Fresh Tomato Salad

Easy to make, with pretty easily obtainable ingredients, and with a variety of tomato types used.

Ingredients (multiple servings):

 

3 fresh and ripe Roma tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces

2 ripe medium tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces

12 ripe grape tomatoes, halved

1 medium heirloom tomato, cut into bite-size pieces

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

6 medium to large basil leaves, torn or cut into pieces

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

(optional) 1 heaping tablespoon capers

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne) or 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika 

In a bowl, add all of the ingredients and mix together well. Cover and refrigerate a minimum of 2 hours.

Fresh tomato salad, here with pieces of some salt stick rolls ...

WORD HISTORY:

Locate (location)-"Locate" is distantly related, through Indo European, to "stall" (noun for pen for animals) and "stall" (verb for "loss of power to move forward, come to a standstill, to delay," a word that goes back to the Germanic roots of English, but later with some French influence, which was derived from Germanic Frankish, and to "lieu" (commonly used in the phrase "in lieu of"), "local/locale," Latin-derived words borrowed by English from French, and to the "loco-" part of "locomotive" and "locomotion" borrowed from Latin (although the actual word "locomotive" is a borrowing from French). "Locate" goes back to Indo European "stel," meaning "to place, to set into a place, to put into a place," and this gave Latin the noun "locus" (via Italic "stlocos" and early Latin "stlocus"), meaning "a place, a spot, an area, a position," and from this developed the verb "locare" meaning "to put, to place, to set into position or into a place," one of the participle forms of which was "locatus," and from this English formed the verb "locate" in the early part of the 1500s, originally meaning "to settle into a place to live, to set up a business in a place," later also, "to find someone's or something's place (location)." "Location" was borrowed from Latin in the second half of the 1500s from "locatio" (accusative: "locationem"), meaning "a place, the state of being in a certain place," later adding, "an occupied place, a place available to be occupied for living or business, a leased place."      

Indian Tomato Raita (Tomato/Yogurt Salad)

"Raita" is pronounced as if, "rite-ah." Raita is often served in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal to "cool" the palate and stomach after spicy dishes have been eaten.

 

Make sure to use finely chopped ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup plain yogurt, stirred or whisked so that's it's smooth

1/2 cup finely chopped tomatoes (seeds removed)

1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon finely chopped green chili (serrano chili pepper is good, or unripened cayenne pepper)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons finely chopped mint

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Put the yogurt into a bowl and stir or whisk it so that it's smooth. (Optional) You can preheat a small dry skillet over medium heat and add the ground cumin for just like 10 seconds (shaking the skillet), and remove from the heat and let it cool down before adding it to the other ingredients; or, you can just add the ground cumin to the raita without toasting it. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl and mix everything together well.   

WORD HISTORY:

Tank-This word has an uncertain origin, and there are at least a couple lines of thought on its ancient history, but to me, the best history is the idea that "tank" was a word borrowed by Portuguese, as "tanque," from a language in India in the early 1600s, perhaps from transliterated Gujarati "tankh" (I also found it as "tanki" and "tanku"), with meanings like "cistern, pool, reservoir." Some believe this goes back to Sanskrit^ "tadaga" meaning "pond or lake."^^ Portuguese took the word back to the Iberian Peninsula from India and it passed into Spanish also as "tanque," and into English (circa 1609-10). I don't necessarily dispute the English borrowing, but both the Portuguese and the English were heavily involved in India in those times; so, in theory, English could have borrowed the word right in India, or it could have at least reinforced a borrowing from Portuguese in English. The meaning in English at the time was "a pool used as a water supply," obviously closely tied to the Gujarati meaning of "cistern, pool, reservoir." From this, the meaning "container" developed. Now ... during World War One, "a vehicle of armor with a mounted machine gun moving on caterpillar tracks" was dubbed "a tank" purely for deception purposes, but the name stuck when the British first used "tanks" in action in the autumn of 1916. This meaning was borrowed by Portuguese, proving "what goes around, comes around." The verb form "tank" came from the noun and had the meaning "to put something into a tank," with that meaning seemingly used to give a figurative meaning "to fail, to lose badly, to give up on achieving something;" which came about in the 20th Century, but exactly when, is tough to pin down, although the late 1960's tennis world is a possibility.

 

^ Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European; thus, it is related to English, although much further down the family tree. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India, with ancient texts of religious significance to Hindus and Buddhists.   

 

^^ One source says the Sanskrit form "tadaga goes back to Dravidian, but without any way to connect the word to that language family. Dravidian is a family of languages spoken primarily in southern India, but also to some extent in Pakistan and on the island of Sri Lanka.    

Madeiran Tomato Soup with Onion: Sopa de Tomate e Cebola

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."

 

While such soup is available on the mainland of Portugal, it is a popular staple in Madeira, and there are varying recipes. I've seen this dish made as more of a "stew," in that it was cooked over low heat for an hour or more, with little or no liquid added, except for that of the tomatoes, and this produced a very thick dish; but on the other hand, I've seen it made as a true soup, with plenty of liquid. You can certainly use all fresh tomatoes, or all canned tomatoes, but I decided to be steadfast (haha) and to use some of both, and if you make this, you'll have no doubt that it is made with tomatoes, as that is the overwhelming taste that dominates. Since tomatoes are very acidic, I list the option of using a little sugar to offset the acidity, but I actually only found one recipe that used some sugar, and I probably looked at a dozen recipes. Just for the record, I use 1/4 teaspoon sugar sprinkled over the soup and then stirred into the other ingredients near the end of cooking.    

 

 

Ingredients (6 to 8 servings):

 

1 to 1 1/4 pounds of ripe tomatoes, blanched and skins removed

1 can of whole peeled tomatoes and juice (28 ounces)

1 baseball size onion, chopped

3 medium cloves garlic, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 heaping tablespoon cilantro (coriander) leaves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth (depending upon desired thickness)

(optional) 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sugar

eggs

1 slice rustic bread for each egg (on Madeira, many use the flatbread made there*)

Blanch the fresh tomatoes in boiling water briefly and remove the skins, then roughly chop the tomatoes. (Bring enough water to cover the tomatoes to a boil. Before adding the tomatoes, use a sharp knife to cut through the skin of each tomato and make an 'X,' this will make the tomatoes easy to peel.) Add the olive oil and the chopped onion to a heavy-bottom pan over low heat. Let the onion saute for a few minutes until it starts to soften, then add the fresh tomatoes and canned tomatoes with juice. Let the mixture come to a simmer and then add the chicken broth and adjust the heat to low and add the white pepper, garlic and bay leaf, cover and continue to let the soup simmer. When the tomato and onion are well softened, add the chopped cilantro and simmer for another one minute. Remove the bay leaves, then use an immersion blender (stick blender) to "smooth out" the soup, but you can leave about a third of the ingredients in pieces to give the soup some texture. I've seen recipes that poach the eggs in a separate pan, but I've seen recipes that poach the eggs in with the soup; I poach them separately. When serving, add some soup to a bowl, add one of the poached eggs, and serve with a slice of bread. I've also seen some people serve the dish by putting a slice of bread in the bowl first, then adding the poached egg followed by adding the soup. 

 

* For Madeiran sweet potato flatbread, here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2023/04/madeiran-sweet-potato-flatbread-bolo-do.html 

     

 

WORD HISTORY:

Butcher-This word, used as a noun and a verb, is related to "buck" (a male goat or deer), a word from the Germanic roots of English. The noun "butcher" has an uncertain origin, as both Old Germanic and Old Celtic had similar words, and there is some question as to whether Germanic got its form from Celtic, or if Celtic got its form from Germanic, and Celtic and Germanic did have large amounts of contact back in ancient European history. On the other hand, Old Germanic and Old Celtic are Indo European languages, and for both to have similar forms of a word is hardly astounding.^ Anyway, Indo European had "bhug," meaning "male goat or antelope type animal." This gave Old Germanic "bukkaz" with the same meaning, which then gave Frankish^^ "bukk," with the same general meaning. This was absorbed into Old French as "buc," then as "bouc" meaning "male goat," and this gave Old French the noun "bouchier," meaning "one who slaughters goats," and the word was rendered as "boucher" among the descendants of the Normans in England. English borrowed the word circa 1300 as "boucher" with the meaning "one who slaughters animals and prepares them for sale at market." The mid 1400s saw the borrowed use of "bocherie" (from French "boucherie") as both the name of "a place that slaughtered animals and then prepared and sold them," and as the name for the profession that did such, and it later became "butchery," although the compound "slaughterhouse" rose to become the more common term for the business place itself (both "slaughter" and "house" from the Germanic roots of English). "Butchery (and "slaughter") also later added the meaning "horrendous, barbaric killing(s)." The verb form of "butcher" is from the mid 1500s and meaning "to kill and prepare animals for food," and about a hundred years later the figurative meaning developed, "to mangle or mess up something (usually by incompetence)," as in, "The singer butchered the lyrics to the song." Buck-The Old Germanic form gave Old English "bucca" (male goat) and "buc(c)" (male deer), and these then combined to become "buck," "a male animal of certain species." Circa 1300, the word was also used for "man," then as "young buck," for "a young, energetic and virile man," and later (early 1700s?), "a well dressed man," and also used derogatorily in American English for "young male Indians" and "young black men." Relatives of "buck" in other Germanic languages: German has "Bock," Low German "Buck," Dutch "bok," West Frisian "bok," Danish "buk," Icelandic "bokkur," Norwegian "bukk (?), Swedish "bock," all generally meaning "male animal of certain species like sheep, goats and deer."  

 

^ Keep in mind, it doesn't really matter to the rest of the history of the word if Germanic had the word from its Indo European parent, or if it had borrowed it from Celtic, because Germanic passed it on to its Germanic offspring, including English.

 

^^ Frankish was the language of the Germanic tribe the Franks. The Franks conquered much of what is modern France (then called Gaul), but their language did not overtake the Latin already firmly establish there, but rather, over centuries it was absorbed into what came to be called "French," a word from Frankish (France is another such word).   

Indian Spiced Tomato Soup: Tamatar Shorba

For the tomatoes, you can use fresh tomatoes or canned, or a mixture of the two, and if you don't get all of the seeds removed, don't have a panic attack, because it won't end civilization. This recipe does not give you an intensely spicy hot soup, but if you like spicy hot foods, you can add a chili pepper or two to the tomatoes before putting them into the blender or processor; and, you can add another teaspoon or two of Indian chili powder (cayenne paper) to the soup, too. You can also add a teaspoon or two of sugar to take some of the edge off of the acidic tomatoes. And it is not totally uncommon for some Indians to add some cream to the soup for a cream of tomato soup.  

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

3 cups roughly chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned), seeds removed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon Indian chili powder or cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons chopped coriander (aka cilantro)

(optional) 1/3 cup heavy cream  

 

Add the chopped tomatoes to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. In a pan/pot over medium heat, heat the oil, then add the grated ginger and minced garlic; cook, stirring it around, for about one minute. Add all the other ingredients, except the chopped coriander (cilantro), stir well and bring the mixture to a boil. Adjust heat to maintain a steady simmer for about 12 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro and heavy cream (if using), and simmer for just another 1 to 2 minutes. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Steward (Stewardess)-The first part of this compound is related to "sty" (pen for animals), a word from the Germanic roots of English, and the second part is related to quite a number of words, including: "aware," "beware," "ware" (commonly in the plural, "wares," goods, merchandise), "wary," all from the Germanic roots of English, and to "guard" (verb), a word borrowed from French, which had it from Germanic Frankish (the noun of the same spelling is also from French, and it was formed in French from the verb). The "ste" part of the word goes back to Old English "stig," which later became "sti," and meant "animal pen, pig pen, house, hall," ( hall with its meaning of "room," as in "dining hall, dance hall, beer hall"). The "ward" part goes back to the Old English noun "weard," meaning "guard, watchman." The two parts gave Old English "stigweard," roughly meaning "keeper of a household," often of the Anglo-Saxon nobility, and this then became "stiward," which then became "steward." The Anglo-Norman nobility used the term with similar meaning, but often for "a manager of an entire estate for a noble." The 1400s saw the term also used for "an officer in charge of food and drink on a ship," a meaning that later transferred to trains and airplanes, although now usually replaced in American English with "flight attendant." The family name spelled with an ending 't' is from Scotland, where the royal house was "Stewart," which later Mary, Queen of Scots changed to the French spelling "Stuart" in the 1500s, apparently because her mother was from a French-speaking area of Lorraine, in those times still a part of the Old German Empire. The feminine form "stewardess" (initially "stewardesse?) is from the 1630s simply formed by the suffix "ess(e)" from French, which had it from Latin "issa," from transliterated Greek "issa" (perhaps related to the Old English female denoting suffix "icge" and Dutch "egge." The verb "steward" came from the noun in the first quarter of the 1600s with the meaning "to carry out the duties of a steward." Apparently only Icelandic has a related form of "steward" in the other Germanic languages, "stívarður" (meaning "steward").  

Tunisian Poached Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce: Chakchouka

Also spelled shakshuka, this is a Tunisian dish, but common in other parts of North Africa and the Middle East, with many variations in recipes. It is eggs poached in a spicy, chunky tomato sauce.
Serve with pita bread or toast.

If you don't have fresh tomatoes, you can use canned tomatoes with their juice.

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

2 cans (14 to 15 ounces each) tomato sauce

1/3 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (or halved grape tomatoes)

1 or 2 hot chilies (if you don't like much heat, use just 1/3 teasoon of ground cayenne pepper)
4 eggs

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1/2 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 medium green bell pepper or anaheim pepper, thinly sliced 

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 heaping tablespoon sweet (smoked) Spanish paprika

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also called coriander)

(optional) 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

 

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion slices and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the garlic and saute for about a minute, stirring or shaking the skillet around. Add the red and green pepper slices and the hot chilies; saute a further 2 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes and saute a couple of minutes, then add the tomato juice, cumin, sweet smoked paprika and just 1/2 teaspoon salt (at this time; you can add more later if you prefer) and continue cooking and stirring occasionally for a few minutes, then add 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also known as coriander). Continue cooking until the sauce begins to thicken (don't let it get too thick). Use a spoon to make some depressions in the sauce and crack an egg into each depression. Turn the heat to low and let the eggs poach in the sauce. Optionally, you can sprinkle some crumbled feta cheese over the finished dish. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Noise (Nausea)-For what has become a common word, the origin of this word is shaky, but I am convinced that this history has the strong possibility of being accurate; in which case, "noise" is related to "nautical," a word of Greek derivation borrowed by Latin and then borrowed by English via French, and to "navy," a word of Latin derivation borrowed by English via French. "Noise" goes back to Indo European "nau(s)," which meant "ship, boat." This gave transliterated Greek "naus," also meaning "ship, boat." This then produced transliterated "nausia/nautia" (by dialect), which meant "seasickness," and this was borrowed by Latin as "nausea," with the "seasickness" meaning, but seemingly also with the more general meaning, "uneasy feeling in the stomach, stomach discomfort;" thus also, "disagreeable situation;" thus, "quarrel, commotion, uproar." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "noise" meaning "fight, brawl, commotion, loud disagreement," but later expanded to "loud sound, generally unpleasant sound," not necessarily from a fight or disagreement; thus, "noise" (Old Occitan, also known as "Old Provençal," had "nauza" meaning "loud sound, quarrel"). English borrowed the word from French circa 1200, as "noice, noyse, noise." The meaning then added "nasty rumor, scandal" in the 1300s, and this was accompanied by a verb form "noisen," meaning "to gossip, to spread rumors," and the more general, "to make noise," but the usage declined along with the general meaning of "to gossip." By the way, "nausea" was borrowed by English directly from Latin in the early 1400s.

Turkish Stuffed Tomatoes

While you can certainly fix these tomatoes any time of year, naturally when you have access to good ripe tomatoes, it can make this dish especially tasty. I've made this a few times, but when I made it for the photos I took for this article (winter), there were not terribly good choices for the size of ripe tomatoes I really wanted, so I decided to go with somewhat larger tomatoes, but I only used three tomatoes, instead of four. I like the heat of chili peppers, but I used 2 chili peppers and it didn't really make the filling too hot. 

Similar recipes are used in parts of the Middle East, especially in Lebanon.

Ingredients (4 servings):

4 large (baseball size) whole fresh tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground lamb

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 or 2 small chili peppers (according to heat preference), finely chopped

3 tablespoons pine nuts

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 heaping tablespoon chopped parsley 

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

extra virgin olive oil for serving

Cut the tops off of the tomatoes, but keep the tops, scoop out the seeds and tough interior stem. Put the tomatoes into a baking dish, set aside. Heat the tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic for 2 minutes, then add the ground lamb, and continue sauteing for about 5 minutes, breaking up any clumps of ground lamb as it cooks. Add the finely chopped chili pepper, pine nuts, ground allspice, ground cinnamon, black pepper and salt; then saute another 5 minutes, or until the lamb is cooked through, stirring the ingredients around periodically. Heat the oven to 350 F, and while the oven heats up, spoon the lamb mixture into the tomatoes and pack it down "somewhat lightly" (you don't want to pack it tightly) and replace the tops. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender (use a fork to pierce a tomato near the top, middle and bottom to see if it's done). The baking cooks the tomatoes and simply reheats the stuffing thoroughly. Serve with some extra virgin olive oil (preferably Greek, but whatever you have) to drizzle over the tomatoes. 

 

The uncooked stuffed tomatoes ...

WORD HISTORY:

Shield-This word is related to "scale" (device for weighing), a word from Germanic, but in this case borrowed from Old Norse (a North Germanic language), and to "scale" (skin covering on fish and some animals), another word from Germanic, but this meaning was borrowed from French, which had it from Germanic Frankish, and to "shell" (covering for eggs and for certain sea or other creatures) a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Shield" goes back to Indo European "skel," which had the notion "to cut, to split, to chip." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skelduz," meaning "board, flat piece of wood cut from a larger piece to provide protection." This gave Old English "scield/scild," with the same meaning, and used figuratively simply to mean "protection." This then became "scheld/shild," before the modern form. The verb form goes back to "scildan," meaning "to protect with a shield, to protect," which spawned "gescildan," meaning "to use a shield for protection," but also, "to protect, to defend," and these joined to become "schelden/schilden," before the modern form. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German and Low German have "Schild," Dutch has "schild," West Frisian has "skyld," Danish and Norwegian have "skjold," Icelandic has "skjöldur" and Swedish has "sköld," and all of the words mean "shield providing protection in battle," but with figurative meanings, like their English relative. Standard German uses "der Schild" for "shield," although some dialects use "das Schild," and standard German uses "das Schild" for "sign," as many signs have long been in the shape of shields.    

Sicilian Pesto Bruschetta

What many people likely think of as pesto is green and it originated in Genoa (Italian: Genova) in northwestern Italy; thus, it is called "pesto alla genovese." The pesto for this bruschetta is called "pesto alla trapanese;" that is, pesto of Trapani, a city in western Sicily, where it is often used as the sauce for a twisted style of pasta called "busiate." Bruschetta is made with whole slices of bread grilled or otherwise toasted, that is immediately rubbed with garlic and brushed with olive oil, then often sprinkled with salt or topped with other items, like with this pesto, and it is served while still warm. Bruschetta's little sister is crostini, made from smaller slices of bread, that are then grilled or toasted and given various toppings. Baguettes or similar are often used for crostini, as they are of a smaller diameter than regular loaves of bread. 

 

Ingredients:

 

For the Pesto:

 

1/2 cup skinless almonds, toasted lightly

1/2 cup Roma tomatoes, blanched, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup grape tomatoes, skin on, rinsed and drained, then dried on paper towels 

1 loosely packed cup fresh basil (about 20 to 25 leaves)

12 to 15 fresh mint leaves

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 small whole red chili pepper

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (this is a sheep's milk cheese)

1/2 teaspoon salt (or more, but remember, the cheese is salty) 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (more if you want a thinner pesto)

Toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat until some light browning starts to show. To a blender or a food processor, add the almonds and processor for just a few seconds to get started, then add the Roma tomatoes and the grape tomatoes, garlic, basil, mint, red pepper flakes or chili pepper, salt, and process for about 20 seconds, then drizzle in the olive oil while processing slowly until the pesto is combined (continue until smooth, if you like it that way, or stop when it retains some chunkiness). Empty into a bowl or jar and stir in the Pecorino Romano by hand. 

 

For the Bruschetta

 

bread or rolls (sliced)

garlic

extra virgin olive oil

 

Toast the bread or sliced rolls, rub with garlic and add some extra virgin olive oil, then spread on some of the "pesto alla trapanese," top with some tomato slices and olives, serve immediately while still a little warm.

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Pesto-This word is related to "pestle" and to "pistil," words of Latin derivation borrowed by English via French. "Pesto" goes back to Indo European "peis," which meant, "to crush." This gave Latin "pinsere," meaning, "to beat, to pound, to stamp, to crush." This then became "pistare," meaning "to crush, to pound," which then became "pestare." The noun "pesto" comes from either a short form (or common spoken form? or dialect?) of the past participle of "pestare," which is "pestato,"^ or from the first person singular form which is "pesto;" thus, "I crush" or "I crush (by pounding)." English borrowed the word in the late 1930s from Italian.

^ This would make the literal meaning of the noun, "that which has been crushed."

Portuguese Tomato Rice: Arroz de Tomate

This is a pretty common Portuguese dish. I've seen recipes that use both short-grain or long-grain rice; so, use what you have or prefer. You can use any kind of ripe tomatoes. I used Roma tomatoes, which tend to be smaller, so I use 4 tomatoes, rather than the 3 I have listed in the recipe.  

 

Ingredients (4 to 5 servings):

 

1 cup rice

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro (or parsley), chopped

2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt (optional if you use "salty" broth)

3 tablespoons olive oil 

6 or 8 black olives, halved

In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and then saute the onion until it starts to soften, then add the minced garlic. Saute for about another minute or minute and a half. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook a further two minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rice, coating the rice well. Now stir in the broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low or very low and cover the pan with a lid or foil. Cook until the liquid is just absorbed, remove from the heat and stir in the chopped cilantro (or parsley). Top the individual servings with some black olive halves.  

WORD HISTORY:

Monsoon-This word goes back to transliterated Arabic "wasama," which meant "to mark (something), to give a name, identity or description to something." This produced Arabic "mawsim," meaning "a time of year;" thus also, "a festival or holiday of a time of year;" thus also, "a season (time of year)." Portuguese sailors and explorers borrowed the word in the 1500s as "monção," with the "season" meaning pertaining to "the trade winds in the Indian Ocean." The next step has some uncertainty, as Dutch "seems" to have borrowed the word as "monssoen" from the Portuguese, but as the Dutch also sailed the Indian Ocean in those times, they could have borrowed it from Arabic speaking people in that region, just as the Portuguese had done. English borrowed the word from Dutch, but likely with Portuguese reinforcement, in the latter part of the 1500s. The winds associated with "monsoon" helped ships travel the Indian Ocean, but these winds also brought rains; thus, the meaning in English of "heavy rain," or "rainy season."    

Sardinian Pasta Bits & Shrimp: Fregola Sarda ai Gamberi

Fregola sarda is a type of pasta similar to couscous that is common on the Italian island of Sardinia. Sardinian fregola is different from couscous, however, in that it is toasted. In the U.S. you can find fregola in Italian specialty stores and likely in an increasing number of supermarkets, and of course, it is available online. If you're in Cleveland, you can also find it at the West Side Market.

 

Only Sicily, another part of Italy, is a larger island than Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. Sardinia is known for its beaches, abundant seafood, as well as lamb and goat, as the island also has mountainous areas for the raising of these animals. Another part of Sardinian food culture is the serving of a crispy flatbread called "pane carasau," which is typically served with olive oil. 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

1 1/2 cups fregola pasta

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp

4/1/2 cups water with 1 teaspoon salt

6 ripe roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 or 2 red chili peppers, left whole, with a slit cut into them

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 or 8 basil leaves, halved

a squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice to top each serving

Soak the shrimp for about 15 to 20 minutes in some cold water with the juice of half a lemon added, then drain them. In a large sauce pan, bring 4 1/2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil, then add the shrimp and simmer for 90 seconds. Immediately drain the shrimp, but pour the cooking water back into the pan, you will use it shortly. In a large skillet (or sauce pan), heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the garlic and saute for 1 minute, then add the chili peppers and chopped tomatoes. Turn the heat to low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the chili pepper and garlic (of course, if you like them, leave them in the dish, but cut them up), and mash the tomatoes with a large fork, until you have a chunky sauce, but with no really large pieces. Add the white wine, ground pepper and salt, stir and cook the chunky sauce a further 7 or 8 minutes over low heat (or even very low heat), stir occasionally to prevent sticking or burning. Meanwhile, let the reserved water you used to cook the shrimp come to a boil. Increase the heat for the skillet to medium and add the boiling water to it from the pan. Now add the fregola pasta and let it cook until the water is absorbed ("about" 20 to 25 minutes). When there is still a little water left to be absorbed, add the shrimp and let the shrimp cook in the fregola until tender over low heat, turning the shrimp to make sure they cook evenly. Add the halved fresh basil leaves and stir. Add a squeeze of lemon juice over each serving. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Frugal-This word is related to "fruit," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French, and it is distantly related to the verb "brook" (meaning in more modern times, "to bear or tolerate something unkind or unpleasant," as in, "I will not brook any more rude behavior"), a word from the Germanic roots of English (its original meanings in Old English were: "to enjoy, to use, to eat and to enjoy food"). "Frugal" goes back to Indo European "bhrugh," which had the notion of "to use, to make use of;" thus also, "to have the enjoyment of." This gave Latin "frux" (plural "fruges") meaning "fruit, produce," with extended meanings like: "success," "value." Either "frux," its plural "fruges, or its dative form "frugi" (hey, did I narrow this down or what? haha) provided the basis for the Latin adjective "frugalis," meaning "having to do with fruit or produce," but also, "to use virtuously, to use wisely and economically;" thus also, "thrifty." French had the word from Latin as "frugal," and English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1500s meaning "economical, thrifty, sparing in waste or expenditure." The word's roots still show through in the modern underlying meaning, "useful in an efficient way."

Italian White Beans, Tomatoes & Herbs

Italians have lots of easy but flavorful dishes with common ingredients like beans and tomatoes. Here you make you own tomato sauce for the beans... that's it! Get the best Roma tomatoes you can find, because they are key to this dish.

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

1 can (14.5 to 16 ounce) cannellini beans, drained

4 ripe Roma tomatoes, halved or quartered (any thick stem part cut out)

+ 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

2 cloves garlic

4 basil leaves

1 tablespoon rosemary

4 sage leaves

1 red chili pepper, chopped (seeded, if you prefer)

1/4 teaspoon sugar (a little more if sauce if too tart) 

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano + more for serving

 

To a blender/food processor add 4 Roma tomatoes, garlic, basil leaves, rosemary, sage leaves, red chili pepper, sugar, salt and 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Blend until a smooth sauce. Heat the sauce over low heat for 2 minutes, then add the chopped tomato (this adds some chunky texture to the sauce), and cook until it cooks down to the desired thickness. Stir in the beans and when they have heated, mix in 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano. Serve with more Pecorino Romano on top and crusty bread on the side.

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Grease-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown. "Grease" is related to "crass," a Latin-derived adjective borrowed by English via French. "Grease" goes back to the Latin adjective "crassus," which meant "fat, thick, dense, solid." This produced the noun "crassia," meaning "fat, animal fat in melted or less than solid form." "Crassia" seems to have later become "grassia" in Latin, as Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese all have forms spelled with a "g," although Old French may have first had "craisse," then "gresse," which became "grece" in the Anglo-Norman French spoken in England, and this was borrowed by English circa 1300, most commonly as "grese." The verb form developed from the noun in about 1400 and meant "to smear with fat (grease);" thus, "to lubricate." (Note: I'm not sure about the verb's pronunciation in the U.K., but in the U.S. both "greese," like Greece, the country, and "greez," rhymes with "cheese," are heard.)      

Kenyan Rice & Salad: Pilau and Kachumbari

Kenya is a country in East Africa with a coastline along the Indian Ocean. It has a population of "about" 55 million and its capital city is Nairobi. Swahili and English (British style) are the primary languages used in government, schools and business, but other regional African languages are spoken on an every day basis, along with hybrid forms of English with numerous African dialect influences. Kenya came under British control in the latter part of the 1800s, initially as part of the "East African Protectorate," then later as an outright "colony." This brought a number of immigrants to Kenya from India, itself a British colony at that time. In those times, India included what later became the separate countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh. There are lots of Indian influences in Kenyan food.*

 

I read quite a few recipes about pilau, and several used basmati rice, so that's what I chose to use. 

 

Ingredients (4 servings): 

 

For the pilau:

 

1 cup basmati rice

1 red onion (tennis ball size), peeled and chopped (not finely)

3 garlic cloves, chopped or minced

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced

2 inch cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 bay leaves

2 cups chicken stock

2/3 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt (if the chicken stock has a lot of salt, you can omit adding this salt)

1/4 cup oil (vegetable or olive)

 

In a heavy bottom pan, add the oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes, stir the onion to prevent sticking or burning. Add the chopped or minced garlic and the fresh ginger and saute a further 45 seconds, then add the tomatoes and stir (doesn't have to be totally constant) as the vegetables continue to cook. Add the cinnamon stick, ground cumin, ground cardamom and bay leaves, stir again, then add the rice and stir to mix everything together well, then add the chicken stock, and stir some more. Add the ground black pepper and salt (if using) and let the mixture come to a simmer, then reduce the heat to maintain a bare simmer (stove settings can vary, but likely you'll need "low" or "very low"). Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes, then remove the lid to see how much liquid remains. Replace the lid and continue cooking until all of the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and ... guess what? Stir to fluff and mix again (remove the bay leaves).  

 

For the kachumbari:

 

2 tomatoes (baseball size), diced

1 red onion (tennis ball to baseball size), chopped

1 medium cucumber, peeled, or partially peeled (like stripes), diced

1 to 2 chili peppers (jalapeños are good for this), seeded and chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped/minced

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/3 cup fresh coriander (also called 'cilantro'), chopped

1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt (more or less to your taste)

(optional) 1 teaspoon honey

(optional) 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

This is mainly about chopping the ingredients; so, when that's done, add the tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, chili pepper, garlic, coriander (cilantro), black pepper and salt to a bowl. Mix everything together (I do it by hand). If you plan to serve the entire salad, then add the lime juice (or mix together the lime juice, honey and oil and then add to the salad), but once you add the juice, if you have leftovers, the salad will begin to lose its "crispness," so I add the juice dressing per serving, not to the whole salad. Also, if you use honey, pop it into the microwave for just a couple of seconds (only) and it will help when you're mixing it with the oil and lime juice. 

I had fried chicken with my pilau and kachumbari (see photos below). Someone told me to simply toss the chicken in seasoned flour and then fry it, which is what I did, but I didn't like it, the feathers were too much for me. So, I plucked the feathers from another chicken and repeated the process, which worked out much better. hahaha  You can serve another type of meat, or just have the pilau and kachumbari as a lunch dish.

* This is an example of Indian influence on Kenyan food: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/03/kenyan-potato-bites-potato-bhajias.html

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cricket (2)-This is the name of the sport/game, not the name for the insect, which has a different history. While the history of this word for a game of two teams played with a ball and bats is shaky,^ it likely is closely related to "crutch," and also related to "crook/crooked" and "creep," and these are all words from Germanic, and it is also likely related to "crochet," a word borrowed by English from French, but French had the word from Germanic, more than likely from Frankish, but perhaps from, or reinforced by, Old Norse. The game usage of the word "cricket" goes back to Indo European "ger/grewg," which had the notion "to bend, to turn, to twist," which gave Old Germanic "krukjon," which meant "crooked shaft." This then became "krukjo" in West Germanic with the further meaning of "staff with a crooked handle or arm support," which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "crycc(e)" meaning, "crutch, bent/curved staff." Now, this developed into modern "crutch," but its Flemish^^ cousin "krik" (bent staff, curved stick) "seems" to lie at the heart of the usage of the word "cricket," the game; at least the game that has been known by that name in England/Britain, although there may have been similar versions of the modern game long ago.^^^ "Supposedly" the word "krikets" developed in southeastern England from the Flemish word (there were quite a number of immigrants from Flanders there in the 1500s through the 1700s, many associated with cloth and weaving), and this was then anglicized as "cricket." The mid 1800s saw the secondary meaning develop in England of "the proper way to do things," likely from the notion of "play the game of cricket properly," although this meaning is often put into the negative for something being done unfairly as, "that's not cricket" ("that's not fair or proper").

 

^ Unraveling the shaky history of the word "cricket" is somewhat equivalent to unraveling the shaky history of the game itself, which "may" have come from various similar games that eventually produced the immediate forerunner of the modern game, but to which the name came to be applied. When I say the history of the word "cricket" is "shaky," I really mean the specifics are tough to determine, although the broad history of the word seems clear.  

 

^^ Flemish is the dialect of Dutch spoken in the Flanders part of Belgium. In times long past, Flemish was seen as its own language by some, but in more recent times it has been viewed as a regional dialect of Dutch. I watch numerous language programs, and I have noticed that Belgians from Flanders now often say they speak Dutch, although I'm sure there are some who still say they speak Flemish (Vlaams). Dutch, including the Flemish dialect, and many of the nearby German dialects (that western part of Germany, Luxembourg and Lorraine) all developed from Frankish, the Germanic language (dialect) of the Franks. 

 

^^^ Seemingly in the 1600s and up until the early second half of the 1700s, the ball was rolled along the ground (bowled) and batted with bent/curved sticks like modern hockey sticks, but in the second half of the 1700s the ball was thrown (pitched), leading to the abandonment of the curved stick in favor of a straight bat. 

3 Cheese Macaroni & Meat Sauce Casserole

 

 I'd say this is "Italian-American," rather than truly "Italian."

 

 

Ingredients:

 

2/3 pound sweet Italian sausage (removed from the casing)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided use)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup shredded carrot

1 can (28 ounces) peeled tomatoes, crushed

1 can (14 to 15 ounces) regular tomato sauce

1 teaspoon Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet mixed with 1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon dried oregano (crushed in the palm of your hand)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup dry macaroni, cooked in lightly salted water

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup shredded fontina

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano

In a skillet over medium heat, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and then add the chopped onion and the sausage and keep stirring and breaking up the sausage as it cooks. Cook until the sausage is lightly browned, then add the carrot and garlic and cook for another 90 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer for 3 minutes, stirring a little. Add the tomato sauce, Gravy Master/Kitchen Bouquet and water mixture, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, sugar and salt, stir well to mix. Turn the heat to low (or you'll have sauce spattered all over everything, including your outdoor doormat), and gently simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes, stirring often. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water to thin it out. Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in some lightly salted water until it is almost done. Drain the macaroni and stir it into the sauce. Swirl 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil in a casserole dish, then empty the macaroni mixture into the casserole. Drizzle another 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top, then distribute the shredded mozzarella over the top, followed by the shredded fontina and finally sprinkle on the grated Pecorino Romano. Put the lid or aluminum foil on the casserole and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for about 40 minutes, then remove the lid and bake at 400 F until the cheese browns lightly.     

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Tone-This word is related to quite a number of words. A few examples: it is really the same word as "tune" (collection of sounds into a song or melody), it is closely related to "tonic," a word borrowed from Greek, it is distantly related to "tendon," a word English borrowed from Latin, which had gotten it from Greek, to the adjective "tense" (also the verb), borrowed from Latin, and to "tense," the noun (used in reference to the time form of a verb, as in, "Do I use the present tense or the past tense in this sentence?"), a word borrowed from French, which had it from Latin, to "tender," the verb, borrowed from French, which had it from Latin, and "tender," the adjective, likewise borrowed from French, which had it from Latin (but from a different Latin word than the verb), and to "thin," a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "ten," which meant, "to stretch, to stretch out." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek the verb "teínein," which meant, "to extend, to spread," and this produced the noun "tónos," meaning "rope" (materials wound together and then extended to tie or secure something), which developed the secondary meaning, "tension," from the idea of "taut rope," and further, "accent, voice stress, intonation," from the sound made by various degrees of tension applied to rope or cords when plucked. Latin borrowed this as "tonus," with the same general meanings, but with "particular sound or pitch of something" gaining in prominence, with Latin-based Old French taking the word as "ton." English borrowed the word from French in the mid 1300s, but with influence from Latin, and that influence likely brought about the later spelling with the ending 'e' to signify the 'o' being long. The mid 1600s saw the use for "firm body" begin, and the mid 1700s brought the additional meaning "attitude expressed in spoken (later even in written) words." The idea of high and low pitch in sound came to be used figuratively for shades of color.         

Fried Green Tomatoes

While fried green tomatoes have a reputation for being a dish from the American South, Robert F. Moss, a food historian and author from South Carolina, has written that mentions of fried green tomatoes first appear in the northern and mid western part of the U.S., not in the South.* He also speculates that Jewish immigrants may have had some part in the beginnings of this dish which gained popularity with the release of the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" in the early 1990s. When I was kid and teenager, we had fried green tomatoes on occasion, and this was like from the late 1950s and through the 1960s. I don't ever recall hearing anyone say they were "southern," or for that matter, that they were "northern" or "mid western." I always liked them, and some people made/make them by simply tossing the green tomato slices in some seasoned flour and then frying them, while others coat the tomato slices in flour, then dip them into beaten egg and then coat them with breadcrumbs or cornmeal, but others, including me, prefer to dip them into a seasoned batter.

Give yourself an extra treat, and serve them with Louisiana remoulade sauce, here is the link to the remoulade recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/08/louisiana-remoulade-sauce.html

Ingredients (about 4 to 6 servings):

These amounts may need to be adjusted, as the size of the tomato slices will determine how much batter you'll need, but naturally, if you mix the batter and it is too thick, mix in a little more buttermilk, or even a little water. If, by chance, the batter is too thin, just add a little more flour or breadcrumbs. These are hardly decisions we'll need to summon Einstein to make for us, but if you do summon him, good luck with that one ... he's likely busy with E=CQ2, ah, E=TMSquare, ah, E=H2O, oh, whatever the hell it is!   

4 large green tomatoes
3 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal (yellow or white)
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (or the finely ground type)
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon (dry) adobo seasoning** or seasoned salt
oil for frying (rendered bacon fat added, see below)

Fried green tomatoes are often, but not always, fried in bacon fat, but you can skip this, or you can add some bacon fat to your oil. Rather than go with all bacon fat, first fry 5 or 6 slices of bacon (you can fry it for breakfast or perhaps for a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich for lunch) and keep the rendered bacon fat. When you get ready to make fried green tomatoes, add half the bacon fat to the oil you will use to fry the tomatoes (enough oil and bacon fat to make about 1/2 inch depth in your skillet; after you've fried some tomatoes you'll periodically need to add more oil, and you can add some of the remaining bacon fat each time). Cut tomatoes into slices of about 1/3 inch. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, buttermilk, flour, cornmeal, bread crumbs (I use panko, which are 'chunky' and coarse, but the finely ground type is certainly okay), black pepper and adobo seasoning or seasoned salt. Heat the oil (and bacon fat, if using) in a skillet over medium heat until a small piece of bread sizzles when dropped into the oil. Put individual tomato slices into the batter to coat, letting excess drip off before putting the slices into the skillet. Keep the tomatoes separated in the skillet. Fry the tomatoes on both sides until golden brown, removing the finished tomatoes to a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat the process until all of the tomatoes are fried. Serve with Louisiana remoulade sauce. 

* You can read Robert Moss's complete article for yourself at this link: https://alforno.blogspot.com/2007/08/fried-green-tomato-swindle.html 

** Adobo can mean different things in different Latino or Spanish influenced cultures. The adobo for this recipe is the dry seasoning commonly used in Puerto Rico. It is very easily found in supermarkets or Latino grocery stores in the U.S., but it is also easy to make (it takes all of about 2 minutes). Here is the link to the recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/11/adobo-seasoning.html 

Fried green tomatoes with Louisiana remoulade sauce on the side ...

WORD HISTORY:
Scot (as in "scot free")-This word is related to "shot," "shoot" and "sheet," all words from the Germanic roots of English, and it "likely" has nothing to do with the word of the same spelling, only capitalized, relating to the people of Scotland. It goes back to Indo European "skeut/skeud," which meant, "to throw, to shoot," seemingly with the underlying notion, "to propel outward;" also "to chase, to rush," which also show implications of "movement out from a given position." This gave Old Germanic "skeutanan/skutanan" meaning, "to shoot, to propel or move forward or away from." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceotan," a verb primarily meaning "to shoot, to throw," but secondarily "to pay out," and the nouns "sceot," literally, "(a) shot," but also "payment, contribution," and "gescot," meaning "payment, contribution." The Old Norse speakers who came to England brought along their word, "skot," which was related to the English forms, and this melded with the native English forms to produce "scot," which had come to be used for "a tax paid to landowners or nobles, including to the king." That's why we say, "scot-free," which originally meant "tax free" (it was written as one word centuries ago, "scotfreo." Of course the meaning of "scot free" has long since broadened to mean, "no payment or consequence for something." German, a close cousin of English, has the now archaic "Schoß" in this same sense, "tax, monetary contribution" (German has other words of this spelling still in use, but I'm referring to the form with this specific meaning).

Kenyan-Style Tomato Chutney

Kenya has been influenced by the foods and flavors of the Indian Subcontinent going well back in history, from trade and by the settlement of people from the Indian Subcontinent in Kenya. I'm calling this "Kenyan Tomato Chutney," but it is really a recipe I devised myself, but it could certainly be similar to recipes from others, including by people from the Indian Subcontinent, as there isn't really any one thing that makes this "Kenyan."

Ingredients:

1 can tomato sauce, 15 ounces 
3 green chilies (jalapeño or serrano chilies are good for this), seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (also called coriander)
 
Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or two before serving. Kenyans serve a similar tomato chutney with fried potatoes. (Note: for a type of fried potato recipe common in Kenya, and heavily influenced by people from the Indian subcontinent, here is the link:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/03/kenyan-potato-bites-potato-bhajias.html  

WORD HISTORY:
Kitchen-This word is related to "cook," a word from the Germanic roots of English, but it was an ancient borrowing by Old Germanic from Latin. "Kitchen" goes back to Indo European "kwekwo," "perhaps" a variant form of "pekwo," which seems to have meant "to ripen;" the notion being to prepare inedible raw food until it is 'ripe;' that is, ready to eat. This gave Old Italic "kekewo," and this gave Latin "coquere," meaning "to cook," which gave Latin "coquus," a noun meaning, "the act or process of cooking" and thus, "a person who cooks." This gave Latin the adjective "coquinus," meaning, "about cooking or a cook." This produced "coquina," often rendered in Latin as "cocina," both meaning, "room or area for cooking." Apparently West Germanic (not Old Germanic) borrowed "cocina" as "kokina/kukina," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cycene/cicene" (kitchen), which then became "ky(t)chyn/kychene" before the modern version. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Küche," Low German has "Köök," but some areas seem to have "Köken,"^ West Frisian has "koken," Dutch has "keuken," Danish has "køkken," Norwegian has "kjøkken," Swedish has "kök." The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish forms are all from Low German, one of the West Germanic languages, along with English, German, Dutch and Frisian. As noted above, the ancestor of "kitchen" was borrowed by West Germanic, which explains to some extent why I could not find any reference to a form in Old Norse, from the North Germanic branch. Icelandic, a North Germanic language still often close in forms to Old Norse, and somewhat distant from its continental Germanic cousins, does not have a form either. This also explains the borrowings of forms of "kitchen" from Low German by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, as all are from the North Germanic branch of the Germanic family of languages. 
 
^ Low German has no standard form and it is a series of dialects; thus, there are often various forms of words. 

Farmer's Salad With Yogurt Dressing

"Farmer salads" have been often and naturally thought of as mainly having ingredients many farming households might well have on hand: cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, bell peppers and eggs. In addition though, some farming families made their own head cheese, as well as their own cheese, and these could be used to make a salad more substantial. In German areas of Europe, the homemade cheese was/is called by a variety of names, but in Hessen, it is called "Handkäse," * literally "hand cheese," because the whitish/light yellowish cheese was shaped by hand, while in the region of the Harz Mountains it is called "Harzer (Käse)," and in Austria it is often called "Quargel," a word "I believe" German derived from Slavic. In modern times head cheese and cheese (by whatever name) are more often commercially produced, but that doesn't mean that some individuals or families have abandoned making them at home. "Souse" is an American term for head cheese made with vinegar. In Britain, head cheese, with or without vinegar, is called "brawn."  
   
I "patterned" this recipe after Bavarian/Austrian salad recipes, and in Austria and Bavaria such salads are often served with rolls called "Salzstangen" or "Salzstangerl," which are rolls coated with coarse salt and (usually) caraway seeds. Certainly in the past, such a dressing for the salad would have been more likely to have been made with sour cream; again, a product readily available to farmers.   

Ingredients (5 or 6 servings):

1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 seeded or seedless cucumber, peel on, or peeled, or partially peeled (your preference)
4 chopped Roma tomatoes (also called 'plum tomatoes'), or 20 to 25 grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 chopped red or green pepper
1/4 cup pitted black olives (Kalamata or niçoise), halved
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Toss all ingredients together well. 

For each serving:
1 or 2 thin slices of souse, cut into small pieces
1 or 2 thin slices Emmentaler cheese (Swiss cheese),** cut or torn into small pieces
1 hard boiled egg, halved 

For the yogurt dressing:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons oil (olive, canola, vegetable or even give extra virgin olive oil a try)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped   
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together well. If the dressing is too thick for you, add a little more oil. If you add more vinegar, you may have to consider adding more honey, but that depends upon your own taste.

* "Handkäse" ("Handkäs" is the common form in Hessen) is one of the specialty dishes of Frankfurt-am-Main in Hessen, where it is served in a dressing of cider vinegar, oil, hard apple cider, pepper, caraway seed and chopped onion, and called, "Handkäs mit Musik" (Hand Cheese with Music). It is "traditionally" accompanied with a glass of hard apple cider (in standard German called "Apfelwein," but called "Ebbelwoi" in the Hessian dialect of Frankfurt). "Handkäse" is not exclusive to Frankfurt, but rather it is common in other parts of Hessen as well. And I'm sure you're hanging by your thumbs wondering what the "with music" means. Well, there are two stories tied to the meaning, the most prominent of the two, but perhaps not originally the meaning, has to do with the onions causing intestinal gas; thus, "music," if you get my drift. This led to a little joke when people from outside of Frankfurt or Hessen would ask, "What and where is the music?" The standard answer became, "Die Musik kommt später" (The music comes later). The other story is that the oil and vinegar were kept in glass bottles for the person to pour on the desired amount of each. The bottles clinked together; thus, "music." When I've had "Handkäs mit Musik" in Frankfurt, it was always served that way, with the oil and vinegar bottles brought to the table with the onion topped hand cheese.

** In the U.S., "Swiss cheese" is the type of cheese in Switzerland and German cultural areas in Europe called "Emmentaler," after the area of its origin; the Emme River Valley (German: Emmental), near the city of Bern.

WORD HISTORY:
Shift-This word is distantly related to the verb "shed" ("to give off something, to get rid of something"), a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "skei(t)," which had the notion, "to cut, to cut off, to separate (from)." This gave Old Germanic "skiftjanan," meaning, "to put into order by separating, to arrange." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sciftan," meaning, "to separate, to divide up, to arrange, to place in order." This then became "schiften," then "shiften," before the modern version. The meaning, "to move from one place to another," as in, "The corporation will shift its headquarters from Dallas to Denver," came from the idea of "arranging, allotting" (but actually "rearranging, reallocating"). It also took on the meaning, "to be able to take care of oneself," as in the expression, "shift for oneself," perhaps from the idea of "to keep one's life in order?" The noun developed from the verb circa 1300 and with numerous meanings, including "a set time for work;" as in, "I work the day shift from 7 until 3," and this meaning seems to date back in time, as it is also in some other Germanic languages, and it remains as a primary noun meaning in English, along with "movement, change," as in "a shift in public opinion." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has the verb "schichten" (to stack, to layer), which was borrowed from Low German and the noun "Schicht" (a level, a layer, and also, a group of people doing the same general work during a given period of time, also sometimes rendered as "Schichtarbeit;" that is, "shift work"), Low German has the verb "opschichten" (to stack up, to build up; the base word was once spelled "schiften"^), West Frisian has the noun "skift" (classification, category), Dutch has the verb "schiften" (to divide or stratify), Danish has the noun "skifte" (a change over) and the verb "skifte" (to alternate, to exchange), Norwegian has the noun "skifte" (a change or turn) and the verb "skifte" (to switch or change), Icelandic has the verb "skipta" (to divide up, to switch or exchange), Swedish has the verb "skifta" (to change, to shift, to divide) and the noun "skift" (set working period).  

^ While I'm uncertain of this, when German borrowed the word from Low German, it "seems" the standard German spelling and pronunciation as "schichten" may have eventually transferred to Low German; thus, no "f" in modern Low German and modern standard German.