Carrot Top

These folks might have some ideas about exactly what the South is: Southern Food and Beverage Museum P.S. Didn't take the Yankee/Southerner test 'cause I knew I'd cheat. As a matter of fact, I just changed the word "people" in my first sentence above to "folks" upon a second's hesitation. (When in Rome. . . )

Mmm hmmm. Then *or* now. I love the internet too. I can not imagine otherwise learning so much about the history of the potato, through the auspices of The Potato Museum. Ahhh. Potatoes.

It's true that to say "And now, for your palate-cleanser, we will serve. . ." is *not* terribly romantic. But your dinner was lovely even without this mysterious word we seek, and proof of the worth of the romantic pudding was shown by the lady's acceptance of proposal at the end of it. Sooner or later, the word will pop into someone's mind, and I *do* hope they will post it here when that happens. Sigh.

Great minds think alike. I just logged back on to say that what I *meant* to say was Arts Culinaire. Now, I am going out for a walk and hopefully I will remember where I am and how to get home.

Heh. Yeah. It seems like one of those words that would have been used in like. . .the first four issues of Food Arts Magazine. ................................ I do have a tip for you, though. Whenever you forget a word, just substitute "thingie". It's quite a pleasant way to live.

Seriously, I think that there is such a word and that it was one of those words used in certain places during a specific period of time. An American slang version that meant "palate cleanser" but yet was in French (so to speak) but not really *from* the French language. So it might *not* be recognized as a "real" word by Francophones. That would explain why my focus went to thinking of Cajun cooking when trying to remember the word - my memory stems from restaurants of North America rather than of France. Sigh. Really, this is alternately funny and terrible.

The Daniel speaks in mysterious ways. We all know that there is *much* life and many words dehors l'Academie.

Well then, it might be a case of mass hallucination or something of the sort, for I *still* think there is a word such as you describe, as does Mark. But that may be just because of your persuasiveness. I dunno. I still expect that sometime, maybe several months from now, the word will just jump into my mind. It is definitely in hiding at the moment, for sure. Till then, I'm off to take some Ginko Biloba,

Your last statement goes without question. As far as the Medieval Period goes, my thought was that it was that King Arthur thing, the age of chivalry and all that that attracted people. That, plus one could throw the bones from the food nonchalantly over your shoulder directly onto the floor and have some servant or even your dog clean it up. What fun! The combination of chivalry and boorishness, combined with lots of ale. What's not to like?!

I think so, Janet. I've found one already. And she is that wonderful thing, a librarian. Sigh. I'll PM you her e-mail.

Here's a listing from the American Library Association (Association of College and Research Libraries) of cookery and culinary history websites. It looks as if it were published in 2003, so likely could use an update, but then again, this may not be something they focus upon. It *would* be a boon for any site to be on this list, though, I imagine - it implies a stamp of approval given by a group that actively measures publications worths based on reliability of information. Or so I have been told.

You mean bodegas? ← Yes, that's it. Thank you. I kept thinking "albondigas" (which of course means "meatballs") and could not get past that. Obviously I have eaten too much Halloween candy over the past several days.

It sounds absolutely wonderful to me, Janet. I know someone who might be interested - she is a part of this group here in my town: http://culinarycollection.org/ I'll talk to her about it. She loves food history. I like it too, but merely to wander around in sometimes. I don't have the stick-to-it-ive-ness of the true historian. It's books that I love, and books that carry history (no matter how one can argue it) are lovely things.

Yeah, well now I've caught it from you. I was talking to someone just a bit ago and tried to say the colloquial word for "Mexican corner store" and can not for the life of me think of it though I know I know it well. Oh dear. Lorna - no, the other word I was thinking of is something else. AaaaaAAAAH! This is terrible! But awfully funny, too.

Just ran across this article which argues that eating out is actually cheaper. Is eating out cheaper than cooking? Ahh. The pleasures of economic rhetoric.

This is quite an impressive project, isn't it. Amazing. ................................................................................... The popularity of the Medieval sites is well won, I think. They are interesting, amusing, and often well designed. It does lead me to wonder what initially drew people to focus on this period over others as that period of time is so well-loved by those who immerse themselves in historic cookery. .................................................................................... It looks like Rogov is working on a book: (From his site Rogov's Ramblings). Hmmm. If I were to imagine myself into taking on the role of a character in that book, which one would I want to be I wonder.

There is another word that is more like slang that is similar to amuse-bouche which of course I can not think of now. I think of it more often in terms of Cajun cooking for some reason. It's not lagniappe. Something else.

Bazillion links is right! And I *always* need to know more about peanut butter. It is my secondary subject, right after hot dogs.

The The Food Museum Online also has some good resources.

If you do date a swan, please be sure to bring along plenty of crispels, Steve.

Those sites look fantastic, Janet! I don't know if it is "just me" though, but the links are not working. If it is just my computer, I'll hunt them up separately. . .lovely stuff.

Grunts are too.

I absolutely agree with you, Milagai. I was being lazy in my writing this morning. My mind to itself says "beans" or "pulses", with pulses being equal to meat in flexibility in application to designing maincourse recipes, beans slightly less so. I stopped saying "pulses" out loud though for when I would say to someone "I think I'll start off my dinner with a pulse today" people thought I was merely wisecracking.

The texture seems to hint of something that came from an alien space-ship when it hits my lips, and the taste is of petroleum.

I find that when I am not really "paying attention", incredible amounts of money are spent on food. When one is dashing around, trying to fit doing things into the time available, the time becomes the focus and the $$ focus goes right out the door. That's a very common problem in the way many of us live today, and the intensity of the conusmer society that we live in drenches us in the ethos of it further. Several weeks ago I got disgusted at the whole thing. I tried several things - the first was that instead of trying to plan menus that would fit the week, I would go "day by day" (sort of like that AA thing ). Because when I plan and buy for the week, the week invariably changes in what happens, schedules change, and nothing ever really works out as planned (two middle-school kids in the house contribute to this occurence. . ). Then of course things either end up getting stuck in the freezer, or "lost" to be finally tossed. . so on and so forth. Plus when I buy a huge cartload of groceries I tend to start feeling that "more more more" thing. If I have this much, then why don't I get even more? I went to the grocery store once a day, briefly, in the afternoon - a quick stop in. Instead of planning the meal based on *meat* I started the plan with veggies. For often the veggies follow the meat, and really I prefer it to be the other way. It actually does come out to be more economical, but my original intent was merely taste, and healthiness. Chose my favorite fresh veggie. Often the best ones *are* the least expensive, for well. . .seasonality, you know. Then went and chose a grain - rice, or lentils, or potatoes, or barley, or pasta. . .whatever came to mind as melding into a dish well with the veggie. Then went on to choose the meat/seafood/poultry to finish the "canvas" so to speak. Then if a can of tomatoes, or a spice, or whatever-to-add was needed, I swooped back through the store on the way to the registers, to collect it. I was stunned both at the ease, the relaxed-ness of the whole thing. . and was surprised at the cost. I did not exceed spending ten dollars per day (!) on these things. . .which did make lovely fresh dinners with leftovers for sandwiches or thermos-containers for lunch the next day perhaps dolled up a little. Naturally, I got "busy" and started going back to the more usual way of shopping. .and the $$ went right back up again. It's focus. Just focus. But what a precious thing to be able to clasp to oneself when possible.