RI cookbooks, articles

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   NOW my Nets beat the Lakers....Safire discusses "smoking gun" this week.
Didn't he do that before?..It's finally gotten warmer out here in NYC.
   A few tidbits before I go "navel"-gazing and check in at Brooklyn's
Victory Memorial Hospital.


A RHODE ISLANDER COOKBOOK
by the Providence Journal-Bulletin
1962  (A stamp here says 1967.  Check library catalog--ed.)

Pg. 5:  BAKED STUFFED CLAMS.  (I didn't, unfortunately, see the word
"stuffies."  The next DARE will have what?--ed.)
Pg. 15:  Put a bushel pf softshell clams (better known as R.I. "steamers") on
top of the wire mesh.  (The next DARE has what for "steamers"?--ed.)



JUST A FEW TRIED AND TRUE RECEIPTS:
BEING A MANUSCRIPT COOK-BOOK PRINTED AND SOLD FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE
PROVIDENCE DAY NURSERY ASSOCIATION AND SOCIAL SETTLEMENT WORK IN THE CITY OF
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
1916

Pg. 44:  PHILADELPHIA CINNAMON BUN.  (Not called "sticky bun" here--ed.)
Pg. 54:  APPLE JONATHAN.
Pg. 141:  MIGNONS.  (Butter, sugar, egg yolks, almonds, flour, Rumford Baking
Powder, cinnamon, vanilla extract--ed.)
Pg. 168:  MONACO SANDWICHES.  (Eggs and salmon or shrimps--ed.)
Pg. 169:  BOSTON SANDWICHES.  (Boston brown bread, Neufchatel cheese, olives,
peanuts--ed.)
Pg. 175:  JANUARY THAW.  (Brown sugar, milk, nuts, butter--ed.)



TESTED RECIPES:
CONTRIBUTED BY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE RICHMOND VISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION
Richmond, RI
1925 (?)
(unpaginated--ed.)

PHILIPINO ROLL
FILIPINO ROLL
POTATO VOLCANO
TOCKWOTTEN COOKIES
NELLIE HAWK'S COOKIES
SNIPPY DOODLES
SNICKERDOODLES
JEWISH DANTIES (Rugelach?  Dainties?--ed.)
1 cup flour, well sifted
1 cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
   Mix night before using, and set on ice.  In morning roll out, cut in
squares, turn over each point and bake.  Put in each a little jam, jelly or
lemon filling.
   Mrs. Hinchliffe, Carolina.
CHINESE CHEWS
SPANISH CLUB SANDWICHES
MILK SHAKE  (Not a "cabinet"!--ed.)



A RHODE ISLAND RULE BOOK
by Leah Inman Lapham
Providence, RI: Oxford Press
1939
Reprinted, March 1945

Pg. 8:  JOHNSTON SPANKS (A.M.P.)...JOHNNY CAKES.
Pg. 9:  KEACH CAKES (Blanche).
Pg. 28:  MONKEY FACES.



THE RHODE ISLAND HANDBOOK
by Mark Patinkin
illustrated by Don Bousquet
N. Attleborough, Mass.: Covered Bridge Press
1994

Pg. 33:  WORDS I'D WISHED I'D HAVE PUT IN "THE RHODE ISLAND DICTIONARY"
Meatbowls--(Enhances Pahster.)
Motta--(Someone who likes to suffa.)(PS: That's "martyr" by the way, not
"mother."  Though some say the two words are synonymous.)
Torque--(Talk.)
Yerp--(Continent west of Ay-zher.)

Pg. 24:  THE DIALECT TERM I SEARCHED FOR IN VAIN LAST BOOK AND FINALLY FOUND
THIS TIME.
   "The Rhode Island Glottal Stop."

Pg. 118:
   RHODE ISLAND'S FOUR MAJOR LIQUID FOOD GROUPS
Coffee milk.
Del's Frozen Lemonade.
Quahog Chowder.
Awful-Awfuls.  (Joonya Orfuls-Orfuls also available.)
   FOUR MORE RHODE ISLAND LIQUID FOOD GROUPS
Coffee Cabinets.
Iced coffee.
Dunkin Donuts coffee--regula.
And finally:
Coffee syrup (straight up).

Pg. 120:
   OFFICIAL LOCAL CONDIMENT
Vinega.
But it only counts on fries.
   THREE MAJOR FOOD GROUPS
Grindas.
Grindas.
And grindas.

Pg. 121:
   THE RHODE ISLAND SANGWIDGE
See "Grindas" above.
Though if you call it a sandwich, you're allowed to use wheat bread.
You're not, however, allowed to call it a Roe Dyelin sangwidge if you simply
fill it with turkey and mayo.
You have to go ethnic.
In most places, order an eggplant parmesan sandwich on white, and you might
cause a riot.
Here, no one would blink.

Pg. 124:
   THE SHAW DINNA
   Some here say the closest thing to a secular temple in Rhode Island is the
Rocky Point Shore Dinner Hall, consecrated to the worship of clamcakes and
chowder.  And corn and fries.  And cole slaw.  And bakeed fish with creole
sauce.  And don't forget the boiled lobster, boiled chicken and linguine with
clam sauce.  And fish and chips.  And did I mention the Indian pudding and
watermelon?
   After the above is consumed during early evening services, it's
traditional to ride the Plunge and the Corkscrew roller coaster.
   Then you eat a doughboy--a ring of fried fat the size of an El Dorado
hubcap--and call it a Rhode Island night.
   RHODE ISLAND'S VERSION OF FAST FOOD:  FAST FISH
   The standout example is clam cakes.  They were made famous by the Rocky
Point Palladium which has a special window offering an elaborately
well-thought-out menu of Rhode Island choices giving you the option of
clamcakes, clamcakes, clamcakes, or clamcakes.
   DECIDING WHAT TO ORDER FOR DINNER, RHODE ISLAND VERSION
   "Stot with chowda, Chollie?"
   "Fine, Dahris, and maybe we split a plate of stuffies.  You want anything
else for an app?"
   "Maybe some steamiz and clamcakes.  But only if they have the lih'il
necks.  What do you like for the main cawse?"
   "Not a grinda, I had one for lunch: sorsage and peppiz."
   "Let's go with a New Yawk System, Chollie.  Or do they seuhve Saugies
here?"
   "What difference?  Wenniz ah weeniz.  They're all bellybustiz to me."
   "Weeniz ahnt weeniz, Chollie.  There's nuthin' like a Pawdog."



9-23, 1998, PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, pg. D-11
_NATIVES' GUIDE TO GREATER RHODE ISLAND_
_Tasty tidbits we call our own_
Awful-Awfuls...
Coffee milk...
Clamcakes...
Doughboys--Elsewhere they're called fried-dough. (...)
The Dynamite--Comes to us courtesy of Woonsocket--A long submarine roll
covered with a mixture of ground meat, tomato sauce, peppers, onions and
other spices.  You can get them at restaurants in the Woonsocket area, but
the locals there say they really should be made at home by mom.
French fries--A real native drowns her French fries in vinegar (cider vinegar
please, none of that red wine stuff).  (...)
Gaggers, bellybusters, weiners (sic)--You can probably get these elsewhere,
but we sure do consume a lot of these little hot dogs smothered with mustard,
relish, onions, chili sauce and celery salt.  We even have a whole chain of
stores named--what else--New York Systems.
Indian pudding--a cornmeal and molasses pudding.  Don't say "yuck," it's a
killer when served hot with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream melting over
the top.  Gets you through our long gray winters.
Johnnycakes...
Malassadas---A cousin to the doughboy.  (Not in the revised OED--ed.) (...)
Saugy--Our own hot dog; we order 'em by name.  They've been around 100 years
or so and snap and spew when broken--due to those natural lamb casings, no
doubt.  What's in 'em?  Veal, pork jowls, beef, shaved ice, nonfat dry milk,
secret spices and "a little" sodium notrate.  Yum.
Stuffies--A few little pieces of rubbery clams mixed in  with lots of
breadcrumbs and spices and then mounded back inside a quahog shell and
sprinkled with paprika.  Best consumed at a bar abd washed down with a nice
cold beer.
Zeppole...

_NATIVES' GUIDE TO GREATER RHODE ISLAND_
_What we're really trying to say is..._
(...)
Bubbla: A drinking fountain.
Cabinet:  A milk shake or a frappe.  A cabinet is milk and ice cream; an ice
cream soda is ice cream and soda water; a milk shake is syrup and milk.  You
won't get any strange looks around here if you belly up to an ice cream bar
and say, "I'd like a coffee (or chocolate, or vanilla) cainet, please."
Cleansers:  It's "cleaners" everywhere else.
(...)
Frankfoots: Hot dogs, like they serve in Germany.
Grinda: A grinder here is a sub, a torpedo or a hoagie elsewhere.
(...)
Quahog: The Indian word for clam.  Tiny clams, called cherrystones, are eaten
raw on the half-shell; little necks appear cooked as clams casino.  Chowders
are big and tough, so they're usually cut up for chowder and for
stuffies--stuffed quahogs.  See, we've come to call chowders quahogs.  And we
argue about how to spell quahog (or quahaug?) and how to say it (KWAW-hawg or
KO-hawg?).  But we love our clams.
Rhode Island: The name of the state is pronounced Rud-EYE-lin.
(...)
Sangwich: Sandwich.
(...)
Tumaytuz, peppuz: Tomatoes, peppers.
(...)




8-20-1989, PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, pg. M-04
_R. I. SPEAKS_
by MARRY ANN SORRENTINO
(...)
"American bread": The soft loaf in the plastic bag.  As opposed to "bread":
the crusty Italian loaf purchased at the bakery,. which, in Rhode Island,
exists on nearly every block.
"Bubbler"...
"Cleansers"...
"Doughboy"...
"Down-cella"...
"Downtown":  No matter what direction you're coming from, if you're heading
for Providence, you're heading "downtown."  (Note: Rhode Islanders over 60
may say "down-city.")
Identification by emploer...
"Jitney"...
"New York ystem"...
Past tense--present tense:  A grammatical construction that produces such
oddities as "She went and see" and "They came and buy."  (Legend has it that
the infinitive was lost in the hurricane of '38.)
"Regular coffee": Coffee with cream and sugar.
"Snail salad": Garden inhabitants crawling through piles of lettuce may
spring to mind, but this is a seafood dish.
"Twenty minutes": The amount of time Rhode Islanders say it takes to drive
from "downtown" (Providence) to almost any other point in the state.  Rhode
Island's size notwithstanding, don't believe it.



5-14-1991, PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, pg. E-01
_To a youngsta in Utah, a pitcha of Rhode Island_
by MARK PATINKIN
(...)
      And speaking of language, we use it in other novel ways, too.  If you
come here and someone barks at you: "Jee-jet?"  This simply means, "Did you
eat yet?"  Once they get to know you, they will be more familiar and simply
say, "Jeet?"
(...)