They Eat What! Latin America's Most Exotic Foods - Part 2

They Eat WHAT!

If you’re teaching English as a foreign language abroad, you can expect changes in foods ranging from the simple to the outrageous as we noted in yesterday's part 1 of this series.

So you’re back for more, huh? Well if I didn’t get to you in part one with “treats” from Colombia, Brazil and Mexico you’re gonna just love what you’ll get here in part two of this three-part series. We’re going to travel into the jungles of Colombia and up into the high Andes mountain range in Ecuador to introduce you to some “Eye-opening”, high-flying specialties that’ll make partly-cooked greasy pork liver seem like “Haute Cuisine”. Hungry yet? Tighten up your belts then and let’s continue our culinary tour.

Three-Toed Sloth

Called “Oso Perezoso” (lazy bear) in Spanish, these dense-haired, slow moving creatures live off of jungle foliage and leaves. You would think they’d be easy to catch, but in fact, they can live high up in the trees and be extremely difficult to spot. Cleaning and preparing to cook one takes several hours. Most of time being spent just to remove the coarse, dense hair which is done by dipping the carcass in boiling water and painstakingly scraping or pulling the hair off. The result is worth it though as it has the most delicious meat I’ve ever tasted when cooked in a thick, rich stew. Sloths are kept as pets since they’re actually quite harmless despite having up to four-inch long claws.

In the Cartagena photo above, English as a foreign language teacher Geny Vidal, from the southern Colombia city of Popayan, cuddles someone else’s pet sloth.

Bofe

Pronounced “bow-fay”, the dried, roasted lungs of a cow are this snack food. Often available at airport restaurants and street food vendors in Colombia, it’s a somewhat acquired taste, but not one that’s unpleasant by any means. Most people simply have to get past the thought of what it is (believe me; you DON’T want to see it before it’s cooked). It’s difficult and time-consuming to prepare. Ready to eat, it’s a dark, unappetizing looking concoction cut into bite-sized cubes for easy munching.

Vulture

Yup, you read right – Buzzard, is eaten in some towns in the Central Highlands of Ecuador. It’s caught, plucked and thoroughly cleaned (I wouldn’t want THAT job!). The high Andes mountain range runs from Colombia south through to Chile and is home to vast flocks of Condors. Condors are carrion-eating birds. I don’t have to tell you what “carrion” is, do I? The cleaned, prepared bird is normally prepared in soup with seasonings, broth and vegetables like yucca, potato, plantain, celery and carrots.

Cow’s Eye

Ever wonder what happens to the “unwanted” parts of food animals like the reproductive organs? Well in Latin countries, these parts are eaten same as the rest of the animal. Consisting mostly of liquid, cow’s eye is sold fresh, of course. It’s most frequently cooked by being stirred into a hot pot of chocolate and served as a drink or a thick “soup” of sorts. Although it’s relatively common and popular in Colombia, I haven’t taken the plunge yet. Several of my acquaintances say the concoction’s quite tasty.

How would YOU like to try it?

In part one of this three-part series, we traveled through Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to sample ants, piranha and green iguana. In part two you were introduced to sloth, vulture and cow’s eye and lungs. In the final part of this series you’ll meet more exotic foods. From the Pacific coast to the mountain highlands of the Peruvian Andes we’re going to rock you with even more “treats” of Latin America you’ll never forget. Brace yourself for this one. It’s definitely NOT for pansies.

If you’d like to get part three of this series “They Eat What! Latin America’s Most Exotic Foods”, please e-mail me at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com . I’ll be waiting.

Bon Appetit!

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

A Bush By Any Other Name

Teaching English as a Foreign Language:
A Bush By Any Other Name




Surnames of Objects

In still other examples of surname adoption, surnames were taken from inanimate objects thought or believed to have unique properties or super-natural characteristics. Science, being what it was during the sixteenth century, still had a long way to go in explaining the properties of most elements. Thus superstitions and pagan beliefs sometimes played a key role in the selection and adoption of a person or family’s surname. Some surnames were taken from foodstuffs or plants. Others were assumed from nature or natural objects. Many if not most of these surnames are still in widespread use today. Note the varieties in spelling as English spelling was not “standardized” during that era.

Rice, Rhys, or Rhize
Bean or Beane or even Beene
Corne or Cornell
Stone or Stowne – later shortened to Stowe
Cage
Bush or from old English By(u)ssche
Glass or Glaz
Pine or Pyne
Banner
North or Northe also Nord or Norde
West
Steel or Steele believed to be derived from Steale
Cotton
Thorn or Thorne
Peck or Pecke also Beck or Becke – related to Becker
Day, Daye or Daley
Street or Streete also Streeter
Bend or Bender
Bell or Belle
Berry
Forest, Forester or Foster, Forster
Winyter, Winter or Winters
Summer, Summers or Sumner also Summerville
Brook or Brooks
Ford, Forde or Foord(e)
Wood, Woode or Woods
Sharpe
Wicke

In previous articles, we’ve seen how English language surnames were developed from occupations, animals, nature, and colors. This should help to give our English as a Foreign Language learners an interesting and unique glimpse into the nature and intricacies of the English language.

It was none other than “the Bard”, William Shakespeare who wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Indeed, and we’ve only taken a brief look at some of the more common English language surnames. There are still hundreds, if not thousands more we haven’t even considered in this series of articles.

These examples of surnames created or adopted from a variety of sources illustrate the beginnings of the development and use of the family surname or last name, as we know it today. Similar examples of surnames can be found in a number of other foreign language families. Why not ask your English language learners about unique or historic surnames (or first names) in the country where you are living and working now. It could prove to be a very unique and interesting history.

After all, who really knows, “What’s in a name?”


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for the no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com