Saturday, August 5, 2017

Salmagundi

Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday,
That was the end,
Of Solomon Grundy
- James Orchard Halliwell* (1842)

*Note - Halliwell had a habit, detested by bibliophiles, of cutting up seventeenth-century books and pasting parts he liked into scrapbooks. During his life he destroyed eight hundred books and made thirty-six hundred scraps.

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from Wikipedia:
The word salmagundi is derived from the French word salmigondis which means disparate assembly of things, ideas or people, forming an incoherent whole. Salmagundi is used figuratively in modern English to mean a mixture or assortment of things.

The name later evolved to Solomon Gundy in the eighteenth century. It seems likely that the name is connected with the children’s rhyme, Solomon Grundy. Solomon Gundy retains its food connotation today as the name given to a **spicy Caribbean paste made of mashed, pickled herrings, peppers and onions.
**Note - Salmagundi (sometimes abbreviated as salmi) is also a salad dish, originating in the early 17th century in England, comprising cooked meats, seafood, vegetables, fruit, leaves, nuts and flowers and dressed with oil, vinegar and spices. There is some debate over the meaning and origin of the word. The French word "salmagondis" means a hodgepodge or mix of widely disparate things.

In English culture the term does not refer to a single recipe, but describes the grand presentation of a large plated salad comprising many disparate ingredients. These can be arranged in layers or geometrical designs on a plate or mixed. The ingredients are then drizzled with a dressing. The dish aims to produce wide range of flavours and colours and textures on a single plate. Often recipes allow the cook to add various ingredients which may be available at hand, producing many variations of the dish. Flowers from broom and sweet violet were often used.

In Jamaica, Solomon gundy refers more specifically to a dish made of salt herring and spices

Salmagundi is also purportedly a meal served on pirate ships. It is a stew of anything the cook had on hand, usually consisting of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions, often arranged in rows on lettuce and served with vinegar and oil, and spiced with anything available. The following is taken from a reprint of Mrs. Hill's New Cook Book, originally published in 1867 and republished by Applewood Books of Bedford, Massachusetts.
Salvador Dali, "Paranoia" (1944)

10 comments:

  1. SALMAGUNDI AMERICAN STYLE

    Over the river and cross the bay
    To the The Holiday Inn I''ll go
    To eat too much at their buffet
    Then suffer gastric woe-ho.
    Thank God I own a lovely space
    Wherein I may pass out.
    I  laid a store of Bromo in
    For I’ll need it without a doubt!


    ~ Mrs. Grundy's Little Boy Solly

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  2. Life's too short... Solomon only lived a week!

    ReplyDelete
  3. THE QUESTION and THE ANSWER – AN EXISTENTIAL CULINARY CONUNDRUM


    ______ THE QUESTION

 ______

    To live long follow this routine:
    
Add some bran to your cuisine.
    
Don't use oil that's saturated.

    Get your brew decaffeinated.

    Stay away from food that's fried.

    Watch out for that pesticide.
    
It's time for you to put a halt

    To flavoring with lots of salt.
    
Preservatives are overrated.

    Sugar gets you agitated.

    Laboratory rats concur

    On artificial sweetener.
    
Of red meat and eggs beware;

    Cholesterol lurks everywhere.

    The list of no-no's is complete.

    Now what are we supposed to eat?
    



    ~ Anonymous



    _____ THE ANSWER ______

    

Anything that's leafy green
    
Dietitians think is keen.

    Bread that's fibrous, rough and dry

    Health food addicts love to buy.
    
Skinless chicken, bland white fish
    
Make a doctor-ordered dish.

    Fruit that's fresh not dried or canned
    
If eaten raw will not be banned.
    
And what's the best source of protein?

    You guessed it, it's the humble bean!
    
Milk that's thin and watery
    
Is found in "healthy" cups of tea.
    
Medics say to beat disease
    
Eat great gobs of cottage cheese.

    Herbs are fine, but spices hot

    Are on the list of "Thou shalt not."

    The truth, my friends, there's no disguising:
    
Eat -- but not what's appetizing!


    

~ FreeThinke, The Sandpiper

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  4. It seems obvious poor Solomon Grundy
    Ate far too much Salmagundi.

    He might have lived a good deal longer
    Had his resistance to pig out been stronger!


    ];^}>

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  5. I drink my coffee caffeinated
    I don't guzzle it until I'm sated
    I simply drink one single cup
    Meden agan or I'd throw up

    ;p

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  6. __________ BANQUET __________


    Generously spread with gracious living
    The table beckons. Lace and candlelight
    Mingle with fine chine. I am diving
    Into the tureen, which is a sight

    All white and warm while guarding snowy chowder.
    Savory is a casserole of brains.
    Sparkling wine has made our talk much louder ––
    Louder than the voices of our pains.

    Drink has numbed our virtues and our faults
    While food has warmed our anxious, craving hearts.
    Later, we will step into a waltz ––
    Whose cycle whirls till every fear departs

    Leaving us quite buoyant –– out of breath ––
    Saddened that out time must end in death.


    ~ FreeThinke - New York 1963

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  7. The post-modern injunction to ENJOY!
    is something much more insidious than coy
    It commands us all to more consume
    rather than leave inside a little room...

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  8. Syninyms or near-synonyms for SALMAGUNDI

    MELANGE
    OLIO
    HODGE PODGE
    PASTICHE
    CONGLOMERATION
    PATCHWORK
    STEW
    RAGOUT
    POT AU FEU
    JUMBLE
    SMOERGASBORD

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  9. As a bard, I must admit
    You tried hard, but aren't yet fit.

    But just keep adding spit and polish
    And awkwardness you'll soon abolish.

    If self-consciosness you banish
    Obstacles I know will vanish.

    Keep on trying, don't give up
    And soon you'll win a Paper Cup!


    ~ Edgar A. Pest

    ReplyDelete