1word1day | Entries tagged with theme: food

Wishing everyone in this community all the very best in the new year!

These words all mean meat or fish in jellied broth (which is better than it sounds...I'm partial to the kholodets myself ;))

You can read more and see photos, and learn about the background in this article:

Kholodets, Studen and Zalivnoe – Russian meat and fish jelly dishes

med_cat

15 Cheffy Words for Chefs (and Everyone Else), from Merriam Webster

Here's one word from the list, and one of those I'd never encountered before:

Fond

Definition: small particles of browned food and especially meat that adhere to the bottom of a cooking pan and are used especially in making sauces

Chefs are known to be quite fond of fond, and understandably so. The sticky bits of browned food that may to some appear only as a harbinger of stubborn dishwashing to come are in truth flavor-packed morsels that add depth to any dish. Just deglaze with wine (or your liquid of choice), scrape that fond up, and baby you’ve got a stew going. The adjective fond comes from the Middle English word fonne, meaning “fool,” while the noun fond is a French borrowing, going back to the Old French word funt or font, meaning “bottom” or “base.”

Continue to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the red wine. Naturally, you want to scrape up all that really good fond from the bottom of the pot with your wooden spoon.

— Anthony Bourdain, Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook, 2004

sallymn

acidulous [uh-sij-uh-luhs]

adjective:
1 slightly sour
2 sharp; caustic

Examples:

From time to time papa tried his hand at making risotto, preferring those with acidulous fruit - strawberries, peaches, grapes - and even made some with champagne. (Francesco Bianchini, Of Risotto and Soufflé, Classic Chicago Magazine, June 2022)

If Cope lacks the acidulous wit that seasons Byron’s best, his narrative is marked by an absence of the condescension that occasionally colours the latter’s work. (Shoumojit Banerjee, Rapture on the Eurasian steppe, The Hindu, May 2016)

They saluted a journalist, a constant scribbler, an acidulous wordsmith who specialised in counterintuitive destruction. Yet, it turned out, even his victims seemed to love him: for his turn of phrase and twist of mind.(Peter Preston, Fond farewell to the acidulous Mr Gill, The Guardian, December 2016)

Tom Ford's newest intoxicating fragrance pushes lavender to a new extreme. Sourced from Provence, the purple plant is balanced out by acidulous Italian bergamot and spicy-sweet tonka bean. (Lauren Valenti, The 7 New Fragrances to Know This Summer, Vogue, June 2019)

He had to be careful, for he was very sensitive to ridicule; and the acidulous humour with which the American treated the Church of England disconcerted him. (W Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage)

Origin:

'sub-acidic, slightly sour' (of cream of tartar, oranges, etc.), 1766, also used figuratively for 'sour-tempered;' from Latin acidulus 'slightly sour,' a diminutive of acidus (Online Etymology Dictionary)

sallymn

xocolatophobia [koh-koh-ley-tuh-foh-bee-uh, shoh-koh-lo‐]

noun:
an irrational or disproportionate fear of chocolate

Examples:

Happily, I can report that chocolate buttons pose no problem as I don’t have xocolatophobia (fear of chocolate). (Kate Battersby, Fear of buttons: One writer describes the heartbreaking truth behind her weird phobia, You Magazine, January 2019)

In 2015, the Express shared the story of Andrew Bullock, a man in Berkshire, England, who was living with xocolatophobia. Bullock noted that, while he had no particularly traumatizing experience with chocolate, he thought he inherited his fear from his mother, who "had it too." (Chase Shustack, Fear Of Chocolate: It's A Real Thing, mashed, April 2022)

Ironically, as many as 30 little-known phobias are associated with the romantic holiday, according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute. Among them are philophobia for those afraid of falling in love, katagelophobia for those afraid of being ridiculed or disliked (also known as 'being human' for some), xocolatophobia for those afraid of chocolate, and philematophobia for those with a fear of kissing. (Alyssa Skiba, Fear and Loathing on Valentine's Day, Door County Pulse, February 2015)

(click to enlarge)

Origin:

Xocolatophobia 'fear of chocolate' is a compound of Nahuatl chocolātl 'a drink made from ground, roasted cocoa beans' and the combining form -phobia. The tradition for naming phobias is to use the Ancient Greek translation of the feared word, but because chocolate does not translate into Ancient Greek, the Nahuatl source is used instead. Chocolate comes via Spanish from chocolātl, with the final -tl in Nahuatl replaced with Spanish -te for easier pronunciation; compare Spanish coyote 'coyote' and tomate 'tomato,' from Nahuatl coyōtl and tomatl. The spelling of xocolatophobia with x instead of ch likely stems from the popular - if unproven - hypothesis that chocolātl comes from Nahuatl xococ 'bitter' and ātl 'water.' Xocolatophobia was first recorded in English in the late 2000s. (Dictionary.com)

med_cat

A v-word for your Friday ;)
~~

vichyssoise, n. vi·chys·soise \ˌvi-shē-ˈswäz, ˌvē-\

: a soup typically made of pureed leeks or onions and potatoes, cream, and chicken stock and usually served cold

Etymology:

French, from feminine of vichyssois of Vichy, from Vichy, France

First Known Use: 1939

med_cat

Because we always need more z-words ;)
~~
za·ba·glio·ne noun \ˌzä-bəl-ˈyō-nē\

: a whipped dessert or topping consisting of a mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and usually Marsala wine

Etymology:
Italian

First Known Use: 1899

See here for further details and a photo: http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Zabaglione

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

shrub, noun. A fruit-based syrup used in mixed drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic); the usual ingredients are fruit, sugar, and vinegar.

Etymology: The word itself is said to originate from the Arabic sharbah, 'a drink'. 'Sherbet' and 'syrup' share similar word origins.

The concept has been around for at least 500 years, and has gained and lost popularity multiple times. Currently, it is again trendy; a search on "shrub syrup" will turn up plenty of recipes and drink suggestions.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

arval
noun
1. A funeral repast, usually consisting of bread or cake with ale.
2. Money given to hunters, at the death of a fox, in order to buy ale.

adj.
1. Of or relating to funeral feasts.
2. Relating to a body of Roman priests (the Arval Brethren, "brothers of the fields") who presided over an annual fertility festival in May.
3. Of, like, or pertaining to plowed land.

Etymology: The funeral-related definitions are from Old Norse erfiöl, funeral feast, from arfr + öl, "heir ale".
The term was in use in Scotland and the North of England from at least the mid 1700s through at least the early 1900s; I'm sure it's been in use longer than that: that's just the range of references that I've run across. Variations in spelling include arvel, arvil, arthel, and averill.
Adjective definitions 2 and 3 are from Latin arvalis, "of the cultivated field".

Arval supper was a tradition in Scotland and the North of England. Some references to arval bread or arval cake say it was given to funeral guests, to be eaten at home in remembrance; other references say it was distributed among the poor.

The fox-hunting reference is apparently a payment to the hunter for killing what was considered a destructive vermin.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

simnel, noun. A traditional Easter fruit-based cake; more recently it has also been a traditional gift for Mothering Sunday.

There are many local recipes, and the basic recipe has changed over time. In Medieval times, the cake was a mixture of fruits and nuts encased in pastry and coated with a saffron glaze. An 1892 article from The Gentleman's Magazine describes leftover Christmas pudding wrapped in the remains of unleavened dough from Lent, which was first boiled and then baked. Modern recipes tend toward fruitcake topped with (and sometimes also filled with) a layer of marzipan, then decorated with flowers or marzipan balls.

Etymology: probably from Latin simila, the fine wheat flour used to make the cake. The exact origin of the cake is unclear; it is not named after Lambert Simnel, because references to the cake predate him.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

coodie, cudie, cude, cootie, or quiddie, noun.
A wooden kitchen dish or small tub. Or, a wooden chamber pot. Hm.

Etymology: there are references to Gaelic ciotad, pail or bucket.

Yes, it's a stretch to call this a food-themed post. It's also a stretch to call this a Monday post.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

pulpatoon, noun. A dish made of rabbits, birds, etc., in a crust of forcemeat.

Forcemeat is a mixture of ground meat and other ingredients, bound with egg. Or, sometimes it's bound with breadcrumbs. Basically, it's meat paste.

So, pulpatoon is sort of an extra-meaty meat pie, which could be an interesting option for this week's pi day.

Etymology: Italian, from polpetonne, a large meatball or risolle. The word was in use in cookbooks at least as early as the 1700s, but does not appear to be in use today.

Similar words are poupeton and pupton. Exact distinctions between the three words are unclear.
The modern paupiette describes a very similar dish.

A recipe for apple poupeton, and one for a pulpatoon of pigeons, and very nearly the same dish as a pupton of pigeons.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

ragi, noun. An Old World cereal grass, Eleusine coracana, also known as finger millet.

Ragi is traditionally grown in arid areas in India and Africa, and is adaptable to higher elevations. The harvested seeds can be stored for a long time without being attacked by mold or insects. Due to the growing popularity of Indian food, the flour can be purchased in America and elsewhere. It is a gluten-free ingredient.

Ragi is high in iron and calcium, compared to most other cereal grains. It has the same variety of uses as other grains: leavened and unleavened bread, porridge, etc., and it can be malted or fermented. Malted ragi is a popular infant food in some countries.

The common North American weed E. indica (Indian goosegrass) is an ancestor of E. coracana. Its seeds are also edible, but it would take a long time to gather enough to be useful.

Etymology: Hindi, meaning 'red' (I think), possibly referring to the color of some of the seeds?

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

sowens or sowans, noun. A Scottish dish made from fermented oat husks.

An account of siege food during the Boer war described it as "a paste closely akin to that used by bill-stickers...a sour kind of mess, but very healthy and filling".

Here's a recipe description from the early 1800s:
The mealy sid, or hull of the ground oat, is steeped in blood-warm water, for about two days, when it is wrung out, and the liquor put through a search [sieve]; if it is too thick, they add a little fresh cold water to it, and then set it on the fire to boil, constantly stirring it, till it thickens, and continuing the boiling till it becomes tough like a paste. In the stirring they add a little salt, and dish it up for table.

The result was usually served with butter or milk.

Etymology: From Gaelic sùghan, juice or sauce.

(I'm posting my Monday word a day early, as this will be a busy week for me.)

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

stroakings, noun. The last milk taken from the cow during a milking.

This last milk obtained from a milking is supposed to be richer than the first.
Many historical cheese recipes list stroakings as an ingredient; one example is slipp-coat cheese (sometimes called green cheese, new cheese, or farmer's cheese).

Etymology: All I found was a reference to being more gentle with the cow, to coax the last milk from it.

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kenno, noun. A cheese made to be eaten at the birth of a child.

Etymology: Scottish, supposedly from "ken no", as no male was supposed to be aware of its existence.

Perhaps a more common term is groaning cheese (a reference to the labors of the woman). Similar concepts are groaning malt (a strong ale provided for the women, or perhaps for the concerned father-to-be), groaning cake, and so forth depending on local tradition.

The cheese was made "for the refreshment of the gossips". In this early context, 'gossip' means a woman invited to attend the birth (originally, from 'god sibb', godparent or sponsor); its use in reference to idle talk came a little later.

Groaning cheese is mentioned as being provided by the husband (along with a cake), so this differs from kenno in that respect; kenno was prepared by the women of the family, and sliced and distributed to the women in attendance at the birth.

Many regional rituals and superstitions surrounded the groaning cheese: it was said to be eaten from the center outward to eventually form a large ring, through which the infant was passed on its christening day; and pieces of the cheese were tossed in "a certain nameless part of the midwife's apparel" (her smock) and given to young women, who were to place it under their pillow and dream of their lovers.

A Warwickshire Word Book says it is generally a sage cheese; Country Folk-lore says it is a Cheshire cheese, accompanied by a spiced rye loaf. The Encyclopedia of Superstitions refers to cake and new cheese. I'd be hungry if it weren't for that smock reference.

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endoré, adj. Gold-covered or gold-colored.

The only use I've seen is in reference to gilded or gold-colored food. Gold has been added to food for centuries, usually in the form of a decorative topping of gold leaf or gold dust. Less expensive sources of gold color include turmeric and saffron (although currently saffron is about $130/oz).

Edible gold leaf must be nearly pure gold, mixed with other edible metals such as silver. Recipes can be found online for risotto topped with gold flake. A local chocolatier makes a "gold-bellied buddha" chocolate: the gold-dusted belly is filled with dark chocolate infused with jasmine green tea.

Etymology: From French or, gold.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

pingle

noun.
1. a small tin pan or saucepan with a long handle.
2. a small piece of inclosed (fenced or surrounded on all sides) ground.

verb.
1. to strive or struggle; to toil without much progress.
2. to dawdle or trifle with one's food; to eat with little appetite.

Etymology: The word seems to originate from Swedish pyngla, to toil with little effect. In use in English since at least the 1600s: "...great drinkers, who for the most part do (as we fay) but pingle at their meat, and eat little" - English naturalist John Ray.

According to The English Dialect Dictionary, pingling is "the act of struggling or striving for a livelihood...without much success". Now that's a word we could use in modern English.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

engastration, n. The stuffing of one animal inside another, before presenting it for dinner.

The obvious modern (American) example is turducken (turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken); I gather that the English equivalent replaces the turkey with a goose.

Etymology: from Greek gaster, abdomen. Although the culinary concept has been around for thousands of years, this term seems to have originated in the early 1800s. I see some more relaxed uses of the word in the late twentieth century (a "philosophic engastration", engastrating a text into one's own, etc.).

Some more examples of engastration gleaned from Google:

A 13th century Andalusian cookbook includes a recipe for "the complete" or "the inclusive", a ram stuffed with assorted cooked birds filled with a breadcrumb stuffing; the stuffed ram is rubbed with spices and oil and cooked in a clay oven.

Trojan boar, a boar stuffed with birds, was apparently a popular food at Roman feasts.

The Invasive Species Cookbook: Conservation Through Gastronomy has a recipe for wild boar stuffed with Chinese mitten crab.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

zarf, noun. A holder, with handle, for a coffee cup without a handle.

The term comes from an Arabic word meaning container, sheath, or envelope. It originally referred to an ornamental holder, often made of metal and decorated with filigree, engraving, or possibly gems. Traditionally, the zarf served as functional adornment of the demitasse or finjan (small cup of Arabic or Turkish coffee): protecting the cup and keeping fingers cool.

The word entered English in the nineteenth century. By the 1970s, the definition had expanded to include less decorative items, such as the plastic holders of disposable paper cups.

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

frush
verb. To batter, to break in pieces.
noun. 1. a clattering or crashing noise; 2. the frog of a horse's foot.

etymology: French froisser, to crease or to crush.

As a culinary term, it once referred to carving certain types of meat; I've seen references to both chicken and chub (fish).

And it brought friends! Samuel Orchart Beeton said:
"In the seventeenth century carving was a science that carried with it as much pedantry as the business of school-teaching does in the present day; and for a person to use wrong terms in relation to carving was an unpardonable affront to etiquette. Carving of all kinds of birds was called, to thy them; a quail, to wing it; a pheasant, to allay it; a duck to embrace it; a hen, to spoil her; a goose, to tare her, and a list of similar techniques too long and too ridiculous to repeat."

An article titled "Obsolete Cookery" in the weekly magazine Household Words (edited by Charles Dickens) contains a similarly colorful list:
"The directions for carving are very quaint. You are to break a deer and to leach brawn...spoil a hen, unbrane a mallard, display a crane, disfigure a peacock...culpon a trout...transon an eel, tranch a sturgeon, undertranch a porpoise, and barb a lobster."

A Google search for the phrase "transon an eel" reveals more animal-specific carving terms.

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Word of the Day!

Entries tagged with theme: food

Thursday Words: Kholodets, Studen, and Zalivnoe

Friday Words: Fond, and other culinary terms

Fond

Sunday Word: Acidulous

Sunday Word: Xocolatophobia

Friday word: Vichyssoise

(Late) Friday word: Zabaglione

shrub

arval

simnel

coodie

pulpatoon

ragi

sowens

stroakings

kenno

endoré

pingle

engastration

zarf

frush, and bonus words

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May 2025

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