Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Cooking the Books / Fun and Games An Insult So Subtle
Posted by Nicki Wood on Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 8:20 AM
In Carrington's post last week on the Joy of Cooking versus New York Times Cookbook she recalled her parents' arguing over the proper pronunciation of the cheese-and-toast dish called Welsh rarebit.
My position for a long time was that it was "rarebit" because there is already something called "rabbit." But then someone explained to me that cheese sauce on toast is what's for dinner when a Welshman goes rabbit hunting. It's a subtle insult, unless you're Welsh, in which case it's a comment on the national marksmanship (or lack of persistence--I don't know which.)
That got me thinking about other food name insults. There's the Italian beverage called "Caffe Americano," which is perfectly good espresso watered down with hot water for the vulgar tastes of the tourists.
But then I ran out of examples. There are funny names (pope's nose, hamantaschen, nun's nipples, the imam fainted) and aspirational ones (Cuba libre), but insults? Anyone come up with the names of dishes that are insults?
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The term actually originated in Jerusalem in 207 A.D. The dish was named for a religious leader who was notorious for not covering his bets, and it was called "Welshing Rabbi." And of course there was no meat on the dish, since kosher laws forbid mixing meat and dairy.
You Anglos think you started everything.
