A monthly look at new words and phrases about food.

rito n. A clipping of burrito. “I just got out of a noise violation because the cop recognized my roommate as his favorite chipotle burrito roller. just another reason I love ritos.”

weed in a can n. “Drank” is being billed as the anti-energy drink, to help you relax and soothe out the day. The key ingredients in the grape-flavored drink are melatonin, valerian root and rose hip. Those are all herbs used to help in relaxation and trouble sleeping. The concept of the “relaxation beverage,” has led some people to refer to the drink as “weed in a can.” (Not to be confused with Purple drank, which is the slang term for a recreational drug popular in the hip-hop community of the southern United States. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine.

vampire n. A traditional dish in the Republic of Chad in central Africa that is made with animal blood. “Vampire,” as it is jokingly dubbed, is making a comeback amid a global surge in food prices that has left meat too expensive for many. It is made with peppers, salt, onions, spicy sauce and maggi [stock cubes], and then fried together. Some nutritional specialists say that “vampire” is a good source of nutrients and protein, especially for children. One local was enthusiastic about its culinary merits too, stating: “The taste is good, a bit like liver. I really like it. … I suppose it doesn’t sound very good to be associated with sucking blood, but I don’t really care. Perhaps it will give me the strength of a vampire!”

Courtesy of The Double-tongued Dictionary, Word Spy, and Schott’s Vocab.

A monthly look at new words and phrases about food.

eatertain v. Kessler spends a lot of time meeting with (often anonymous) consultants who describe how they are trying to fashion products that offer what’s become known in the food industry as “eatertainment.” Fat, sugar, and salt turn out to be the crucial elements in this quest: different “eatertaining” items mix these ingredients in different but invariably highly caloric combinations.

phantom fat n. Body-image experts say it’s not uncommon for people, especially women, who have lost a lot of weight to be disappointed to some extent to discover that they still aren’t “perfect.” Some specialists use the term “phantom fat” to refer to this phenomenon of feeling fat and unacceptable after weight loss.

Courtesy of The Double-tongued Dictionary, Word Spy, and Schott’s Vocab.

A monthly look at new words and phrases about food.

chicken on a throne n. We are not made of stone, and we could not resist including a clip of America’s most surreal superstar, humbly demonstrating in his own kitchen how he makes roasted chicken with pears. More important than the crazy vocal cadence or his recipe, though, is the technique, sometimes referred to as beer can chicken or “chicken on a throne,” though technically known as indirect grilling. (This refers to the famous viral video of Christopher Walken.)

enhanced chicken n. People shouldn’t be paying chicken prices for saltwater. But some unscrupulous poultry producers add as much as 15 percent saltwater—and then have the gall to label such pumped-up poultry products “natural.” Some in the industry euphemistically call chicken soaked or injected with salt water “enhanced chicken.” Of course this isn’t really about enhancing chicken, it’s about enhancing profits. Someone’s clucking all the way to the bank.

VB6 n. VB6 is short for Vegan Before 6, the increasingly popular veggie-heavy diet that converts say can do wonders for both the body and the planet. Coined and devise by food writer Mark Bittman, the regime is pretty self-explanatory: No animal products, processed food or simple carbohydrates during the day. After 6 p.m., anything goes.

Courtesy of The Double-tongued Dictionary and Schott’s Vocab.

meatza n. My friends once ate a pizza that was known in legend as “the meatza.” This pizza had no sauce, just 7 or 8 different meats piled quite high (estimated at about 4-5 inches). They then used the crust to mop up the grease that had dripped off the slices as they ate.

mylk n. Making almond milk is incredibly easy once you get your system down and my kids think it is incredibly delicious. They will drink it straight, add it to cereal, or use it to make chocolate milk or banana milk smoothies. Since I use raw organic almonds, I get to rest easy knowing that their milk, or “mylk” as many refer to it, is healthier for their little bodies and healthier for the planet.

trub n. Don’t worry about all of the junk (hops and proteins—called the “trub” in brewers lingo) in the wort—most of it will fall to the bottom during fermentation.

Courtesy of The Double-Tongued Dictionary.

bilingual adj. Out of the types of celestial seasoning tea, the bilingual teas seem to appeal mostly to Hispanic communities. These teas are called bilingual because they mix two different flavor like banana and apple, or cinnamon and apple, or honey and lemon, and so on.

belly wadding n. In the cowboy movies we often see cow punchers and gunfighters pull out what appears to be a short strip of leather and chew away on it—somewhat of a substitute for ribs and beans when they were on the trail or when there was a lull in dodging bullets. Some of the cowboys referred to it as “belly wadding.”

sugar hat n. The key is to find a sugar cone (also known as a “sugar hat”) which is a solid piece of white sugar that you can flame.

murphy style n. I ask this question in the Christmas section because you always see gift packs with coffee beans and it’s not instant coffee. And I am always worried that the gift receipient doesn’t have a coffee maker. Yes, you can make it “murphy style” or some refer to it as cowboy or camp side style. Just use the ground bean and a pot of water, bring to a boil and let the grounds settle.

oyster n. Tuck the knife behind the ball and cut the leg free. As you cut past the socket joint, don’t forget to arc the knife around the little pocket of meat known in birds as the “oyster,” as this is the best part. The oyster is small in wild ducks, but is very large in turkeys, geese and pheasants.

ham fat musician n. He went from being a “ham fat” musician (a term for amateur players in reference to young trombonists greasing their slides with lard) to a professional.

pizza stone n. Baking stone: A stone creates a more even temperature and the crunchy-chewy crust that bakers seek. Also known as a pizza stone, this large porous tile can be left in the bottom of the oven at all times to even the heat.

white tablecloth restaurant n. An upscale or expensive restaurant, as opposed to a casual or fast-food restaurant. “I’m able to do coupons and help people who are on tight budgets who still want to go out to eat. It’s the Ruth Chris Steakhouses and the white tablecloth restaurants who will see an effect.”

yak n. Their discovery of cognac—“yak” as they affectionately call it—started a fashion among young black Americans who, in a practice considered heresy in France, mix it with fruit juices to make cocktails such as French Connection and Incredible Hulk. The rappers even wrote songs about Hennessy Cognac, referring to it as “Henny” or “Henn-dog.”

Courtesy of The Double-Tongued Dictionary.

“Bowl of red,” “Randall,” and “Sikparazzi.”

bowl of red n. The fact that a Texas “bowl of red,” as chili is commonly called, has no original relationship with past didn’t matter.

Randall n. Wayne decided to attach a bag of NZ Cascade hops to one of his taps- apparently this is referred to as a “Randall.” It created a crazy hoppy beer that got crazier as more beer was poured through it. After a few hours it just started smelling like a bag of hops straight out of the freezer.

sikparazzi n. Just as paparazzi follow Hollywood stars for a living, hoping to catch them slipping up on film—many so called “sikparazzi,” a combination of the Korean word for food and paparazzi, will be checking up on restaurants and food venders to detect unhygienic, inappropriate or fake ingredients, also in the hopes of a payday.

Lovingly culled from Double-Tongued Dictionary.

biscuit belt n. “Well the area of the country that I practice in Gastonia North Carolina is what some physicians refer to euphemistically is the biscuit belt. We have a problem with patients being overweight.”

strolling supper n. I “get” the fact that a “strolling supper” is another term for “buffet,” but I have a question: what happens if the “strolling” supper gets up and leaves?

battery cage n. …considered the worst animal-confinement systems in factory farms.…so-called battery cages, where four or more hens share a space about the size of a file drawer.

fluffy n. If you’re not familiar with the term, a fluffy—known in Australia as a baby cino—is basically a tiny cup filled with froth and sprinkled with chocolate for children, allowing them to think of themselves as coffee-swilling adults.

Courtesy of the Double-Tongued Dictionary, where you can find more neologisms about many diverse topics other than food.

doughing in n. Recently, Whyte brewed a batch of American pale ale in her kitchen using hops she grew in her backyard. First, she heated five gallons of water on her stove to about 150 to 160 degrees. She poured it into a bucket full of malted barley—a process called “doughing in.”

mistelle n. Pedneault also produces an iced apple mistelle—with alcohol added to bring it to 20 per cent and served frosty, it’s Quebec’s version of ice wine—and is often paired on local menus with foie gras.

louching n. Specially designed for the purpose, it’s shallow-to-flat bowl is decoratively slotted, and a cube of sugar is laid on top. Very slowly, ice cold water is dripped over the sugar cube and slowly drops into the absinthe. That nectar first turns the liquor an eerie shade of milky green and, gradually, a cloud-like opalescent. This technique is called la louche, or louching.

fat washing n. Although in this case it’s bacon-flavored bourbon, and the process, known as a fat washing, is different from a typical infusion. Essentially, beverage director Paul Westerkamp renders bacon, combines the grease with Woodford Reserve bourbon, freezes it, pokes a hole in the upper frozen layer, and then drains and filters the liquid.

night lunch n. As our lovely little girl, Anna, came early, we had to spend a few extra weeks in the hospital with her. My wife and I learned a few things.…There’s a mystical fourth meal around 9pm called “night lunch.”

From the Double-Tongued Dictionary

“Family Meal,” “Haji Stove,” “Sad” Dumplings, & “Bathtub Cheese”

family meal n.“I had arrived at 4 p.m. to experience a daily ritual that takes place in hundreds of restaurants across the city, and in thousands more across the country: family meal. Chanterelle was the last stop on a month-long, eight-venue culinary tour of Manhattan. My mission was simple: to see how a restaurant, with seemingly endless talent and resources in the kitchen, nourishes its staff, and how that 20-minute meal impacts the seven hours of dinner service that follows.”

haji stove n. “The chai itself is usually green, but sometimes will be black. It is made by putting the tea leaves in the pot and boiling the water, often on a burner sitting directly atop a propane cylinder. If they are making shiir chai (milk tea) the leaves are put into the milk directly and the milk is not quite boiled. The propane rigs are commonly referred to in American parlance as haji stoves.“

sad adj. “For Cathy Riddle, another Appalachian Fair champion who uses White Lily for everything from green tomato bread to sad dumplings (the kind with a chewy center), the selling point is consistent good results.”

bathtub cheese n.“The germ can infect anyone who eats contaminated fresh cheeses sold by street vendors, smuggled across the Mexican border or produced by families who try to make a living selling so-called bathtub cheese made in home tubs and backyard troughs.”

Courtesy of Double-Tongued Dictionary

New words and phrases coined about food, courtesy of the Double-Tongue Dictionary.

vegecurious adj. “Tomerlin says about half of Spiral’s customers aren’t vegetarian, but folks she dubs ‘vegecurious‘ (sounds vaguely naughty). She advises first-timers to start with more entry-level dishes such as the taco salad or chopped barbecue sandwich.”

lawnmower beer n. “Summer may be the best time to eschew the exotic and just go for a simple ‘lawnmower beer’—something to chug after a sweaty session of yard work.”

Droste effect n. “At my grocery store I could only find three examples: Land O’Lakes Butter, Morton Salt and Cracker Jacks. These packages each include a picture of the package itself and are often cited by writers discussing such pop-math-arcana as recursion, strange loops, self-similarity, and fractals. This particular phenomenon, known as the ‘Droste effect,’ is named after a 1904 package of Droste brand cocoa.”