Now that we’ve covered a vocabulary word, current event, and historical tidbit for Chapter 1, we’ll be focusing on Chapter 2 for the next two weeks. We begin with the Chapter 2 vocabulary word which is…
OFFAL!
The word “offal” is an interesting one for many reasons. It is featured on many different occasions in The Prince and the Pauper in all different Pontes Books versions. Although this word appears many times in the story, the word meaning does not actually play a large part in the plot. Rather, it is a fun easter egg that Mark Twain includes in the story only for those who understand its meaning. Check out the video or read the blog below to find out more!
OFFAL
| DEFINITION (n) The internal organs of an animal; garbage | FACTS/CHARACTERISTICS leftover parts of animals after food preparation; still edible |
| EXAMPLES animal kidney animal liver animal intestines | NON-EXAMPLES animal muscle animal bone |
Etymology
- Language of Origin: Old English
- “off” + “fall”
- Meaning/Interpretation: that which is allowed to “fall off” the butcher’s block as being of little use
- Language of Origin: Middle Dutch, German
- “Afvall”, “Abvall”
- Meaning/Interpretation: garbage, rubbish
Homophone “awful” has no connection to meaning
Sentences/Additional Forms
- Straightforward sentence: The butcher prepared the cow meat to sell, but set aside the offal.
- Sentence from the chapter: “The house which Tom’s father lived in was up a foul little pocket called Offal Court, out of Pudding Lane.” (p. 3)
- Other forms: n/a
But wait, there’s more!
Have you heard of dishes like chitlins, pate, sweetbread, foie gras, or haggis? Do you know what all of these things have in common? They are all dishes that involve cooking using offal! The parts of animals that we usually consider to be disposable can actually make some pretty delicious, and in some cases highly desireable, dishes.
Chef Andrew Zimmern has a whole collection of recipes devoted to cooking using offal on his website. The competition cooking show <a rel=”noreferrer noopener” href=”http://<!– wp:paragraph –> <p>Chef Andrew Zimmern has a whole collection of recipes devoted to cooking using offal on <a href=”https://andrewzimmern.com/recipe_main_ingredient/offal/” data-type=”URL” data-id=”https://andrewzimmern.com/recipe_main_ingredient/offal/”>his website</a>. The show </p> Chopped also has featured many episodes where offal is featured as a mystery ingredient that must be incorporated into dishes.
The following are also a few of the most popular dishes including offal that can be found around the world:
Most Popular Offal Dishes
- Foie gras (France, Europe) – fatty liver
- Haggis (Scotland, Europe) – sheep’s innards and other ingredients typically cooked inside an animal’s stomach
- Tripas (Mexico, North America) – pig/cow intestines, often as a taco filling
- Kokorec (Turkey, Asia) – small/large intestine grilled over charcoal
- Kebda Eskandarani (Alexandria, Egypt) – fried beef liver with spicy seasonings
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References
https://www.etymonline.com/word/offal
https://www.tasteatlas.com/most-popular-offal-dishes-in-the-world
Pontes Books 