Brazilian Limeade (Limonada)

This drink is especially good in summery weather, but it can be enjoyed year round. Buy limes that aren't thick skinned and firm as they likely don't have as much juice in them. Contrary to what I usually write about not buying sweetened condensed milk when I list "canned milk," this time you want SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK in a can. If you aren't familiar with it, it is thick and sweet, and a bit off-white in color. It is a commonly used by many people to make fudge. 

 

This drink is called "lemonade" by many, because in Portuguese (the language of Brazil), the word "limão" is often used for both "lemon" and "lime," and this drink, made with limes, is called "limonada," which can be translated as "lemonade," but it is more accurate to translate the drink name as "limeade," because of the fruit used to make it.

 

Ingredients (5 to 6 servings):

 

5 limes, washed and then each lime cut into 8 pieces

1/2 cup to 1 cup sweetened condensed milk, depending upon how tart you want the limeade

4 cups cold water

10 to 12 ice cubes

some lime pieces for garnish

Wash the limes well to remove any pesticide, wax and bacteria. (Wax is often put onto fruits and vegetables to help preserve them and to make them look shiny to shoppers.) Cut each lime in half lengthwise, then halve each of those pieces, then halve those pieces. Into a blender or processor, add the lime pieces and two cups water. You don't want to obliterate the lime pieces, just extract much of their juice; so, "pulse" the lime pieces about 15 to 18 times (that's what I do with my blender, but your blender may only require 12 pulses, so use some judgment). Anymore than that and the drink can become bitter. Strain the lime juice into a pitcher and add the other 2 cups water and stir. Add 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk and stir well to mix, then taste the drink to see how much more, if any, of the sweetened milk you want to add. So add any additional sweetened condensed milk, always stirring to mix it into the drink well. Add ice cubes and take a few of the lime pieces from the sieve you used to strain the juice and add them to the pitcher. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Twinge-This word is related to "thong," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Twinge" goes back to Indo European "twengh," which had the notion "to press, to put pressure on, to squeeze," and this gave Old Germanic "thwangjan(an)," with essentially the same meanings, but including "to pinch." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) the verb "twengan" meaning "to pinch," and the form then became "twengen," with the further meaning "twitch," then it became "twingen," before becoming "twinge," from which the noun "twinge" was formed in the mid 1500s, and it became more common in usage by the early 1600s, meaning "a pinch, a twitch, a sudden sharp pain (often, but not always, in the abdominal area), which causes one to wince or otherwise to show sudden discomfort (with a figurative use about sudden shock from hearing about or witnessing some bad event, or from feeling a sense of remorse or sympathy about something)." The verb "twinge" had become outdated by circa 1600. German has "zwingen" (pronounced as if 'tsvingen'), meaning "to force or compel" (from the notion of "to press or to put pressure onto someone/something"). The German form has had numerous spellings over the centuries including: "dwingan," "thwingan," "twingen," "dwingen," and even the unusual "quingen;" Low German and Dutch have "dwingen," also meaning "to force or compel," West Frisian has "twingen" (to force), Swedish has "tvinga" (to force), Danish and Norwegian have "tvinge" (to force) and Icelandic has "þvinga" (þ=th, and word meaning "to force").    

Malaysian Ginger Tea: Teh Halia

Ginger tea is a delightfully flavorful drink. There are variations to the recipe I have below that sweeten the tea with sugar or honey and then milk is added instead of sweetened condensed milk. I add orange peel and whole or ground cloves (which is perhaps a Chinese influence?), but that is something you can leave out if you prefer. You can certainly use more sweetened condensed milk if you like a sweeter drink. And make no mistake, there are also other variations. It is a beverage served in Malaysia and in Singapore.

 

Serve with cake, bread and jam or sandwiches.

Ingredients (2 servings of 6 ounces each):

2 teabags of black tea or 2 teaspoons loose tea (I add 2 1/2 teaspoons, I like stronger tea)

12 ounces water

1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced 

2 pieces fresh orange peel 1 inch each (1/2 inch wide)

2 cloves or a pinch of ground cloves

2 teaspoons sweetened condensed milk, 1 teaspoon for each cup, plus more to preference

Add the water and the sliced ginger to a pan. Bring the water to a steady simmer and simmer the sliced ginger for 10 minutes. At the 5 minute mark, add the black tea, orange peel and cloves. At the 10 minute mark, remove from the heat and let set for about 1 minute. Strain and add sweetened condensed milk to taste. 

 

  Malaysian ginger tea with sliced Portuguese roll and blackberry jam ...

 

WORD HISTORY:

Pumice-This word is related to "spumoni," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from Italian, and to "foam," a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to the Indo European root "(s)poih-," seemingly meaning "froth, foam." This gave Latin "pumex," meaning "porous, low density rock formed from bubble-filled solidified volcanic lava;" thus, sort of "frothy rock." This then became "pomex" (accusative: "pomicem") and this passed to Latin-based Old French as "pomis," with the same meaning. English borrowed the word in the early 1400s from Anglo-French, the French dialect that developed among French speakers in England in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest.    

Vietnamese Egg Coffee: Cà Phê Trứng

Cà Phê Trứng, pronounced as if, "caw-fay-chung," is a coffee beverage that developed in Hanoi (Vietnamese: Hà Nội) not long after World War Two ended, but as fighting broke out between Vietnamese independence fighters, often communist, and led by Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh, and French and French Vietnamese colonial troops as the "Indochina War" began. Vietnam was a French colony at the time. As the story goes, from many sources, it was the start of this war that led to the creation of this coffee beverage, as the war disrupted the supply of fresh milk, and the egg mixture was used in place of fresh milk.  

Traditionally the coffee is very strong, but it is offset by the sweet and creamy egg mixture. So use a dark roast coffee, like French Roast. I hope you'll try it with strong coffee, but you can then always make it again with milder coffee, if you prefer.

If using raw eggs makes you worry about safety, you can pasteurize the egg or eggs yourself by heating water in a pan to 140 degrees F. Add the uncracked egg or eggs in a single layer and leave them in the hot water for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. Remove them immediately and put them into cool water. You will need a thermometer, because if the water gets much hotter than 140, the eggs will cook; so, you will need to monitor the temperature the entire time. Personally, I've used raw eggs for this coffee and for other recipes and I've not had a problem, but there's nothing wrong with being safe.   

Ingredients (per serving):

8 ounces strong coffee
1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

I'm calling this "per serving," but it naturally depends upon the serving cup size you use. In the U.S., eggs are almost always kept in the refrigerator, something not nearly as common in some other parts of the world. So, if you refrigerate eggs, take whatever number of eggs you need and let them sit out on your counter for 15 to 20 minutes. Prepare the coffee by whatever method you use (drip, espresso, boiled, plunger-press, percolator, etc).* If you grind your own coffee beans, as I do, you'll want a fine grind for this recipe. While the coffee is on, add the egg yolk and the condensed milk to a bowl. Use a hand mixer to beat the the yolk and milk into a somewhat frothy mixture. This is not something that only takes 20 or 30 seconds, but likely more on the order of a couple minutes or more. I start the beater on relatively low speed to begin getting the yolk mixed into the milk, then I keep increasing the speed until the mixture achieves the kind of frothy, fluffy consistency for the topping. Pour the coffee into your cup, leaving room to add the egg topping (and reserve about a tablespoon or so of the coffee). Now spoon on the egg/milk topping, which should float on top of the strong coffee. Now add the reserved tablespoon of coffee on top of the egg mixture. I leave it at that, but some people give the coffee a very little stir, but like Linda Ronstadt, "I'm leavin' it all up to you oo oo."    

* There is also a Vietnamese coffee press and filter device that you might want to try, but it is not actually necessary for this coffee recipe. Here is the link for info about this coffee device:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/10/vietnamese-coffee-filter-press-phin.html

 

WORD HISTORY:

Torrent-This word is related to "terrain," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French, to "torrid," another Latin word borrowed directly from that language by English, to "toast," a Latin based word, borrowed into English from French in the verb form, from which the noun and secondary verb ("to offer an honorary or celebratory drink") came about, to "thirst," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Torrent" goes back to Indo European "ters," which meant, "dry." This gave Latin the verb "torrere," which meant, "to char, to parch, to scorch, to roast," the participle form of which, "torrens," was also used adjectivally as "torrentem," the accusative form of "torrens." The meanings remained, but added, "boiling, seething" and "torrens" was used as a noun to mean, "rushing stream."^ French got the word as "torrent" from Latin "torrentem," and English borrowed the word in the early 1600s with the meaning, "rushing stream," with the figurative extension to "a large flow of something," especially like, "a torrent of words," "a torrent of questions," or "a torrent of accusations."  

^ Exactly why the "boiling, seething" meaning came about is unclear to me, perhaps from the idea of "roasting or cooking to the point of seething?" The noun meaning "rushing stream" is easily connected to "boiling, seething." 

Thai Iced Tea

This iced tea is transliterated as "Cha Yen" in Thai, a language of the Tai Kadai language family (also known as Kra Dai languages) of southeastern Asia. Use black tea for this recipe and the tea should be fairly strong, as the ice will dilute the tea. Real loose leaf "Thai tea" is available in some supermarkets and Asian stores, and from what I understand, most, if not all, brands contain the food dye that gives the tea its "orangish" color. I've tried to duplicate the color by using regular red and yellow food coloring, but it didn't work. Understand, the dye doesn't really change the taste of the tea; it just alters the color, and certain types of food dye makes some people uneasy about health side effects. Of course the sight of food does influence our perceptions, and if you've bought Thai tea in bottles or cans, it has the orange color to it. Also, chances are, if you've ordered Thai tea in a Thai restaurant, it likely had the orange color. When I first made the tea, I added some red and some yellow food coloring (just regular food coloring), but it didn't really make the tea orange in color. Now I don't use food coloring very often, so I thought my coloring might have been  in the kitchen cabinet too long, so I went out and bought some fresh food coloring, which was also another brand from what I'd had. I made the tea again, but the food coloring just didn't do it. No matter the color, Thai iced tea is sweet and sort of creamy.   

Ingredients (per cup):

1 tablespoon black tea
1 cup + of boiling water
2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon sugar
dash of vanilla
(optional) red/yellow food coloring
ice cubes or crushed ice

In a pan, bring the tea and water for whatever amount you are making to a simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the tea steep for 15 minutes. Strain the tea into a large dish or a large cup (whatever can hold the amount you've made, and remember, it needs to be able to hold HOT liquid) and add the sugar, the vanilla (just a drop or two per cup only) and the sweetened condensed milk, then stir to dissolve the sugar and mix the ingredients. You can also try food coloring at this time, if you'd like (good luck!). Let the tea cool for about 10 minutes, then fill each glass about 2/3 of the way with crushed ice (about half way, if using ice cubes), and pour in the tea. Add the canned evaporated milk on top. Best to use a straw for drinking. I read 20 to 25 recipes for Thai iced tea, and some people drizzle in both the sweetened condensed milk and the evaporated milk, leaving a bottom layer of the dark tea. Other people whisk the tea to give it some froth. 
  

WORD HISTORY:
Chest-This word is closely related to "cistern," a word borrowed from Latin-based French, and Latin  borrowed it from Greek. "Chest" goes back to Indo European "kisteh," which meant, "container of woven twigs;." thus, "basket." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "kiste," meaning, "basket, box." Latin borrowed the word as "cista," meaning, "box, chest (having a hinged top);" thus also, "casket." It was borrowed by Germanic in the 3rd Century as "kistah," with the same meaning. This later gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) both "cest" (box, chest) and "cist" (casket, chest), which melded into "cheste," before the modern version. By the second half of the 1300s, the word also began to be used for "upper torso," from the idea, "protective box for the upper torso," which gradually began to replace "breast" as the word for the upper torso (German still uses their form of the word breast, "Brust," with that meaning). Relatives in the Germanic languages: German "Kiste" (box, chest, crate), Low German "Kist" (chest, box, casket), West Frisian "kiste" (chest, crate, box), Dutch "kist" (box, chest, casket), Swedish "kista" (casket, chest), Danish and Norwegian "kiste" (chest, crate), Icelandic "kista" (chest, trunk).