"Hatunen" <hatunen@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:0unpa4p3r4s9prm4kl5vs4ctvok4ekcd8c@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:10:59 -0700, Bob Cunningham
> <exw6sxq@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:06:04 +0200, Einde O'Callaghan
>> <einde.ocallaghan@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>>> Bob Cunningham wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:15:37 +0200, Einde O'Callaghan
>>>> <einde.ocallaghan@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Bob Cunningham wrote:
>>>>>> (Crossposted to alt.usage.english.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:22:08 +0100, Frederick Williams
>>>>>> <frederick.williams2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote [in alt.languages.english]:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What is the significance of the prefix "re" in the word
>>>>>>> "refrigerator"?
>>>>>> As you probably know, the prefix "re-" occurs in quite a few
>>>>>> English words where its meanings of "again, back" or "away"
>>>>>> don't seem to offer a satisfactory reason.
>>>>>>
>>>>> The fact that the current meaning of a word doesn't contain the
>>>>> concept of "again-ness" doesn't mean that it didn't originate
>>>>> from the latin root meaning repitition. An example is the word
>>>>> "reduce" . Today there is no sense of repetition here but
>>>>> originally it did come from a Latin word meaning "to lead back".
>>>>
>>>> But did Latin "refrigeratus" or "refrigerare" ever have any
>>>> connotation that could be inferred from any modern definition of
>>>> English "re-" besides intensification?
>>>>
>>> According to the Online Etymology dictionary the Latin root meant
>>> "mitigation of heat", particularly in the context of illness - i.e.
>>> reduction of fever, in other words "making cool again".
>>
>> That sounds good, but getting back to "refried" in "refried beans",
>> which is said to be a mistranslation of Spanish "refritos", which is
>> said to not mean "refried", but "fried well", it seems the
>> misconception is so widespread that it may outlast the correct
>> meaning. As I've said in another posting, it seems possible that the
>> time may come when refried beans are really fried twice, because
>> people will have heard so persistently that they were fried twice
>> that they will have started frying them twice.
>>
>> Googling on "refried beans" seems to come up with more statements
>> that "refried" in "refried beans" means "fried twice" than with
>> explanations of what really appears to be the true meaning, "fried
>> well".
>
> All I can get by googling is that the beans are cooked twice:
> boiled as beans normally are, then mashed up and fried.
>
> According to http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/refritos,
> refrito can mean either "over-fried (demasiado frito)" or
> "re-fried (frito de nuevo)", which seems to mean newly fried,
> which refritos are, after boiling.
As it has been described to me, refritos exist in a pan on the back
burner, to which freshly cooked beans are added, either as leftovers, or
purposely cooked to increase the base amount, and seasoning is added to
enrich the flavor from time to time. Some scorching may occur, but that
goes along with the refried existence and flavor.
I was watching a cooking show about China (Shanghai, I think) in which
the street shops brag about how old their basic soup stock is. With
constant additions and cooking a high-class stall may have soup stock
well over 15 years in age.
Is it the French pot au feu that is constantly replenished in the
standard home-cooking household?
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