More Food for Thought

by S. D. Liddiard

"I thought you said we were going to a French restaurant," moaned my dinner companion.

"I asked how you felt about ordering meat dishes in French. I never promised dinner at a French restaurant."

"I expected nouvelle cuisine or at least cordon bleu. I wasn't prepared for," she shuddered, "this."

This was the Cock and Bull, a fine old English pub with a full-service restaurant in the back. Here, in addition to traditional pub delicacies like steak and kidney pie or haddock and chips, we would find the stolid fare still served at Sunday dinner in many English homes: roast beef, roast pork and roast mutton; all accompanied, of course, by mashed potatoes, a green vegetable, and gravy.

"Why do the English always cook the life out of everything?"

I cocked an eyebrow at this, but replied, "It kills the micro-organisms. They're a very health-conscious people," and to change the topic: "Have you ever wondered why we have different names for farm animals in the kitchen than in the barnyard?"

"Never."

Undeterred I continued, "Why do you suppose we call cows 'beef' once they've been slaughtered? That's not normal at all, you know. The French and Germans don't do it. A cow's a cow whether it's in the meadow chewing its cud or on your plate soaking up gravy."

"The English have always been crazy about synonyms. Everyone knows that. They think it makes them look smart. And it keeps the dictionary people employed."

"Actually it's because the English were once servants to foreign masters. More than once. Like all the nations in Europe, they were often invaded and conquered."

Now I was on the receiving end of a cocked eyebrow. "You're joking. I thought the English were the mightiest of imperial oppressors."

"That was later. Before that, Britain was invaded by almost every gang of louts in Europe who could sail a boat. Beaten by lots of them too. Julius Caesar, for example, added Britain to the Roman Empire. The Romans ruled Britain for hundreds of years. The Scandinavians were always invading, looting, plundering and sometimes staying. I won't even mention the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Then there was William I."

"William who?"

"You may know him better as William the Conqueror. In 1066, he and his army were the last to conquer Britain. They came from Normandy and spoke French."

"So what you're saying is that the English are French."

"Well, for a couple of hundred years after that, French was the language of the British ruling classes and for almost 700 years, English monarchs claimed to rule varying amounts of what is now France. Ultimately, however, the Normans began to speak English, although by that time they had had a profound effect on the language."

"But what has all that got to do with French food? Obviously the Norman rulers left their taste on the other side of the English Channel."

"Alright. While Jack looked after the farm animals in the fields, ..."

"Who's Jack?"

"Your average 12^th century English peasant farmer. Jack and his mates called the animals by their Anglo-Saxon names. His wife, however, ..."

"Jill, I suppose."

"... prepared and served the meals in the castle. The language of the dining hall was French, so after a couple of generations, Jill got to know the dishes by their French names only. That's what she called them when she served them at home."

"What are we talking about here, anyway?"

"Beef, mutton and pork, for example. Venison too. They're all corruptions of Old French words: boef, moton and porc were the words for 'cow,' 'sheep' and 'swine.' Venoison meant 'hunting.' The Modern French equivalents are about as similar to the original as the English is."

The waiter arrived at this point to take our orders. He didn't raise an eyebrow when my friend asked for "Prime rib of cow."

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