They Say Tomate, I Say Tomato

By Carol Livingstone
Loose Ends

I’ve been getting a few laughs watching a TV show called “Worst Cooks in America,” where the cooks’ culinary skills are slim to none, and many of them seem to fear foods.

Perhaps it doesn’t help that their chef mentors use words and phrases that regular people haven’t heard before.

Macerated. Saboyan. Polenta. Spaetzle.

They say tomate when they mean tomato sauce. It has to be intimidating to people who are more familiar with deep-fried and boil-in-a-bag, and for whom, if they are like me, gastrique means an upset stomach.

For more see the Feb. 7/12 issue of The Tofield Mercury