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mizeria - cucumber salad?



dragan   Apr 21, 09, 17:44 /  #
Hello!
Can someone please explain the etimology of word 'mizeria'?
Where did it come from? Why is it used for cucumber salad?
Thx!
gumishuThreads: 17
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I actually don't know the etymology of the word - but you can't go far from Latin root of the word (English misery comes from the same root for sure) mizerny means shabby, weak, bad - the notion was some time in the past that mizeria is not a proper food i.e. potato and meat ;) (just cucumbers in sour cream plus chopped onion, salt and pepper - you can hardly satisfy hunger with such stuff)
actually I love mizeria

btw the same term mizeria is also applied to a pasteurised cucumber salad in oily vinegary brine (onions, piment and bay leave added) (there are some variations to the recipe btw)
Polonius3Threads: 1,005
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According to Aleksander Brückner's classic Słownik Etymologiczny, mizeria (from the Italian word for misery, destitution, poverty) as the name of a cucumber salad arose as a schoolboy joke the same as gramatka (a fruit soup whose name is reminiscent of gramatyka = grammar). He did not elaborate.
gumishuThreads: 17
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Brueckner was completely off the spot in many instances of Polish etymologies
SeanusThreads: 22
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Maybe someone felt miserable after eating it. My dunce cap is on as I say this ;)
KarinkaThreads: 15
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Joined: Apr 3, 09 		  May 26, 09, 18:52 /  #
Thread attached on merging:
Cucumber salad

Good day,

Does anyone have the Polish recipe for cucumber salad? (Miseria???? I don't know the correct spelling.) Had it when I was in Poland last year and LOVED it.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
Karinka
plk123Threads: 30
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yes, google or search. good stuff too.
Patrycja19Threads: 79
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plk123:
yes, google or search. good stuff too.

come on Plk, you know the recipe, give it up!!

lol
plk123Threads: 30
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if i didn't post it, polonius or pgtx already have. i know i posted a picture before.
VincentThreads: 15
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Karinka:
Does anyone have the Polish recipe for cucumber salad? (Miseria???? I don't know the correct spelling.) Had it when I was in Poland last year and LOVED it.

Is this the right one?

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/vegetables/r/cukessourcream.htm
plk123Threads: 30
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not really. it should be vinegarless.


here:

cuces - sliced as thin as possible. peeled is best but can be either way
add a bit of sour cream and stir
pepper the heck out of it.
optional - add dill
sadieannThreads: 4
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Joined: Apr 28, 09 		  May 26, 09, 21:18 /  #
Cucumber Salad#1 (Mizeria)
2 cucumbers 1 cup sour cream
3 green onions 2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt/pepper to taste 1 teaspoon sugar
Peel the cucumbers and slice very thin. Salt well and set aside for a few minutes. Squeeze the cucumbers to remove excess water. In a small bowl, mix the sour cream with lemon juice and sugar. In a serving glass salad bowl, mix the cucumbers, chopped green onion and the sour cream mixture. Chill before serving. Can be made ahead, but keep the cucumbers and chopped onions in separate bowl for the sour cream mixture. This cucumber salad can also be served with vinegar and sugar to taste.)
plk123Threads: 30
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way too much sour cream.. it's not about the cream but pepper and the cuces.
sadieannThreads: 4
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Whoops! I agree, 1 cup sour cream. Thanks for catching that.....
plk123Threads: 30
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maybe a Table spoon or 2?
Patrycja19Threads: 79
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plk123:
maybe a Table spoon or 2?


Now when I go to the polish resturant, they make it with alot of sour cream..

not so much pepper.

I think each family made food similar, but to their taste.
KarinkaThreads: 15
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Thank you everyone!!!

Karinka
plk123Threads: 30
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Patrycja19:
they make it with alot of sour cream..

don't get me wrong, it should have a nice amount of sourcream.

it should look more this:
gfhdrstewr

but this is way too much: gjh
pgtxThreads: 49
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plk123:
but this is way too much:

i like it that way...
mafketisThreads: 17
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Several years ago I translated a paper on peasant food in Wielkopolska (fun fact: Poznanian 'rogale świętomarcińskie' are basically a fake folk tradition 'revived' so as to not have to honor the memory of Piłsudski who is not popular in Poznań due to his lack of support for the Wielkopolska uprising).

Anyway, about mizeria, details are fuzzy now, but if I remember right it was one of a number of joke names for food that stuck for whatever reason. Others included 'ślepe ryby' ( a kind of potato soup that AFAIK no one makes anymore).
Patrycja19Threads: 79
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plk123:
it should look more this:

that looks about right. :)
shark8   May 30, 09, 04:03 /  #
Speaking about the ethymology of the word: - I heard a story that "misery" was felt by the Italian pricncess Bona Sforza, after she became the Polish queen. Apparently she felt homesick for Italy and at that times she would eat "mizeria".

Bona Sforza is believed to have introduced "włoszczyzna" ("Italian vegetables") to Poland around year 1520; apparently some of the vegetables were not known at that time (not sure which - please note however that cucumbers are not włoszczyzna!!!).
plk123Threads: 30
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shark8:
please note however that cucumbers are not włoszczyzna!!!).

yes,we know.

http://www.polishforums.com/question_w_oszczyzna-8_33056_0.html
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