It had a few links, a few days back and it is a neat gadget. (This link -- from an unexpected and much-appreciated source -- is to an article about it I hadn't seen). It's more of a "hobo knife;" at least, that's what we called a pocketknife that included a spoon and a fork when I was young. At least one commenter has suggested it might be a sailor's knife, in part because what "experts" are calling a toothpick looks more like a small marlinspike or fid. Whatever it was, whoever used it, the Romans went us more than one better, adding a little shellfish-winkling utensil and something Swiss Army and hobo knives ought to have but don't: a ketchup starter!
Okay, the report calls it "a [tiny!] spatula, which is believed to have been used for poking sauce out of narrow-necked bottles," and the sauce was most likely fermented fish sauce, garum, but considering that stuff is described as "the supreme condiment....a thick liquid..." and actually fairly mild, we can think of it as the Roman equivalent to our tomato-and-vinegar sauce and probably about as thixotropic. It was even put up in bottles of a surprisingly familiar shape!
"Dear Ron Leatherman: Such an idea I have got for your next product...."
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
8 comments:
Feh. Real ketchup-eaters get the stuff out using nothing but their knuckles and patience. (I come from a long line of ketchup bottle knockers.)
The Leatherman Flair has a corkscrew, cocktail fork and... a spreader knife!
Granted it's a little stubby for ketchup retrieval, but if your cheese has fallen off your cracker as mine has, it's just the thing for re-applying it!
The little spatula thing might also be an ear spoon; I've seen pictures of some from Medieval Europe that were made from such materials as bone, ivory, and precious metals.
...Or (ick) both....
Ah, to see the word "thixotropic" in print...its viscosity is dependent on its shear rate. Which means it flows easier when it's moving faster.
And the word verification: pordit
I pordit from the bottle...
That WV just HAS to be context sensitive. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it?
The bizarre aptness of captchas either proves we are wired up to pull patterns out of noise, demonstrates there is some arcane context-dependancy in their creation, or suggests they are produced by a group of telepaths.
I'm pretty sure we're better off not knowing.
Ketchup is so perfectly thixotropic that I've remembered the word since the first time I heard it used.
I'm just surprised nobody commented about "winkle."
Old bar trick, I can always get heinz out of a brand new or well used bottle on the very first try, there's a trick to it, and it's very easy once you know what it is.
crap, sorry, that was me.
Post a Comment