THE PROPER CONDIMENT FOR INDIGNANT UNDERWEAR

In Germany, an organization of Sinti and Roma activists have got their unwashed undies in a bunch over a product sold as "Zigeunersauce". Gypsy sauce.

They feel that it reflects a stereotype and encourages discrimination against them, due to negative connotations of the word "gypsy".

Given that the primary exposure Western European nations have of the travelling folk is that they travel to Western Europe to live on the dole, creating little pockets of filth and squalor, and extorting money from local municipalities, it is high time that that sauce be renamed.

[Yes yes, I know that Gypsies are unfairly maligned. Simply going by what the European government agencies report, and clearly they're overlooking the vast numbers of Sinti and Roma surgeons, engineers, lawyers, and prize-winning novelists. Kindly stop hitting me over the head with that damned guitar.]


According to Wikipedia:

"Zigeunersauce (Sauce zingara) ist eine Champignon-Tomatensauce der klassischen Küche, die heute in der Regel nur noch in einer stark vereinfachten Variante zubereitet wird.

Die klassische Zigeunersauce besteht je nach Rezept aus einer Basis aus gedünsteten Tomaten, Paprika, Zwiebeln, Weinessig, Weißwein, Champignonfond und Kraftsauce oder aus Bratenfond, Weißwein und Tomatensauce, die mit gepökelter Kalbszunge, Kochschinken, Champignonscheiben sowie gehobelten Trüffeln und Cayennepfeffer ergänzt wird. Sie wird z. B. zu Kalbskoteletts oder Roastbeef serviert.

Bei der heute üblichen, einfacheren und kostengünstigeren Zubereitung wird die Sauce aus Gemüsepaprika, Champignons, Zwiebeln, Tomatenmark, Rotwein, Brühe und Ajvar hergestellt, oftmals mit Gewürzgurkenstückchen angereichert, mit Essig gewürzt und mit Stärkemehl gebunden. Diese Sauce ist auch als Handelsware erhältlich."

[End complete cite.]


That sounds completely appalling. Damn those French. I too would be hideously offensive offended if such a miserable product were named after my ethnic group. Fortunately there is no 'Dutch-American Sauce' yet, although it would make complete sense to call ketchup thus. Tomatoes boiled with vinegar and sugar? Very Dutch-American. Watery mayonnaise is of course the national condiment of the Netherlands, where it is refered to as "friet saus" (glop for your French Fries), and Sauce Hollandaise is a misnomer, seeing as the Belgians invented it.


Gypsy Sauce: boiled tomatoes, peppers, onions, wine vinegar, cheap white wine, mushroom broth, and heavy stock, with brined tongue, chopped ham, sliced mushrooms, truffles, and cayenne pepper.

Throw in some pickled pigs knockers, why don't you.
Can't get any more frightful anyway.
Feh. And ick poo.


Here in San Francisco, we don't have 'zigeunersauce', but we do have some gypsies. Not all of them are fortune telling con-artists draining the funds of weak-minded suckers and senile old ladies.

Some of them are brain surgeons.


So please don't call your nasty ragoût after them.


Stupid Germans.




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