ld We never eat fruitcake because it has rum, And one little slice puts a man on the bum. Oh, can you imagine the pitiful plight Of a man eating fruitcake until he gets tight? A man who eats fruitcake lives a terrible life. He`s mean to his children and beats on his wife. A…
Tag: Fermentation
A Mess of Pottage and a Bite of Bitter Greens: A Brief Look at the Invisible Ethnicity of the English
And Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Genesis 25: 34 Pottage. Or if you prefer: Porridge. Potage. Stew. Gruel. Samp. Meat, vegetables, grain = basic ingredients of pottage. Whatever word you prefer, pottage signifies a dish of those foods in varying quantities. Sometimes this hodgepodge of ingredients is called a mess of lentils,…
Ats Jaar: Possible Origins of the Practice of Pickling in the Antebellum American South
(Note: I am going to be discussing pickling and the English influence on that practice in my next several posts. This is an old post that I think provides an intriguing introduction to this subject.) A little prickle of recognition, a sense of déjà vu — that’s what happened when I turned to page 86 of…
See Jane Cook:* A Word About Sophie Grigson’s Mum
Jane Grigson is the nearest thing that we have on this side of the great green bouillabaisse to M.F.K. Fisher, with learning and wit that are rarely devoted to such a banausic subject as stuffing food down one’s cake hole. ~~ Philip Howard No wonder I’m feeling a bit green. The annual Oxford Food Symposium…
Fermented Foods of the World
For those interested in the impact of fermentation on human history, here’s a useful tool: Fermented Foods of the World: A Dictionary and Guide, by Geoffrey Campbell-Platt (Butterworths, 1987). Now somewhat rare, with a price tag of over $600.00 for at least one used copy available online, it’s not a book that should be checked…
