Bermuda's National Drink, Rum Swizzle

This punch-like drink is the national drink of Bermuda, although interestingly, recipes vary. It is commonly made in pitchers for multiple servings, but I've put together this recipe for one drink. The drink got its name from the "traditional" use of a swizzle stick twirled between the palms of the maker's hands to mix the drink. Originally, the "swizzle sticks" used were small twigs from the "Quararibea turbinata," a type of fragrant, flavorful tree common on many islands of the Caribbean. The tree has long been called the "Swizzlestick Tree," and from what I understand, the twig gave off some of its flavor to the drink, something that was later replaced by angostura bitters. In Bermuda the drink is still often made with a swizzle stick, but some people use a shaker or an immersion blender (stick blender) or some just stir it with a spoon. Damn, what a novel idea!     

Don't get scared or turned off when you see "simple syrup," because it is appropriately named, and it is just equal parts of sugar and water, with the water heated and the sugar stirred in and completely dissolved in the hot water, then cooled. It is a common ingredient to sweeten cocktails.

 

Ingredients (per drink): 

 

1 ounce dark rum

1 ounce golden rum

2 ounces pineapple juice

2 ounces orange juice

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 or 3 dashes of angostura bitters

1 1/2 tablespoons simple syrup 

cherry and/or orange slice can be used for garnish

ice

tall glass, 10 to 12 ounces

Mix all main ingredients well over just one or two ice cubes, then add more ice and garnish with a cherry or two or also with a slice of orange.

 

That is NOT an olive on the cocktail pick, that is simply a decorative piece by the manufacturer ...  

WORD HISTORY:

Ere (Erst, as in 'erstwhile')-The word "ere," primarily used as a preposition, but also as a conjunction, is closely related to "early," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Ere" goes back to Indo European "ayeri/aieri," meaning "morning, day," which then gave its Old Germanic offspring "airi" meaning "early" (comparative "airiz," meaning "earlier"), and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "ær," meaning "early, before." This then became "er," and then "ere." The Old English superlative form was "ærest," meaning "earliest, first," and it came from the Old Germanic form "airist," meaning "earliest, first, highest." Old English "ærest" then became "erst(e)" and then "erst." In the past, the forms of the word shared usage with forms of the actual word "first," but that word then came into dominant use for that meaning. In more modern times, "erst" is most common in the adverb/adjective compound "erstwhile" (adverb meaning: formerly, adjective meaning: former, onetime). Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "eher" (earlier, sooner, rather/quite), but also, the conjunction "ehe" (before), Low German has "ehr/ehrder" (earlier, sooner), West Frisian "earder, ear't" (earlier), Dutch "eer" (before, early) and comparative "eerder" (earlier). The North Germanic languages apparently do not have forms, although their ancestor, Old Norse, had "ar" (early).   

Dark 'n Stormy Cocktail

This cocktail "supposedly" got its name from a sailor noting that the drink's dark cloudy color made him think of storm clouds. 

 

Naturally beverage companies want you to use their own specific products to make certain drinks, but we can't have all of the many brands of liquors, so use what you have or what you have access to; don't fret over having such and such a brand name of liquor, as it usually doesn't matter much to the actual taste of whatever drink you are making. 

Ginger beer seems to have been first brewed in England in the 1700s and it became a popular drink in all of the British Isles and in numerous (then) British colonies and possessions like Canada, Jamaica, Australia and South Africa. It is my understanding that the original fermentation process produced both an alcohol content, as well as the sparkling fizz of the drink, which was made with yeast; but that later, the process was altered to make an alcohol free brew, and later still, the carbonation process (injecting carbon dioxide under pressure) was used to give the drink its fizz. Ginger beer is made by using real ginger in the brewing process, and this imparts the soft drink's spicier taste compared to ginger ale, which is somewhat milder (typically made with ginger flavored syrup).     

 

Ingredients (per cocktail):

 

2 ounces dark rum

3 ounces ginger beer

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

(optional) candied ginger slice

slice of lime

ice 

Tall glass (10 to 12 ounces)

Fill a tall glass with ice, add dark rum and lime juice, stir to mix, then add the ginger beer, stir. Add a slice of lime and a slice of candied ginger for garnish. 

WORD HISTORY:

Span-"Span" is used both as a noun and a verb, and the word is related to quite a number of words, including distantly to part of "appendix," "dispense" and "expend," all Latin-derived words, with both "appendix" and "expend" borrowed by English directly from Latin, and with "dispense" borrowed via French, and it is more closely related to "spin," "spider" and "spindle," all words from the Germanic roots of English. "Span" goes back to Indo European "(s)pen," with the notion of "stretch, draw out," with implications for "spin thread." This gave Old Germanic "spannan," with the same meanings, and this gave Old English "spann," meaning, "the fully opened (stretched out) hand as a tool for measurement;" thus also, "the distance between the tip of one's thumb to the tip of the little finger." This then became "spanne," before the more clipped modern form "span." The hand measurement idea broadened (no pun intended) to a more general notion of "distance between two points or objects," but other meanings also developed, including, "an amount of time" (circa 1600)^ and "a span of animals" (mid 1700s), ^^ the 1700s also saw the use of the word for the distance between the arches for bridges, and the word has actually become almost synonymous with bridge, perhaps also because a bridge typically "spans" (the verb use) a river, creek, bay or ravine). Latin long ago borrowed the word from Germanic as "spannus," seemingly borrowed from Germanic Frankish via the Latin dialects in Gaul, which would later become the core of the Frankish Kingdom and then France. The Old French form was "espan," which was then altered to "empan." "Spanner," most commonly a type of tool that connects to something to tighten or turn it, a type of wrench;" borrowed from German "Spanner" in the first half of the 1600s. The German word is from the same source as "span." The verb form of "span" goes back to the same original Indo European and Old Germanic sources, and the Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "spannan," meaning "to fasten, to clasp, to bind," with a secondary meaning of even "to join in marriage" and "to hitch animals together," and the spelling later became "spannen," before the shortening to "span." The verb's meanings mirrored the noun, including about time (as in, "The diplomat's career spans three presidencies") and distance between point or objects ("The bridge spans the gorge near the highway").     

 

^ No set period of time, rather non specific, as in, "The line was long to get into the movie premier, but we only had to wait a span of 12 minutes," but also, "The storm knocked out our electricity for a span of 4 days."

^^ Two animals typically connected by some type of yoke to pull a cart or wagon. 

Caribbean Rum Punch

Punch, with or without alcohol, is generally something that is for multiple servings which can be prepared in a pitcher. Lots of Caribbean flavors here. 

 

Ingredients (4 to 5 servings):

 

4 ounces light rum

4 ounces dark rum

2 ounces coconut rum

8 ounces pineapple juice

8 ounces orange juice

4 ounces mango nectar/juice

4 ounces Sprite or club soda

2 ounces fresh lime juice

2 ounces grenadine 

1 cup ice 

4 or 5 tall glasses (8 to 12 ounce glasses)

Add all the ingredients to a pitcher, except the club soda or Sprite, stir well, then add the soda/Sprite, stir again. You can certainly mix the punch in a pitcher without the ice, then distribute the ice to individual serving glasses and pour the punch into the ice-filled glasses.

WORD HISTORY:

Fletch (Fletcher)-A variant pronunciation, and thus spelling, of the verb form of "fledge"^ that developed in the 1600s, but under the heavy influence of the noun "fletcher," which is also related to "fledge," and a word borrowed as "fleccher" in the early 1300s from French "flechier," meaning "arrow maker" (French "fleche" means "arrow" ), as an arrow is a shaft or rod with "feathers on the end" (the connection with "fledge"). French got the word by absorbing the form from a close cousin of English, Germanic Frankish (flegja??). I don't know about England, and the rest of the English speaking world, but "fletch" and "fletcher" are not common words in American English, although "Fletcher" is sometimes heard as both a family name and as a given name: from the mid 1980s until the mid 1990s, British actress Angela Lansbury played the character "Jessica Fletcher" on the popular CBS television series "Murder, She Wrote."^^ "Fletcher Christian" was part of the crew of the ship "HMS Bounty," the subject of books and three major films. I also knew a man here in Cleveland with the given name "Fletcher." 

 

^ For the history of "fledge," it is included at the bottom of this article: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2022/06/shirley-temple-mocktail.html

 

^^ Lansbury was born in England, and her father was English and her mother was from Northern Ireland. In the television series, "Fletcher" is Jessica's married name from her deceased husband Frank. 

North German Hot & Cold Anglian Mug: Angler Muck (Heiß und Kalt )

This drink is from the northern section of the Schleswig part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, from an area called "Angeln," near the border with Denmark, with the Baltic Sea lying off its east coast. The "general area" had been the home of the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that sailed off to Britain centuries ago, settled there, and helped to found England, the name of which, as well as the name of the language that developed there from various Germanic dialects, are derived from the Angles. 

There are two versions of "Angler Muck," one that is served hot (German: heiß/heiss), which is good for winter, and one that is served cold (German: kalt), which makes it good for summer. "Korn," a very popular north German grain alcohol or brandy is the alcohol most often used for the cold drink, but you can substitute vodka and I don't think they'll punch you in the "mug" (see Word History below).There is actually a special ceramic mug in Germany for the hot drink (see photo below for an example), which is often kept warm on a small warmer called a "Stövchen," a word taken from Low German into standard German and also a close relative of English "stove," and literally translated as "little stove." They are typically heated with a candle.

 

Ingredients for the cold Angler Muck:

 

1 part vodka or clear grain alcohol/brandy

1 part lemonade

1 part club soda/sparkling water

ice cubes

 

Make the lemonade to your own recipe and sweetness/tartness preference. The club soda/unflavored sparkling water gives the lemonade some evfer.... ah, efverves... ah, bubbles. 

 

The recipe for the hot version of Angler Muck is: heat together 1 pint of rum and 1 pint of water (do not boil). As the liquid heats, add 4 tablespoons sugar and 6 to 8 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (your own taste preference). Stir to mix and dissolve the sugar. Serve hot.

 

 Cold Angler Muck ...

 

Mug for the hot Angler Muck; the Angler Muck Pott ...

About this photo, see: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mucktopf.jpg#file

 

WORD HISTORY:

Mug-The origin of this word is unknown, but it shows up in English in the mid 1500s as the word for "a bowl, cup or earthenware jug with a handle." Germanic relatives of English had forms of the word, and it's very likely that the word came to English either through Low German, which has "muck," as well as "mukke" and "mugge" (Note: Low German is not a standard language, but rather a series of dialects, so often there is more than one spelling for a word, or even a different word all together. Low German often has been referred to as a dialect of German, but many linguists have come to assign Low German its own designation as a separate language. It is "similar" to its close cousins Dutch, Frisian and English, but it also bears many similarities to its cousin (standard) German and to German dialects, but with several differences.) It is also possible that "mug" came to English via Danish or Norwegian "mugge" (one of the Low German forms, "mugge," is perhaps just a coincidence, or it could have been picked up from Danish, which is nearby, or even from Norwegian, which isn't that far away; then again, it might have been the reverse). By the way, Swedish has "mugg" and Dutch has "mok" (West Frisian "mok?" If so, from Dutch?). Old English had "muga," which meant "haystack, heaped up corn (grain)," but whether this is related to "mug" is unclear. Mugs of old often were made into designs of faces, and this seems to be the source of "mug" being used as a slang word for "face." This idea then was applied to photos in the second half of the 1800s, when photography became popular; thus, "mugshot," for a "person's facial photo in police records." Since a person's face is "who we are," likely this lies behind the notion of "mug" being used for a person, usually a man, and often a person of bad repute (likely from the added idea of being known to police), and the further idea of "mug" for usually a man, but further "a stupid man," seemingly from thieves jargon for a "man stupid enough to get caught and thus have a record with law enforcement." The verb form "mug" is from circa 1825 and its use in fist fighting, boxing, for "hit someone in the mug (face)," and this expanded in meaning by the mid 1800s to "a physical attack on a person with the intent to rob them."    

Saint Martin Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Pudding

Saint Martin is an island in the eastern part of the Caribbean Sea. The island of Saint Martin, however, is home to two separate countries: "Sint Maarten," which is a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and it is located on the southern part of the island, and "Saint Martin," yes, the same name as the overall island, which is a part of France, and it is located on the northern part of the island. The entire island has a population of between 76,000 and 80,000, with the Dutch part having a slightly larger share of the population. The island was named for Saint Martin of Tours, who was bishop of Tours in Roman Gaul (later to become France) in the second half of the 300s. He was born in eastern Europe, in what would later become Hungary (the Magyars, essentially the people who became the Hungarians, were not even in Europe at the time of his birth). He died in Novemeber 397 and he was buried on November 11. People began honoring him on that day (November 12 in Eastern Orthodox) and many Christians saw him as a saint, although he was not officially declared a saint in the Roman Catholic faith until 1962 (Pope John XXIII). English is the common language of many of the residents of the entire island, although French is the official language of the French part and Dutch is official in the Dutch part.

  

Use "pumpkin puree," which is pure pumpkin, whereas pumpkin pie filling has ingredients added to the pumpkin. While you're going to add spices anyway, you may wonder why it matters, and perhaps it doesn't matter to you, but by using pure pumpkin, you can then control the ingredients going into your dish. If you use pumpkin pie filling, you won't need to add the spices, except where you have a preference for a particular spice. This is a slightly altered version of a recipe from a recipe as part of this link: http://www.stmartinisland.org/st-martin-restaurants/culinary-traditions-of-st-martin.html

Ingredients: 

1 sweet potato, cut into chunks (or grated if you're not using a food processor/blender)

2 cups pumpkin puree 

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 egg yolks, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1 can evaporated milk (12 ounce can, NOT sweetened condensed milk) 

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg or mace

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 cup raisins

2 tablespoons rum

3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Heat the oven 350 F. Mix everything together, except the raisins and the egg whites. Once the basic mixture is well combined, stir in the raisins. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold in the egg whites. Bake in a well buttered baking dish for 90 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

I had the pudding with some vanilla ice cream ...

WORD HISTORY:  

Tin-The ultimate origin of "tin" is unknown, but it goes back to Old Germanic "tinan," which meant "tin," and there are no known relatives of the Germanic form in other language families, only forms borrowed from Germanic languages. The Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "tin," the form that has endured for so many centuries in English, right up to the present (this is also true in Low German, Frisian and Dutch, which is quite remarkable^). Relatives in the Germanic languages: German has "Zinn" (pronounced as if, "tsin," and once spelled with just one "n"), Low German Saxon has "Tinn," Dutch and West Frisian "tin," Danish "tin," Norwegian "tinn," Swedish "tenn," Icelandic "tin."  (NOTE: For a long time people thought tin was a lesser form of silver, because of the mixing in of other metals. This brought about the use of "tin" in disparaging expressions like "tin ear" ("person with little or no ability to understand musical subtleties;" broadened to also mean, "a person unable to discern public sentiment on an issue") and "tinhorn" ("a person less than satisfactory in performance of a job, even though they act competent").    

^ Low German and Dutch briefly had a secondary spelling of "ten," but "tin" remained during that time and persisted until all speakers of those languages again used just "tin."

The Pussyfoot Rum Cocktail

While the recipe below is what I use, I first learned of this drink from a book I've owned for many years: "Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide" (revised), Trader Vic (Victor Bergeron), Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY 1972 

The word "pussyfoot" naturally developed from the notion of how a cat walks; thus, "tread softly, cautiously, stealthily." It also then developed the figurative meaning, "to speak indirectly about a difficult subject, to speak cautiously," and as such, it is similar to the expression, "to beat around the bush." I don't hear it much today, but a former boss used it a lot, and that was over ... ah, 50 weeks ago? Over 50 months ago? Okay, over 50 years ago. I'm not sure why this drink was given this name. I'm not one to like tart or outright sour drinks or foods, so if you're like me, you can sweeten this a bit with some sugar, or cut the amount of lime juice. When blended, the cream will provide a fluffy kind of topping to the cocktail.

Ingredients:

2 to 3 ounces white (light-colored) rum
2 ounces heavy cream
3 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces fresh lime juice
2 ounces cherry juice 
1/3 cup ice (or add crushed ice after blending)
maraschino cherry and partial pineapple slice or lime slice for garnish 

Add all but garnish to blender, blend for about 30 seconds. Pour into a tall glass


With lots of crushed ice ....

 Also with crushed ice ....

With crushed ice and topped with a maraschino cherry ...

Blended with ice, slice of lime garnish ...

WORD HISTORY:
Look-The ultimate origin of this common word is unknown. It "could" be a West Germanic invention, as forms are not present throughout the Germanic languages, but rather only in the West Germanic languages, where the word has only "prospered" in English. Likewise, there are no "certain" relatives outside of Germanic, although Celtic has some possible connections. This makes sense, as the West Germanic dialects were in frequent contact with Celtic, including Gaulish and Brittonic (the Celtic dialects of Britain), and for instance, Welsh "llygad" means "eye." West Germanic had "lok(i)jan," meaning "to see, to look upon." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "locian" (long 'o'), meaning, "to look, to gaze," and the extended meaning, "to take or pay heed (to someone or something)," and to this day we say, "look after someone or something;" that is, "give care or help to, to watch over." "Locian" then became "lokien," then "loken," before the modern form. Relatives in the West Germanic languages: German has "lugen" (once spelled "luogen"), it is still around, but of limited usage; Low German once had "loken," Dutch has "loeken," like the German form, it is still around, but not commonly used, West Frisian has "lôkje/lokje" (?). The noun form in English meaning "the act of looking" goes back to late Old English, and the noun form meaning, "the appearance of a person," as in, "He has that look about him," goes back to the late 1300s, with the plural "looks" also used for "a person's appearance," dating to the mid 1500s.    

Blue Hawaiian Cocktail

This cocktail was invented in the late 1950s in what was still the United States Territory of Hawaii. It was in August of 1959 that Hawaii became the 50th state. There are variations to recipes for this cocktail.

Ingredients (per drink):

1 1/2 ounces light/white rum
1 ounce blue curaçao
2 ounces pineapple juice
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
3/4 ounce cream of coconut
pineapple and a cherry for garnish

Mix together the rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice, lemon juice and coconut cream; pour into an ice filled glass. Garnish with one or two pieces of pineapple and a cherry.

WORD HISTORY:
Ocular-This word is related to "eye," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Ocular" goes back to Indo European "okew/okw," which meant, "to see." This gave Latin the noun "okulus," which meant, "eye." This produced the adjective "ocularis," meaning, "belonging to, or having to do with the eyes." This was borrowed into English as "ocular" in the early part of the 1500s.    

Mojito Cocktail

This drink was invented in Cuba, although exactly where and when in Cuba is disputed, but "possibly" as long ago as the second half of the 1500s. A couple of these and I was speaking Spanish to my neighbors, who are Spanish and English speakers from Puerto Rico. The problem is, I don't speak Spanish, and what's worse, they seemed to understand me! Hm, if I drink Stoli vodka, maybe I'll be able to speak Russian so I can tell Vladimir Putin, "You're a no good pile of horse dung."  

Ingredients:

2 ounces white rum
juice of 4 lime wedges
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar, to your preferred taste
10 mint leaves
club soda to fill
ice

I used a tall glass, but you can certainly use a smaller glass and adjust the amount of the ingredients. If you prefer not to have the ice cubes in the glass, you can use a shaker and strain the cocktail into a glass. Rinse and dry the lime before cutting into wedges. Squeeze the juice from the lime wedges and then mix in the sugar. Rub the mint leaves a bit in your hand to help them release their essence and add them to the lime/sugar mixture. Add the rum, stir briefly and add the ice then fill the remaining glass space with club soda. Mix in the squeezed lime wedges. You can garnish with lime and/or a sprig of mint. 

WORD HISTORY:
Poncho-This word for a "type of cloak that slips over the head" goes back to Araucanian^ "pontho," which meant, "cloth/cloak made of wool." This was borrowed by Spanish as "poncho," which was then borrowed by English in the early 1700s. By the mid 1800s, American English added the meaning, "waterproof garment slipped over the head." 

^  "Araucanian" is an Amerindian language family of South America, primarily in Chile.  

Piña Colada

Back in the late 1970s, singer and songwriter Rupert Holmes released a song with the lyrics, "If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain..." Well, the name of the song upon its original release had nothing to do with "piña coladas," because its was called, "Escape." We in the public knew the song because of its reference to piña coladas, and so the record company and Holmes amended the song title to, "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)." The song and the drink were VERY popular!

The "Piña Colada," which literally means, "strained pineapple" (see Word History, below) was invented in Puerto Rico in the 1950s. As with many a popular invention, there is not total agreement as to this drink's naming, or more precisely, when the drink was given its enduring name. This is a very tough drink to make, as it will require you to be able to pour liquid, add ice cubes and then.... to push a button on a blender to make the blender operate, and then... to push another button to make the blender stop. There are college degrees issued for being able to do these difficult maneuvers, but unfortunately, I flunked out. I kept pushing the wrong buttons and it took me most of a semester to find out the buttons that operate the lights in the room are not the buttons that operate the blender. They have to make things complicated. Damn! And I wondered why the lights kept going off and on. 

Ingredients (per drink):

2 ounces light (white) rum
2 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces coconut cream
pineapple chunks
maraschino cherries
1 cup ice cubes

Put the rum, the pineapple juice, the coconut cream and the ice cubes into a blender. Blend until smooth. Garnish with pineapple chunks or slices and a maraschino cherry or two. You can adjust the ingredient amounts to suit your own taste. Hey! The lights just went out. Well, habits are hard to break. Cheers!
 
I've seen all kinds of glasses used over the years for Piña Coladas (short, tall, squat, narrow), so use what you have or what you think makes a nice presentation, if you are serving guests.

WORD HISTORY:
Colander-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, and part of even its later history is a little shaky. It goes back to the Latin noun "colum," a type of "woven wicker basket or fishing net used for fishing." This brought about the additional meaning, "sieve," and produced the verb "colare," "to strain or to put liquid through a sieve." This produced Latin "colatorium." This passed into Latin-based languages of the western Mediterranean in various forms, but while English borrowed a number of words from Latin-based French, this does not seem to be one of them. It was borrowed by English in the 1300s, "perhaps" from Spanish or Catalan "colador," but with an "n" inserted because of either misunderstanding or easier pronunciation in those times? It had several spellings in English originally, all with an "n" ("coloner," "cullender," for example).       

Puerto Rican Eggnog: Coquito

This coconut flavored "eggnog" is a drink for the Christmas holiday season among Puerto Ricans. While it is often described as "eggnog," not everybody includes egg yolks in their recipe. There are some other variations among recipes, too, as, for instance, some people make it with coconut milk, some use cream of coconut (as I've done), and some use both.* Light colored rum, also called "white rum," or "clear rum," is the preferred type of rum for this drink. Rum production is one of the main industries in Puerto Rico, which is a United States territory, and a great deal of Puerto Rican rum is sold on the mainland of the U.S.    

The canned cream of coconut might vary slightly in the number of ounces, depending upon brand name. Some people make larger batches of "coquito," just prior to the holiday season, putting it into bottles, and leaving it to "cure" for a couple of weeks before drinking it. 

Ingredients:

2/3 to 1 cup light (in color) rum
1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
(optional) 2 egg yolks 

Add all ingredients into a bowel and whisk it well, or better yet, put the ingredients into a blender and blend until very well mixed. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, at least, but it is better if left in the frig for 6 to 8 hours. Serve in glasses topped with or without some whipped cream and a little sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

* Cream of coconut has a higher fat content than coconut milk and much of the liquid is extracted (as for coconut milk); thus, it is much thicker, and it is usually sweetened a bit.  

WORD HISTORY:
Cask-This word, related to "quash" (a word borrowed by English), has a difficult history, but it seems to go back to Indo European "kuet/kwet," which had the idea, "to shake." This gave Latin "quassare," which meant, "to shatter, to break into pieces, to split up," which passed to Latin-based Spanish as "cascar," with the same basic meaning. This produced the noun "casco," which initially meant, "shard or piece of pottery." This then came to mean "helmet," "perhaps" from the idea of pottery having formed a vase or jar, which resembles a helmet, because the word also meant, "jar, bottle, vat." Helmets were also used to cook food, or to hold food or drink. This was borrowed into French as "casque," with the same meanings. English borrowed the word in the mid 1400s, with the meaning, "container for liquids, often alcoholic types of liquids."

North German Rum Drink: Hoppelpoppel

The name of this North German and Frisian drink is the same as a famous dish from Berlin, but the two have absolutely nothing in common, as the Berlin dish is typically potatoes fried with bacon or ham, onions and eggs (the name is also written as two words by some, "Hoppel Poppel"). Rum became a fairly popular alcoholic beverage in Germany, as rum was brought into north German ports from the Caribbean. This is an easy drink to make, but it does require you to heat the mixture, and to be attentive, as it has raw egg. It is actually like making custard, but it shouldn't be allowed to thicken too much. You can enjoy this while it is still warm or you can put the glasses into the freezer for a little while before filling them. The whipped cream will help to cool the prepared mixture enough so as not to break the chilled glasses, but to be safe, let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes before dispensing it to the glasses. Don't blame me if you find yourself making this over and over.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

5 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar (depending upon how sweet you want it)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup Puerto Rican or other Caribbean rum
8 ounces heavy cream, whipped

Get a bowl that will fit over a pan of hot water. The bowl should not touch the hot water. Heat some water in the pan so that it barely simmers. Put the bowl over the pan and add the eggs and sugar; mix well and continue to stir until the egg mix begins to tighten up. Gradually whisk in the milk (whisk constantly to prevent the eggs from actually coming out like scrambled eggs, and don't be afraid to lift the bowel off of the pan, if need be), the vanilla and the nutmeg. Continue to gently whisk as the mixture heats and thickens. Take care not to let the mixture boil, and also, take care not to let it thicken to pudding status (custard), but you can add a little more milk to thin it out, if needed. When the mixture has heated and thickened somewhat, remove it from the heat and gradually fold in all but a couple of tablespoons of the whipped cream. Fill the glasses and top each drink with a little of the remaining whipped cream.   

WORD HISTORY:
Duck (#2)-This is not the word for the bird, but rather a word meaning "sailcloth, sackcloth." It goes back to Indo European "dwok," which meant, "cloth, fabric." This gave West Germanic "dokaz" (see the other Germanic languages below), with the same meaning. I could not find a form in Old English, which seems odd, in that the other West  Germanic languages had forms, but it is possible that the West Germanic form didn't spread to Anglo-Saxon before it left the Continent and became established in Briton as English. It's always possible, too, that an Old English form went unrecorded and that it then died out. Anyway, Dutch had "doec" (now spelled, "doek"), and this was borrowed by English circa 1600. The other Germanic languages have: German "Tuch" (cloth, fabric, towel, neckerchief), Low German Saxon "Dook" (cloth, fabric, woven material), Dutch "doek" (cloth, rag, canvas, sail), some Frisian dialect has "douk" (cloth) and West Frisian has "doek," but that "might be" from Dutch, although Frisian once had "dok." It "seems" the North Germanic languages, initially represented by Old Norse, borrowed a form of the word from Low German or German, as "dukr," meaning, "cloth, curtain, veil, sail," which was passed down to Icelandic as "dúkur," meaning, "fabric, cloth," and to Swedish as "duker," but it "seems" Swedish later borrowed from Low German a form rendered as "duk" (cloth, then tablecloth). and perhaps the same is true of Danish "dug" (canvas, cloth, later tablecloth and cloth material for a banner), as well as Norwegian "duk" (cloth, canvas, later tablecloth and cloth used in religious ceremony).   

German Egg Grog: Eiergrog

The German North Sea coast is the ancestral homeland of the Germanic tribes that sailed to Briton 1500 years ago and founded England. To this day the English and the Germans of the area share more than their DNA and the common Germanic source of their languages,* as they also share a good deal of weather, as well as food and beverage similarities. Like their English cousins, these northern Germans like tea, although I'm sure this isn't some shared genetic trait, but rather more a fact of shared cool, damp weather conditions in many parts of both northern Germany and parts of England, as well as the fact that tea drinking has become quite a tradition among these North Sea cousins. The Germans in this area of the north use rock candy (called "Kluntje" in the region) to sweeten their tea. Another shared drink is grog, borrowed by the Germans from the English. The drink is served hot, and it is another tie to weather conditions, as it can take the chill out of a polar bear (German: Eisbär, literally, "ice bear," but they also use "Polarbär"). So the English and the northern Germans share tea and grog, both a type of "drink," which is "Drank" in both Low German and Frisian, and "Getränk" in standard German. This grog has egg yolk and is called "Eiergrog" (the first part is pronounced as if, "eye-ah") in German; that is, "Eggs Grog." **

Ingredients (4 servings):

3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
8 ounces rum (light or dark)
8 ounces hot water (you can adjust the amount of rum and water)

If you have a stainless steel bowl that will fit over a pan of hot water, that is ideal for this. Heat the water in the pan. Meanwhile, heat some more water to be added to the mixture. Mix the egg yolks and sugar and set the bowl over the hot water. Stirring constantly, gradually add the rum, then the hot water. Don't let the eggs curdle, and pull the bowl off of the hot water if need be to prevent curdling. Keep stirring (whisking is best) until you get some froth to the rum mixture. Serve the grog in glasses and stir again to keep the froth. If desired, dust each glass of grog with a bit of nutmeg or mace.  

* The Germans of the area often grow up bilingual, speaking Low German and standard German, and some even grow up multilingual, speaking Frisian, or even Danish.

** English long had "ei/ey/eai" (dialectal variances all pronounced essentially like "eye") as its word for "egg," with "egg" being a close relative of the former word, but brought to northern England long ago by the Danes, who spoke Old Norse, a Germanic cousin of English from the North Germanic branch of Germanic. "Egg" eventually won the battle, but not until the 16th Century. If my memory is right, some linguists have speculated that the "eye" pronunciation of the long time English word may have aided "egg" as a replacement, because of the same pronunciation for the "eye," the organ of sight.  

WORD HISTORY:
Grog-This word goes back to the nickname for Edward Vernon, an English admiral of the mid 1700s, who often commanded ships in the West Indies, famous for its rum. He was called "Old Grog" for his grogram coat. Grogram was a fabric of strong, but coarse material. The admiral gave orders that the rum for his men was to be watered down, thus providing the basis for the drink of rum with water added. The drink also often had lemon added as a preventive measure for scurvy on ships. I've read somewhere, but I cannot now recall where, that the admiral's "water down the rum" order was met by the talk of mutiny. George Washington's brother served under Vernon, and it is for this reason the Washington estate came to be called Mount Vernon (the admiral died well before the American Revolution). "Groggy" came from the idea of being under the influence of too much grog, although later the term broadened in meaning to any condition of not being clear in mind, regardless of alcohol intake.  

Hungarian Pancakes With Walnut Filling

This is a Hungarian pancake, a "palacsinta," called "Gundel Palacsinta," in Hungarian, after the dessert's inventor, Károly Gundel, a Budapest restaurant owner of the early to mid 20th Century.   

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

1 1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup sparkling mineral water (or club soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
oil/butter for frying

Filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 to 1 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts
1/4 cup chopped raisins
2 tablespoons rum
2 tablespoons grated orange peel

Chocolate Sauce:

4 ounces dark chocolate
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cocoa powder
1 tablespoon rum

Put the raisins and grated orange peel into the rum in a small bowl or cup about an hour before you will use them. In a bowl, mix the flour, the eggs, the salt and the sugar. Gradually stir or whisk in the milk to form a batter. Add the sparkling water (it will foam) and stir to mix. The batter should be neither too thick (like most cake batter), nor too thin, but rather like the thickness of gravy, so you can adjust the ingredients slightly to achieve that. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. In a sauce pan, heat the cream to just a simmer, then stir in the sugar until it is well dissolved. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Keep the heat very low, so that the mixture just barely simmers for a few minutes, stir frequently. The mix should form a paste-like consistency. In another pan, heat the cream over low heat. Add the chocolate and keep stirring until the chocolate has melted. KEEP THE HEAT LOW! Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and cocoa and then gradually whisk the mix into the chocolate, whisking constantly. Whisk in the rum. Let the chocolate sauce remain over VERY low heat, stirring or whisking occasionally, until it is nicely thickened.

Make sure to oil the pan you will use to fry the crepes (pancakes, palacsinta). I used an 8 inch nonstick fry pan with a little butter and oil mixture for each palacsinta. I used low heat, but some recipes I've seen used medium heat. Put enough batter into the pan to just coat the bottom. These should be pretty thin pancakes. Cook until lightly browned, then flip the pancake to the other side and do the same. Spread some walnut mixture (paste) onto half of each palacsinta, fold over the other half and then fold again. Drizzle some chocolate sauce over each palacsinta and serve while still warm.  


Spread some of the walnut paste onto half of each pancake ...

Fold the palacsinta and drizzle with some chocolate sauce ...

WORD HISTORY: 

Meander-This word goes back to a river in southwestern Asia Minor (now modern Turkey). The transliterated Ancient Greek name was "Maíandros," which was borrowed by Latin as "Maeander." English borrowed the word in the late 1500s as "meander," meaning "a winding path or course," seemingly initially for rivers and streams and then broadened to land courses. The verb developed about a decade later meaning, "to flow in a winding course," but it too then broadened beyond water, eventually even taking on a further meaning for humans or animals of "wandering about." 

Spiked North German Coffee: Pharisäer

As the story goes, this drink started circa 1870 as a way for some Lutheran parishioners on one of the North Frisian islands to fool their devout, anti-alcohol pastor. North Frisia, "Nordfriesland," in standard German, is located on the eastern edge of the North Sea, just below the border with Denmark.* The region is battered by the winds and the waves from the North Sea, making alcoholic beverages a part of life for the people there, as they try to take the chill off of the often windy, damp weather. The pastor fervently tried to reform his alcohol drinking flock, holding regular religious meetings in a pub, where only coffee would be served to attendees. To get around the "coffee only" meetings, the men of this North Frisian island added rum to their coffee, then topped the cup with whipped cream to hold down the smell of the rum from the pastor's nose. At some point, the pastor got a whiff of the rum and shouted, "Ihr Pharisäer!" ("You Pharisees!") This biblical reference gave the name to the drink, "Pharisäer." (Pronounced as if, "far-ee-zay-ah")

Ingredients (per cup):

6 oz. strong hot coffee
3/4 oz. rum
1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
whipped cream

Pour the coffee into a cup, add the sugar and stir, then add the rum. Top with a thick layer of whipped cream. (The amount of sugar can be adjusted as you like.)

* The boundaries of what has been called "North Frisia" have changed somewhat into modern times, although the basic area is the same. North Frisian, a dialect of a general Frisian language, another West Germanic language, has a long history in the region, but Low German Saxon has also been present in the general area going well back in history, and it gradually lessened the number of North Frisian speakers, although a number of North Frisians speak both North Frisian and Low German. In modern times, standard German, based upon High German dialect (technically, "middle high"), has been taught in schools and is spoken and understood by everyone, so many North Frisians are, therefore, tri-lingual, and some few even speak a fourth language, Danish, or Danish dialect. The overall Frisian language is often mentioned as the closest living language to English, with Low German also being very close, but this is not all that surprising, as Frisian, more especially the North and East Frisian dialects, and Low German Saxon, occupy the area of the ancestral homeland of English, the land of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes (see note below). The Angles seem to have totally picked up and sailed to Britain, along with a large contingent, but not all, Saxons and Jutes, and also many Frisians, where these Germanic people founded England, and where their dialects melded into English. (NOTE: The Jutes have long been seen as a distinct Germanic tribe, but some historians have thought them to be a part of a broader "Saxon" Germanic tribe, or at least affiliated with a Saxon-led confederation of Germanic tribes.)

WORD HISTORY:
North-This word, for one of the directions of the compass, "likely" goes back to Indo European "ner/nert," which meant "left." This then gave Old Germanic "nurtha," meaning "north," with the idea being that when facing the rising sun to the east, north is the direction to the left. This gave Old English "norþ," with essentially the "þ" symbol being the modern equivalent of "(e)th," and indeed, as English and the other Germanic languages adopted the Latin alphabet, the spelling became "north." The other Germanic languages have: German "Nord," Low German Saxon "Noord," West Frisian "noard," Dutch "noord," Danish and Norwegian "nord," Swedish "norr," and Icelandic "norður" (equivalent to "northur"). A special note, Old French borrowed the word from English as "north" (modern French "nord"), and Italian (nord), Rumanian (nord), Spanish (norte) and Portuguese (norte) all borrowed their forms from French, making English the common source.