Date: 15 August 2007 20:52:02
Ee commented that (s/h)ee would enjoy this blog [too kind] on account of it being about words and food. The fact that the main subject matter has focused on food has not gone entirely unnoticed by yours truly and a confession is surely overdue. But nay, let us not be too hasty. Although my kitchen has been known to serve up some pretty uninspired offerings in the past, perhaps this is the beginning of something new and a heretofore unforeseen benefit of blogging. [I rather like the juxtaposition of “heretofore unforeseen”, don't you? - A rhetorical question, gentle reader. Please do not feel obliged to respond. If, however, you do feel the urge, comments will be read with interest.]
Tired&Emotional was good enough to spend time at work, which would no doubt otherwise have been frittered away unprofitably, looking up the Polish for blackberry soup. For those of you who missed the contribution, allow me to enlighten you: the elusive phrase is "jezyna zupa". [There is a dot over the z of jezyna - but it comes out as gobblydegook. Funny, cos the blog coped with other diacritics the other day....]
There was a promise to let you know if said zupa would freeze. I'm afraid I still can't tell you with any authority. I have managed to catch a cold and, in the absence of anything vaguely medicinal in the dwelling, I resorted to an intravenous drip of the zupa in the hope that there would be some vitamin C which had not been boiled to within an inch of its life. I still have the cold [thanks for asking] but this did not deter me from my cauldron at midnight last night. This was the moment to which I refer in the title. Some berries had started to develop a little grey furry coat.
This next recipe, gentle readers, is allegedly an old Cornish recipe. Cornish in Cornish is Kernowek, Kernewek or Curnoack. It is another member of the Celtic Brythonic family of languages. The Cornish for blackberry is “moren” [see the likely link to the French?] and the word for drink is “dewas”. My research seems to indicate that the adjective follows the noun so therefore blackberry drink is likely to be something like “dewas moren” but you must understand that this is my first foray into this ancient language of our islands and so I could be committing some ghastly, basic and laughable linguistic faux pas.
Rare old blackberry drink:
An old-fashioned, warming winter drink.
Ingredients
6 cups blackberries
1 pint vinegar
6 cloves for every pint of juice
1/2 inch piece root ginger for every pint of juice
2 cups sugar for every pint of juice
Method
Soak the blackberries in the vinegar for 24 hours.
Strain and add the cloves, sugar and ginger.
Boil for half an hour.
Strain and bottle.
The vinegar was a bit of a problem; I assumed it would be white or red wine vinegar - but as the local shop could only offer cider vinegar and only 350ml to boot, I adapted the recipe. A friend popped in today and we had a mug each of the juice with hot water (as it has been a miserable old day and I am still sneezing for England). Although it has (apparently) a lingering smell of vinegar, it is not unpleasant. I certainly found it lived up to its claims of being a warming drink. Please consult someone else about the season.