LadyCook61
Master Chef
Eat One's Hat
Many a man engaged in a contest of some sort has offered to eat
his hat if he loses. In such a situation a knowledge of etymology would
be of great value - for the expression "eat one's hat" once referred not
to a Stetson or a Panama, but to a culinary product.
Napier's famous "Boke of Cookry," one of the earliest European
cookbooks, gives the following directions: "Hattes are made of eggs,
veal, dates, saffron, salt, and so forth." In the hands of amateur
cooks, the concoction was frequently so unpalatable that it required a
strong stomach to eat it.
Even so, the early braggart who offered to eat a hatte had in
mind nothing so distasteful as a felt or a straw.
Many a man engaged in a contest of some sort has offered to eat
his hat if he loses. In such a situation a knowledge of etymology would
be of great value - for the expression "eat one's hat" once referred not
to a Stetson or a Panama, but to a culinary product.
Napier's famous "Boke of Cookry," one of the earliest European
cookbooks, gives the following directions: "Hattes are made of eggs,
veal, dates, saffron, salt, and so forth." In the hands of amateur
cooks, the concoction was frequently so unpalatable that it required a
strong stomach to eat it.
Even so, the early braggart who offered to eat a hatte had in
mind nothing so distasteful as a felt or a straw.
