scale / fabrication etc.

[Victor Steinbok]

Yet more kitchen and culinary terminology /not/ in OED (or somewhat
mistreated).

First, a bit of definitional understatement.

Scale, n.2 5.c. "The hard deposit or 'fur' which gathers in boilers and
other vessels in which water is habitually heated. (Rarely pl.)"
Examples are limited to 1875-1883 and to commercial [steam-]boilers.
(Note the 1848 example separately below.)

This is somewhat restricted use--apparently old editors never made tea
for themselves. Anyone who has ever boiled unfiltered water, especially
in areas with hard water, such as Southern Wisconsin or Upstate New
York, has had to deal with calciferous deposits at the bottom of any tea
pot or kettle (especially the cordless electric type now prevailing in
the kitchen) that has to be periodically removed by applying vinegar
solution to it. Occasionally identified as "lime", it is usually
referred to as "scale". [It's actually mostly calcium sulphate that one
of the OED examples identifies as "sulphate of lime".]

Even the listed use needs some post-dating--one of the first GB hits was
a 1906 volume titled "Boiler-waters: Scale, Corrosion, Foaming"
http://goo.gl/PTZh5

And, I suspect, the word still applies to hard deposits on commercial
boilers. But this does not mean that the regular kitchen use should be
ignored.

More evidence of current usage:

http://goo.gl/WGsAS
> Jiffy 0898 Liquid Cleaner--Removes Scale & Hard Water Deposits from
> Steam Boilers, 10oz Bottle

The fact that this is found on a website dedicated to sawing machines
and appliances and is sold in such minute sizes, suggests that it is not
intended for commercial boilers--or even for boilers of domestic central
water heaters, but rather for clothes steamers and similar products
(e.g., spray-nozzles of steam irons). So this usage of "scale" is quite
pervasive.

Also note 5.b. " b. /Salt-making./ An incrustation of dirt or lime on
the pan bottoms." The first example in 5.c. is
> 1848 Knapp's Chem. Technol. I. 269   Some [brown scum] attaches itself
> to the bottom of the [salt] pans (the scale).

I maybe ignorant, but "salt-pan" seems to refer to salt-making. It's
probably just a typo, with the example from 5.b. drifting down in the
electronic editions. (There are some places in the OED Online where
examples for several subentries are intentionally lumped together, as
there is usually only one of each, but this does not appear to be the
case here.)

"Fabrication"--and the related verb "fabricate", as well as
"fabricating"--is a bit more complicated.

Fabricate and fabrication both have two senses covered--one
manufacturing and one falsification/forging. Since the entry for
fabrication 1.a-b. just sends us back to fabricate 1.a and 1.e, it's
better to look at the verb.

1. a. /trans/. To make anything that requires skill; to construct,
manufacture. Now rare. [Exs. 1598-1872]
c. with immaterial object. Also absol. [Exs. 1621-1875]
+d. Used for: To produce factitiously. /Obs/. [1776]
e. To form (semi-finished metal stock or other manufacturing material)
into the shape required for a finished product; also with the product as
/obj/. [Exs. 1926-1971]

Although 1.a. may be "trans." and all the examples apply to making or
creation of objects (e.g., 1678 "God Fabricated the Earth."), it may be
the closest albeit not identical to the culinary meaning of "fabricate".
There is a semantic difference as well, as the object in 1.a. is
something that is being created, while the object in the culinary
version is something that something else is being created /from/. For
example, when one fabricates fish, the product may be fish fillets.
Fabricating beef involves particular preparation for individual cuts or,
indeed, subsequent cutting after initial butchering (e.g., fabricating a
roast into steaks). But it's not even that simple--one can fabricate a
rack of lamb or a steak and the product will still be a rack of lamb or
a steak, respectively. "Frenching" the rack is an type of
fabrication--stripping ends of rib bones and pulling the meat back
toward the loin. Fabricating a steak may involve trimming fat and other
undesirable portions or cutting it down to a specific size intended as a
single serving.

To the best of my knowledge, "fabricate", "fabrication", "fabricating"
(in derivative sense) applies to fish, shellfish, beef, pork, veal and
other meats (lamb, goat, rabbit, elk, venison, boar). I've never heard
the term applied to poultry, although that would not surprise me. Nor
have I heard it expressed with respect to anything other than main
culinary "proteins", although "fabricating mushrooms into a burger" or
"fabricating broccoli into steaks" does not appear so far-fetched.

There are whole volumes written specifically on culinary fabrication.
Here's one for fabricating fish:
http://goo.gl/zNwyb

"Protein" in the sense of "flesh or main ingredient", usually
identifying the kinds of food listed in the paragraph above or their
vegetarian substitutes (e.g., mushroom burger), also is /not/ in the
OED. These include all seafood: fish, crustaceans and mollusks; all
meat: beef, pork, veal, lamb, goat, buffalo, elk, venison, rabbit and
other game; all poultry: chicken, duck, goose, turkey, ostrich, quail,
game birds; bugs and other arthropods or related species; vegetarian
substitutes: tofu, tempeh, seitan and other extracted gluten, various
grain and mushroom preparations intended to imitate or substitute for
meat. Oddly enough, "sausage" falls under protein, but not meat, as the
ingredients may well fall beyond a variety of meat and poultry,
including seafood and vegetarian alternatives.

I also disagree with "Biochem." label on "protein" in the OED entry. It
is now firmly a nutritional category that is no longer identical with
its biochemical origins. Hence "protein source" is not among the
preferred compounds in the OED either. "Protein-free" and "protein-rich"
are.

If anyone needs specific examples, I'll be happy to oblige. For me,
these are examples from ordinary speech--"scale" from everyday kitchen
and "fabrication" and "protein" from restaurant/culinary jargon that is
readily accessible in a variety of TV shows, especially reality shows
that involve professional chefs. And anything that appears in a popular
TV show quickly makes it into print, e.g., Food sections of newspapers.

     VS-)

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