Coconut Pudding

This is easy, but you have to pay attention to the milk mixture as it heats and you need to keep whisking.

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

2 cups milk

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

good pinch salt

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut

whipped cream 

toasted coconut for garnish

 

In a pan, heat milk, sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg and egg yolk over medium heat, whisk constantly until thickened, then remove from the heat. (Note: Put the ingredients in at the very start, this will let the egg/egg yolks gradually heat up and that, along with constant whisking, will keep the eggs from scrambling. You CANNOT heat the milk and other ingredients and then just add the eggs, they will curdle.) Whisk in vanilla and butter (the butter will melt in the hot pudding), then stir in the shredded coconut. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Serve with whipped cream and toasted coconut (toast in dry skillet over low heat until it starts to brown, stirring and shaking the skillet to prevent having the coconut burn).

WORD HISTORY:

Citadel-This word is related to "city" and to "civil," words of Latin derivation and borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and it is distantly related to "cemetery," a word of Greek derivation borrowed by Latin and taken by Latin-based French and then borrowed by English. "Citadel" goes back to Indo European "k(h)ei," with the meaning "settle, lie down;" thus, "homestead," and also the figurative noun sense, "family." This gave Latin "civis," meaning "resident of a town;" thus, "citizen," and this produced Latin "civitas," which meant "the rights of being a citizen (originally of Rome);" thus, "citizenship." This produced Old Italian "cittade," meaning "city," the diminutive form of which in Italian became "cittadella." Cities were often walled many years ago, but people began settling outside of city walls in increasing numbers. These expanded cities often had the old walled city in the interior of the city; thus, the meaning developed for "citadel" as a fortress within a city, a strongly fortified part of a city." French borrowed the word from Italian as "citadelle" and English borrowed the word from French in the mid 1500s.

Guinea-Bissau Tuna with Avocado: Abacate com Atum

Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa. It is ia former colony of Portugal, and indeed, Portuguese is the national language, although there are numerous African languages spoken on a daily basis, as are less formal forms of Portuguese. Guinea-Bissau formally became independent from Portuguese rule in 1974.  

 

Just a reminder: when you use avocados in recipes, you need lemon or lime juice, or vinegar, to keep the avocado from turning dark due to contact with oxygen. So be sure to include the lemon juice in this recipe. Portuguese "Abacate com Atum" simple means "Avocado with Tuna." 

Ingredients:

 

2 soft, but not mushy, avocados, halved and pitted

1 cooked piece of tuna, about 5 ounces (or use canned tuna, drained)

2 medium roma tomatoes, chopped

2/3 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 

2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot sauce (piri piri, if you have it, also called pili pili in many African cultures)

2 tablespoons grated coconut 

4 lemon slices for garnish

I cooked the tuna in a skillet with a little olive oil and just a small amount of salt and pepper (not counted in the amout of salt and pepper in the above recipe). Make sure the tuna is cooked through and then let it cool. Halve and pit the avocados, then carefully (don't damage the shells) scoop out the avocado flesh, chop it, and put it into a bowl (keep the shells). Add the tuna, chopped tomato, black pepper, salt, lemon juice, lemon peel, heavy cream, hot sauce, then mix everything together very well. Fill each avocado shell with the tuna mixture and sprinkle each with some grated coconut. Serve with lemon slices and maybe make the hot sauce available for those who like extra. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Utensil-This word is closely related to "use," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via Latin-based French. The ultimate origin of this word, and of its close relative "use," is unknown. It goes back to Latin "uti," which had a wide range of meanings: "to make use of, to gain from (thus also, to benefit, to profit), to enjoy, to consume." This produced Latin "usare," meaning, "to use." The verb's present participle was "utens," and with its inflected ending came the adjective form "utensilis," meaning "useful, having gainful or beneficial purpose, usable," the plural form of which was "utensilia," which was used as a noun meaning, "things for use, useful implements," and this passed into Latin-based Old French as the singular "utensile," meaning "implement, tool" (perhaps influenced heavily by Italian "utensile?") and English borrowed the word in the late 1300s as "utensile/utensyl," which then became "utensil." The meaning more and more was used for household tools and implements; thus, there came to be a great association with implements in a kitchen, but not exclusively so.