Today's dismay: currants

[kaberett]

From the department of "divided by a common language": earlier today I was Very Upset about the US use of "coffee cake", which is apparently not a cake flavoured with coffee but rather a (style of) cake eaten with coffee.

(The recipe blog intro writes itself, really; things I am already considering include some kind of poppyseed coffee cake and of course rhubarb coffee cake, which is what precipitated this particular discovery.)

This was upsetting enough by itself but Subsequent Digressions lead to the discovery that apparently in North America "currants" with no other specifiers by default means Ribes, probably blackcurrant, and not, you know, the dried grape.

... via going "hey, this EYB recipe specifies 'currants' as an ingredient for teacakes, but I've previously been informed that that means Ribes fruit not dried grapes, surely some mistake?" and getting back, approximately, "what makes you think dried grapes are relevant??? the version of the recipe in the Guardian just says 'currants'??????"

(The linking step was being Extremely Indignant about having it patiently explained to me that "coffee cake" is like "tea cake". Apparently BUT THE FRUIT SHOULD BE SOAKED IN TEA THOUGH is not a robust defence.)

Comments

[starlady]

Wait...a teacake is not a cake?

[wildeabandon]

They are in the south, but in Yorkshire a teacake is a soft white bread roll - the sort that you might call a barm or a butty elsewhere.

[sfred]

This! A fruit teacake has to be specified as a fruit teacake, but it's still bread rather than cake.

[me_and]

I'm used to "teacake" meaning a fruited bread roll, probably toasted and buttered for breakfast. Which is an obvious and sensible nomenclature, unlike this "coffee cake" nonsense

[recessional]

…mmmhm :amused:

[recessional]

the “cake” involved in the name was assigned back when “cake” just meant “amount of something about the right size to be held in the hand”, ie a cake of soap.

Isn’t language fun? let’s do flapjacks next!

[kaberett]

WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME

[recessional]

Mischief. 😈

[starlady]

Oh right, like how "tape" originally meant something like a ribbon, i.e. measuring tape.