German Words In Several Countries - Placenames And Memorable German Words Similar To English

 

Where can you use German? In Europe: Germany, Austria, Switzerland.

Also in parts of several other countries. 

Belgium (co-official language in the German-speaking Community in the east.

Liechtenstein (official language)

• Luxembourg (co-official language alongside Luxembourgish and French)

Also Recognized & Spoken In Regions 

• Italy: Recognized as an official regional language in the South Tyrol (Alto Adige) region.

• Namibia: Recognized as a national minority language (due to its colonial history).

• Minority Communities: German is also spoken by recognized minority populations in parts of 

• Poland, 

• Czech Republic, 

• Hungary, 

• Romania, 

• Slovakia, 

• France (Alsace and Lorraine), 

• Denmark, 

• Russia (Volga Germans).

Some words you might spot when travelling. 

Austria

Innsbruck

The word Bruck means bridge as used in the Austrian city of Innsbruck.

Salzburg

Salzburg in Austria means salt city.

Germany

Frankfurt

Furt means ford, as in the German city of Frankfurt.

Dusseldorf

Dorf, like the English word thorpe, means village. You see that is German towns like 

Dusseldorf, and in the English attraction, Thorpe Park. 

German - English

Bus - bus

Film - film

oft - often

Maschine - machine

English - German

bus - Bus

film - Film

machine - Maschine

often - oft

-ends-

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Stay for sauna and self-catering in Scotland at a Distillery

Above, top the flag of Scotland.

The Union Jack contains the flag of Scotland. 

Scotland's Attractions

Scotland' s well known attractions are Edinburgh castle, the Edinburgh festival with comedies and serious plays. Glasgow's museums and galleries, such as Rennie Mackintosh. The Lakes - the the loch Ness monsters.  And whisky distilleries!

Food In Scotland - Plain Porridge

You start your day with porridge. Made from oats. Add salt, or it may come with added salt, instead of the sugar you would get in London. 

Distilleries - Whisky

During the day you could visit a whisky distillery, and end your day with a night cap, a drop, or dram of the local drink.

Whisky distilleries are a feature of Scotland. Popular with the Japanese. In fact anyone, even if you don't drink the stuff.

Short Tours and Long Stays

If you are interested in gin, vodka or whisky, a distillery tour might interest you. You can also stay at Arbikie whose accommodation option is self-catering. Add a sauna. Or simply sit admiring the scenery, their website suggests.

Whisky is strong stuff. So are other spirits. A wee dram (a small sample of drink) is enough for me. 

A little goes a long way. So a barman will gladly dilute it make a longer drink. You can add water to whisky, or ice, in which case it is called 'on the rocks'.

Turn your other spirits into cocktails. Perennial favourites are gin and tonic. 

Or vodka and orange. That's for me.

 Useful Website

https://arbikie.com/pages/stay-with-us-1

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Spanish words which are easy to add

 

When I was a child and when I was single I admired people who spoke other languages. Now I am putting effort into learning. Any time I have a spare minute, I practise.

Notebook - cuaderno

Today's revelation is the word for notebook. Cuaderno. I struggled with this. Then I looked at the letters and noticed the letters NO at the end of cuaderNO. NOtebook. 

Now I was half way there. When I saw the word cuaderno I could remember it was notebook. But how could I remember that notebook was cuaderno? I split the word into syllables. I tried cu-ad-er-no.

Starting at the end of the word, I knew it ended with NO. working backwards, it was Er - no. If you prefer, infERNO.  In the middle you have ad, like add. It starts with cu, like queue, in British English. Cut. customise. By this time, I did not need any extra reminders. I now know the word cuaderno. 

However, when I searched for the pronunciation, I found the word split like kwa-derno. kwa - dare - know. I only had to hear it once to remember how to say it.

I shall now add in my notebook the word cuaderno. 

That is a lot of time to spend learning one word. However, if I learn only one word a day, that is 365 words a year. If I write a blog post on one word a day, I shall have learned 365 words effortlessly. If you read a blog post by me every day for a year you will have learned one word effortlessly. Let's more that up to ten words a day. 3,650 words a year!

The word is masculine, with an o ending, like the names Mario, Romeo. Plural cuadernos, like los in the name of the American city Los Angeles.

So, here are nine more words.

bailerin - dancer

 (Starting ba like ballet, with an l. Try ballet dancer. BAiL daN -cER). In a dancing class. ballerina BA Ll ER IN a.  Now I can look at the word bailerin and see a ballet dancer.She is doing a spin, a pirouette. 

Spanish - English translation and memory aid

bailerin - dancer

cuaderno - notebook

ensalada - salad

sal - salt

salada/salado - salty . savoury

sin duda - definitely

sol, el sol - sun, the sun (masculine)

solo - only

soleada/o, but dia soleado - sunny, sunny day

La España - Spain, note the word starts with e, and the accent on the n in the Spanish word, n pronounced like ny in canyon

English - Spanish translation and memory aid

 dancer - bailerin

definitely - sin duda

only - solo

notebook - cuaderno

salad - ensalada

salt - sal

salty / savoury - salada/o

Spain - La España

sun, the sun - sol, el sol

sunny - soleada/o

Useful websites on other languages

duolingo.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language_in_South_America

https://www.spanishdict.com

https://www.spanishdict.com/lists/4924632/es-words

https://spanishvip.com/vocabulary/spanish-words-with-s/

https://worldhelloday.org/

https://www.wikihow.com/Say-Happy-Birthday-in-Spanish

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilde

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Packing List For Medicines & Checklist For Health & Safety

 Packing List

1 Past Prescriptions.

2 Pills - whatever you take regularly. eg Thyroxine, contaceptive pills.

3 Pill Dispenser.

4 List of hospitals, clinics, sports injury centres, doctors, dentists, pharmacies at destination, and insurance membership number and phone helpline.

5 Salt in labelled container saying it is salt.

6 Toothbrush and paste. Dental Floss. Toothpicks. From pharmacies and some UK dentists' reception areas.

7 Panadol / painkiller. Antibiotics.

8 For long trips, dental repair kit which you can buy in UK pharmacies.

9 Water and water beaker for taking pills.

10 Translation for vital phrases at a doctor, dentist or pharmacy. (See Wikivoyage phrasebooks.)

11 Plasters, flexible and breathable, also waterproof to allow for showers and swimming.

12 Sting relief.

13 Mosquito repellent or lavender products or lemon products.

14 Bandages.

15 Plain white large cotton scarf as sling for arm. (Fold a square into a supportive triangle and tie it behind neck.)

16 Cap with neck cover against sunburn - prevention is better than cure.

17 Car first aid kit.

18 Wet wipes for hand washing and cleaning aircraft tray tables.

19 Manicure kit for jagged fingernails and hangnails.

20 Towelling square (face flannel) for washing and drying hands and body in places without hand towels.

21 Milk of Magnesia / breath mints.

Walk around your nearest drug store or UK chemist to find small sizes and prices. Check that medicines are not out of date, nor banned in countries you are visiting. For example, quantities of sleeping pills or medical marijuana.

 Carry a doctor's note saying you can travel, if pregnant.

All sorts of soy sauce

 

Soy sauce bottles with red and green tops at restaurant in London. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

This is the first time I have been presented with a choice of two sorts of soy sauce at a restaurant. One has more salt.

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 So many Swedish words are similar to English. Here are a few which I have learned this week using Duolingo on the train and 

whilst waiting for friends.

Revision

English - Swedish

1 a/an - en

2 barnet - child (like the Scottish bairn)

3 book - bok 

4 Lemon - citron

5 Man - man

6 meny - menu

7 Pepper - peppar (Both words start the same, but Swedish changes the second e to an a)

8 rice - ris 

9 Salt - salt

10 The - et (two letters from the word the; also et looks like it)

11 we - vi

12 You - du

Now let's try it the other way around.

Swedish English

1 barnet - child

2 bok - book

3 citron - lemon

4 du - you

5 en - a/an

6 et - the

7 man - man (NB men and man look the same but one has a double dot about the a to make the sound change)

8 meny - menu

9 peppar - pepper

10 ris - rice

11 salt - salt

12 vi - we

Just an update on this article from 2019 which Google found for me. Since the time of writing Duolingo has introduced the feature which asks you to repeat the words and gives you feedback on whether you have pronounced the words correctly or should try again. duolingo also offers two buttons, to listen to the words said at normal speed or hear phrases and sentences said slowly and distinctly so that if you miss one essential word you can hear it again.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/smarter-living/500-days-of-duolingo-what-you-can-and-cant-learn-from-a-language-app.html

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Car Snow chains, and salt

Snow in London, England in January, same in the USA.

We took a long trip in the snow and had to turn back. Some cars have better grip than others. If you have two or more cars to choose from, take the one with better grip. If you have tyre helper devices, put them in your car boot in winter so you don't hunt for them and delay your journey, or forget and go off without them.

Snow Chains Or Textile
To help tyres, you can buy one of two types of protection. One is the standard and more expensive tyre 'chain'. The cheaper option is a kind of gripping matting, like sackcloth.

Salt
If you go over salted snow, the salt can damage your tyres' aluminium. You want to wash it off immediately, by car wash or the old fashioned bucket of water.

When loading your car, think:

Snow chains / textile
Shovel
Blanket
Hot drink
Food
Hat and gloves and spare socks in case yours get wet
Wellington Boots
Long mac or waterproof coat or plastic bag
Umbrella - anti rain, anti glaring sun, anti snow, and hide for emergency toilet
Portable potty or sealed container or portable urinal for emergency toilet in traffic jam or stuck car

Useful Website
https://www.snowchains.com/car-snow-chains About 30 pounds with free delivery available.
https://iwantzone.com/products/unisex-portable-car-urine-bottle

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How To Help Kosher or Hindu or Halal Guests

Flag o India from Wikipedia.

Landlords And  Hindu Tenants
As a landlady I was asked by Hindu residents to supply only new or unused plates. I just rushed along to the supermarket and bought a set of four of everything, brand new, cheaply, on offer.

Hindu In-Laws
You might have to visit in-laws with dietary restrictions, or cater to visitors from overseas. A friend of mine who was Christian (Catholic) married to a Hindu. Her husband was liberal. Her mother in law came to stay and was more fussy.

Cooking Utensils
She asked for a set of cooking utensils which could be reserved for herself.
Before using the frying pan and wok, she washed each one and scoured it with salt.

This might not work if you have non-stick pans with special coating. If you can afford it, easier just to invest in new cooking utensils. Or the guest can bring some as a present. Leave them behind for you to use as you wish if not likely to return. If likely to return, to avoid contamination or embarrassment or further expense, wrap the new items in their origin box in a see-through container, and seal and label it, maybe keep it in the attic or loft or basement or garage, ready for the next visit.

Just Ask
Really, the simplest solution is to just ask. People are usually delighted to tell you whether they need something special, or if they are more liberal, that you need not bother.

 The same applies to kosher and halal.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and Photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts

Food Allergies Or Addictions? How to ask for sugar, nuts and shellfish or no sugar, no nuts, no shellfish in Malaysia

Problem
What are the words?

English - Malay / Indonesian
diabetic - diabetes
no sugar - tanpa gula

salt - garam

sugar - gula (Both words contain the letters u, g and a. Look at a packet of sugar and you will see the word gula which will remind you. Which is the packet of salt or the packet of sugar in meal or on the table. The word gula tells you it's sugar - so don't put it on your potatoes! If you don't see the word gula, before absent-mindedly adding it to your coffee, taste a couple of grains or check the label. Gula or sugar is good in coffee.

Annoyingly the Malay word for salt also has the letter g, the letters g, and - but no U.
No letter u - then it's not for you, especially not when drinking coffee or tea.
Sugar and syrup are gooey and delicious, gula, good.

Longer word with m at the end more likely to be salt which garam.
Garam is salt. I can garam or guaran-tee) the garam is salt and you will not want it in your coffee or tea.

Just imagine you are drinking coffee and tea with friends. Which would you choose, gula or garam. Keep it simple, gula.
Every time you see it on the table, remind yourself by telling others or asking which is which.

allergic to shellfish
allergic to nuts

I like salmon
I like nuts
I like shellfish

I like salmon
I can eat salmon

I can eat cashew nuts
I don't like peanuts


diabetes - diabetic
tanpa gula - no sugar

gula - sugar

alergi terhadap kerang - allergic to shellfish

alergi terhadap kacang - allergic to nuts

The words for shellfish and nuts look similar. The ang ending appears in lots of nouns - easy. Penang, kerang, kacang.
Both shellfish and nuts start with k. Easy.
E in shellfish. ER. Kerang looks and sound a bit like crab.

Saya suka salmon - I like salmon (I love it, like to suck on it - suka=like; it's super - suka - like it lots)
Saya suka kacang - I like nuts
Saya suka kerang - I like nuts
Saya suka salmon - I like salmon
Saya bisa makan salmon


NUTS!
English and English - Malay
I am not allergic to nuts. I am nuts about nuts.
Do you have / serve  them ? Apakah Anda memiliki / malayani mereka?
Almonds
Brazil nuts
hazel nuts
marzipan
mixed nuts
pine nuts
pistacio nuts
walnuts
pistacio ice cream
chocolate and nuts

If you are not allergic to nuts, but love nuts, easy to ask for them because the words are similar or exactly the same:

Malay - English
Saya bisa makan kacang mete
Saya tidak suka kacang
saya suka
kacang almond - almond nut
Kacang brazil - Brazil nut
kacang hazel - hazel nut
marzipan - mazipan
kacang campur
kacang pinus - pine nut
kacang pistacio - pitachio nut
walnut - walnut
es krim pistacio - pistacio ice cream
coklat dan kacang - chocolate and nut

Not peanuts (also known as ground nuts)

Saya bisa makan kacang mete
Saya tidak suka kacang

Finally, when you get what you want, smile and say:
English - Malay
thank you! - terimah kasih!

If you are visiting another country, copy these words into Google translate, then check with a local person on the plane or in a restaurant, so see that the translation is correct and colloquial and that your pronunciation is understood. Try it out in a busy place where everybody speaks English, before you are somewhere remote.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher, tutor and workshop leader of learning English and other languages for Toastmasters International clubs worldwide (especially London, England and Singapore).

How To Enjoy Porridge: Scottish, English, Asian, American, Canadian, DIY

Porridge Problems

For breakfast in Scotland, have porridge, which is bland but tasty when served with salt the Scottish way. In English hotels and homes you are served porridge sweetened.
In Asia, in homes, hotels, shopping centre food courts, restaurants including the lounges at airports, a savoury breakfast porridge may contain meats or fish shredded, and spicy ingredients. You can buy Scottish porridge oats in supermarkets.

Porridge Answers
In Singapore we had trouble finding reasonably priced crushed small porridge oats. Supermarkets stocked porridge meal, fine like grits or flour.

We bought the large oats and put them in a coffee grinder. Stop the machine quickly and you get something near the kind sold in the UK.

DIY porridge is bland. Add a little salt to taste. For a sweet flavour, add sultanas, and/or a teaspoon of maple syrup.

Maple Syrup
Most of the world's maple syrup comes from Canada but a small amount comes from the USA. Cheaper brands use only a proportion of maple syrup. We buy Canadian maple syrup, 100% maple syrup, brand name Buckwud. It has that magic maple syrup flavour.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Indian Desserts, Drinks and Teas: chai, gulab jamun, halva, jelabi, kulfi, lassi

Shikrand at Sakonis restaurant in Hatch End.

Eggless cake with ice cream at Sakonis. This is the chocolate and nuts version of the Sakonis restaurant's Indian cheesecake. (Better than frozen mousse cheescakes I've had elsewhere but not as good and sucky and sticky and yummy New York Cheesecake.) Good if you like chocolate and nuts. 

Mango pulp at Sakonis.

Problem
What do the names mean?

Answers
Desserts:
eggless cheesecake and ice cream
gajar halwa
Wiki says:

Gajar ka halwa (Also known as gajrela or gajorer halwa,^[1][2] is a sweet dessert pudding originating from the Indian subcontinent, associated mainly with North India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.^[3] It is made by placing grated carrot in a pot containing a specific amount of water, milk and sugar and then cooking while stirring regularly. It is often served with a garnish of almonds and pistachios.^[4] The nuts and other items used are first sautéed in ghee, a South Asian clarified butter.^[5]

The dessert is a favourite all over Northern India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is traditionally eaten during all of the festivals in India, mainly on the occasion of Diwali, Holi, Eid al-Fitr and Raksha Bandhan.^[6] It is served hot during the winter.^[7]

Nowadays, gajar ka halwa is a popular worldwide dessert with many variations such as red velvet halwa, carrot and beetroot halwa, and cheesy carrot halwa.

gulab jamun - (usually 2 in a portion) ball like a sweet dumpling with brown outside in syrup
halva - smooth
jelabi - batter spirals in syrup, often orange colour, very sweet and sticky, crunchy
kheer - wiki says:

 'Kheer is a rice pudding from the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, made by boiling rice, broken wheat, tapioca, or vermicelli with milk and sugar; it is flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios or almonds. It is typically served during a meal or as a dessert. It is also known in some regions as payesh, payasam, payasa, phirni, gil-e-firdaus and fereni.'

kulfi - flavours could include malai, mango, or pistachio); Indian ice cream, sometimes with gritty texture, often a tapered cylinder with a flat top.
mango pulp - my friend tried it in Sakonis and was expected fplain fruit puree and found it too sweet
rasmalai (listed as 'each' meaning you get one ball)
shikrand - yogurt - I tried this at Sakonis in Hatch End and recommend it.

Drinks
chai - spiced tea, tasty, more flavour than fruit tea (chai as in 'a cup of cha' and 'char lady' which could be from chore or chai) From Sakonis - I recommend it
lassi is a non-alchoholic white refreshing drink, a mixture of yogurt and milk with salt or sugar/syrup or fruit added
fresh lassi (salty/ sweet)
mango lassi
passion juice

Where to try and buy
1 UK: Sakonis restaurant, Hatch End, London, England.
Also shops and restaurants in Harrow (Sakonis) and Rayners Lane (other) and Wembley.
2 Tesco, Hatch End and other branches for packets of gulab jamun.

3 Singapore: Mohammed Mustafa 24 hour supermarket near Farrer Park MRT (railway) station. Look in the chiller cabinets gulub jamun and for other made up desserts. You can also buy dry mixes.
4 Singapore: many restaurants and delis in Little India.
5 Other Indian delis, supermarkets and restaurants worldwide.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Learn Romanian Words For Foods

Map of Romania from Wikipedia.

Problem
How do I remember the written words? How do I remember which accents to add? How do I pronounce the words?

Answer
D e v i s e new memory aids or follow mine below in brackets after words in my mini dictionary. (Spaces inserted to defeat automatic spell checker inserting wrong words.)

English - Romanian
breakfast - mic d e j ù n  (short for Mick is having his petit d e j e u n e r - French for Breakfast)
butter - unt (bUTter - UnT)
cake - torta (cake OR TART, same word, as in French and Italian, not tart but t o r t a)
piper - pepper (PiPER - PePpER; remember the tongue twister Peter PIPER picked a peck of pickled PEPPER)
cheese - branza (think of B R i e ANd g o r g o n Z o l A )
child - copilul (ChILd and  p u P I L)
honey - miere (honEy BEE - miErE like the French word miel for Honey)
pie - plācintā (P I e - P l a c I n t a; or Pie P L A c e d IN oven or cooker - er sounds like a)
salt - sare (S A l t - S A r e)
soup - supa (soup is super)
sugar - zahar (change the s into z and the g into the following letter h)
table - masa (like the Spanish mesa; a massive table with a mess on it)
the - la

Romanian - English
b r a n z a - cheese
copilul - child
e, e s t e - is
la - the
mic d e j u n - breakfast
masa - table
m i e r e - honey
p l a c  i n t a - pie (spell checker prefers placenta)
sare - salt
supa - soup
torta - cake
unt - butter
zahar - sugar

I have had trouble with the accents on an Apple machine. I'll come back with notes on accents later.

Code for text for Romanian letters.

To get the sounds, use Google translate or Duolingo.com Romanian.

In an emergency

The government website advises:If you need emergency medical assistance during your trip, dial 112 and ask for an ambulance.

If you’re visiting Romania you should get a free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) before leaving the UK.  If you don’t have your EHIC with you or you’ve lost it, you can call the Department of Health Overseas Healthcare Team (+44 191 218 1999) to get a Provisional Replacement Certificate. 

More From
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/romania
www.romaniatourism.com
http://wikitravel.org/en/Romania
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g294457-Activities-Romania.html

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share posts.

Indian Gooseberry, called Amla, makes preserve or drink

An Indian friend of mine from Toastmasters in London just messaged me on Facebook to say the fruit is an Indian gooseberry known locally as an Amla.

Now I am sure of the correct identity and Indian name I can find pictures and authentic recipes.
I googled how to cook and serve Indian gooseberry or a m l a (spaces inserted because spell checker or auto correct prefers alma) and if you do the same you will find several links to pages of half a dozen or more recipes.

Amla Preserve
One recipe for a sweet concoction, called Grated amla murabba or "amla ke chheel ka murabba, involves grating the fruit, making a sugar syrup, adding cardamom and saffron and storing in a sterile jar for up to a year.

I looked up the translation of Murabba and the result was sweet fruit preserve.

http://food.ndtv.com/lists/5-best-amla-recipes-759851

ALMA Drink
You can boil and/or liquidise it with added sugar, cumin and salt as a drink.

http://www.tarladalal.com/Amla-ka-Sharbat-31727r

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

English gooseberry, Chinese Gooseberry and Indian Gooseberry from Singapore's Little India

We bought what looked like giant gooseberries in Little India in Singapore, expecting to get the flavoursome gooseberries we were used to in England.

English Gooseberries
The English or bought in London gooseberries can have a slightly sour taste but when cooked up in a sugar syrup are delicious and highly flavoured, nice by themselves. You can add them to crumbles or fruit salad but they are a delicate distinctive flavour.

Chinese Gooseberries
We thought at first that what we had bought might be Chinese gooseberries. No. When I checked on line I realised that Chinese Gooseberry is another name for kiwi fruit, a totally different fruit, very popular in London sliced into fruit salads or as a decoration.

Indian Gooseberries
The fruit we bought in Little India in Singapore, it now became apparent, were Indian gooseberries. At first bite it was obvious they were not the same as English gooseberries. We found them quite horrid. No soft centre and seeds. Solid and tough to bite, liken an uncooked potato. Tasteless but slightly sour.

We tried cooking them up with a sugar syrup. (That sounds like a tautology. What other kind of syrup could you have if not sugar? You could have sugar from a fruit such as fructose, or from milk, called lactose.)

We tried to hide the result in a fruit salad for breakfast. Nobody was fooled. Nasty solid, hard to bite, nothing you could chew or suck. Am I being poisoned? I removed the solid, tasteless bits.

Indian Lady's Recipe Blog
I then tried searching the internet for enlightenment. I found it immediately. A lovely Indian lady recalls her childhood picking these fruits and eating them fresh. She claims they were juicy. She says the secret is to eat them with salt. Then sip water which by contrast tastes sweet.

The fruit we bought were not juicy. I hacked at them with a knife on a chopping board and had trouble cutting them. I thought that like everything else we had bought they would be ready to eat. Was I supposed to keep them ripening?

The fruit she says, is an acquired taste. I have acquired a taste for yogurt which I did not like the first time I tried it. I have acquired a taste for durian ice cream or durian cream or durian cake which I love, like a mixture of chestnut and banana, although I don't like fresh durians with their sulphurous bad egg flavour.

My Verdict
However, I have had two goes at fresh and cooked Indian gooseberry. Since we have a few left, we will try one last time with salt or pickling, or candying, the way we dealt with rock hard figs in London, which made delicious candied figs. After that, if you don't ever hear from me again on this subject, my verdict is, stick to fresh gooseberries from England or America.

On the other hand, if what we bought was not an Indian gooseberry - what was it? It is green, rock hard, with six segment divisions visible on the outer skin.

http://www.lovefoodeat.com/how-to-eat-indian-gooseberriesamlanellikai/

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

German - easy ways to remember words when learning or teaching

When you are learning new words in a foreign language it helps to have a letter to remind you, and to distinguish two similar words from each other. In German the nouns have capital letters.

Das Bier - beer - sounds the same, same first and last letters. If you need to remember that the second vowel is pronounced in German, think of the word Bier. Pronounced like bee - er.

fertig - ready (fERtig - REady)

Have - habe - ich habe - I have (three letters the same; only the letter v and b are changed)

Der Hut - the hat, same first and last letters. But the plural of hat, hats, in German is Hüte. Two little hats on the letter ü.

Das Kleid - clothing or dress (remember clad - they were clad in their glad rags)

Die Mädchen - the girls (same word as maidens and maids which have the same sound the same first two letters and the same middle letter d and the same last two letters en.

Der Rock - the skirt. (At first sight rocks have no connection with skirts. But look again at the letters. The letters R and K in Rock appear in sKiRt. Or make a memory aid: We wrapped the rocks up in skirts and carried them home.

Das Saltz - the salt - same first two letters.

Der Schuh - the shoe (add c in German after the s).

Wasser - water - starts with the same two letters (although the German w is pronounced as a V - easier to remember if you know to say 'v e r s h t' and eggs (borsht)

You can use these connections when you are teaching German to yourself or English speaking children or adults, or when teaching English to German speaking children or adults.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, language teacher.

Cow Vodka From An English Farm With Cheddar Cheese

WHERE WAS IT?

Cow vodka from an English farm? Here's the display window in Nicholas wine shop in Great Portland Street near Great Portland Street station. Where's that? On the Metropolitan line, only one stop from Baker Street Station by Regent's Park, near enough to walk to Baker Street or Oxford Circus in London.

WHAT IS IT?

Inside the shop was a tasting of cow vodka, or milk vodka, made from milk, cow's milk. That's unusual. I've heard of Polish vodka from potato. Mostly, usually, vodka is made from grains such as barley and wheat or oats, or maize, i.e. corn. You can make vodka from anything you like. It is 96% alcohol before it's diluted, so most of the primary flavours get left behind. 

If it can be made from anything, can you make it at home? Er - no! It's illegal. Why? Not only because it is extraordinarily potent but more important during the making off the top comes ethanol which is poisonous and can make you go blind and kill you - which is why every now and then you read about individuals or whole groups of people being poisoned at places like India at a wedding where somebody has bought or brought illegal alcohol.

I started drinking vodka years ago when I heard a radio advertisement saying that it had no flavour, so it did not give you alcohol breath. But nowadays the fashion is to add flavours to vodka.

Milk alcohol? I had to try it.

HOW DO YOU FIND THESE THINGS?

I always sign up for newsletters about wines and foods and shops and tourist attractions. I am inundated. But occasionally you get a gem of news like this. Maybe I was emailed by Nicholas, or saw it in a newsletter. The Nicholas tasting event organisers usually don't give you much notice. When a note goes in my diary I should note the emailer to check. 

WHAT'S THE TASTE AND TEXTURE?

The flavouring is very subtle. But it's the opposite of whisky which hits you and cuts your throat and make you cough. Much gentler. Very slightly creamy.

Apparently it's a very pleasant and gentle addition to a cocktail. If you live or work in central London and want to splash the cash you can buy Cow Vodka from a wine shop in a central or upmarket area, or the big stores, especially those specialising in food and drink such as Fortnum and Mason.

Frankly, my first thought was, that's a lot of money for a mixer. Why so much? The box is not durable but looks disposable. They've deliberately gone for the natural, rural look.

CHEDDAR CHEESE

But there's more to buy and taste from the same people. Cheese from the same farm to go with the vodka, a cheddar cheese, but one you probably haven't tried before, and nor have most of your guests if you are having a big party. (It won't go far in a crowd;,you have to cut it up into tiny pieces.) But the round block is the same size as the other cheeses for a small dinner party or wine and cheese party or wine tasting dinner ending with cheese.

COW

Does the cheese come from the same kind of cow? Which kind of cow? Actually (I try to avoid using the over-used word actually, but here it actually fits), yes, the farm actually has three kinds of cows.  The milk used for the cheese is a blend.

Why bother with three kinds of cow? What's the difference? One cow give you a high yield. More milk for the money you spent buying the cow, more to sell. Perfect for volumes of skimmed milk. Why go for anything else? Another kind of cow gives fattier, creamier milk. Ah. Another is a very strong, sturdy, healthy cow. (I think, but don't say, a kind of insurance?)

What did they do before? They used be a dairy farm. But now their premium products are their cheese and milk or cow vodka. 

SEEING MILKING & VISITING THE FARM

The cows are milked twice a day, at 6.30 am, too early for most people to ever see, but also again at 2 pm. By August this year, 2016, if their plans are fulfilled to time, in time for the summer holiday season, the building work on their proposed Visitor Centre will be finished. Then you will be able to go there see a film, learn about the process, presumably buy milk vodka and cheese.  I'm not sure if they will sell you a pint of milk but they are planning to serve tea and coffee so there must be some fresh milk to try. 

WHERE?

You are likely to be able to find the Cow Vodka at wine and  spirits and food shows in the UK throughout the year.

This weekend, Saturday May 14, Londoners and tourists can attend the Spirited Wine Spring Fair, entry charge £15. Later in the year there's a trade only show, Imbibe.

Where is the farm? Near Axminster and Yeovil. Not in the prime summer holiday areas of Cornwall and Devon, known for Devonshire cream teas of scones and clotted cream, but, on the other hand, a handy stop on the way, and nearer to London. 

WHEN?

Only three months from now, you might be able to see the farm and watch the milking. Will you be able to milk a cow? I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure I'd want to. I imagine if you get it wrong an annoyed cow has a nasty kick. The thought of it would be me off my tea, and even turn me to drink - how about a taste of that cow vodka.

You can try vodka cocktails at Mark Hix restaurants, said Kathryn, the Black Cow ambassador. (What's an ambassador? I think it's the wine trade's fancy name for PR, marketing and general enthusiasm and information along with a bit of customer service.)

You don't have to visit London to buy the Black Cow vodka. It has just been launched in the USA, in 2016, and you can buy it on line. 

It's especially popular for Christmas, not just for serving at a party, but mainly as a gift. For somebody who has everything. Or even your own wish list.

PRICE

How much? 70 cl vodka £37.50

200 g cheese £7.95

If you have cash to splash, the vodka or both vodka and cheese make a nice gift. If you are looking for something more modestly priced, the cheese would be a great gift. I liked it. 

What did I like? The cheese has the occasional crunchy grain of salt which is what I most like about French Comte cheese from La Fromagerie (near Baker Street station and a short walk from the Nicolas wine shop - now I have found that grain of salt in cheddar cheese.

MORE INFO ON VODKA

More details about the cow vodka and cheddar cheese and forthcoming visitor centre from 

blackcow.co.uk

MORE INFO ON AUTHOR ANGELA LANSBURY

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speaker. In addition to travelling and trying out new foods and drinks, I can give talks to business, universities and colleges and schools, and teach English to adults in workshops. See more about Angela Lansbury the author on Facebook, LinkedIn, and a Youtube video on restaurant etiquette.Read excerpts from my books and buy them on Lulu.com

Porridge in England, Scotland and Asia, and Stirring Saucepans

Salt or sugar, sweet or savoury, porridge is stirring stuff. Porridge is called oatmeal in the USA and Canada. In England we have porridge for breakfast with sugar, but in Scotland they eat porridge with salt. Maybe this is something to do with a previous century when sugar was imported from sugar cane in the caribbean and shipped to ports on the west coast of England and sent down to London.

Supermarket Choices
Porridge is still a favourite breakfast served in hotels in winter in the UK. Nowadays most supermarkets in London, England, and elsewhere in the UK can offer porridge oats in large bags at a low price. You can also buy ready-made porridge in one person portions in a sachet for the microwave, with sugar and milk included, just empty into a bowl, using the sachet as instructed to measure the exact amount of added water. (I add fresh milk either as part of the liquid during cooking or afterwards to the bowl when serving and eating.)

Online UK supermarkets which have pictures and prices of porridge include Asda, Tesco, Ocado (home delivery branch). You will see pictures of brands such as Jordans, Oat So Simple.

Checking the various flavours, you could pick the one with lowest calories. Lucky you if you are not counting calories. All my favourites were the highest calories.

I was impressed by the huge variety offered even in a small branch of Tesco supermarket.

A big bag of Tesco's own is competitively priced.

Quaker Oats. Only £1.14 for a big bag from a small branch of Tesco.  A little goes a long way because they swell up when you add water.

You could start with a bowl of fresh fruit, chopped up with a few nuts (if you are not allergic to nuts), plus milk. Then have porridge.

A traditional hotel breakfast would offer porridge as a starter, followed by fried eggs or other eggs and bacon and sausage, possibly cooked/fried tomato and mushroom. All very calorific and ideal for warming you and marching along the valley by the rivers (now flooding!) on the breezy hillsides, through the dark pine forests, though the cold winter weather to work or school or working out in the cold fields on a farm. Oats are starches, which are a form of slow-release calories which keep you going all morning or all day, as opposed to quick-energy foods such as sugar which stimulates you with a burst of energy and then a sinking low later.

Diet versus Cholesterol
We gave up porridge with sugar when we started a diet. Then we read that if you have high cholesterol porridge seems to - in simple terms - to attach to the baddies and carry them off.

Stirring
If you have a saucepan with a see-though glass lid you can see what is happening. Today we were looking at stirring porridge. If you make porridge the old fashioned way in a saucepan, somebody stirs the porridge to stop it sticking. When you stir, you help the oats mix their starch into the water forming a 'cream'.

With too little water you would end up with a sticky clump like a cake. Too much water and you would start with a clear soup with bits in it. To solve the problem, simply add more oats or more water. If you buy a pack of oats it often tells you how much water and how many spoons or cups or the weight, but you can tell by eye. If you make porridge every morning, you get into a system, half of a particular saucepan or bowl.

Why would you cook in a saucepan and stir, rather than tipping into a bowl and using the microwave?  For one person, you might prefer a microwave, less washing up and you are a microwave person who wants results in one minute, so you buy a sachet.

If you are a dedicated cook, you reckon it's hardly any work to add water to oats in a saucepan and stir until it is exactly right.

Another advantage of stirring is that it doesn't overcook and get burnt and stick to the bottom of the inside of the pan. (If so, if you are lucky you can eat the top half. If the nasty burned flavour is all through, you will have to start again with another pan. Simply soak pan in water for an hour or so. Frankly, it's dangerous. You could start a fire. Burned food gives you cancer, according to the cancer research websites. Easier to stand and watch. If you need to answer the phone, keep a mobile within reach, check who is calling, or watch the food as you answer and tell the people briefly you are cooking and will phone back.)

Self-Stirring Saucepans
Years ago, as a newlywed, (back in the 1970s) I invested in a pan with a stirring device in the lid. I quickly tired of this. It had two disadvantages. The first was that it made an irritating whirring noise. The second was that it was complicated to clean. I'm not sure if it went in the dishwasher. Probably not, because it had batteries in the lid.

Finally it had batteries which needed replacing. That was a cost. A nuisance to change batteries. You thought it had broken but the batteries had run out. A general nuisance. Or you forgot and started cooking in another saucepan which was nearby and caught your eye. The stirring device got in the way if you wanted to use the pan for anything else.

However, looking on the internet in early 2016, we found the Japanese had invented new devices. One is a shaped saucepan, somewhat like a V shape, art deco appearance, which creates a vortex. One is a dedicated saucepan. Another is a device you can move from one saucepan to another. Some have patterned interiors.  All very scientific, domestic science.

UK Stir Pan Prices and pan Stirrer
Amazon has a stirring saucepan at about £12. Tesco has a sale on and their lowest price is just under £10. You can order online, click and collect from your nearest branch of Tesco. A member of my family just ordered one.

Looking at the specifications again, I see that what we ordered is not a saucepan but a device which sits in any saucepan (of the specified range of sizes). It is driven by batteries. Batteries are not supplied. It takes rechargeable batteries. That's good. You save money. You are less likely to run out of power.

I am looking forward to using it. Our main use initially will be for the daily porridge. But it will be useful for other sauces. I wonder whether it will affect consistency? We don't have lumpy porridge.  I doubt whether the porridge will taste any different.

Regarding taste, we have tried cutting down sugar to nothing, but the porridge is very bland. If you add just a tiny amount of sugar and a tiny amount of salt, that suits us. We a have sometimes forgotten to add salt and had to add a little at the table.

Asian Savoury porridge
In Asia they eat porridge for breakfast in Singapore. Also in hotels in Asia. In restaurants and fast food shops. And in lounges at airports such as Singapore Airlines, especially in the Asian countries, so you will see it in a lounge on a stopover from Australia to Europe via Singapore. If you are in Star Alliance and stop at a country with no Singapore Airlines lounge, you may find yourself directed to another airline's lounge.

In Asia or on a flight with many Asians you are likely to find you are offered p or r i d g e (good thing I re-read my post - predictive text turned the word into horrible!), nearly always savoury, often with meat or fish or vegetables mixed in.   If you treat porridge like potato or pasta or bread, it is just a bland vehicle to which you can add anything you like for a one pot breakfast when travelling or in a hotel suite or at a second home, or arriving in your new rented or bought home.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porridge

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speaker.
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