LEGUMINOUS WORDS!

The English affection for peas has always baffled me. Oh sure, peas are a mighty fine legume, and nothing dolls up mediocre suburban Chinese and Indian food like the judicious addition of frozen peas to a dish. Gosh, it's just so pretty, all fresh and green (and frozen).
Truly the highlight of cuisine in Fremont.
Or Iowa. That's a suburb, right?


On a lark I threw a nursery rhyme into Google Translate.

Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold,
Peas porridge in the pot, nine days old;
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot, nine days old.

This is the result in Chinese:

豌豆粥熱，豌豆粥冷，
豌豆粥在鍋裡已經九天了;
熱情似火，有的喜歡吃冷的，
有些人喜歡它在鍋裡已經九天了。

This is the result in Dutch:

Erwten pap heet, erwten pap koud,
Erwten pap in de pot, negen dagen oud;
Sommigen houden van het heet, sommige van het koud,
Sommigen houden van het in de pot, negen dagen oud.

These languages, as regular readers will have grasped, were not chosen at random. They are in fact co-languages of my world. Not dominant tongues -- that position is fully occupied by the original peas porridge sprach -- but by no means invisible whispers in the personal realm.
I wouldn't describe either translation as idiomatic, but they both communicate the essential spirit of the lyric.


Peas porridge is the British equivalent of hummus. Made of yellow peas instead of kikerwten, with bacon instead of olive oil. It could be delicious, if the bacon is smoked and sauteed garlic were added.
Just put some Sriracha in it for a sparkling zip.

Ene geraffineerde potagie.

In the Netherlands we make erwtensoep, also called 'snert', instead.
A stew, with a variety of vegetables, made thick with split pea puree, with a smoked hamhock and thick smoked sausage added. It's cold weather food, best in mid-winter. There is no vegetarian equivalent.
Tofu and tempeh are NOT substitutes for pork.


One of these days I shall make hummus with three or four freshly fried bacon strips on top. I think it will be absolutely divine. Some chopped cilantro, garlic, and a squirt of Sriracha added.
I can already feel it in my mouth.
wonderful.

Got pita?




==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================