“a serving of food; a meal”
You mean like a mess of pottage? Not that most people would be prepared to sell their birthright for anything produced in a military kitchen.
Jim Brown:
July 18th, 2015 at 9:53 pm
My mother and her family used the word ‘chow’ for a type of pickled green tomatoes. They had been cooked before pickling, and were a welcome condiment in the middle of a long winter.
Joyce Melton:
September 2nd, 2015 at 8:42 am
Chow chow is almost any kind of mixed pickle relish in my experience but the best sort was made of green tomato, onion and peppers. Del Monte used to sell small jars of it and it made the best base for devilled eggs. I worked in a deli and we would prepare three dozen devilled eggs each morning, using one whole jar of chow chow, an equal amount of mustard and mayo and a splash of the juice from a jar of pickled jalapeños to mix with the egg yolks. Paprika and black pepper were added after the mix was put back into the eggs.
Haven’t seen that chow chow on the shelves in more than twenty years. Only kind I see now is Mexican corn relish-type made with tomatillos, corn and onions.
Monkey:
April 5th, 2017 at 1:29 pm
In 1894 Purina Mills’ (which later became Ralston-Purina) first products were “Horse Chow” and “Mule Chow”. Later they sold all sorts of animal specific “Chows” for such a goats, dogs, pigs, rabbits, and even monkeys.
I can well imagine farm boys in the US military likening their food to animal feed.
The related phrases “chow down” and “chow hound” to me somewhat conveys the notion “eat like an animal” sort of similar to the essen/fressen distinction in German.
Purina Mill’s use of “Chow” seems to be derived from “Chowder” – the feeds they sold to be eaten dry were called “Chow” while those to be mixed with water and eaten moist were “Chowder” – e.g. “Purina breeder egg chowder”. [then again Purina may have started with “Chow” meaning food and “chowder” for moist food was word play]
I’m not saying that “chow” was not initially derived from Chinese just that the Purina notion may have synergized its application to military foo.
Pedro:
July 28th, 2020 at 9:34 am
There are any number of Cantonese and Mandarin dim sum dishes with “Chow” in the title, such as “Chow Fun” and “Chow Sui Bow”.
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Louise:
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:08 am
“a serving of food; a meal”
You mean like a mess of pottage? Not that most people would be prepared to sell their birthright for anything produced in a military kitchen.
Jim Brown:
July 18th, 2015 at 9:53 pm
My mother and her family used the word ‘chow’ for a type of pickled green tomatoes. They had been cooked before pickling, and were a welcome condiment in the middle of a long winter.
Joyce Melton:
September 2nd, 2015 at 8:42 am
Chow chow is almost any kind of mixed pickle relish in my experience but the best sort was made of green tomato, onion and peppers. Del Monte used to sell small jars of it and it made the best base for devilled eggs. I worked in a deli and we would prepare three dozen devilled eggs each morning, using one whole jar of chow chow, an equal amount of mustard and mayo and a splash of the juice from a jar of pickled jalapeños to mix with the egg yolks. Paprika and black pepper were added after the mix was put back into the eggs.
Haven’t seen that chow chow on the shelves in more than twenty years. Only kind I see now is Mexican corn relish-type made with tomatillos, corn and onions.
Monkey:
April 5th, 2017 at 1:29 pm
In 1894 Purina Mills’ (which later became Ralston-Purina) first products were “Horse Chow” and “Mule Chow”. Later they sold all sorts of animal specific “Chows” for such a goats, dogs, pigs, rabbits, and even monkeys.
I can well imagine farm boys in the US military likening their food to animal feed.
The related phrases “chow down” and “chow hound” to me somewhat conveys the notion “eat like an animal” sort of similar to the essen/fressen distinction in German.
Purina Mill’s use of “Chow” seems to be derived from “Chowder” – the feeds they sold to be eaten dry were called “Chow” while those to be mixed with water and eaten moist were “Chowder” – e.g. “Purina breeder egg chowder”. [then again Purina may have started with “Chow” meaning food and “chowder” for moist food was word play]
I’m not saying that “chow” was not initially derived from Chinese just that the Purina notion may have synergized its application to military foo.
Pedro:
July 28th, 2020 at 9:34 am
There are any number of Cantonese and Mandarin dim sum dishes with “Chow” in the title, such as “Chow Fun” and “Chow Sui Bow”.