Today is Bubble and squeak day. 10 things you might not know about this dish:
First of all, what is it? In modern times, it’s a British dish made from cooked Potatoes and Cabbage, mixed together and fried, although any left over veg from a roast dinner could be added to the mix. In Australia, Pumpkin is a common addition.
The name comes from the sounds made by the ingredients as they cook, with the cabbage being the noisiest. Cabbage is approximately 92% Water and this is released as the cabbage cooks, causing it to bubble and sputter. In Scotland, they have their own name for this dish: 'rumbledethumps'.
The dish has been known since at least the 18th century, although back then it was rather different, with beef, rather than potatoes as a principle ingredient. William Kitchiner, in his book Apicius Redivivus, or The Cook's Oracle, adds a couplet at the top of his recipe: “When 'midst the frying Pan in accents savage, The Beef, so surly, quarrels with the Cabbage.”
The first recorded use of the name listed in the OED dates from 1762. The St James's Chronicle, recording the dishes served at a banquet, included "Bubble and Squeak, garnish'd with Eddowes Cow Bumbo, and Tongue".
So, if by the mid 20th century, this dish was potatoes and cabbage, what happened to the beef? Probably this change occurred during the second world war when beef was rationed and potatoes were added instead.
In 1791, according to the newspapers of the time, there was a Bubble and Squeak Society at Smithfield which met quarterly.
Clarissa Dickson Wright recommends using dripping or lard to fry your bubble and squeak, rather than vegetable oil, because it will brown better.
In cockney rhyming slang the phrase was used for "beak" (magistrate) and more recently "Bubble" has been used for "Greek".
The OED gives a secondary definition of "bubble and squeak": Something resembling or suggestive of bubble and squeak, especially in consisting of a variety of elements".
Pairs of characters in cartoons sometimes get called Bubble and Squeak. A 1946 British cartoon featured a taxi driver called Bubble who drove a taxi called Squeek; and Bubble and Squeak is an Amiga game in which a human boy called Bubble helps an alien feline called Squeak rescue the inhabitants of the planet Grool from Kat of Nine Tails.
Character birthday
Douglas Black, a teacher and member of the covert Viper organisation. His function is to groom boys from Viper families while they are at school and ready them to join the organisation once they are at university. He appears in Killing Me Softly.
Killing Me Softly
Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena.
Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.
No comments:
Post a Comment