Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Bitch and Dogbody: Recipes from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English




Until we announce the winner of our Recipe Redux Contest we're posting recipes found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English to inspire you. Here's one, reproduced as found in the online Dictionary of Newfoundland English. (cartoon by Jennifer Barrett)


bitch and dogbody


A cake made of flour, fat pork and molasses; also comb bitch and dogbody. 1924 ENGLAND 152 'Ye mind, sir,' asked Roberts, 'we used to have a kind o' cakes made o' fat pork, flour, an' molasses, called "bitch and dogbody"? An' de broken hard-bread was called "slut"?' T 156/7-65 They went aft to get some flour to bake what they calls a bitch—that's what we call a bangbelly.


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Rattling Books is running a recipe contest inspired by the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. We call it Recipe Redux, aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick, Recipe Contest. Deadline for Entry submissions is October 1.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

word of the week (Sept 28 - Oct 4): scrunchins

Sept 28 – Oct 4 Word of the Week

scrunchins n

Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:

scrunchins n pl also cruncheons, scrunche(o)ns, scrunchings, scrunchions [phonetics unavailable]. Cp EDD scrunching(s) I 'the remains of a feast; remnants of food, broken meat, scraps,' 2 'refuse of any kind' Y, and also crunch Sc Lei Gl, crunshon Y Ha, scrunch 7 Ox, 8.

1 Bits of animal fat or fish liver, esp after its oil has been rendered out.

1792 PULLING MS 8 The only substitute I can find they have for bread is eggs, mixed up with deer's and swile's cruncheons which forms a kind of paste.

[1844] GOSSE 114-15 The advancing heat of spring melts the fat from the cellular tissue, which, when the oil has been drawn off, is rejected under the name of scruncheons.

1861 DE BOILIEU 158 After taking out as much oil as possible, and placing it in a tank, the remainder in the boiler, called 'scrunchens,' is collected, and undergoes the process of being pressed with a strong screw.

1897 J A Folklore x, 208 Scrunchings, the fibrous part of seal blubber and cods' livers, after they have been boiled or tried out and the oil pressed out of them.

1937 DEVINE 43 ~ the residue in a cask or boiler of cod livers or seal fat after the oil has been drawn off. P 218-68 ~ squares of whale fat after the oil has been rendered from them. Often used as fuel to keep the fires going under the oil vats.

1981 HUSSEY 21 When the cod oil was all rendered out and sold, we used to go over across the harbour to the factory and get the scruncheons (the residue that remained after all the [cod liver] oil was pressed out ... and although it didn't burn quite so well as the cod livers ... it helped ... to keep us warm in the fall.

2 Fatback pork, cut into cubes, often fried and served as a garnish, esp over FISH AND BREWIS.

1920 WALDO 160 'Bruise' is a very popular dish of hard bread boiled with fish, and with 'scrunchins' (pork) fried and put over it. P 245-55 ~ small, finely cut bits of fat pork, fried and eaten with fish and bruise. They are in the form of little cubes, 1/8 in. thick or smaller, and crisp on the top. T 92/3-64 And cut it real fine. What we used to call scrunchins, the little chunks. You cut them up and you put that in the flour. P 207-66 We're having scrunchins with our fish and potatoes.

1966 SCAMMELL 23 'Fish and brewis?' Uncle Jasper's tone was reverent. 'And scruncheons?' 'And scruncheons. Mary needn't know. And if she does, what odds?

Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!
The main thing is to RELiSH iT.

N.B. Any Word of the Week receiving more than 10 posts will trigger a prize from Rattling Books for our favourite.

We also invite you to visit our REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English facebook group.

The word of the week is released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.
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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by the Newfoundland based audio book publisher Rattling Books.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Brewis tangent: Hard Tack and ship's biscuit

According to Wikipedia:

Hardtack (or hard tack) is a simple type of cracker or biscuit, made from flour, water, and salt. Inexpensive and long-lasting, it is and was used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages and military campaigns.[1] The name derives from the British sailor slang for food, "tack". It is known by other names such as pilot bread (as rations for bush pilots), ship's biscuit, sea biscuit, sea bread (as rations for sailors) or pejoratively "dog biscuits", "tooth dullers", "sheet iron" or "molar breakers".[2]

Because it is so hard and dry, properly stored and transported hardtack will survive rough handling and endure extremes of temperature.

History

To soften it, it was often dunked in brine, coffee, or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal. Baked hard, it would keep for years as long as it was kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two, and prepared six months before sailing.[3]

.....

Modern use

Alaskans are among the last to eat hard tack as a significant part of their normal diet, especially those in or from around Alaska. Interbake Foods of Richmond, Virginia produces most, if not all, of the commercially-available pilot bread under the "Sailor Boy" label — 98% of its production goes to Alaskans. Originally imported as a food product that could stand the rigors of transportation throughout Alaska, like powdered milk, pilot bread has become a favored food even as other, less robust foods have become available. Alaskan law requires all light aircraft to carry "survival gear", including food. The blue-and-white Sailor Boy Pilot Bread boxes are ubiquitous at Alaskan airstrips, in cabins, and virtually every village.
Commercially-available pilot bread is a significant source of food energy in a small, durable package. A store-bought 24-gram cracker can contain 100 calories, 20% from fat, 2 grams of protein and practically no dietary fiber. Two-pound boxes sold by Wal-Mart, Costco, Fred Meyer and other local stores in Anchorage cost roughly $4.00 in late 2007.
In the fall of 2007, rumors spread throughout Alaska that Interbake Foods might stop producing pilot bread. An Anchorage Daily News article[4] published November 6, 2007, reported the rumor was false, to the relief of many. Alaskans enjoy warmed pilot bread with melted butter or with soup or moose stew. Pilot bread with peanut butter, honey, or apple sauce is often enjoyed by children.

Those who buy commercially-baked pilot bread in the continental United States are often those who stock up on long-lived foods for disaster survival rations. Hardtack can comprise the bulk of dry food storage for some campers. Pilot bread, sometimes referred to as pilot crackers during advertising, is often sold in conjunction with freeze-dried foods as part of package deals by many freeze-dried survival food companies.
Hardtack was a staple of military servicemen in Japan and South Korea well into late 20th century. It is known as Kanpan in Japan and geonppang (건빵) in South Korea, meaning 'dry bread', and is still sold as a fairly popular snack food in South Korea.

Many people who currently buy or bake hardtack in the United States are Civil War reenactors.[citation needed] One of the units that continually bakes hardtack for living history is the USS Tahoma Marine Guard Infantry of the Washington State Civil War Association. British and French reenactors buy or bake hardtack as well.

Hard tack is also a mainstay in parts of Canada. Located in St John's, Newfoundland, Purity Factories currently bakes two varieties. A cracker, similar to a cross between an unsalted saltine and hardtack, is the "Crown Biscuit". It was a popular item in much of New England and was manufactured by Nabisco until it was discontinued in the first quarter of 2008. It was discontinued once before in 1996, but a small uprising by its supporters bought it back in 1997.

Read the rest here.

Don't forget our current Recipe Redux Contest. How about a few contemporary recipes for hard tack to make the brewis?

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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by the Newfoundland based audio book publisher Rattling Books.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Sample Recipe Contest Entry from Nellie Strowbridge


Here's an entry to our Recipe Redux (aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick) contest to get you all inspired!


Basket Soup (Step One)


First: (I’ll get to the soup, directly)

set a rabbit snare, preferably in the woods.

Wait for a full moon on a frosty night

when rabbits are running

getting their exercise for the big event.

When you find a plump rabbit flicing (thrashing) in the snare,

bring it home still warm, and so fresh the memory of its run

is still imprinted on its eyeballs.

Sculp (skin) it and relieve it of liver, lights and grand piece (pancreas).

shuff the rabbit in the oven until it’s cooked. Have a scoff.

Don’t be greedy. Leave a little meat on the basket (skeleton) for a pot of:


Basket Soup (Step Two)


Pour a slut kettle full of iceberg water into a large pot (not a chamber pot) on the damper of a bogie stove.

Bring to a boil, then sling in the rabbit basket.

Now that the rabbit is lighter than when it wore fur and flesh, it can do a dance while you cut up navel beef (or substitute a horse’s navel), pickled in a bucket of bloody brine (forcing your lazy arteries into doing a bit of exercise to get your blood circulating).

Keep boiling until you have a nice, unbroken greasy surface.

Throw in the grand piece (pancreas) for a relish.

Wash new taties. Cut pieces out of them to make chip potatoes. Don’t use spuds that have been around so long their eyes are popping white snakes.

Sling in tootree chibols (mild onions).

Lastly but not leastly, heave in a cup of freshwater rice (dampened flour rolled into tiny balls).

In between the whiles slurp a little liquor off the soup.

Drop in puff-ins of dough for white boys. Smother them with a tight lid.

When the doughboys raise the cover, they are tipping their hat to say, “It’s time to slurp soup!”


For a real fog meal (big meal) you’ll have the rabbit, then the basket soup. Then you can go on to having a drop of flip (concoction of liquor, eggs and sugar or a drink of spruce) while someone else from facebook cooks the goose for the turkey dinner.

Make a blueberry grunt or lemon curd (a soft custard) for afters. Have a second cup of tea to mimpse (drink slowly).

When the full-course meal is done,let out a gark (burp) to show you appreciate the grub.

Save some coudins (couldn’t eat) for quality (visitors), and only the bones for the gulls’ beals (bills).


Nellie Strowbridge


N.B. Nellie Strowbridge is a Newfoundland writer and author of The Newfoundland Tongue.

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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by the Newfoundland based audio book publisher Rattling Books.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

brewis sighting: Vikings of the Ice by George Allan England, first edition page 117


"Fish an' brewis, how many youse?" It rhymed, for brewis is pronounced "bruise." "Anny man don't get up to braffus got to go widout un!" As the men told how many portions they wanted for themselves and for those they were serving, the cooks slopped out the famous dish renowned in Newfoundland lore: hard-bread boiled with cod. "Putt a little grase on un, b'ys. An' gi's us a drap o' tay, too, ye sons o' guffies!" Liberally the cooks drenched the fish and brewis with liquid pork grease and bits of crackling. With this, the sealers jostled away to their foul, underdeck quarters, to crouch and eat.


An old, familiar provender to me was fish and brewis, from previous rambles in "The Oldest British Colony." You can boil the hard-bread and fish in water or milk; condensed milk if you can't get fresh, which generally you can't. To thousands of Newfoundlanders it furnishes a staple, the hard-bread substituting for vegetables. As for "fish," that always means cod. The story is time-worn of the old livyere exclaiming: "if ye can't gi' us fish, gi' us haddock!"


The above excerpt is drawn from Vikings if the Ice: Being the Log of a Tenderfoot on the Great Newfoundland Seal Hunt by George Allan England, Doubleday, Page & Company 1924. An upcoming unabridged audio book release from Rattling Books.

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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by the Newfoundland based audio book publisher Rattling Books.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Recipes from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English: tatie pork-cake




Until we announce the winner of our Recipe Redux Contest we'll be posting some recipes found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English to inspire you. Here's one, reproduced as found in the online Dictionary of Newfoundland English. (cartoon by Jennifer Barrett)


tatie pork-cake:


variety of cake or bun made with flour, mashed potatoes and pork; freq in children's rhyme when playing ducks and drakes. P 267-58 ~ s. Small baked cakes of potato, pork, flour. C 66-7 In Grand Bank they usually have pea soup for dinner on Saturday, [but] sometimes they substitute titty pork cakes made of potato and pork fried in a pan. 1976 Daily News 24 Feb, p. 3 It was considered a respectable effort if your stone skimmed the surface long enough for you to recite, not too fast: 'A duck and a drake and a tatey pork cake and a dory's stern'. . . The recipe, if I remember correctly, called for potatoes, fat back pork, flour and baking powder.


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Rattling Books is running a recipe contest inspired by the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. We call it Recipe Redux, aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick, Recipe Contest. Deadline for Entry submissions is October 1.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Word of the Week (Sept 21 - 27) : brewis

brewis n

Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:

brewis n also brews(e), broose, bruis, bruise, bruse [phonetics unavailable]. Cp OED ~ 2 " 'bread soaked in boiling fat pottage, made of salted meat" [1755] (J.)'; cp EDD sb 2 'bread or oatcake soaked in hot water'; DC Nfld (cl850 [sic = 1960], 1906-). See also FISH n: FISH AND BREWIS, FISHERMAN'S BREWIS.

1 Sea-biscuit or 'hard tack' soaked in water and then boiled; such a dish cooked with salt cod and fat pork. [(1766) 1971 BANKS 137 It is a Soup made with a small quantity of salt Pork cut into Small Slices a good deal of fish and Biscuit Boyled for about an hour.]

1858 [LOWELL] ii, 273 Putting a check upon their own curiosity, they had some tea and brewse [L's note: ship-bread soaked into a pulp in warm water] made in the best art of the ship's cook.

1895 J A Folklore viii, 28 Brews ... is a dish which occupies almost the same place at a Newfoundlander's breakfast-table that baked beans are supposed to do on that of a Bostonian. It consists of pieces of hard biscuit soaked over night, warmed in the morning, and then eaten with boiled codfish and butter.

1905 DUNCAN ix-x 'Broose' is a toothsome dish resembling boiled hard-tack.

1908 HUBBARD 242 'Bruise' for breakfast. Hard tack, fish, pork, boiled together—good. 'Two more early risin's, and then duff and bruise,' is said to be a Thursday remark of the fishermen.

1920 GRENFELL & SPALDING 23-4 All right-minded Newfoundlanders and Labradormen call it [brewis] 'bruse.'

1924 ENGLAND 117 'Fish an' brewis, how many youse?' It rhymed, for brewis is pronounced 'bruise.'

1933 GREENLEAF (ed) 250 "Change Islands Song": No sign of salmon on that shore; discouraging was the news; / No pirate money could be found, and not a fish for brewis.

1936 DULEY 56 Isabel had a chicken to draw, a jam tart to make, brewis to put in soak for the Sunday morning breakfast.

1937 DEVINE 5 'Brewis,' a once popular morning meal composed of broken hard biscuit soaked in water over night, boiled with small pieces of salt codfish and served up with melted fat pork, evidently came from Scotland... In the old days in St John's, when the merchants lived over their stores on Water Street, they all used to have brewis for breakfast on Sunday morning. It was a light meal, palatable and easy of digestion... The fisherman followed the merchant more from necessity than choice ... and most days of the week, as well as Sunday, saw brewis used all over the country.

1955 DOYLE (ed) 11 "A Noble Fleet of Sealers": Tho' Newfoundland is changing fast, / Some things we must not lose, / May we always have our Flipper pie, / And Codfish for our brewis. T 75/6-64 [We'd] carry a stock o' hard bread, and [when] the soft bread'd be gone make brewis out o' the hard bread. T 43/8- 64 There was no fresh meats, no baloney, no fresh fish—you'd get salt fish Fridays, salt fish and brewis and fat.

2 Phr have a head like a brewis-bag: to be empty-headed, forgetful. C 67-14 'He has a head like a brewis bag' [meaning] could not 'hold' or retain anything. stiff as brewis: dignified, unbending. C 65-2 ~ said about a person who walks [in a] dignified [manner] and is supposed to be proud.

Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!The main thing is to RELiSH iT.

N.B. Any Word of the Week receiving more than 10 posts will trigger a prize from Rattling Books for our favourite.

We also invite you to visit our REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English facebook group where we explore tangents on the Word of the Week.

The word of the week is released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Figgy Duff sighting: Rock Recipes Blog

The following is recipe is found on a wonderful blog site dedicated to recipes and cooking lore.It's called Rock Recipes and here is a bit of what it says about Figgy Duff (our word of the week):

First for those of you reading without benefit of Newfoundland experience, Figgy Duff has nothing to do with figs, dried fresh or otherwise. Raisins are historically referred to as figs in many parts of the province.A recent email request and this mornings brunch prompted me to add my standard recipe for Figgy Duff. A young lady from the southern US who is married to a Newfoundlander asked for assistance in preparing this dish. I was reluctant to answer with a definitive recipe because I don't believe that one actually exists. I have encountered many variations of what people call Figgy Duff here in Newfoundland. Family history and local variations of the recipe account for many differences in both opinion and experience of what Figgy Duff actually is. It is a close cousin to the traditional English Spotted Dick where, I suspect, a part of our English and Irish heritage has survived over the centuries in this dish.This is a slight variation on my grandmother, Belinda Morgan's recipe, where I remember having it at many a Sunday dinner in her Port-de-Grave kitchen. A similar recipe with the addition of molasses and spices I have heard referred to as Labrador Duff. Other recipe variations I have seen include breadcrumbs, orange zest or currants but I have never attempted any of those.

Read the rest including the recipe at Rock Recipes Blog.

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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by the Newfoundland based audio book publisher Rattling Books.

Figgy Duff : recipe from Newfoundland Recipes website

Figgy Duff

The following recipe is found at the Newfoundland Recipes website.

Ingredients: 2 cups bread crumbs, made from bread crusts

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup molasses

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp hot water

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp ginger, allspice, and cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Water Molasses Coady: 1 cup molasses, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 tsp vinegar

Method: To make bread crumbs, soak dry bread crusts in enough water to soften; drain and squeeze gently to remove excess water. Break bread into crumbs and measure out 2 cups. Grease a 4 cup mold. Mix crumbs, raisins, molasses, and melted butter together. Combine baking soda and water and add to crumb mixture; mix well. Sift together flour, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and salt; stir into crumb mixture. Pour mixture into greased pudding mold. Cover the top with a large piece of greased foil and fold snugly over sides of mold to keep steam out. Remember to leave some slack in foil because pudding will need room to expand. Place mold on rack in a steamer or large pot. Add boiling water to halfway up the sides of pudding mold. Cover and steam for 2 hours or until firm to touch. Serve topped with Molasses Coady. Pudding can be placed in a cloth pudding bag instead of mold. Place bag in pot with enough water to cover bag. Pudding can be cooked in a pot with Jigg's Dinner.

Making Molasses Coady: In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients. Heat until boiling; simmer, stirring ocassionally, for 10 minutes. Serve over steamed or baked puddings.



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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by the Newfoundland based audio book publisher Rattling Books.

Figgy Duff sighting: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada

Figgy Duff is our word of the week.

It's also the name of a Newfoundland band. Here is what the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada has to say about it.

Figgy Duff. Newfoundland folk group. Named for a raisin pudding popular on the island, it was formed in 1975 in St John's by Noel Dinn (piano, drums) and Pamela Morgan (vocals), with Philip Dinn (vocals, percussion), Kelly Russell (violin), Art Stoyles (accordion), and Dave Panting (mandolin, bass guitar). Dinn (b St John's 25 Dec 1947, d St John's 26 July 1993) and Morgan (b Grand Falls, Nfld, 25 Nov 1956) have been constant to Figgy Duff.

Personnel otherwise varied with each of its three albums to 1990: Figgy Duff (Posterity PTR-13014, issued in 1980) with Panting and the accordionist Geoff Butler; After the Tempest (Boot BOS-7243, issued in 1984) with Panting, Butler and the bass guitarist Derek Pelley; Weather Out the Storm (Hypnotic 71356-1000, CD and cass, issued in 1990) with Kelly Russell, Frank Maher (accordion, harmonica), Bruce Crummell (guitar) and Rob Laidlaw (bass).

Based in St John's, save for a period 1977-8 in Toronto .....

Read the rest here.

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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by the Newfoundland based audio book publisher Rattling Books.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Recipes from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English: pipsi n also pipsey, pipshy




Until we announce the winner of our Recipe Redux Contest we'll be posting some recipes found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English to inspire you. Here's one, reproduced as found in the online Dictionary of Newfoundland English. (cartoon by Jennifer Barrett)


pipsi n also pipsey, pipshy DC pipshi (Labr: 1771-);
PEACOCK English-Eskimo Dictionary 225 Fish, dried: pipsi; Labrador Inuit 101 pitsik 'dried fish.' Cod-fish and trout preserved by drying in the sun and wind without salt. [1771] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 138 I was greatly pleased with [the Eskimo] method of curing codfish without salt; which, in that state, they call pipshy. The fish is split down the back. the bone taken out, and the thick parts scored down to the skin, an inch asunder; two of them are then fastened together by their tails, and hung across a pole to dry in the open air. 1895 GRENFELL 63 To prevent scurvy in winter, when fresh fish is not attainable, salt meat must be avoided, even if they can afford to buy it. The following recipe is invented with that end: 'Dry the cod in the sun till it is so hard none can go bad. In winter powder this, rub it up with fresh seal oil, and add cranberries if you have any.' This dainty is known as 'Pipsey.' 1966 BEN-DOR 50 Dried fish, 'pipsi,' is the Eskimo technique of preserving cod and trout for future use. 1977 Inuit Land Use 123 Char caught in the spring make the best dried fish (pipsi); later in summer, their flesh is more oily, and it quickly becomes rancid if left long in the sun.


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Rattling Books is running a recipe contest inspired by the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. We call it Recipe Redux, aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick, Recipe Contest. Deadline for Entry submissions is October 1.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Word of the Week (September 14 - 20) duff; figgy duff

duff; figgy duff



Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:

duff1 n EDD ~ sb1 1 esp Co quot; DAE 1 (1838-) for sense 1; for comb in sense 2: Cent duff-day 'on board ship, Sunday.'

1 A pudding made of flour and water, sometimes with suet and raisins added, boiled in a cloth bag; CLOTH PUDDING. FIGGY DUFF, STOGGER.

[1856] 1975 WHITELEY 56 Today we have chowder (cod) breakfast, duff (flour pudding) for dinner (with W.I. Molasses).

1883 HATTON & HARVEY 305 On three days of the week dinner consists of pork and 'duff,' the latter item consisting of flour and water with a little fatty substance intermixed 'to lighten it.' When boiled it is almost as hard as a cannon-ball.

[1886] LLOYD 36 The fare usually consists of salt pork, duff, molasses, tea, and codfish; on which the changes are rung from January to December in each year.

1924 ENGLAND 151 Then they got pork an' duff three times a week, an' hard biscuit an' tea.

[1926] 1946 PRATT 174 "The Cachalot": The weather fair, the weather rough, / With watch and sleep, with tack and reef, / With swab and holystone, salt beef / And its eternal partner, duff.

1936 SMITH 52 Ready or raw give the men their 'duffs' and let us get on the ice.

[1960] 1965 PEACOCK (ed) i, 141 "On the Schooner John Joe": We ate a bang-belly, we had Sure enough, / We made a good meal of the fat pork and duff. T 178/9-65 A duff and a pudding is two different things. A pudding is cooked into a pudding cloth and tied up; a duff is [made in] a bag about so long, and you put your dough in the bag, and he's small down under and big on top. When you'd take un out of the pot, you would untie him and take hold by the end and the duff would shoot out in the pan. That was the rig of a duff!

1977 BURSEY 24 The duff was made of water and flour and a generous addition of raisins and all saturated with molassses. We called it a figged duff and it was indeed a luxury.



2 Comb duff bag: cloth bag in which pudding is boiled (1924 ENGLAND 315). duff day: day of the week when a boiled pudding is customarily served at the main meal. C 70-15 Dinner was at 1 p.m. and again there was a heavy meal designed for a particular day; Tuesday and Thursday were 'duff' days when the meal was vegetables of different kinds, salt beef or salt pork, and pease pudding. M 71-103 Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays were 'duff days.'

1977 BURSEY 24 Tuesday was 'duff day' and we must buy the necessaries.

duff 2 n EDD ~ sb1. A blow, esp a kick in the backside.
[1968] 1976 Culture & Tradition 37 [He] comes up and gives him a good swift duff in the hole. P 148-79 He's so stubborn that I want to give him a duff.

Supplement:



duff1 n 1 1984 WRIGHT 15 These meals usually consisted of salt fish or meat, with 'duffs' of steamed flour. Sweet duff--with a bit of molasses--was served [the sealers] Sundays.


duff2 n P 301-83 'I'll give you a hard duff.'

Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!

The main thing is to RELiSH iT.

N.B. Any Word of the Week receiving more than 10 posts will trigger a prize from Rattling Books for our favourite.

We also invite you to visit our facebook group .The word of the week is released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.

Recipes from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English: old scripture cake




Until we announce the winner of our Recipe Redux Contest we'll be posting some recipes found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English to inspire you. Here's one, reproduced as found in the online Dictionary of Newfoundland English.


(cartoon by Jennifer Barrett)


old scripture cake: Christmas cake made from recipe drawn from biblical texts.


M 69-7 Here is a recipe for an Old Scripture Cake used [at Christmas]: 1 cup Judges 5:25 milk, 2 cups Jeremiah 6:20 sugar, 3½ cups 1st Kings 4:22 flour, 3 cups Samuel 30:12 raisins, 1 cup Genesis 43:11 nuts, 1 cup Exodus 3:8 honey, 5 Isaiah 10:14 eggs, a little Leviticus 2:13 salt, a few kinds of lst Kings 10:2 spices, 1 large spoon Genesis 24:20 water. Follow Solomon's advice for making a good boy, Proverbs 23:14, and you will have a good cake.


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Rattling Books is running a recipe contest inspired by the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. We call it Recipe Redux, aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick, Recipe Contest. Deadline for Entry submissions is October 1.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Recipes from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English: Hamburg Bread or Hard Bread


Until we announce the winner of our Recipe Redux Contest we'll be posting some recipes and references to recipes found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English to inspire you. Here's one reproduced as found in the online Dictionary of Newfoundland English.

(cartoon by Jennifer Barrett)

hamburg bread: hard thick biscuit; HARD BREAD.

1852 Morning Post 12 Feb, p. 4 800 bags No. 1, 2, and 3, Hambro' Bread.
[1879] 1898 Nfld Law Reports 185 [The plaintiff] being dissatisfied with the quality of the machine-made biscuit of Newfoundland, as compared with that imported from Hamburg, he introduced into his establishment a process known amongst bakers as hand rolling ... and a biscuit is thus produced which ... in the words of one of the witnesses, has driven Hamburg bread out of the market.

1906 LUMSDEN 68 'Hamburg bread,' or hard biscuit (not to be confounded with pilot or sailor biscuit as popularly known, being thick and cake-like in shape and extraordinarily hard), is in constant use on the vessels and in the houses of the fishermen.

1936 DEVINE 92 He laid his plans to get the formula or recipe for making Hamburg bread and succeeded [in making hard bread].

1964 BLONDAHL (ed) 97 "Red Cap's Hole": When they came to dine at dinner-time, / Some joyful words were said... / Of days of yore when the pots boiled o'er, / With brewis from hamburg's made.

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Rattling Books is running a recipe contest inspired by the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. We call it Recipe Redux, aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick, Recipe Contest. Deadline for Entry submissions is October 1.
Posted by Rattling Books at 8:35 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Recipes from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English: Fisherman's Brewis


















Until we announce the winner of our Recipe Redux Contest we'll be posting some recipes found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English to inspire you. Here's the first one, reproduced as found in the online Dictionary of Newfoundland English.

(cartoon by Jennifer Barrett)


fisherman's brewis: cod-fish cooked with hard tack or sea biscuit and pork fat. See also BREWIS, FISH AND BREWIS.

T 80/2-64 He keeps up the old tradition. Every Sunday morning—fisherman's brewis, just as regular as the mornin's comes.

P 9-73 A recipe for fisherman's brewis, schooner-style, for five or six hungry men: two cakes of hard bread per man, two plump codfish with head off and entrails removed, one piece of fatback pork.

1978 Evening Telegram 7 Aug, p. 4 [He] promises [visitors to Bonavista] a parade, races and feeds of fisherman's brewis.

1979 TIZZARD 278 In the boat sometimes my father carried a cooking pot and a frying pan, and with that a piece of fat back pork in the bread box. This meant that he could have fish and brewis or fisherman's brewis, whichever was preferable... The pork would be fried out in the frying pan. When the codfish was cooked the brewis and pork fat would all be thrown in the pot together and mashed up, thus making fisherman's brewis.

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Rattling Books is running a recipe contest inspired by the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. We call it Recipe Redux, aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick, Recipe Contest. Deadline for Entry submissions is October 1.

Monday, September 8, 2008

RECIPE REDUX: aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick Recipe Contest Details


RECIPE REDUX
aka Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick Recipe Contest
Deadline for Submissions is October 1
To enter:
submit one or more recipes that comply with the following guidelines:
1. must include atleast 3 ingredients found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English
2. must include directions to do things to those ingredients that include atleast 3 additional words found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English
3. must be fit for human consumption or be of some other use to people eating a Thanksgiving Dinner.
You may redefine existing recipes, renew old acquaintances or go where no cook has gone before.
By submitting your recipe you agree that we may post it on the internet, read it on the radio or feed it to the gulls.
Deadline for Submissions is October 1
The Fruits of your labour:
On October 5 we will announce a multi-course Recipe Redux Menu composed of selected entries.
Any entries making it into the Menu will get their pick of 3 Rattling Books.
A Grand Prize Winner will be pulled from the Chef's Hat on CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine (WAM) by host Angela Antle and recieve a copy of the Dictionary of Newfoundland English.
Submission Deadline : October 1
Where to Submit:
Post your recipe here on the Wall or below in the relevant TOPIC belowor send us an email on the Rattling Books Contact Us page
or leave a comment on our REDEFiNE iT Blog
Deadline : October 1
Ponder this while you pick your blue berries.

"rattling" sighting: The Blueberry Ball

Here is use of the word "rattling" that is not included in the definition found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. It is also a use of the word "rattling" that I was personally unfamiliar with until informed by people that it was a common adjective in Britain. The following song makes me wonder if it was also common on the west coast of Newfoundland. I'd love to hear from anyone from out there or elsewhere in Newfoundland where the term is used in the way it appears below.

The Blueberry Ball

On the tenth of September as you all may remember,
I'll sing you a short line or two;
He stuck to the tiller like a girl loved a feller,
A-pushing the Jubliee through.
We went to Daniel's Harbour, the truth I will tell,
We was there on a rattling good time;
We stayed there three days and we landed our freight,
And I tell you that we drank the wine.

There was old Mrs. Biggins to pour out the wine,
And Sam House to carry it 'round;
Phil Decker was there collecting the money,
Will Keough to pass it around.
We started a dance about half-a-past eight,
And we never knocked off until four;
And many of those girls that danced there that night,
Said they'd never dance there any more.

There was lots of strange faces that night on the floor,
And some I can't never name at all;
Such a rattling racket I never beheld,
As the night at the Blueberry Ball.
We started a scuff about half-a-past two,
And every man stood to his share;
We danced till broad daylight and then went on board,
And the sharemen went out to their gear.

Oh, now to conclude and finish my song,
I hope I haven't said anything astray;
We'll haul up our anchors and reef our shank-painters,
And prepare for a time in the Bay.


Collected in 1958 from Freeman Bennett of St.Paul's, NL, by Ken Peacock, and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, pp.43-44, by The National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

Kenneth Peacock noted that this native ditty was composed in Daniel's Harbour just above St. Paul's on Newfoundland's northwest coast. Mr. Bennett was not sure of the composer's name. One of the men mentioned in verse 2, Sam House, was a well-known composer in the area.

From the dictionary of Newfoundland English:
Scuff - a dance held in somebody's house, barn or stage.
Reef our shank-painters - roll up our lines; figuratively: to depart.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Sept 7 - 13 Word of the Week: rattling

Sept 7 - 13 Word of the Week: rattling

Definition according to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:

rattling ppl See also RATTLE1 . Of a river or stream, noisy, clattering, swift.
[1783] 1792 CARTWRIGHT iii, 15 We rowed along [the lake] for a mile and an half, when we arrived at the mouth of a strong, rattling brook. [1811] 1818 BUCHAN 5 [It lay a] mile above the rattling Brook. 1842 JUKES ii, 136 We soon reached the mouth of the Great Rattling Brook, a considerable stream coming down from the north. 1953 Nfld & Lab Pilot ii, 294 Rattling brook descends in a waterfall into Corner Brook cove.

rattling ppl
[1768] 1989 Nfld Qtly lxxxv (1), 21 Great Rattling Brook. 1983 Gazetteer of Canada: Nfld 142-3 Rattling Brook [etc, high frequency in river names]. 1984 POWELL 101 Soon I was heading up the Big Lake, about four miles long, and then I had to go down a very rattling brook about one mile where the water emptied into the river.



Now, we invite you to RELiVE, REMEMBER and REFRESH iT and/or even REDEFiNE iT!

The main thing is to RELiSH iT.

N.B. Any Word of the Week receiving more than 10 posts will trigger a prize from Rattling Books for our favourite.

We also invite you to visit our facebook group .

The word of the week is released each Sunday morning on the Newfoundland and Labrador CBC Radio program Weekend Arts Magazine with host Angela Antle.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

The Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick Recipe Contest

Announcing the
Not Much Meat on a Carey Chick
Recipe Contest

brought to you by Rattling Books REDEFiNE iT Word of the Week and CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine

To enter:

submit one or more recipes that comply with the following guidelines:

1. must include atleast 3 ingredients found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English

2. must include directions to do things to those ingredients that include atleast 3 additional words found in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English

3. must be fit for human consumption or be of some other use to people eating a Thanksgiving Dinner

You may redefine existing recipes, renew old acquaintances or go where no cook has gone before.

By submitting your recipe you agree that we may post it on the internet, read it on the radio or feed it to the gulls.

Angela Antle of CBC Radio's Weekend Arts Magazine (WAM) will select a winning entry to recieve a copy of the Dictionary of Newfoundland English.

The weekend before the Canadian Thanksgiving Day we will provide a multi-course Thanksgiving Day Dinner Menu based on entries.

Ponder this while you pick your blue berries.

carey chick sighting: Ode to Mother Carey's Chicken by Theodore Watts-Dunton (1832-1914)

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Ode to Mother Carey’s Chicken

Theodore Watts-Dunton (1832–1914)


On Seeing a Storm-Petrel in a Cage on a Cottage Wall and Releasing It


GAZE not at me, my poor unhappy bird;

That sorrow is more than human in thine eye;

Too deep already is my spirit stirr’d

To see thee here, child of the sea and sky,

Coop’d in a cage with food thou canst not eat,
5
Thy “snow-flake” soli’d, and soli’d those conquering feet

That walk’d the billows, while thy “sweet-sweet-sweet”

Proclaim’d the tempest nigh.


Bird whom I welcom’d while the sailors curs’d,

Friend whom I bless’d wherever keels may roam,
10
Prince of my childish dreams, whom mermaids nurs’d

In purple of billows—silver of ocean-foam,

Abash’d I stand before the mighty grief

That quells all other: Sorrow’s king and chief:

To ride the wind and hold the sea in fief,
15
Then find a cage for home!


From out thy jail thou seest yon heath and woods,

But canst thou hear the birds or smell the flowers?

Ah, no! those rain-drops twinkling on the buds

Bring only visions of the salt sea-showers.
20
“The sea!” the linnets pipe from hedge and heath;

“The sea!” the honeysuckles whisper and breathe;

And tumbling waves, where those wild-roses wreathe,

Murmur from inland bowers.


These winds so soft to others,—how they burn!
25
The mavis sings with gurgle and ripple and plash,

To thee yon swallow seems a wheeling tern.

And when the rain recalls the briny lash

Old Ocean’s kiss thou lovest,—when thy sight

Is mock’d with Ocean’s horses—manes of white,
30
The long and shadowy flanks, the shoulders bright—

Bright as the lightning’s flash,—


When all these scents of heather and brier and whin,

All kindly breaths of land-shrub, flower, and vine,

Recall the sea-scents, till thy feather’d skin
35
Tingles in answer to a dream of brine,—

When thou, remembering there thy royal birth,

Dostsee between the bars a world of dearth,

Is there a grief—a grief on all the earth—

So heavy and dark as thine?
40

But I can buy thy freedom—I (thank God!),

Who lov’d thee more than albatross or gull,

Lov’d thee when on the waves thy footsteps trod,

Dream’d of thee when, becalm’d, we lay a-hull—

’T is I thy friend who once, a child of six,
45
To find where Mother Carey fed her chicks,

Climb’d up the stranded punt, and with two sticks

Tried all in vain to scull,—


Thy friend who ow’d a Paradise of Storm,—

The little dreamer of the cliffs and coves,
50
Who knew thy mother, saw her shadowy form

Behind the cloudy bastions where she moves,

And heard her call: “Come! for the welkin thickens,

And tempests mutter and the lightning quickens!”

Then, starting from his dream, would find the chickens
55
Were only blue rock-doves,—


Thy friend who ow’d another Paradise

Of calmer air, a floating isle of fruit,

Where sang the Nereids on a breeze of spice

While Triton, from afar, would sound salute:
60
There wast thou winging, though the skies were calm,

For marvellous strains, as of the morning’s shalm,

Were struck by ripples round that isle of palm

Whose shores were “Carey’s lute.”


And now to see thee here, my king, my king,
65
Far-glittering memories mirror’d in those eyes,

As if there shone within each iris-ring

An orbed world—ocean and hills and skies!—

Those black wings ruffled whose triumphant sweep

Conquer’d in sport!—yea, up the glimmering steep
70
Of highest billow, down the deepest deep,

Sported with victories!


To see thee here!—a coil of wilted weeds

Beneath those feet that danced on diamond spray,

Rider of sportive Ocean’s reinless steeds—
75
Winner in Mother Carey’s sabbath-fray

When, stung by magic of the witch’s chant,

They rise, each foamy-crested combatant—

They rise and fall and leap and foam and gallop and pant

Till albatross, sea-swallow, and cormorant
80
Would flee like doves away!


And shalt thou ride no more where thou hast ridden,

And feast no more in hyaline halls and caves,

Master of Mother Carey’s secrets hidden,

Master most equal of the wind and waves,
85
Who never, save in stress of angriest blast,

Ask’d ship for shelter,—never, till at last

The foam-flakes, hurl’d against the sloping mast,

Slash’d thee like whirling glaives!


Right home to fields no seamew ever kenn’d,
90
Where scarce the great sea-wanderer fares with thee,

I come to take thee—nay, ’t is I, thy friend—

Ah, tremble not—I come to set thee free;

I come to tear this cage from off this wall,

And take thee hence to that fierce festival
95
Where billows march and winds are musical,

Hymning the Victor-Sea!


Yea, lift thine eyes, my own can bear them now:

Thou ’rt free! thou ’rt free. Ah, surely a bird can smile!

Dost know me, Petrel? Dost remember how
100
I fed thee in the wake for many a mile,

Whilst thou wouldst pat the waves, then, rising, take

The morsel up and wheel about the wake?

Thou ’rt free, thou ’rt free, but for thine own dear sake

I keep thee caged awhile.
105

Away to sea! no matter where the coast:

The road that turns to home turns never wrong:

Where waves run high my bird will not be lost:

His home I know: ’t is where the winds are strong,—

Where, on her throne of billows, rolling hoary
110
And green and blue and splash’d with sunny glory,

Far, far from shore—from farthest promontory—

The mighty Mother sings the triumphs of her story,

Sings to my bird the song!

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Carey chick or Mother Carey's chicks is our word of the week here at REDEFiNE iT.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Carey chick sighting: the words to Two Jinkers by P.K. Devine

JIMMY WALSH AND STEPHEN
(or Two Jinkers)
by P.K.Devine

Two jinkers in our harbour dwell,
Adventuresome and plucky,
The plans they make all promise well,
But always turn unlucky.
Men were hard to get that year,
Else sailed we would have sooner,
So to our sorrow and despair,
They shipped aboard our schooner.

Misfortune followed on their trail
Wherever they did venture,
And when bad luck did us assail
These two we'd always censure.
To the offer ground you's see them bound,
Look out for squalls that even',
Make for the land--cries every man,
Here's Jimmy Walsh and Stephen.

When we landed on the Funks
We had two Cat's Cove ruffians,
They went battin' Carey's chicks
And said that they were puffins.
When we came to share our eggs
We thought all hands had even,
Then found that two had none at all--
Poor Jimmy Walsh and Stephen.

In crossing Belle Isle Straits next night,
The orders from the skipper
Were: "Keep your canvas all drawn tight,
And on your lee the dipper."
Before the dawn there came a crash,
From stem to stern a shiver,
Then from our bunks we made a dash,
And heard a running river.

We found that Stephen was at the wheel,
And Jimmy was the scunner,
That we still lived 'twas good to feel
When two such craytures run 'er.
Our water line a growler rives,
And through the seam comes seivin'
The ocean roaring for the lives
Of Jimmy Walsh and Stephen!

Our Guardian Angels never knew
Of such an active season,
We kept our senses all alert,
And knew we had good reason.
Such constant strain might crack the brain,
The fishery game I'm leavin',
And if I "raise" give all the praise
To Jimmy Walsh and Stephen !

Thursday, September 4, 2008

carey chick sighting: Leach's Storm-Petrels on stamps



Leach's Storm Petrel
Oceanodroma leucorhoa
Leach's Storm Petrels are also known as Carey chicks or Mother Carey's chicks (our word of the week).
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This note brought to you by Rattling Books, a Canadian audio book publisher based in Newfoundland, surrounded by carey chicks.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008


Our word of the week is carey chicks which is one of the Newfoundland terms for Leach's Storm-Petrels. Here's an intro to the Leach's Storm-Petrel from the folks at the The Birds of North America Online.


Oceanodroma leucorhoa
Order
PROCELLARIIFORMES
– Family
HYDROBATIDAE

Authors: Huntington, Charles E., Ronald G. Butler, and Robert A. Mauck

Leach’s Storm-Petrel, also known as Leach’s Petrel and Mother Cary’s Chicken, is the most widespread procellariiform breeding in the Northern Hemisphere. More than eight million pairs nest in burrows or crevices on Atlantic islands from Norway to Massachusetts and on Pacific islands from Baja California to Hokkaido, Japan. Outside the long nesting season, these seabirds disperse widely in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, well away from land and mainly in the tropics. Millions more nonbreeders, mostly immatures, remain at sea year-round, although many of them visit colonies during the nesting season. Small and dark and not usually gregarious or attracted to ships, this species is inconspicuous at sea. Even at nesting islands, individuals fly to and from their subterranean nests only at night. Many aspects of their lives remain mysteries.

Breeding populations in the North Atlantic Ocean are quite similar to those in the Aleutian Islands of the North Pacific and are considered the same subspecies. Taxonomic treatment of populations with increasingly dark-rumped individuals southward in the eastern Pacific is still tentative. Of interest and worth continued investigation are the distinct populations with different egg-laying seasons on Guadalupe Island off Baja California (Power and Ainley 1986). Much work remains to determine the nonbreeding distributions of these populations. The smaller, dark-rumped Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma monorhis), nesting off Japan, Korea, China, and Russia, is so similar it has been considered a race of Leach’s Storm-Petrel; the two are appropriately considered a superspecies.


To read more and find out how to subscribe to the Birds of North America visit them here.

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REDEFiNE iT: Dictionary of Newfoundland English is brought to you by Rattling Books, an audiobook publisher based in Newfoundland. Rattling Books has a special fondness for the carey chick.