Metaphors mixed with food

Nuttier than a fruitcake
Don't stew over it
He's a couch potato
Two peas in a pod
Few bananas shy of a bunch
Thick as molasses
What a peach
She's a tomato
Long as a string bean
Cool as a cucumber
He's a cracked egg
Red as a beet
Don't be a prickly pear
Wrinkled as a prune
Cabbage head
Can't get blood from a turnip
Piece of cake
Bananas
Smooth as butter

Etymology of words you think you know

pickle c.1440, probably from M.Du. pekel "pickle, brine," from a Low Ger. root of uncertain origin or meaning (cf. Du. pekel, E.Fris. päkel, Ger. pökel). Originally a sauce served with meat or fowl; meaning "cucumber preserved in pickle" first recorded 1707. Figurative sense of "sorry plight" first recorded 1562.

Word History: The Middle English word Pikel meant "a spicy sauce or gravy served with meat or fowl" as early as 1400. The middle Dutch word pekel referred to a solution, such as spiced brine, for preserving and flavoring food. After it came to the English language, the connotations of the word expanded to include brining for preservation, and to the ingredients that had been treated or transformed in the brine. The Dutch phrase in de pekel zitten, "sit in the pickle," probably gave rise to the figurative meaning of being "in a pickle" as being in a difficult or problematic situation. Modern slang adopted "pickled" as a synonym for drunk. (http://www.nyfoodmuseum.org/_pkwhat.htm)

Sweetbread: are the thymus (throat sweetbread) and the pancreas (heart or stomach sweetbread), especially of the calf and lamb (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten). 

pancreas 1578, from Gk. pankreas "sweetbread (pancreas as food), pancreas," from pan- "all" + kreas "flesh," probably on notion of homogeneous substance of the organ.

sweet (adj.) O.E. swete "pleasing to the senses, mind or feelings," from P.Gmc. *swotijaz (cf. O.S. swoti, Swed. söt, Dan. sød, M.Du. soete, Du. zoet, O.H.G. swuozi, Ger. süß), from PIE base *swad- (Skt.svadus "sweet;" Gk. hedys "sweet, pleasant, agreeable," hedone "pleasure;" L. suavis "sweet," suadere "to advise," prop. "to make something pleasant to"). Sweetbread "pancreas used as food" is from 1565 (the -bread element may be from O.E. bræd "flesh"). To be sweet on someone is first recorded 1694. Sweet-talk (v.) dates from 1936 (in "Gone With the Wind"). Sweet sixteen first recorded 1826. Sweet dreams as a parting to one going to sleep is attested from 1908. Sweet and sour in cooking is from 1723, not originally of oriental food.

pudding c.1300, "a kind of sausage: the stomach or one of the entrails of a pig, sheep, etc., stuffed with minced meat, suet, seasoning, boiled and kept till needed," perhaps from a W.Gmc. stem*pud- "to swell" (cf. O.E. puduc "a wen," Westphalian dial. puddek "lump, pudding," Low Ger. pudde-wurst "black pudding," Eng. dial. pod "belly," also cf. pudgy). Other possibility is that it is from O.Fr. boudin "sausage," from V.L. *botellinus, from L. botellus "sausage" (change of Fr. b- to Eng. p- presents difficulties, but cf. purse). The modern sense had emerged by 1670, from extension to other foods boiled or steamed in a bag or sack. German pudding, Fr. pouding, Swed. pudding, Ir. putog are from English. Puddinghead "amiable stupid person" is attested from 1851.

Taste Words

I set about looking through the somewhat barren cabinets in my house to find words to describe taste of foods on the labels. I skipped the Passover collection because it is specific for the holiday and only kosher is on everything. So here's my list: 


rich
creamy
full bodied
tender
buttery
sweet
mild
spicy (hot)
tangy
pure
fresh
artificial
natural


Besides the obvious that these are all adjectives, each of these terms is used to describe the flavor of an item. I tried to list by categories that share similar semantic domains. It wasn't difficult but I did have to stop and think about it. Rich, creamy, full bodied, tender are best described as the texture or sensation caused by the flavor. Buttery, sweet, mild, and spicy (hot) are describing the flavors of the food or the taste sensation. They describe how your taste buds will (should) perceive the taste. Pure and fresh are best described as being quality. They lead one to believe they are free of chemicals. Natural and artificial for me best describe the how he taste was created. I wasn't sure if the last two fit in as taste terms. They do not necessarily describe the taste but since I noticed them on most packages I thought they should be included.
I am sure there is more analysis that can be done but that would require more time. 

If it walks, talks, and looks like a duck........

People have different ideas of what is a prototypical object for any category. Maybe most people in the US might think a sparrow is as good prototypical representation of a bird but in other countries it might be another species that is a better representation. 
I have learned from my travels that not everyone has the same idea of meat. When I think of meat, I associate it to red meat. But when you order meat in other countries it may not be what one expected. When I order schnitzel in Israel, I expect to receive breaded chicken breast but when I ordered schnitzel in Germany it was breaded veal. In some countries they serve veal, duck or lamb instead of chicken or beef. Some even serve goat's meat, although I have never tried goat.
When I ordered chicken parmigiana in Amsterdam I certainly did not expect it to have a slice of eggplant instead of cheese on it. What I thought to be a prototypical idea of Italian food was completely changed and I was a little thrown by this. I made the assumption that they just did not understand the idea of parmigiana. But maybe it wasn't a miss understanding so much as a different idea of the prototypical representation of chicken parmigiana.
I have noticed more than once that the menu's in foreign countries translate an item as chicken. But when you ask the waiter/ess if it is really chicken or another edible bird they will tell you that it is duck or pheasant not chicken. I have learned to always ask exactly what the white or red meat is an not to trust the translations.

Foreign Food List

Ok so 25 food items that have non English names. 
1. hummus
2. tehina
3. pita
4. taco
5. burrito
6. lasagna
7. enchilada
8. manicotti
9. baklava
10. schnitzel
11. croissant
12. cous cous
13. baba ganoush
14. cordon bleu
15. parmigiana
16. fettucini
17. ravioli
18. souvlaki
19. lo mein
20. wonton
21. felafel
22. jalapeno
23. mousaka
24. schwarma
25. gyro


I think the connection between all of these words is that they are all nouns. I didn't group them according to cuisine type or anything so convenient. I just tried to think about the various foods that I know that have names not in English and came up with this list. 

Flavor du Jour

In  Elizabeth Rozin's book, "The Flavor Principle Cookbook" she talks about the idea of the flavor principle. She describes this as an identifying mixture of flavors that are consistently used in a cuisine and can help one to identify that cuisine to a culture. I never stopped to think about the seasonings that identify the foods I like but I have commented on seasonings of certain cuisines which prevent me from eating them. 

Although, I probably couldn't identify, without some help, what those flavors consist of I can say that I do not enjoy the flavors of Tex-Mex and I do not enjoy the flavor of curry, which I have now learned the most common spices curry contains (garlic, cumin,ginger, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, and hot pepper). Many of these flavors in the curry mix I find pleasing but mixed with these other various seasonings, not so much. 

My family's background is of European Jewish decent and many of the recipes handed down, by those who immigrated from Russia, contain the use of chicken fat and onions. Israeli food is definitely identified by the lemon and parsley. If I ordered hummus and it didn't have one of these items it would not have the same flavor. It would be harder to identify the cuisine to the culture that it is associated.

Even among the various Middle Eastern cultures, each has their own flavoring for foods. Hummus made in Israel does not taste the same as hummus made in Egypt, even though both contain lemon and parsley. Maybe the Israelis use more garlic or the Egyptians add some other spice or flavor, they definitely have a distinct flavor from one another. 

I would think that many people do not consciously contemplate the specific flavors associated to certain ethnic cuisines. Nevertheless, I would imagine that a person interested in Japanese flavor principle would find it out of place if their food was prepared using the flavor principal of Korea instead.