[Sca-cooks] a grain question- probably OOP

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Laura C. Minnick wrote:
> Hi there!
>
> Does anyone know what is 'kaffircorn'?


Sorghum. Kaffir more or less denotes "South African" (I think Kaffirs
are originally a sub-group of the Bantu); sorghum is one of the dominant
grains in South Africa, and it is also grown in the U.S. It looks
vaguely like maize; it has a fruiting body with clusters of kernels on a
central "ear" like maize. I _think_ that some of the alleged pictures of
maize that have been found that ante-date Columbus may in fact be of
sorghum.

> The context- I'm working my way through a bunch of family records trying
> to document a picture I recently got, and at the moment, I'm reading
> through my Great-Grandfather's diary. He was a farmer and Mennonite
> Pastor, having come to the US from Russia (the family is German though-
> long story). They later went to Canada, but where I'm reading now it's
> 1897 and they are in Oklahoma. The diary entries are fascinating (I
> already read how he built the sod house) though terse and rather sad
> sometimes (many, many deaths, especially children). But I have noticed
> that he keeps talking about this kaffircorn that he picks, and I'm not
> familiar with the term. And what is 'stooking'? it's something they do
> to corn...

And this is, overall, in what language? It sounds vaguely Dutch or
Dutch-influenced. As I recall, a Stück is a stick or a piece, sometimes
a slice, in German, so I wonder if it's a cutting term, like threshing.
>
> A chuckle- fussing because his wife went along into town and blew $2 on
> a new corset. Such luxury! ;-) But then when your wheat goes for $.71 a
> bushel and the crop fetches $21.06, I suppose two bucks is a pretty big
> thing...


Well, yes, I'm sure 10% of income that he/they literally sweated for on
something like a corset would be considered a bit outrageous. On the
other hand, I'll bet she looked great in it, and he forgot the whole thing.


Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98