Collops

[Canny lass]

Anybody ever Heard the word 'collops'? There's a very popular, every-day dish here called 'kalops'. It's a kind of beef stew flavoured with Alspice (whole peppercorns only) and Bay-leaves. It usually contains carrots and leeks but these can be omitted. I learned a few Days ago that the Word kalops originates from the English Word collops. When I started researching it I found that the Word collops may originate from the french 'escalope' meaning slice of meat. I also learned that the Word collops was in common use up until the mid 16th Century when it was the generally accepted name for bacon and eggs! However, Another source gives the origin as Scandinavian. In that case it's gone full circle. I personally have never Heard the Word collops in England, though I've eaten my fair share of stews and bacon & egg. Has anybody Heard of collops, and if so what was it?

[Maggie/915]

From Mrs Beaton's Household Management.

It is frightening what I hoard.

[Canny lass]

_{Fantastic Maggie! How old is the book? Can't be too old I would imagine as the recipe contains ketchup.}

[Maggie/915]

I looked and could not find a date but from the adverts I would say the book is about 100 years old.

I will take some pictures and investigate.

[Maggie/915]

One of the books is a facsimile copy about 1950.

The other two are earlier.

[Maggie/915]

I will try again. The picture ad is not upside down when I view.

[Maggie/915]

I have remembered making a meat dish called a cobbler.

It was mince with basically a scone mix on top.

The recipes Mrs Beaton style have toast, potatoes , or rice as stodge.

Maybe it was all cobbled together!

[Maggie/915]

Do not suppose we will have many male comments on this topic.

I am not being controversial!

Honest.

[Brian Cross]

Do not suppose we will have many male comments on this topic.

I am not being controversial!

Honest.

male comment

[Malcolm Robinson]

Hoy no sexism on this thread please Maggie!

I spent 10 years learning to cook in France!

A Cobbler to me has a suet topping.

[Canny lass]

I go with scone mixture, Malcolm. However if you consult the Wiki- Oracle, and more important - if you Believe the Wiki-oracle - you'll find it can be made with dumplings as well. It's actually got quite an interesting history our cobbler. Did you know that there are several variations on the recipe in the USA, where it originated among the British colonials? They have some wonderful names like slump, grump, dump, buckle and sonker (the cobblers, not the Colonials). Can I expect to find cobblers on the menu in France?

[Maggie/915]

Controversy sells!

So they say.

Well done the male contributors on this topic.

Years ago I found a great quote about the Cornish miners being brought to the North East to strike break.

The Miners here in the NE said the Cornish men "Even helped their wives in the kitchen"

[Malcolm Robinson]

At one time I believed a Cobbler was a dessert dish?

[Maggie/915]

Either way, the words are great.

Cobblers! Collops!

It was cobbled/ colloped together.

Maybe we could form a group and with a new language.

Other threads indicate it was done in the past by our once young members of the site.

[Canny lass]

At one time I believed a Cobbler was a dessert dish?

And so it is Malcolm. It can be made with fruit.

[Maggie/915]

Folklore of Northumberland by Fran and Geoff Doel has a section called Collop Momday.

It seems the day before Shrove Tuesday and the last day meat could be eaten until Lent was over;

consisted of 'collop' a slice of dried salted and hung meat preserved through winter.

Rashers of bacon were carried to houses of friends

An effigy of Jesus in a coffin was taken house to house and money was needed to see inside the coffin.

I have never heard of this custom before.

[Canny lass]

Folklore of Northumberland by Fran and Geoff Doel has a section called Collop Momday.

It seems the day before Shrove Tuesday and the last day meat could be eaten until Lent was over;

consisted of 'collop' a slice of dried salted and hung meat preserved through winter.

Rashers of bacon were carried to houses of friends

An effigy of Jesus in a coffin was taken house to house and money was needed to see inside the coffin.

I have never heard of this custom before.

That's really interesting Maggie. I've never Heard of Collop Monday. Perhaps we should try to get it going again. Bacon butties anyone?

[Brian Cross]

A collop is a slice of meat, according to one definition in the Oxford English Dictionary. The derivation is obscure; the OED cites Ihre that it may be related to the old Swedish word kollops (equivalent to the modern: kalops ), but also suggests a German origin (klops).^[1]

In Elizabethan times, "collops" came to refer specifically to slices of bacon. Shrove Monday, also known as Collop Monday, was traditionally the last day to cook and eat meat before Lent, when that was a period of fasting from meat. A traditional breakfast dish was collops of bacon topped with a fried egg.^{[citation needed]}

Scotch collops are a traditional Scottish dish. It can be created using either thin slices or minced meat of either beef, lamb or venison. This is combined with onion, salt, pepper and suet, then stewed, baked or roasted with optional flavourings according to the meat used. It is traditionally served garnished with thin toast and mashed potato.^{[citation needed]}

The methods used to create this dish in its various guises have direct parallels with the Middle Eastern treatment of meat in such dishes as koftas.^{[citation needed]}

[Canny lass]

How on Earth do you cut "thin slices of minced meat"? As yet I haven't come across the old Swedish Word kollops. Most knowledgeable sources here say that kalops originates in the English Word collops. However it isn't impossible that it's come full circle. Some other Words have such as - kex, from the English Word cakes - from the ON Word kaka.

Edited September 13, 2013 by Canny lass

[Keith Scantlebury]

MEN , KITCHEN !!!!! . Do all houses have these ? ( A kitchen that is ) I sometimes see the wife disappear into another room and come out again with cooked food. Could a mystery be solved here ?

[Canny lass]

MEN , KITCHEN !!!!! . Do all houses have these ? ( A kitchen that is ) I sometimes see the wife disappear into another room and come out again with cooked food. Could a mystery be solved here ?

KITCHEN? I think it's the female equivalent ofGARAGE - you know, that place we often see the old man disappear into and come out again with oily hands and an empty wallet!

[Vic Patterson]

I can vouch for that Canny Lass.