LL-L "Delectables" 2009.12.11 (03) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 11 December 2009 - Volume 03
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From: Tomás Ó Cárthaigh <tomasocarthaigh at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Delectables" 2009.12.11 (02) [EN]

I used to always think potatoe cake was an Irish dish until Polish freinds
of mine told me they got it from Germans - one of the few positives from
that particular relationship, lol - and the recipe is the same as ours.

Boxty is a variant, both very popular in the northern half of Ireland.
Locally in Offaly, a funny version which is basically a ball of flour in
breadcrumbs fried and tastes very watery is current.

Local chippers do a deep fried version which is not too bad, but the real
potatoe cake is the best.

Its known as Tattie Scones in Ulster Scots and Lallans, and Pretabred in
Hibero-English.

Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

*"a person with a good book is never alone... a writer until they've written
one is never at peace" *

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Delectables

Thanks for your contributions to the potato theme, guys.

What other foods do folks eat in this festive season?

I know that in many regions of the Netherlands and Northern Germany it is
traditional to eat kale in the Christmas season. Although we did like eating
kale in the winter months this was not specific to the Christmas season when
I grew up.

In the Netherlands and Belgium, *speculaas* is a traditional baked treat in
the Christmas season, known in Northern Germany as *Spekulatius*, also in
Scandinavia. In Walloon and French it became known as *spéculoos*, probably
imported via Western Flemish. Hasselt in Belgium is particularly known for
its *speculaas*. I believe that most types of Christmas baked goods
associated with Germany (e.g. *Lebkuchen* and *Christstollen*) are of
southern origin. Apparently, less sophisticated spiced baked goods of
similar types, namely gingerbread in the broadest sense, used to be eaten in
Northern Germany prior to the introduction of the *speculaas* from the
Dutch-speaking neighbors. As far as I know, those were called *peperko(u)ken
* ("peppercakes", also German *Pfefferkuchen*). These made their way to
various parts of the Hanseatic trade region, e.g. Danish *peberkager*,
Norwegian *pepperkaker*, Swedish *pepparkaka*, Latvian *piparkūkas*,
Estonian *piparkoogid*, Finnish *piparkakkut*. In Dutch and Afrikaans these
are called *peperkoek*. The Scots version is *gibbery*.

I can never take my family as typical, since three of my grandparents grew
up in the east (Mecklenburg-Lower Pomerania, Eastern Prussia, and
Lusatia-Lower Silesia) and the fourth (to whom I was not close) was raised
by a mother from Eastern Prussia.

We used to have potato salad with wieners on New Year's Eve, often on
Christmas Eve. We never had goose and only much later had turkey.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

•

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