Did you ever wonder where such sayings as "cut the mustard", "cool as a cucumber" or "in a pickle" came from? I got to thinking about it just the other day as I opened up a jar of my amazingly divine citrus and ginger marmalade. The term "in a jam" came to mind. Actually the first thing on my mind, after I had some sticky marmalade on some toast, was what makes this marmalade and not jam, jelly, preserves or conserves? Questions, questions..... and I wanted answers, answers. OK first things first. I remember from way back when in culinary school that the difference between fruit spread was the amount if any, of pectin, sugar as well as the ratio of fruit to liquid...but what was what?Alright, according to my trusty Food Lover's Companion, jelly should be clear and hold it's shape consisting of fruit juice and pectin. Jam is a mixture of cooked fruit and sugar (and sometimes pectin) that is very soft and spreadable. Preserves differ from jam since large chunks of fruit are typically incorporated into the mixture as opposed to being pureed. In citrus preserves the rind is usually used in the spread as well. Conserves are preserves with the addition of nuts. OK, so this clears up some of those cooking questions, now back to the cliches that involve food terms. These culinary idioms, or expressions, have been around for many years. But who gets the credit for coming up with them? And why are some more known than others? So, I had to "use my noodle" and do some research. Most of the sayings I looked up came about during the 17Th through 20Th century. Terms that were commonly used in reference to food some how become associated with a person's state of current affairs. Such things as "sing for your supper" were true in Medieval times. Person's of lesser status had to entertain the Royal court and perform a small song and dance before being offered a ration of food. And during the 1930's Wonder bread used the slogan "the best thing since sliced bread" as a marketing tool to up their sales of baked goods. I can't think of any new food idioms that have been implemented into the English language in recent years. So, "in a nutshell" for the time being I will stick to my newest term, which I actually picked up from Chelsea Handler, "a hot mess!", and see if it catches on. I use it in reference to broken custards, over cooked eggs or any other disastrous mishap in the kitchen. For example, "My cooking student did not whisk the custard fast enough so the sauce got lumpy and turned out to be a big hot mess!"
For more info on food idioms check out this great article on Chow.
