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The Write Way 16 December 2005 Food for Thought and an Early Christmas Present ... Greetings, This time of year, we all seem to do more than our fair share of entertaining, don't we? And one of the things I enjoy about having friends around, is going through all my recipe books and deciding what to prepare ... Thinking about it is half the fun! I've mentioned my wall-to-wall collection of recipe books before, so this part of the planning process is always fraught with danger because I've been known to spend an entire afternoon getting sidetracked among these books. A rash invitation extended over the weekend to friends to, "come around for dinner ... I'll do something different," kept me happily browsing for a couple of hours ... And did I find some things different in the pages of my bulkier books! (My favourite books that are those that tell stories and are more than just collections of recipes, and over the years, family and friends have found some little rippers for me.) Bombay DuckI happened upon a couple of Indian books, and in the midst of the curry recipes, spotted Bombay Duck. As you may, or may not know, Bombay Duck is a delicacy eaten as an accompaniment to curry, and it's not actually duck at all, but dried fish.
Bombay Duck starts life as a marine lizardfish, Harpodon nehereus, and it seems there are lots of these in the Ganges Delta and the Arabian Sea of western India. The fish is dried, then it's boned, dunked in brine and dried again before it's rolled and hung out one last time to dry. Finally, it's cut up in rectangular pieces ready for use. The dish itself is usually served fried and has a very strong and pungent flavour that's something of an acquired taste, I believe. (There's a recipe for Bombay Duck in this week's Little Something Extra.) The story goes that when the British were in In'ja (during the British Raj, don'tcha know), they couldn't stand the smell of the fish drying in the sun and complained it reminded them of the smell of the wooden railroad cars of the Bombay Mail train, which turned musty and pungent during the monsoon. Since the Hindi word for mail is "dak," and the train originated in Bombay, it was only a tiny leap across a synapse over a Gin Sling or three one hot afternoon to come up with Bombay-Dak or Bombay-Duck, as one wag must have quipped. Another version of the story is that the British (being such a sensitive lot as we all know) were embarrassed at the Indian name for this dish, 'bummalo' because it reminded them of their rudey bits. So they called it Bombay Duck ... Bummalo ... Bombay Duck ... O-kay ... Apparently there's a dried herring dish called a Digby Chick, and they figured, "why not call another fish dish after another bird?" (The original Digby Chick was a whole herring -- still with its icky bits inside -- that was heavily salted and cold smoked for 2-3 weeks until hard. All this was done at a place called Digby in Nova Scotia, which explains the Digby part but still leaves us wondering about the Chick.) And while we're in the mood for a spot of refreshment, did you know that gin has been around since the early 17th century? It was first made in Holland as a medicine to cure stomach complaints, gout and gallstones. (See? It IS for medicinal purposes!) Apparently the original concoction was pretty awful, so they started adding different things to make it more palatable, and settled on juniper berries. We still remember the origins of gin in the expression "Dutch courage." The story goes that during the Thirty Years' War (1618 - 1648), British troops were given gin to ward off the ills that followed long periods spent in the damp weather. It warmed the cockles of their hearts to such an extent that the soldiers started taking it back home when they finished duty, and soon it was sold in chemists' shops in Britain as well ... One final discovery that I have to share with you comes from one of my Roman history books. I found a couple of recipes for dormice, which you won't be surprised to learn aren't really mice at all, but rather very cute little furry mammals. The Romans were partial to dormice dipped in honey and rolled in poppy seeds, or alternatively, "stuffed with pork, pepper, pine nuts, laser and liquamen, and roasted on a tile in the oven." (Liquamen was a salty fish sauce made from anchovies.) Here are some more Roman recipes for your next Toga Party: And later in this edition, you'll find my early Christmas gift to you ... no peeking! This week's quiz: Moving along from Roman days to the Middle Ages ... here are some culinary terms that were common in Mediaeval times that we still use today: borage, rue, chamomile, hake, confection, verjuice, farce, lamprey, rocket, sandalwood 1. the juice of green or unripened fruits such as grapes and (more commonly) crab apples; a popular ingredient in cookery which often replaced vinegar 2. any of various edible sea fishes resembling or related to the cod 3. stuffing 4. mildly pungent plant grown like spinach and eaten in salads 5. a blue-flowered plant with hairy leaves that taste somewhat like cucumber; used primarily in salads 6. the pulverized wood of an East Indian tree used primarily to color food dark red 7. a plant with yellow flowers whose bitter-tasting leaves were used mostly in herbal cures but occasionally in salads 8. the sugar paste in which whole spices were dipped; used as garnishes and eaten at the end of feasts, to aid digestion 9. any of several plants of the aster family, with scented leaves and small daisy-like flowers; the dried leaves and flowers were used in herbal cures 10. any of a group of eel-like water animals with a funnel-shaped, jawless, sucking mouth And speaking of curries ... here are some great new song titles from the London Curry website: Pass the Chutney - Musical Youth Paperback Raita - The Beatles Mr Tandoori Man - The Byrds Popadum Preach - Madonna Korma Chameleon - Culture Club Tikka Chance on Me - Abba Pilau Talk - Doris Day Livin' Dhal - Cliff Richard Tie Me Vindaloo Down, Sport - Rolf Harris Last week's quiz: 1. Renaissance secular work originating in Italy for voices, with or without instruments, set to a short, lyric love poem - MADRIGAL 2. a stringed instrument of the group including harps, lutes, lyres, and zithers - CHORDOPHONE 3. device used to indicate the tempo by sounding regular beats at adjustable speeds - METRONOME 4. with a light plucking staccato sound - PIZZICATO 5. a musical composition that evokes rural life - PASTORALE 6. quite slow - ARDAGIO 7. a chord whose notes are played in rapid succession rather than simultaneously - ARPEGGIO 8. a brilliant solo passage occurring near the end of a piece of music - CADENZA 9. very soft - PIANISSIMO 10. fast, cheerful - ALLEGRO Never-Ending Story Dr Morgenes ... Elvis ... a talking Rottweiler who dreams of being the next Rin Tin Tin ... Orson Welles ... You name them, we've got them! http://write101-never-ending-story.blogspot.com/ Just click on the Comments button at the end of the entry to add your contribution. If you have friends who fancy themselves as writers, invite them to contribute (just forward this newsletter in its entirety to them). Map of the World I often trawl this for comments to post on my site ... so if you say something about the newsletter or site, be warned, you may end up being read by one of the 2,000+ unique visitors who visit Write101 every day! Make your Mark on the World. Then stop by our Map of the World and read the messages. (Just click List) and add your mark: http://pub37.bravenet.com/guestmap/view.php?usernum=3170114826 A Little Something Extra Ever wondered how some dishes got their name? (Of course you have ... Bombay Duck springs to mind if you've been paying attention today!) What about Apple Charlotte ... Peach Melba ... Beef Wellington ... the humble sandwich ... or an eating binge? Read how all these and more came about here: http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/eh_people.htm And here's that recipe for Bombay Duck:
("Jaggery" is a pure, unrefined sugar that's loaded with all the vitamins and minerals that we usually process out of our sugar.) Christmas Comes Early And my early Christmas present to thank you for your support this past year is a great Indian recipe book. It dates from the 1870s, and as well as recipes for all the expected dishes like curries, kedgerees, chutneys etc, it also has instructions on how to make home-made liqueurs, perfumes and potions. Then there are dozens of useful tips like how to make your own mustard, clarify butter, wash lace, clean feathers and get your marble pristine! All in all, there are 140 pages of recipes ... it's a humdinger! We've discussed Bombay Duck today, and you'll also find the recipe for Mock Turtle to really confuse your friends! Click below to get your copy of 511 Recipes and Things Worth Knowing, and feel free to pass this on to your friends. Just click the Email a Friend link at the top of the page when you open your ebook. Left-click this link and choose to Run or Save it: http://www.write101.com/Write/Indian%20Cookery%20101.exe You'll need these codes: username: indiancook password: 547488222 Word of the week: Asafoetida (n) "the foetid gum resin of various Asian plants of the genus Ferula (especially F. assafoetida, F. foetida, or F. narthex) occurring in the form of tears and dark-coloured masses, having a strong odour and taste, and formerly used in medicine as an antispasmodic and in folk medicine as a general prophylactic against disease. The word comes from an interesting mix ... the Latin foetida (strong smelling) and a Persian word asa (resin)." It's a resin gum which comes from the dried sap from the stem and roots of the wild fennel. The resin is greyish-white when fresh, but dries to a dark amber colour. Chunks of asafoetida resin are too hard to be grated easily, and are traditionally crushed between stones or with a hammer. I once heard that this used to be known as "Devil's dung" or "Devil's breath" because of its interesting aroma ... Oxymoron of the week: mild curry And this week's Latin phrase is for all who may indulge in a fiery curry any time soon ... Quid me nutrit me destruit. [KWID MAY NOO-treet MAY DES-troo-eet] (What nourishes me also destroys me.) Kind regards, Jennifer P.S. Want to donate to the upkeep of this newsletter? Here's how: 1. Pay by PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/affil/pal=jennifer@write101.com OR 2. Click here to subscribe for a full year OR 3. Use your credit card on my secure order form: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm (You can also access the PayPal subscription link from this page if the link above didn't work for you. With PayPal, you can use your credit card, PayPal account or pay online using your own cheque account.) OR 4. Send a cheque (made payable to Jennifer Stewart): http://www.write101.com/fund.htm To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: mailto:WritingTips-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com or go to the web site, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritingTips This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode. Copyright 2005 Jennifer Stewart Individual articles copyrighted by
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