Etiquette lessons?

[Pleater]

Necessarium used to be the word for it - but these days so few people have any Latin.

It isn't a word you can use in Scrabble either.

I can't think how I have managed to go through life with never a thought about which cutlery to use - it has always seemed obvious, at least so far.

Another dish which is usually eaten with the fingers is crab, which is always fun if it is available whole and in its shell. Sometimes it is served with a wooden board and small hammer, other times it is brought already cracked. I have heard of places which serve it with patented shell cracking pliers, but not yet found one.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[EHCAlum]

Necessarium used to be the word for it - but these days so few people have any Latin.


Another dish which is usually eaten with the fingers is crab, which is always fun if it is available whole and in its shell. Sometimes it is served with a wooden board and small hammer, other times it is brought already cracked. I have heard of places which serve it with patented shell cracking pliers, but not yet found one.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

Crab, shrimp and crawfish must be eaten with hands at a crab picking. They should also be boil and covered in Old Bay spicings. A hammer works but so does the back of the knife you use for opening up the shell.

Here in Virginia, Bar-b-que is a Noun and not a Verb

[Mike_Oettle]

ECHAlum wrote: “Here in Virginia, Bar-b-que is a Noun and not a Verb.”

In South Africa, the word braai is an English noun and a verb.
The word is derived from the Afrikaans braaivleis. A braaivleis (English usage) means the same as barbecue, although the styles of food and presentation differ, not only from US practice but also from region to region in this country.
In Afrikaans, braaivleis literally means barbecued meat, while a barbecue (noun) is called a vleisbraai. But in (South African) English, braaivleis is also both noun and verb.
We generally braai on a grid, rather than a griddle plate.
Side dishes often encountered include a dry porridge made of what folk in the US call corn, but we know it as mealiepap – it is much like grits, but not exactly the same. (Mealies is our word for corn on the cob – delicious!) This word comes from the Afrikaans mielie (origin obscure).
Dry mealiepap is also called putu pap (that word is of Bantu origin). Putu pap is served with a tomato and onion sauce.
Also popular is having a potjie (literally a small pot, often a three-legged iron pot). Most people who have a potjie pot have a proprietary recipe or three – various ingredients can be used for the stew that is cooked alongside the braai fire.
Regards,
Mike