happen when you flip the flatbread over. I flip the bread over 2 or 3 times, and it's okay if the two sides have dark spots form on them; that is typically how they are served. I've seen some people describe the Bolo do Caco as being similar to the texture of English muffins, and that's a pretty good comparison; crusty chewy outside, soft airy inside.      

Serve with garlic butter (1 softened stick of butter, 1/2 teaspoon freshly minced garlic, 1 heaping teaspoon finely chopped chives) 

 

 

Spread with garlic butter ...

WORD HISTORY:

Prey (Predation/Predator)-"Prey" is a word that was originally a contracted base word with a prefix. The main body of the original word is related to "apprehend" and "comprehend," both Latin-derived words borrowed by English from Latin, and to "prison," a Latin-based word borrowed by English from French. The first part of "prey" goes back to Indo European "per," which meant "before, in front, forward," and this gave Latin "prae," meaning "before," which was used as a prefix to form words. The second and main part of "prey" goes back to Indo European "ghed" meaning "to seize, to take, to hold," and together this and the prefix gave Latin the noun "praeda," meaning "that which is taken in war;" thus, "plunder, booty, spoils," and also, "animals that are hunted, game that is hunted," with this meaning also coming to be used for "animals hunted by other animals," and the Latin form passed into Old French as "preie." This was borrowed by English in the mid 1200s, with the French spelling, and the use also was extended to "a weak or helpless person." The "plunder, spoils" meaning didn't really remain in common usage in English to the present, and is archaic. The verb developed circa 1300 from the noun, but also with influence from French "preer" (to pillage, to ravage), which traces back to the Latin verb "praedari," meaning, "to seize or take by force, to rob, to pillage." Predation, not a terribly common word nowadays, but it is still around, and likewise, it goes back to Latin "praedari" (to seize or take by force, to rob, to pillage), and the derived Latin noun form "praedatio," meaning "the act of pillaging, plundering" with its accusative form, "praedationem," providing the basis of the English noun "predation" (initially as "predacioun?") also meaning "the act of pillaging, plundering," later taking the meanings from the noun "prey," as the "pillaging" meaning began to fade. Predator; that is, an animal or species involved in "predation, the act of certain animals to hunt and kill other animals," with that meaning then being used for "humans who take advantage of the weaknesses of other humans or animals," and later also applied to humans who "exploit age or weakness to gain sex from someone" (sex/sexual predator). This word is from Latin "praedator," which meant "plunderer, pillager," and it was borrowed from Latin in the second half of the 1500s.   

Indian Bread Omelette

"Omelette" is often spelled "omelet" in the U.S., and it is one of those words I have to think about the spelling before I write it. This is one of the common food items sold by street vendors in India. It is easy to make, although it is certainly helpful if you have a 10 to 12 inch diameter nonstick skillet, so that the bread slices easily fit, but if you don't have that large a skillet, you can press the bread in, or better yet, cut the bread so that it fits into your skillet. I'm not aware of any "Indian bread omelette law," so improvise, as the main idea is, the Indians cook the eggs, seasonings and bread all together, and I've seen recipes that call for the bread to be chopped into various sizes. Further, you can just use 1 slice of bread for a smaller serving, if you'd prefer. Chop the onion, chili pepper and tomato into small pieces, as they will then naturally cook faster. Serve with szechwan sauce,* green chutney,** or plain.

 

Ingredients (per serving):

 

2 slices sandwich bread (white or whole wheat)

2 to 3 extra large eggs

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (like cayenne)

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon finely chopped green chili (jalapeño or serrano are great)

1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons chopped tomato, small chop

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander/cilantro

2 to 3 tablespoons oil or ghee (clarified butter)

 

Have the chopped ingredients ready. Preheat the skillet and oil/clarified butter over medium high heat, reduce the heat a little if the oil starts smoking (Can't you read the sign? NO SMOKING!). In a bowl, beat the eggs well with the ground red pepper, salt, ground coriander and ground black pepper; set aside temporarily. If you've ever cooked something in butter, you know that regular butter burns easily. Clarified butter, known as ghee in India, has a better tolerance for higher heat and longer cooking times, as it is butterfat without the milk solids, but it is just as easy to use vegetable oil if you don't have clarified butter. Add some oil or clarified butter to the skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, chili pepper and tomato and saute for about two minutes, stirring the ingredients around. Add the beaten egg mixture, tilting the skillet to let the egg spread out and cover the softened vegetables and the bottom of the skillet. Dip the bread slices into the still uncooked egg (the bread doesn't have to be saturated with egg), then turn the bread slices over, sprinkle on about half of the chopped coriander (cilantro) and let the omelette cook until the egg mixture is pretty well set, then carefully turn the omelette over to cook on the other side to finish cooking. (Some people are super good at being able to turn the omelettes over, but I'm not one of them, although the bread slices provide support. I turn the omelette out onto a large plate to get the omelette turned over in the skillet.) Let the omelette cook for about another 60 to 90 seconds, then fold half of the omelette, with one of the bread slices, over onto the other half, and onto the other bread slice (kind of like a sandwich), sprinkle the remaining chopped coriander/cilantro over it.       

* The link to "szechwan sauce": https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/04/sichuan-sauce.html

** The link to "green chutney":  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/10/indian-green-chutney.html

 

I put some green chutney on one part and szechwan sauce on the other ...

  

Plain ...

WORD HISTORY:

Magma-This word is related to "mass" (the noun meaning "lump, body of matter"), a word derived from Greek, borrowed by Latin and borrowed by English via (Anglo-Norman) French; and it is distantly related to "among," "mingle" and "make," all words from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "meg/mag," which had the notion, "to knead, to work into, to fashion, to make." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "massein," meaning, "to knead, to work with the hands." This produced the transliterated noun "mágma," meaning, "thick ointment," which was borrowed by Latin as "magma," meaning, "the sediment in oinment." English borrowed the word in the mid 1400s, but it wasn't until the mid 1800s that it took on its modern meaning and entered somewhat more common usage as "molten rock under the Earth's surface."

Austro-German Stuffed Bread: Jägerwecken

"Word History" slightly edited 8-20-22

"Jägerwecken" undoubtedly developed as a tasty food that could easily be toted along in a knapsack with a hunter ("Jäger" means "hunter" in German). In more modern times, it is just as easily taken along in a picnic basket for an afternoon outdoors, or it can be served as part of a light lunch or a snack. "Jäger," pronounced as if "yea-gah," is a word derived from the verb "jagen" (pronounced as if "yaw-gen," and once spelled "jagon," with a long 'o'), which meant, "to pursue, to chase;" thus, "to hunt." The verb is of unclear origins, although perhaps West Germanic, with its strongest development coming after the Anglo-Saxons left the Continent for Britain; thus, English does not have a form of the word. The noun form "Jäger" came from the notion of "one who hunts or pursues," and as time passed the word branched out into the military meaning of, "a lightly armed soldier or military policeman;" thus, "a rifleman, light infantry," then even later for military aircraft, "a fighter plane." "Wecken" is closely related to English "wedge" (originally spelled "wecg"), and it has long been a regional German word for "bread roll," although in various spellings like: "Weck," "Wecke," "Wegg," "Weckle," "Wecksche."   

"Jägerwecken" are often associated with "Steiermark," which is rendered as "Styria" in Latin, and is often used as such in English. Known as "Steiermark" in German, it is located in southern Austria, and the second part, "Mark" (English relative is "march," not the military kind, see Word History, below) shows it has long been a border region, and was such in the Old German Empire. "Jägerwecken" are known beyond Steiermark, and they are commonly served at Christmas time, but they are also good for lunch or for a snack during break time. "Break time" has many names in German-speaking areas, with probably two of the best known terms being "Brotzeit," literally "bread time,'' which is extensively used in Bavaria, and also "Jause," a word German adopted as a borrowing from Slovenian. "Jause" is used in many parts of Austria, but there are many other terms in use throughout German language areas.* These "snack times" are commonly accompanied by beer, even in many business locations, a practice that might cause some American business people to faint, but it is generally expected in German cultural areas.

This is simply my version of "Jägerwecken," but there are a great many variations. You may need to adjust the ingredient amounts to fit with your type of bread loaf, so keep that in mind, but none of this will require a government-sponsored scientific research effort. 

Ingredients:

1 loaf bread, halved, middle removed, you want to leave the outer crust and some of the soft inside
1/2 cup chopped dill pickles
3 tablespoons mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped ham
4 or 5 slices of smoked bacon, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled, chopped/diced 
1/2 cup chopped cheese (like Gouda or Edam)
1/3 cup shredded carrot
1/3 cup cream cheese 
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a skillet over medium heat, add the chopped bacon. Once the bacon fat begins to melt, add the chopped potato. I prefer to turn down the heat to low and let the bacon and potato cook slowly. You don't want the bacon or potato pieces to be too dark or too hard, so keep an eye on the skillet and stir things as needed. When the potato pieces are lightly browned, remove the skillet from the heat and let the mixture cool down somewhat. In the meantime, cut the loaf of bread and remove the center, leaving a small amount of the soft inside around the crust. Chop or tear the removed center of the bread and add it to a bowl. In a small bowl or a cup, mix together the mayonnaise, cream cheese and mustard. Add this and all of the other ingredients to the bowl, including the lightly browned potato pieces and bacon and gently keep folding the ingredients over and over for a few minutes, until everything is well mixed (you don't want to break up the potato pieces into mashed potatoes). Fill the hollowed out bread loaf with the mixture and take care to pack it into the bread, but not to break open the loaf structure. Wrap the Jägerwecken in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate it for about 90 minutes to 2 hours. Remove the wrapping and use a good knife to cut the filled loaf into slices about one inch thick.   

* Many items are served at break time, but two well known specialties in the southern German areas are large pretzels and white sausage (Weißwurst). Oh, did I mention beer?

WORD HISTORY:
March-There is more than one word of this spelling in English, although, with the exception of the version used for the month of "March," they are all likely related, and therefore, they are related to "mark," a word from the Germanic roots of English (read further), and to "margin," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English (related through Indo European). As you will notice, there is much uncertainty as to many of the specifics of "march,"^ although the general trail of the word is much more clear. This form of "march" means  "borderland," a meaning now somewhat antiquated in English, except for academics. It goes back to Indo European "mereg," which meant "border, edge, boundary." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "marko," with the meaning, "boundary, edge, border area." This gave Old English "mearc/merc" (depending upon dialect), which continued the same basic meaning with "boundary, limit, border area." Old French absorbed a form of the word, "marche," from Germanic Frankish "marka," and "perhaps" passed this form along to Latin, which had "marca" (or perhaps Latin got its form from the Lombards, another Germanic tribe that settled in what became northern Italy?). The English forms "seem" to have been dwindling in usage, although the English kingdom of "Mercia" is simply a Latinized form of Old English "Mierce," which seemingly originated along the "border" with what became Wales; thus, "a border area." The Normans brought along the French form which melded with the waning English form (circa 1200?). Thus reinforced, this gave new impetus to the English word and influenced the pronunciation of the word, as the actual English form of "mearc" developed into modern "mark," initially meaning, "a sign of a boundary or border." As I noted above, there are other forms of the basic word in English and in the other Germanic languages, so it is often difficult to separate out words to fit this exact meaning of "border, boundary," as several are really closer to English "mark" in meaning,^^ but here are a couple of examples of relatives to the English word in other Germanic languages: German and Low German have "Mark" (boundary, territorial limit),^^^ Dutch has "mark" (although apparently, like its English cousin, the word is antiquated).

^ I frequently try to convey some sense of uncertainty by the use of words like "perhaps," "seem," "seemingly," "possibly" or "likely."

^^ That is, "a stain or blemish on a surface, often, but not always done by error," as in, "The spaghetti sauce spattered out of the pan leaving a mark on my shirt," but also, "The Israelites put a mark of lamb's blood above their doors, so that the angel of death would pass over them."   

^^^ Perhaps because "Mark" was an old form (?), German borrowed what became its word for "border" from Slavic, that word being "Grenze," but "Mark" remains associated with the "border areas" of the Old German Empire, especially with Steiermark and Mark Brandenburg (the state around Berlin), and what is now modern Austria was once called "Ostmark;" that is, "East Border Area," a term Hitler revived for his homeland, as he sought to tie modern German areas to the Old German Empire.         

Spanish Garlic Soup: Sopa de Ajo

This is one of those simple, but outstanding bread soups which seem to be available in so many cultures; although understandably so, as they are great ways to use up bread before it gets moldy, which can easily happen with bread not loaded with preservatives. The Spanish have many variations for garlic soup, with some of the variations being subtle. This is my adaptation of the garlic soups more commonly found around Castile in northwestern Spain. If you don't like spicy hot food, you can use all sweet paprika and just a pinch of cayenne pepper, or just flip flop the paprika amounts by using 1 1/2 tablespoons sweet paprika and 1 teaspoon of hot paprika. You can also beat some eggs and drizzle them into the simmering soup and gently mix the egg into the soup to form strands of egg.  

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil
5 slices dried Italian bread, cut into about 1 inch pieces
10 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 1/2 tablespoons hot Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon sweet Spanish paprika
4 cups chicken stock
eggs (1 per serving)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste (remember, the chicken broth likely has salt)

In a pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Lightly toast the bread pieces in the hot olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the garlic, paprika and the remainder of the olive oil, stir well and allow the garlic to begin to soften. Add the chicken stock and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the soup for about 5 minutes. Add a couple of eggs to the top of the simmering soup (it should be fairly thick, because of the bread), cover the pan and poach the eggs for a few minutes until they are cooked to your preference.

The egg white has been covered and colored by the paprika laced broth, but believe me, it is there ... 

WORD HISTORY:
Epitaph-This compound word is composed of "epi-" which goes back to Indo European "epi," which meant, "on, upon, at, near." This gave Ancient Greek (transliterated) "epi," used as a word forming part meaning, "upon, near;" thus also, "in addition." It is part of quite a number of words, including "epicenter," "epidermis" and "epidemic," none of which are native English words, but rather borrowings that have enriched the English language, as in the famous song, "I've Got You Under My Epidermis" ... ah, I think I've got the title wrong?  haha! The second part of the word goes back to Indo European "dhembh," meaning, "to bury." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "thapto/tapto," also meaning, "bury, inter," which produced the noun, "tăphos," meaning, "burial, tomb, common practice of a funeral." Together these gave transliterated Greek the adjective "epitaphios," meaning, "having to do with a burial or funeral." This then produced the noun "epitaphion," meaning, "the words spoken at a funeral;" thus, "eulogy, public speech at a funeral," and this was borrowed by Latin as "epitaphium," with the same meaning. This passed into Old French, a Latin-based language, as "epitaphe," but more so with the meaning, "words written about a person for a funeral;" thus also, "an inscription for the deceased's burial." English borrowed the word in the mid 1300s, and it has developed the meaning further to, "inscription on a tombstone or on some other memorial to a deceased person."   

East African Flatbread: Injera

"Injera" is a total part of the food culture in many areas of East Africa, and it is included in every meal. "Injera" is a crepe-like fermented bread used as a "base" for serving food, and also used to scoop up or to pinch off food for eating. It is sort of "pockmarked" on one side from the bubbles that form when the batter is cooking, and the texture is spongy. In East Africa the making of injera is usually more of a 2 or 3 day process, where many, but not all, use ground "teff," a flour made from the small seeds of a grass like plant common in eastern Africa. Teff flour is gluten free and it comes in light to dark colors, so you may see injera that looks like dark rye or buckwheat, or you may see injera that is lighter in color, even pretty much white. In some areas other flour types are used instead of teff, including sorghum flour, which is also gluten free.* The East Africans generally let the initial mix sit for 1 to 3 days to ferment and to acquire a "sour" taste for the completed injera, like sourdough is used as a "starter" for sourdough bread products. Since injera is commonly made with teff flour in Ethiopia, many people keep a "starter" to add to their next batch of injera batter. From what I understand, the starter batter, or sponge, does not typically contain yeast, but since just about all families make injera, I'm sure there are any number of variations to some ingredients and methods. This recipe here is a faster method, and it uses all purpose flour and whole wheat flour, both easily obtained at just about any grocery store, large or small. Teff flour and sorghum flour are available in many countries nowadays, if you want to be more authentic on the Ethiopian side. While this recipe doesn't use teff flour, it is still better than the recipe I used from a cookbook I had when I first made injera in about 1995, which was so bland, I never had the desire to make it again. I can't recall the exact year, but approximately 25 years ago, I visited an Ethiopian restaurant here in Cleveland, but whether they used teff flour, I have no idea. The food was delicious.   

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 package active yeast (1/4 ounce/7g)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups warm (NOT HOT!) water

Add the dry ingredients to a bowl, then gradually mix in the warm water. Use a stick (immersion) blender to make sure the batter is smooth. Or you can put the ingredients into a blender and add 1 1/2 cups of water to start, then gradually add more water until the batter is smooth and thinned. The batter should not be totally thick, nor thin like water, but rather on the order of heavy cream. Let the batter sit (covered) for about 45 minutes. Stir or blend it again to mix it well. Use a non stick skillet. I used a 9 inch skillet, but you can use larger or somewhat smaller. You don't really need any oil or butter, but I did see 2 recipes, out of about 30, use a little oil. Heat the skillet before adding the batter. I used medium high heat, but you can always adjust the setting once you see how the injera cooks. Use a ladle and pour the batter into the center of the pan and immediately tilt and shake the pan to spread the batter out evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Naturally the size of the pan and of your ladle is important here. You DON'T want the injera to be as thick as typical American pancakes, but they shouldn't be the more typical thinness of crepes, either. Once you add the batter and get it evenly distributed, you will see little bubbles form on the top of the batter. Cover the skillet with a lid or with foil, and let the injera cook until the top is set and there is no glistening from wet batter (this will not take very long). The skillet I use does not have a lid with it, but I have the lid a round casserole dish that fits almost perfectly over the skillet; so, improvise if you must. You do not flip injera, so the bottom side will be somewhat browned. In East Africa, injera is used for serving vegetables, stews or meats right on top of the spread out injera. Then, more injera is used to pick up the food when eating. The sauces, meat drippings or liquid part of stews will soak right into the serving injera, so you eat the serving "tray," if you get my drift.  

* Sorghum flour is from a grass plant. Americans may more readily think of "sorghum syrup," often simply referred to as "sorghum," a sweet syrup which is made from the juice extracted from the stalks of sorghum plants. The syrup was strongly associated with parts of the American South for about a century,  from pre Civil War times until the post World War Two era, when its production declined dramatically. It was, and still is, but to a lesser degree than in the past, commonly poured over fried cornmeal mush and grits, or used on biscuits.

WORD HISTORY: 
Hoof-This word has an uncertain ancient history, although it traces back to Indo European "koph," which meant, "hoof," but whether this was an original Indo European form is the question. There are some who feel the original Indo European form's meaning was not "hoof," but rather an action meaning like "beat," that then developed into a noun meaning "hoof," from the notion of the hooves/hoofs beating on the ground. Others feel Indo European may have borrowed the word from Middle Eastern or northeast African languages, where there were similar terms having to do with "animal feet, hooves." Anyway, the Indo European form gave Old Germanic "hofaz," meaning "hoof," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hof" (long "o"). This later became "hufe" and "hoof." When I was a kid, there were Americans who pronounced "hoof" with a long "u" sound, which I "believe" is still the main pronunciation in England and other parts of Britain, and I wouldn't be surprised if some Americans still say it that way, but I haven't heard that pronunciation for quite some time. With other Americans, the pronunciation had softened to something of a short "u," which is now the most used form of pronunciation in the U.S. There were/are similar dual pronunciations for "roof," as I say it as if "rufe," with a long "u," but others said/say the much shorter sounding, "roof"), "woof" and "poof," for example. Also, when I was in school, the plural of "hoof" was "hooves," and it was pronounced with the long "u" sound. In more recent times I generally hear "hoofs," with the short sound, which is also used as a verb for a sort of slang term for "walk," as in, "My car broke down a half mile from home and I had to "hoof" it the rest of the way." Anyway, the other Germanic languages have: German "Huf" (long "u"), Low German Saxon "Hoof," Dutch "hoef," West Frisian "hoof" (seems to be, but I also found "hoef"), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "hov" and Icelandic "hófur."  

Savory Bread Pudding

In the US, when Americans hear the word "pudding," their minds are likely to turn to a sweetened, thickened milk based dessert, most commonly, but not exclusively, in either chocolate or vanilla. Butterscotch was a common flavor when I was a kid, and perhaps it still is? These puddings come as a dry mix in a small bag inside a box. To fix them, you add milk and cook them until the starch in the ingredients thickens the pudding, or there are also similar puddings that need only to be stirred well with cold milk, no cooking needed. Ah... forget all of that! Initially developed in England as a way to use stale bread, circa 1150, bread pudding took a swerve toward sweetness as a dessert recipe as time went on, although the bread-based stuffing and dressing mixtures used for various fowls or other animals are still going strong, and they are really something of a close cousin to bread pudding. These stuffings are often savory, but some recipes call for the addition of various fruit, which combines the savory with the sweet. Bread pudding uses milk and eggs in its preparation, which usually separates it from its various stuffing relatives, even though stuffings often use eggs, but as a binder. I used cheddar cheese to give this recipe a little bit more of an  "English" twist, but I kept the cheese as the orange-colored style, more typical of the United States, and ah, besides, it was on sale. In its English homeland, and in Britain, in general, cheddar is most often "white," but that's not to say they don't produce any orange colored (or should I say, "coloured?") type, but I'm not quite sure. In the US, the white cheddar is also produced, and it is called... "white cheddar." Hey, you can't always have an imaginative name. This is great as a side dish or, add a salad, and it's perfect for lunch. Let's see... meat, bread, cheese, eggs and vegetables... a little bit of everything!

Ingredients:

6 1/2 cups dried cubed bread  
3 large eggs
1 2/3 cups milk (I use canned evaporated milk)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 pound bulk/loose sage sausage
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil* + more to coat the baking dish
6 cups chopped kale (may seem like a lot, but it isn't; I used lacinato kale, but curly kale is fine**)
1/2 pound Cheddar thinly sliced or shredded

Put the bread cubes into a lightly oiled pan or baking dish of "about" 9" x 13" size (see photo, below). Beat the eggs and mix them with the milk, pour over the bread and let the bread sit and soak up the liquid. Heat the oven to 375 F. In a skillet, add the oil over medium heat. When the oil is heated, put pieces of the sausage into the pan and continue to break up any large pieces of the sausage until there are no especially large chucks left. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add the onion. When the onion starts to soften, add the kale, and you may need to add it in stages, until it cooks down a little, which only takes a short time. Add the pepper. Add the kale/sausage mixture to the soaked bread pieces, folding the kale and other ingredients into the bread (outright stirring will break up the bread pieces, so you want to fold the ingredients together). Smooth the bread mixture out and sprinkle the shredded cheddar over the top, or lay the thin slices of cheddar over the top. Bake for about 1 hour, or, if you like the top a little darker, turn the heat to 400 F and bake about 10 to 15 minutes longer, or you could put it under the broiler for maybe 4 or 5 minutes. Just keep your eyes on it whether you use the broiler or the hotter oven. There will be some bubbling around the edges, but that's normal. The pudding should be "set" in the middle, the same as you'd think of a cake, with no runny middle. I use a serving spoon to scoop the pudding out onto plates.    

* When I was younger, pork and pork sausage was always "fatty." In more recent times hogs are much leaner and so you may need to adjust the amount of oil you use in this dish. I started with 1 tablespoon of olive oil to cook the sausage, but it proved to be inadequate, so I added a second tablespoon of oil. It's certainly possible you may need even a little more, or perhaps, a little less, if you happen to get more fatty sausage; so, the 2 tablespoons of oil are just a guide, not a truly fixed amount.

** Lacinato kale is also known to some as Italian kale. It is very dark green, with an elongated, "somewhat" flat leaf and it has become easier to find in supermarkets and produce stores in more recent times. Curly kale is, and has been, the more common type of kale in the U.S. It is a somewhat lighter green color and its leaves are curly. Hm, do you think that's why they call it "curly kale?"

I put a pound of butter behind the dish to give a comparison for the size of the dish...

WORD HISTORY:
Tuesday-The "Tues" part of the word goes back to Indo European "dyeu," which had the notion of "bright or shining." This general concept gave the further notion of "sky," which then gave the notion of "god/gods," since humans came to believe that deities lived, well.... in the sky. This gave Old Germanic "Tiwaz," the name for their "god of the sky (and also of war)."* (**) This was passed down to Old English as "Tiu"(also spelled "Tiw"). It "seems" that the Germanic tribes, including those who became the "English," took to naming some days after "gods," from the Roman example (there's that influence from contact with other peoples). With "Tiu," to show possession; that is, genitive case, it became "Tiwes," plus "daeg," the old form of "day" in English; thus, we have "Tiu's daeg," with "daeg" eventually losing its "g," and the spelling "Tuesday" coming along a bit later. *** Not all of the Germanic languages use a form of "Tuesday" in modern times, but here are the relatives: Danish has "tirsdag" (the Norse form of "Tiu/Tiw" was "Tyr," which also later went to England with Norse-speaking raiders and settlers), West Frisian "tiisdei," Faroese" has "týsdagur," **** Norwegian "tirsdag," Swedish "tisdag." German once used "Ziesdag," Low German once used "tiuwesdag." 

* This same Indo European base gave other Indo European languages words/names with essentially the same meaning: for example, Latin "deus" meant "god," and of course the famous Greek god, "Zeus." Both Latin and Greek are related to English, but somewhat further down the family tree.

** The Germanic gods can be quite confusing, at least to me, but then again I get confused counting up to ten, but I can get there if you give me a minute or so. From what I know, which is VERY limited, even historians aren't quite sure about some of the "positions of power" held by the various Germanic gods in the Old Germanic period of history. This is just a guess, but it may be that some or all of these gods held different "powers" at various times, and especially as the Germanic tribes dispersed; with one tribe believing a particular god to have certain powers, while another tribe came to hold a slightly different view of that god. To further complicate matters, the Germanic tribes would undoubtedly have been influenced by (and also bestowed influence upon) other peoples they came into contact with regarding such fundamental beliefs.

*** For the history of the word "day," this is the link to the article with that "Word History:" http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/04/german-meatballs-in-caper-sauce.html

**** Faroese is the language of the Faroe Islands. It is from the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages. The Faroe Islands are self governing, but they are a possession of the Kingdom of Denmark. 

Easy Flatbread of the Indian Subcontinent: Chapati, Roti

"Roti," also called "chapati," is a common unleavened whole wheat flatbread of India and other parts of the Indian Subcontinent. This bread has forms in some other parts of the world, where people from the Indian Subcontinent form parts of those communities. It is not quite the same as "pita" bread, which is a yeast-risen bread that is baked in a very hot oven.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour, sifted (plus extra for kneading and rolling out dough)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup barely lukewarm water (a little more, if needed... see below)
1/4 teaspoon oil
melted butter or ghee (clarified butter)

In a bowl, mix the sifted wheat flour and salt, then add the water, a little at a time, mixing it into the flour until it forms a dough. Dust your counter or board with a little wheat flour, then knead the dough for about 5 to 6 minutes. It should be nice and smooth. Roll it into a ball, rub the oil over the rounded dough and cover it with a towel or paper towel and let it rest for about 15 to 20 minutes. After that, briefly knead it again and then divide it into pieces about 2/3 the size of a golf ball. Heat a nonstick skillet or a well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium high heat. While the skillet heats, pat the dough in your hand to begin to flatten it, then sprinkle a little whole wheat flour on your board or counter top again and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into flat rounds of dough about 5 to 6 inches in diameter. They should not be super thin, nor should they be thick. Put one of the rolled out roti/chapati into the skillet. Within less than a minute it should be pretty well cooked on one side, so flip it to the other side. It will begin to puff up. You can turn it back to the other side if you want more browning, or even dark brown to black spots on the bread, or you can finish by laying the bread right on the burner for JUST a couple of seconds! Great with some melted butter brushed or drizzled onto them and with some chutney* on the side. Serve them while they are still warm.

 * For Coriander Chutney, here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/10/indian-coriander-chutney.html

For Mint Chutney: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/07/indian-mint-chutney.html

Brushed with butter and served with Coriander Chutney...

WORD HISTORY:
Leaven-This word, related to "levitate," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English, goes back to Indo European "lengwh," which meant, "not of much weight, not heavy." This gave Latin the verb  "levare," which meant in its main essence, "to lighten in weight;" but thus also, "to lift, to raise," which produced the noun "levamen," which meant, "alleviation, something that provides relief to lift or raise something." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "levain," and meant, "a substance that makes bread dough rise by fermentation." English borrowed the word in the 1300s. The verb was derived from the noun.   

The Way We Were, By Necessity

There have been many changes in how we buy and keep our food over the decades of my life, although there has been a gradual return by some consumers to the use of fewer preservatives in certain foods. I thought I'd jot down a few things to let younger folks read how things were, and to perhaps give their parents and grandparents a chance to say, "Yep, that's what we did back then." It's nice to look back, at times, to things from the past, as long as we remember to return to the present and look to the future.

Back when I was a kid, bread went stale within a day or two, and it would get moldy, even faster in warm weather. Not much air conditioning back then, as not only were the air conditioning units themselves expensive, but the amount of electricity the units used could have caused a horse to drop dead, if a horse could have read the electric bill. There were supermarkets back then, but not as many as there were a little later, and they were generally not as large as those of more modern times. There were many little "mom and pop" grocery stores in most places, and in cities, there were apt to be a couple of these stores, if not more, within a short walking distance across city neighborhoods. Most had deli cases with various lunch meats (also called "cold cuts") and cheeses, which they would slice to order for you, and some even would grind meat for you, or cut up pork for pork chops. Separate butcher shops were common back then too, and you could get fresh cut meats of just about any type, as well as sausages and smoked meats. The southern part of my neighborhood had a large Polish and (western) Ukrainian population, and one family store there made their own kielbasa, which drew in people from all over. Further, depending upon your state or local area, many bars sold basic food products like bread and milk, and also that great staple food of childhood, candy! With the money value so different back then compared to now, there was a section in each candy display case with "penny candy," as the term was. Little grocery stores and bars put your candy into little brown paper bags, and if your were lucky enough to have a dime, you could get one of these small bags pretty much filled up. My paternal grandfather once gave me a DOLLAR! I was the richest kid on the block; well, for a little while, at least. Most candy bars were like about 3 cents to 5 cents. Whether you called it soda or pop, some was a nickel a bottle, but others were 6 or 7 cents. The famous Coca-Cola bottles were 6 1/2 ounces, if I remember right, but some other brands were maybe 7 or 8 ounces. Beverage companies then increased the size of the bottles to 12 ounces, and even to 16 ounces, if my memory is right, but of course, the price was a bit more. There was a penny deposit on the bottles, as they were returnable glass bottles, although again, some companies later began using non-returnable bottles. We kids would go through the neighborhood looking for discarded bottles to take in so we could get candy from the pennies we got back for returning those bottles. Maybe some of you remember, but I don't recall soda/pop in cans (12 ounces) until somewhat later, especially so in the 1970s, when their use became common.

Besides bread being sold in stores, bakery trucks came through the neighborhoods selling various kinds of bread, pies, cakes and other baked goods (ah, I guess that's why they called them bakery trucks). Customers could order special baked goods when they were produced and the driver might tell people, "Thursday, they're making apricot sweet rolls. Do you want to place an order?" They naturally could only fit so many items on a truck, so he took orders for these specialty items. Often the deliveryman would ring a bell to let people know he was in their neighborhood.

Milk was not always homogenized back then, so it separated and you had to shake the bottle before using it. Milk also spoiled within a few days, so just like with bread, trucks traveled through neighborhoods and rural areas to deliver milk and dairy products. Other trucks had produce, and the driver would yell out the various fruits and vegetables he had on sale on that day. If I remember right, there was a truck with fish, and because of religious beliefs, many people ate fish on Fridays in those times, a practice which even carried over to other folks who just got used to eating fish on Fridays, even though they didn't hold those religious beliefs. The practice was so prevalent, neighborhood bars did a banner business on Fridays by having a fish fry. And, just as you may have seen in movies about the "Old West," bars still had spittoons all around the barrooms, as tobacco chewing was still a common practice. Bars also had "back rooms" with tables where ladies and families could sit, as it wasn't considered "proper" by many people for women or children to sit in the main barroom in those days. Bars even had side or rear entrances so that ladies wouldn't have to be seen entering through the front door, which usually was on a main street, as this would likely lead to neighborhood gossip among some people, and perhaps even a condemnation to Hell by some self righteous religious zealots.      

Ice cream and popsicle trucks were around back then, a business which continues to this day. Some trucks only sold frozen products like popsicles, ice cream sandwiches or fudge bars, but others sold ice cream cones, sundaes, milkshakes and banana splits, with the ice cream dispensed right in front of the customers from machines inside the trucks. Of course, you could also go to a pharmacy, often simply referred to in the U.S. as, "drug stores," to get some ice cream, as they had "soda fountains" in those days. Oh, and they too had candy display cases with penny candy and candy bars. We had a food truck, actually more of a van or RV from more recent times, run by "Harold," a man in our neighborhood. I can't remember everything, but I believe he sold many early morning items like: doughnuts, pastries, coffee, tea and hot chocolate, and he may well have sold sandwiches and lunch items too, I just can't remember. Of course, this part of the food business has really expanded in more recent times, as trucks selling all sorts of fresh, refrigerated or frozen products are big business nowadays, with many specialty foods now being sold, including pizza, a food item that was growing in popularity when I was a kid, but at that time, pizza shops hadn't sprung up on many street corners, as yet, but they were around, just not in anywhere near the numbers we have today; and off hand, I don't recall any national pizza chains at that time; at least, not in my area. Certainly pizza's popularity stemmed from soldiers who had served in World War Two in Italy, which gave Italian-Americans a good way to go into business, especially in cities with Italian neighborhoods, particularly in the eastern half of the U.S. But it didn't take long for the popular, delicious and easily eaten food to spread all over the country.

As the years passed, more and more supermarkets were opened all over, putting a bit of a crimp in some family owned grocery stores and butcher shops. Preservatives were added to many foods, air conditioning and refrigeration became more widely used, and the need for things such as milk and bread delivery declined to the point where most were just unnecessary, although some hung on for awhile, and some might still be in existence in places? Improved roads and highways made rural deliveries largely unnecessary too, and I'm not sure the last time I heard, "Peaches, onions, cabbage on sale today," yelled out by a driver on a produce truck. Changes happen, often they creep up on us, and we eventually accept them, however grudgingly, but it sure can be nice to think back on the way we were, but then we need to move on. 

WORD HISTORY:
Spit-English has more than one word of this spelling, but this form is closely related to "spew" and goes back to Indo European "spyu," which meant "to spit, to discharge fluid from the mouth," but its exact history is a bit cloudy. The Indo European form gave its Old Germanic offspring "spitjanan," ^ seemingly a parallel development with the ancestor of "spew," as it had the same meaning, but it was not as commonly used. This either gave Old English, or the West Germanic dialects that later came to form Old English (Anglo-Saxon), but while still on the Continent, both "spæten"and "spittan," dialectal differences, although as noted under the original Old Germanic form, these forms were also not as common in usage as the ancestor of "spew." The Old English forms then melded to become "speten/spitten," before the modern form. The noun came from the verb circa 1300. Danish and Norwegian have "spytte" (to spit, Danish noun "spyt" and Norwegian noun "spytt"), Swedish has "spotta" (perhaps a dialectal "spetta?" and the noun "spott"), Icelandic has "spýta" (both verb and noun form).

^ It's possible that this was rather a form developed in the North Germanic branch of Old Germanic, or perhaps a survivor from Old Germanic in the North Germanic branch. It is unclear, but forms are only found in modern North Germanic, with the exception of English, which is West Germanic. The West Germanic dialects of what are today northern Germany and the Netherlands, as well as southwestern Denmark, had much contact with North Germanic speakers, which remained true, even after many of these West Germanic speakers migrated to Briton and founded England. As a guess, I would lean to a borrowing from North Germanic after the Anglo-Saxons were in Briton, which might account for the more sporadic use of the word compared to the ancestor of "spew," which was the common word among the West Germanic dialects/languages for "to spit." If "spit" had been borrowed while Ango-Saxon was still on the Continent, it begs the question, "Where are forms in Low German and/or Frisian," as they likely would have borrowed it too, but I found no forms of such, not even from centuries ago. Low German and Frisian are both the closest relatives of English, and they were especially close (linguistically and geographically) when the Anglo-Saxons were still on the Continent.    

German Bread Dumplings (Semmelknödel)

Bread dumplings (Semmelknödel) are common in many parts of Bavaria and Austria; in fact, they are a part of the food culture in these areas. Making bread dumplings is a great way to use leftover bread or rolls. The standard German word for a bread roll is "Brötchen," the diminutive of "Brot" (bread); thus, literally, "little or small bread," but there are several dialect terms, including "Semmel," in much of Bavaria and Austria. Traditionally, rolls are used to make these dumplings, but you can use bread, although this may make you a target of the "Semmelknödelpolizei" ("Bread Dumpling Police"), who are the "flour" of the food police. "Knead" I say more?

Ingredients:

10 stale kaiser rolls (or 10 large slices of stale white bread)
3 to 4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons bread crumbs (panko are best)
1 to 1 1/2 cups heated milk
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
10 parsley sprigs, chopped
pinch of nutmeg or mace
salted simmering water

Slice the rolls or bread, put them into a bowl and add 1 cup of the heated milk. Depending upon the dryness of the rolls, you may need up to a half cup more milk, but wait until you see that the extra milk is necessary. You want the rolls softened, not mushy. Soak the rolls for half an hour. Meanwhile, heat 5 to 6 cups of water in a pan. Add some salt to the water and bring it to a simmer. Melt the butter in a skillet and add the onion. Saute until the onion is softened. Add the onion to the bread, and add the beaten eggs, the bread crumbs (if the "dough" is too mushy, wring it out a bit and add some more bread crumbs), the salt, the nutmeg and the parsley. Mix everything by hand, but don't over knead the dough, which should be fairly firm. Form the dough into rounds about the size of golf balls. Roll each round in flour on a plate, just to coat. Shake off excess flour. Put the dumplings into the simmering water, but don't overcrowd the pan; cook them in batches. The dumplings will float when done, although I give them 1 or 2 extra minutes after they float. Serve with meat dishes with plenty of gravy or meat juices. 

In this picture I used beef gravy, sliced tomatoes and a good beer.

WORD HISTORY:
Scrape-This word, distantly related to "scribe," "script" and "shear," goes back to Indo European "sker," which had the notion "to cut," and to its extended form, "skerb," which meant, "to cut into, to carve, to engrave." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skrepanan," which meant, "to scrape, to shave, to scratch up." This gave Old English the verb forms, "scrapian" and "screpan" (depending upon dialect), both meaning, "to scrape, to scratch." These then became "scrapen," reinforced by the related Old Norse form, "skrapa," which had the same meaning. The Old Norse form likely influenced the pronunciation of the English word, changing it from the "sh" beginning, to the hard beginning sound as if, "skrape." The other Germanic languages have: German "schrappen" (to scrape, to scratch"), Low German Saxon "schrapen" (to scrape, to scratch), Dutch has three forms:  "schrapen" (to scrape), "schrabben" (to scrape or scratch) and "schrappen" (to scratch through or scratch out (that is, "cancel"), West Frisian "skraabje" (to scratch), Danish "skrabe" (to scrape), Norwegian "skrape" (to scrape), Icelandic "skrapa" (to scrape), Swedish "skrapa" (to scrape).

Country Bread Soup (Brotsuppe)

This soup undoubtedly came about as a good way to use up stale bread, as bread would begin to dry out after just a day, and it could get moldy after just a couple of days, in times, generally, now gone by; although we are seeing more breads produced with little or no preservatives today. A second reason for the use of bread, was to make a dish that was filling; something well done by bread. German rye bread is not light and spongy, but rather heavier, and more dense. So it may take some time for the broth to be, "comin' thro' the rye." If you have a German bakery near you, or if your supermarket's bakery makes German-style rye, or sells such bread from another bakery, I recommend you give it a try, especially for this soup.

3 slices rye bread, cubed or torn into small pieces

2 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 heaping tablespoons chopped chives

2 heaping tablespoons chopped parsley

2 heaping tablespoons marjoram leaves 

3 tablespoons cream or milk
pinch of black or white pepper (optional)

4 franks, or 6 small link sausages (already cooked), sliced

In a heavy bottomed pan, lightly toast the bread in melted butter, turning the cubes. After about two minutes, add the garlic, cook one more minute, stirring. Add the broth and marjoram, simmer for 6 to 8 minutes. Add the sausage slices, simmer a further 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the chives, parsley and cream (also, pepper, if using), stir well. Serve. 

I used small link sausages

WORD HISTORY:
Rustic-This word, closely related to "rural," and distantly related to "room," goes back to Indo European "reu/rew/row," with the basic notion of "open space."This gave Latin "rus," with the meaning, "countryside, farmland." This, in combination with the suffix "ticus," ^ gave Latin "rusticus," meaning, "of or from the country;" thus also, "plain, simple, coarse, crude, unsophisticated" (for a person, "a peasant, a farmer," and derogatorily, "a person of little or no culture or formal education"). English borrowed the word as "rustik" in the 1400s, likely with some influence of French "rustique," from the same Latin source (French is a Latin-based language).

^ "(t)icus" goes back to Indo European "ikos," a suffix with the notion, "with characteristics of." The Latin form is related to the ending "y" on many modern English words, with the "y" contracted from, and altered in pronunciation from, "ig," an ending still intact in English cousin, German, although it comes out "similar" to English "y" by "some" German speakers.     

Portuguese Bread Soup (Sopa Alentejana)

This soup comes from the region of Alentejo in Portugal. It is easy and quick to make. One thing, it is very garlicky, so if you're going to be doing any kissing, have the other person eat the soup too. That should cancel out the garlic breath... Well... that's my theory, anyway. I've read several recipes for this soup and most use one egg per serving, but I made mine with two. This is one of the BEST soups I've ever had. I make it often. 

Ingredients (4 servings):

4 slices of stale French or Italian bread from a bake shop,* cut or torn into bite sized pieces
4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
4 teaspoons parsley, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
little sprinkle of salt to each serving (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper per serving
32 ounces chicken stock (low fat and low sodium is fine)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 to 8 eggs (depending upon 1 or 2 per serving)

Tear or cut the bread into bite sized pieces. Spread the bread pieces into your serving bowls. Drizzle one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil over the bread pieces in each bowl; and on the bread pieces of each bowl, sprinkle one tablespoon of cilantro, one teaspoon of parsley, one large clove of chopped garlic, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil, then reduce the heat until the broth is barely at a simmer. Poach the eggs to the desired state of doneness (see Word History, below), then remove the eggs from the broth and place into the individual bowls. Pour equal amounts of broth into each bowl. Ready to go.     

* I cannot speak about other countries, but in the U.S., the mass produced sliced white bread labeled, "Italian," just doesn't do it for me for a recipe like this. I'm not putting it down, because I actually use it for sandwiches in preference to what is often termed, "sandwich bread."

 

WORD HISTORY:
Do-This common word is related to "deed" and to "doom," both words from the Germanic roots of English, and "do" goes back to Indo European "dhe," which had the notion, "to make, to bring about (later in English, as in, "to do harm"), "to be engaged in an activity (later in English, as in, "they got ready to do battle"), to put." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "donan," which only survived in the West Germanic branch (English is West Germanic) of Germanic as, "don," but with the same meanings. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "don," again with many of the same meanings, initially. It was not until the latter part of the Middle Ages that the word was commonly finally shortened to "do." The other West Germanic languages have: German "tun," Low German Saxon "doon," Dutch "doen," West Frisian "dwaan." ("Done" is the participle form of "do," with "doneness" being a derived noun, with the attached suffix.)

Panzanella, A Salad of Tuscany

This salad is a specialty of Florence (Italian: Firenze), the capital city of Tuscany in Italy. Tuscany is a region of northwestern Italy famous for "Chianti" wine. The salad provides a good use for stale bread, especially for bread without all the preservatives, which gets stale after only a day or two. This is, of course, my own version of the salad.   

INGREDIENTS:

5 Roma tomatoes, cut into chunks/diced, or about 15 to 20 grape tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 cups bake shop Italian bread, dried for a day or two, or toasted, then torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
10 basil leaves, torn into smaller pieces
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil + 3 tablespoons more for the bread pieces
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Toss the bread pieces with the 3 tablespoons of oil. Put the bread pieces on a foil or parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 400 (F) for about 5 to 6 minutes, then let the bread pieces cool a bit. Mix the tomatoes, onions, basil leaves and bread pieces together. Mix the oil and red wine vinegar together, pour over the salad, then add salt and pepper. The oil and vinegar amounts are just a guideline, but I like more dressing on salad than perhaps some people, so use what you like. In Italy they trim the crusts from the bread, but I don't care, I do it my own way, although a funny thing happened then. A letter came from the Italian embassy asking me if I have seen the "Godfather" movies. I replied, "Only the first one." They answered with simply, "That's enough." What the hell's that supposed to mean?  hahaha

WORD HISTORY:
Tomato-This now common word goes back to Aztecan (Nahuatl) "tomatl." Spanish borrowed the word, as "tomate" from their colonial expansion in the New World in the 1500s. English borrowed the word from Spanish in the mid 1700s. There are two "general" pronunciations, even made somewhat famous in a popular song written by George Gershwin called, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," where the pronunciation differences were emphasized in one line. "Generally" speaking, Americans "tend" to pronounce the word as if, "toe-may-toe" (which actually often comes out like, "tum-ay-tah"). British pronunciation tends to be more like, "toe-mah-toe," with the "a" pronounced like the "a" of father. When I was younger, some Americans pronounced the word in the British style, but to be honest, that is quite rare in the U.S. anymore, at least in my experience, and I would say it would be considered a bit "high brow," if not downright "snobbish," nowadays.

Tuscan Tomato & Bread Soup

I've had this recipe written in pencil on a small index card for many years, so where I got it, I don't know, but my guess would be from some television show. Whether I altered the original recipe when I wrote it down is also unknown.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, with juice
14.5 oz. can tomato sauce
1 and 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb. stale Italian bread, torn into chunks
10 to 15 basil leaves, torn
1 small onion, chopped (+ some finely chopped for garnish)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Heat the oil over medium heat in the pot you will use. Turn the heat to medium low, add the onion, garlic and hot pepper flakes, cook for about five to six minutes to soften the onion. Add the tomatoes with their juice, squishing the tomatoes through your fingers to break them up as you add them. Heat briefly before adding the chicken stock, tomato sauce, and then salt and pepper, to taste. Stir well. Heat through and then add the basil. Serve the soup over bread pieces, allowing the servings to sit for a couple of minutes to absorb the hot broth and soften. Top each serving with some grated Parmesan cheese and some finely chopped raw onion.

WORD HISTORY:
All-For such an extremely common word, the history of "all" is uncertain, and its possible relationship to words outside of the Germanic languages is unclear. It "may" be related to "old," which, like its Germanic cousins, was once pronounced with a beginning "a" sound, and the meaning of which developed from a word that meant "to grow, to grow out;" thus by extension, "grow to full size," thus, "mature, grow old." This notion of "grow to full size" then "could" have provided the meaning of "all;" that is, "complete, total." It goes back to a Germanic base "all," with the general idea of "complete, entire, total, everything." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "eall," with the same meanings. This then became "all," and it has remained such for many centuries, up to the present. The other Germanic languages have: German, Low German Saxon,  "all," Dutch "al," West Frisian, Danish and Norwegian "alle," Icelandic "allur," and Swedish "alla/all."

A Specialty Soup of Tuscany: Ribollita

"Ribollita" developed by Italians using leftover minestrone (vegetable soup) that was then "reboiled" (the meaning of "ribollita"), but with bread added, and it is a specialty of the Tuscany (Italian: Toscana) region of Italy, where Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital. The soup (more of a stew, because of its thickness) is now often more of a dish in its own right, rather than just a use of leftovers. This recipe is my own, drawn from several variations, but I have to give credit to Rachael Ray for getting me on to this soup, because I saw her make it several years ago on the Food Network, and the fact that it included kale is what really caught my attention. I don't recall what kind of kale Rachael Ray used, but I found other recipes for this soup which called for "black kale" (Italian: "cavolo nero"), also called "lacinato kale," a very dark variety of kale common in parts of Italy, and now more common in the U.S. and many other countries. If you don't have lacinato kale, use regular (curly) kale as I do at times, and I have yet to experience a nightmare where I've been condemned to repeatedly watch Italian westerns from the 1960s due to a curse from Mario Batali; then again, I have had a dream about the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" falling on me. Hmm, you think? Nah.

(For about 6 servings)
 6 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 lb. pancetta, chopped (or use regular bacon)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1/2 pound chopped kale (no big stems)
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 28 oz. cans crushed Roma tomatoes, with juice (or you can use fresh tomatoes)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

salt to taste (remember, does your broth already have salt?) 

about 6 slices of dried rustic Italian bread, torn into pieces (you can use whatever bread you have, but don't blame me if you have that Leaning Tower of Pisa nightmare, and I won't even mention the Italian westerns)

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil in a fairly heavy-bottom pan (a Dutch oven is good) and saute the pancetta/bacon, garlic, onion, carrot, and celery for 6 to 8 minutes. Add the kale and about a half cup of the chicken stock and let the liquid heat up and begin to cook down the kale, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, and the rest of the chicken stock, stirring to combine. Allow the soup to heat up and then cook for about 15 minutes over moderate heat, stirring off and on. Add the beans, salt and pepper, stir well. Cook for about another 15 minutes, then add the parsley and stir. Check to be sure the vegetables are tender. Before serving, add some of the bread pieces to each bowl and then ladle the hot soup over the bread. Let sit for a minute or two, then add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over each serving.

I make this soup fairly often and you can pretty much add any vegetables of your choice, but zucchini is a common Italian addition to the soup, as well as some chopped Savoy cabbage, in addition to the kale. I use sliced fresh grape tomatoes and some tomato sauce at times, rather than canned crushed tomatoes. Finely chopped onion is sometimes added as a garnish, too. By putting the bread pieces in each bowl, you can make the dish as thick as each person likes, but it is my understanding that some Italians eat this dish with a fork, rather than a spoon, so it can be very thick.  

 

 

WORD HISTORY:
Minestrone-This word for Italian vegetable soup, related to "minor," "minus" and "minister," goes back to Indo European "mei/my," which had the notion of "small," and produced the comparative "mynu/minu," which meant "smaller, less." This gave Latin "ministrare," meaning "to attend to, to serve," from the notion of  a "servant being of lesser status." This gave Italian "minestrare," with the "serve" meaning, but also "to prepare food for others." Italian then coupled the main part of the word with "-one," which came from Latin "onem," a suffix adding emphasis or importance, producing "minestrone;" "that which is prepared and served."

Pumpernickel Bread

There are a couple of general types of bread made and sold as "pumpernickel," but the original pumpernickel bread was developed in the Westphalia (German: Westfalen) region of Germany, at least by the 1400s, if not earlier. Some refer to it as "black bread," for the types with an especially dark color, but Germans have a couple of types of whole grain dark bread that are sometimes referred to by that name. Pumpernickel is made with very coarse rye meal (cracked whole rye), and it is then baked (see "Word History") for an incredibly long time (12 to like 20 hours) at a low temperature, which is what gives it its dark color, as there are no coloring additives that darken it in the original recipe type. The finished bread is crumbly and anywhere from dark brown to nearly black in color. Bakers eventually learned how to cut down on the time needed to produce pumpernickel, but still have it very much resemble and taste like the original recipe. They add some coloring agents, which allow the baking process to be considerably shortened. Whether this is also commonly used in Germany, I'm not certain, as many production traditions for various products remain strong in Germany. Pumpernickel is typically sold in packages with maybe 10 to 12 slices. You may find imported packages from Germany in your supermarket, but there are some of these "near genuine recipes" produced right in the U.S., including by one bakery in suburban Cleveland, called "Reinecker's Bakery." Their products are sold in some supermarkets in Greater Cleveland, besides at their own outlet.

Other pumpernickel in America is much softer and its dark color comes from additives like molasses or cocoa (I actually have a recipe which calls for both cocoa and coffee). You often see it in fairly large round loaves, or sometimes as pumpernickel (bread) rolls. It is not uncommon to see recipes that call for the round loaves to be hollowed out and used as "bowls" for various vegetable or chip dips. The softer pumpernickel, when sliced, is also easily used to make sandwiches, as opposed to the "original" or "near original," which are far too crumbly; at least in my opinion. I can't verify this, but I was told many years ago that the softer type of pumpernickel came to America with Jewish immigrants from Russia in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

When I grew up, pumpernickel was common place in my neighborhood, which had a strong German tradition dating to German immigrants arriving not long before the Civil War, clear up until just before World War One began. Ham, mettwurst or cheese were common accompaniments with pumpernickel, including a favorite of mine, Limburger cheese, although caraway studded rye bread was also frequently used for the strong smelling cheese that my older brother simply could not stand. 

 Photo of German-style pumpernickel bread, which tends toward being crumbly ...

 

 This has the soft type of pumpernickel with some pimento cheese and sliced tomato ...

WORD HISTORY: 

Bake-This word goes back to Indo European "bheg/bhog," which had the meaning "to bake or roast." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bakanan," which meant "to bake." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bacan," which then became "baken," before the modern version. The noun form, as in "clambake," was simply derived from the verb, but seemingly not until the 1800s. The other Germanic languages have: German "backen" ('a' pronounced short as in 'father'), Low German "backen," Dutch "bakken," West Frisian "bakke," Icelandic and Swedish "baka," Danish "bage," and Norwegian "bake" (the "a" is like "ah," and the ending "e" is pronounced like "eh/ah").