Hopping John & Limping Kate (1884)

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 3/10/02 10:24:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, Bapopik at AOL.COM
quoth:

> SOUTHERN FARE AS SEEN AT CHARLESTON:
      <snip>
>     Hominy, "the staff of life" in the South, is the universal breakfast
dish,
>  and each well trained child is required to break its fast with it before
> eating anything else.

An anacronistic piece of gender-neutrality?  It seems strange to see a child
(other than an infant) referred to as "it"

> Southern hominy when uncooked is known as grits.

In my experience "grits" means ground hominy, whether cooked or uncooked.

     <snip>
> as it is made of flint corn (a kind into which all varieties are said to be
changed
> on the islands near Charleston) it has a sweeter flavor than Northern
hominy.

Can you decypher the above?  Sweet corn (Zea mays rugosa) cannot be converted
into flint corn (Z. mays indurata).

        <snip>
>  an unknown scarlet fish offered
> for sale in the fish market was called by the colored vender "Pompey's
nose."

I suspect the vender was selling "pompano", which MWCD10 dates as 1778.  It
is an unusually erudite fishmonger of any race who is familiar with Gnaeus
Pompeius Magnus.

    <snip>
>     Rice is usually boiled, but when fried with tomatoes is called "pilau,"

According to the crossword puzzle in yesterday's (March 10) Philadelphia
Inquirer, "pilau" is a variant spelling of "pilaf"

        <parsnip>
>     Brazilian nuts are only known as butternuts, and peanuts are almost
> invariably called ground-nuts, although sometimes pindars.

Brazil nuts?  MWCD10 says the "butternut" is a tree of the walnut family
(Juglandaceae) whereas the Brazil nut comes from a tree of the family
Lecythidaceae.
MWCD10 also says that "groundnut" is "chiefly Brit."
To continue the theme of erudite fishmongers, were :"pindars" named after the
classical Greek poet.?

In a message dated 3/11/02 4:23:45 AM Eastern Standard Time, Bapopik at AOL.COM
quoth:

>    OYSTER BLANKET--This is sometimes called in the country "pig in a
blanket."

Not to be confused with "pigs in a blanket", which is sausages rolled in a
pancake?

        - Jim Landau