Adobo Seasoning

Adobo means different things in different Latino (Spanish) influenced cultures. Often is it a type of Puerto Rican/Latino seasoned salt, and it is very commonly used in Puerto Rico to season meats and for fried plantain chips. In Mexico, however, the term is also used for a sauce usually made from a mixture of chili peppers, spices and some liquid component. It is often used as a marinade. If you've bought chipotle peppers in the can, they are usually packed in adobo sauce. This easy recipe is for the dry, seasoned salt type. The are many variations and I've actually seen a recipe with NO salt.  

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon well crumbled dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika (Spanish paprika) 
(For a sort of, "Mexican style," add 1 teaspoon chili powder and 1 teaspoon ground cumin)
If you like a little "heat," use hot paprika, or add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Spanish paprika is naturally used in many Latino cultures. It has a nice smoky flavor.

Add all ingredients to a jar/container with a lid. Shake the container until the ingredients are well mixed. Always give the container a shake before adding the adobo to any recipe.

WORD HISTORY:
Season/Seasoning-"Season" is distantly related to both "seed" and "sow" ("toss or scatter seed"), both original English words from its Germanic roots. It goes back to Indo European "seh," which meant, "to sow, to seed." This gave Latin "serere," meaning "to sow (seed)," one of whose participle forms produced the noun "satio" ("a sowing"), the accusative form of which "sationem" gave Old French, a Latin-based language, the noun, "seison" (later, "saison"), meaning, "the time of the year for sowing." This was borrowed into English in the late 1200s, likely from what was the Norman French form, "sesoun," but with the broadened meaning, "a particular time of the year," including later, "a time of year for specific events or activities;" thus, "baseball season," "boating season," "picnic(ing) season." The verb form of "season" came from Old French "assaisonner," the basic meaning of which was, "to ripen," but with the secondary development of, "the addition of ripened seeds (spices) to enhance the flavor of foods;" thus, also the noun, "seasoning."       

"Gandhi," The Movie & History, Part Two

Mohandas Gandhi chose to "fight" British rule of India by peaceful means, through non-cooperation with the colonial government. There is a scene in the movie "Gandhi," where Gandhi tells other, less patient and less peaceful, Indian leaders, in speaking about the British, "I want to change their minds, not kill them for weaknesses we all possess." Now, I can't tell you if Gandhi ever really said that in real life (I've tried to find it, but without success), or if this came from a scriptwriter, but the basic part of the statement was a major part of his non violent campaign to gain independence. That line has stayed with me for all of these years, and maybe regular readers have noticed, when writing about politics or economics, I frequently say things like, "both sides do it," or "such and such is human nature," or "most people want or do this or that." After all, for instance, we're all greedy to some extent, but those with great power have the ability to exploit others to try to satisfy their greed, and they need to have some restraints placed upon them, lest they destroy the lives of others, and perhaps even themselves eventually, as the exploited turn on them with a vengeance.

Gandhi was arrested several times and spent the equivalent of about 6 to 7 years of his life in prison in India (he also was jailed in South Africa earlier). Other Indian leaders were also jailed. He picked his times and places for non violent protests with great thought, including one that had Gandhi and supporters walk (it was called a "march") nearly 250 miles to the sea over more than a three week period, building the suspense and news coverage, and then pick up small lumps of salt from the beach in violation of colonial law.* Gandhi was later arrested, but another major part of the protest took place at a nearby salt works, and it occurred without Gandhi. News coverage was extensive, depicting how peaceful Indians were clubbed by police. The Indians did not fight back as the clubs fractured several skulls, and reportedly a few hundred Indians were hospitalized, and a couple died. Reports went around the world, and people everywhere began to question British rule of India, although these protests did not in themselves result in Indian independence.

Next, in Part Three, a little more on Mahatma Gandhi 

* The British had implemented a monopoly on salt production and collection in India, and they taxed it too. Salt is a necessary mineral for life, and it was especially so in India's hot climate. While the tax was not particularly high, India's population was terribly impoverished, making it difficult for many to pay the tax and buy the salt on extremely limited incomes. The salt was there for the taking from coastal areas, but it was against the law for Indians to take it without paying the tax.   

Photo is of DVD edition released in 2001 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

  WORD HISTORY:
Sikh-A "Sikh" is a person from a particular religious sect in India which was established in the mid 1400s in Punjab, a region of northern India at that time, and now a region divided between India and Pakistan. English traders established trading posts in India in the early 1600s, from which eventually developed colonial rule over the area, which then included modern Pakistan and Bangladesh. The use of the term "Sikh" seems to have become more widespread in English usage by the mid to late 1700s. "Sikh" traces back to ancient Sanskrit, an early Indo European dialect/language that still exists, and the Sanskrit word "siksati," which means "a student, one who learns." This gave "Punjabi" and "Hindi"^ the term "sikh," which means "a student of, or disciple of."   

^ Both Punjabi and Hindi are Indo European languages and are thus related to English, but further down the family tree. Punjabi is spoken extensively in Pakistan and northwestern India. Hindi is the official language of government in India, along with.....English!