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jmsaul

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Posts posted by jmsaul

  1. There's undoubtedly someone more knowledgeable about this out there on eGullet, but here's my shot at it.

    I learned the same thing: after the Norman conquest of Britain, we wound up with two words for a lot of things, which is a large part of the reason English is so annoying for people to learn. One was the old, Anglo-Saxon-derived word, and the other was the new Norman French one. Usually (but not always) the food word is the Norman French one. In a non-food context, usually (but not always) the word considered more polite is the Norman French one -- this makes some sense, I guess, as the Normans were the conqueror class.

    So:

    Anglo-Saxon -- Norman French

    pig -- pork

    cow -- beef (older English works refer to cattle themselves as "beeves")

    sheep -- mutton

    chicken -- pullet (this is a case where the Norman French word is obsolete, no idea

    why)

    fish -- [none is used, and I don't know why; might have something to do with the

    word "poison" which would be too close to the French word for fish for

    it to get into common use?]

    food -- viands, victuals (both obsolete, these didn't take); arguably cuisine is a

    synonym of sorts that did

    Non-food:

    want -- desire

    ask -- request, inquire

    hide -- obscure

    rude -- discourteous

    Not about food, but here's a link to SF Writer Poul Anderson's take on what English might look like if it had never been influenced by Latin or French. Gives you an idea just how many words we'd lose.

  2. Sounds like "Oh-Moo Rice" is a slight variation in both name and contents on the Japanese dish omuraisu, whose name in turn is a Japanization of the English words "omelette rice." (Heh. And of course English borrowed the word "omelette" from French--all so cross-cultural, innit? :smile: )

    It sure does sound like that. Interesting! The local variation (as you might expect from a diner version) is much bigger than the omuraisu pictures. Good, too... Haven't had one in years, but I'm starting to get a craving...

  3. Around here (Ann Arbor, MI), we've got a lot of Korean diners, so Bi Bim Bab is a big diner item. They also often serve Oh-Moo Rice, which is an omelet filled with Korean fried rice, and then topped with Korean hot sauce. One place has a "Bulgogi Hoagie" as well. All are excellent, and a departure from the usual diner fare.

    We've also got a wonderful place called Angelo's, where their signature Eggs Benedict uses thick slices of Angelo's homemade bread in place of the English muffins. Had one of those last week (not something you want to eat too often, unlike the Korean food, which is pretty healthy).

  4. Anyway, they had this one sandwich called the "Steamroller" which seemed interesting. It was a turkey melt essentially with turkey, ham and melted provolone- the twist was that the sandwich bread was dipped in egg and fried made like french toast. I did order it for the sake of trying something unique- unfortunately it was not as good as I hoped. The french toast made the sandwich way too sweet.

    This sounds a lot like something I've seen called a "Monte Cristo". Turkey, ham, and cheese, then battered and deep-fried, with powdered sugar on top and a side of jam. Seriously.

  5. I find that I go to certain restaurants BECAUSE i want 8, 2 bite plates, and I go to other places because I just want to have a great piece of meat or fish etc...  Certain places are just made for tasting menus and others are made for a la carte.

    Anyone agree?

    Yes! It's nice to have variety.

  6. "Allium" is Latin for "garlic", so you would need more information to identify it. The over harvested until it went extinct in the wild sounds more like silphion/silphium/laserpitium which is an extinct form of ferula (giant fennel).

    I read about this in a Roman cookbook a few years back. When I get home, I'll look it up and post what they actually said, because I'm not sure I'm remembering accurately.

  7. The truly forgotten vegetable I'd like to try is the relative of garlic that was a staple of Roman cooking. Unfortunately, they were apparently never able to raise it commercially, and it supposedly became extinct due to overharvesting. Allium, or something like that.

  8. I can't decide whether I do. After reading the "What's the sickest you've ever gotten" thread, I'm kind of leaning toward no. But still...

    XI.NightMkt1.DSC_0455.small.jpg

    We're in the Muslim Night Market in Xi'an, China. It's a touristy area, but despite the English on that one sign, most of the tourists are mainland Chinese.

    The woman in the picture above is making these small, steamed cakes that kind of look like idlis. (You can see the wooden steamers at the left on her stand.) They're decorated with jewellike pieces of dried fruit and other less-recognizable things. They're utterly beautiful, and unlike anything else I've seen or heard of in China.

    I passed on them, because I spent a lot of time in Mexico City when I was a kid so I'm risk-averse about street food, and I didn't want to spend the next few days being sick. It was probably a good decision, because I had one of the ten best meals of my life a couple nights later at a Szechuan restaurant in Beijing, and I wouldn't want to have missed that. And we went to a very nice place right off the night market that we were told was safe, and it was good. We have a lot of other great food memories from that trip (including some photos).

    But I still wonder what the heck they were, and how they tasted, and if I could have gotten away with it...

  9. There's a restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, that everyone knows as <a href="http://www.kitchenchick.com/2004/06/the_rest_in_nia.html">The Rest</a>. It has a perfectly good name -- the Stone Road Grill -- but nobody uses it. Apparently, when it opened they hadn't finished painting over the previous name on the awning, and everyone got used to the awning just saying "REST" so they left it that way. Great place, and more of a locals' secret than a tourist restaurant.

  10. forgive me if this was discussed on previous pages...

    What are we doing about lunch on Saturday?

    After we're done at the Creamery we'll be heading down to the Farmer's Market area, where there are lots of lunch options - there's Kosmo Deli in the market with excellent Bi Bim Bop, Kav's Kafe with really good quiche and more, Zingerman's Deli, Mysore Woodlands vegetarian Indian, and more. Lunch will be on your own. If there's something particular someone's interested in, I'll be happy to offer suggestions.

    Kav's is, alas, now gone.

    However, you forgot Monahan's Fish Market -- where Mike will cook anything in the case for you while you watch! (My favorite place for seafood in Ann Arbor...)

  11. New poster here, but long-time Ann Arbor resident.

    I second the recommendation on Sabor Latino -- the tacos are good, and relatively cheap, and I eat them a lot. It isn't the true al pastor experience, because our health department wouldn't let them cook the meat the proper way, but it's still good stuff. (The idea of slices of marinated raw meat, layered with onions and sometimes pineapple, cooked on a big rotating skewer that works like one of those gyros machines, freaked out the health inspectors. They'd probably get away with it in an area with a larger Latino population, where there's better cultural awareness.)

    I can also tell you that Big World bakery is good. Great challah (I prefer it over Zingerman's), and their handmade version of -- one of those Hostess things, Ding-Dongs, maybe -- are amazing.

    For Ethiopian, though, I'd go to Red Sea, out in Ypsilanti, rather than the Blue Nile. The flavors are bolder (MUCH bolder based on a recent visit to Blue Nile; either it's gotten milder or our expectations are higher), Ethiopians tell us it's more authentic, and it's cheaper. And there's a wider variety of dishes. And you can order individual ones, or combinations, as you please. Coming from Ann Arbor, go out Washtenaw, and it's in the shopping strip on the right after Dairy Queen. Seriously -- if you like Blue Nile, you should really try Red Sea.

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