Dolsot

[Victor Steinbok]

A local Korean restaurant that's been open at least since 1986 has been
serving Dolsot bibimbap as long as I can remember. The problem, of
course, is if the usage has been integrated. The 1990s menus certainly
identified that "stone bowl" as "dolsot" in the description of the dish,
but, again, the issue is incorporation vs. mere foreign word reference.
And tracking down those menus would be impossible--the restaurant burnt
down twice, resurfacing in a slightly new idiom each time.

A note on full incorporation: I've looked up a number of French culinary
terms that are undoubtedly incorporated today (e.g., names of various
sauces, such as bechamel or veloute). Aside from spellings with and
without diacritics, there seems to be some confusion in the old OED
articles for these terms. First, most of them can be easily antedated by
an average of 30 years. Second, even these late examples often produce
unincorporated menu items as legitimate examples--something most of us
would not dream of doing with more contemporary borrowings. Still, when
it comes to native food-related items, or other symbols of domesticity,
perhaps relaxing the full-incorporation standard is not the worst idea.

     VS-)

On 1/25/2013 2:27 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> Dolsot (also spelled "dol sot") is in the Seattle Times today =
> (http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020208625_sarah25xml.html). =
> It's the "stone" bowl that bibimbap is sometimes served in. The dolsot =
> gives the rice that semi-crunchy texture like half-burned macaroni in a =
> casserole.=20
>
> Dolsot isn't in Wiktionary, the OED or the AHD. Wikipedia gives the =
> Korean spelling as =EB=8F=8C=EC=86=A5 under =
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap.
>
> The earliest I see the word in Google Books is 1992 =
> (http://books.google.com/books?id=3D6xy0AAAAIAAJ&q=3D%22dolsot%22&dq=3D%22=
> dolsot%22&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3DgtoCUZ7wOIaM0QH1voCoBQ&ved=3D0CEcQ6AEwAw) =
> as part of the name of a restaurant. Surely the term would have been on =
> their menus as well as the menus of other restaurants by that date.
>
> The next appearance on Google Books is 1996 in the phrase "dolsot bi bim =
> bap" =
> (http://books.google.com/books?id=3DyLyuG2RqlooC&q=3D%22dolsot%22&dq=3D%22=
> dolsot%22&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3DCNsCUZn-DYrV0gHp9oCgBg&ved=3D0CDkQ6AEwAA).
>
> The Internet has two pages from 1994:
>
> =
> http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/11/garden/a-treasure-hunt-for-korean-foods.=
> html?pagewanted=3D2 (dolsot)
> =
> http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1994-09-15/restaurants/second-helpings/full=
> / (dol sot)
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA

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