Auwvax.228 net.cooks utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!duke!chico!harpo!uwvax!jon Fri Feb 19 11:27:52 1982 fried kasseri The fried cheese dish described is usually called "cheese saganaki" in Greek restaurants, and knowledgable patrons will join the waiter in crying "oppa!" when the cheese is flamed. It is generally assumed that "oppa!" is an interjection equivalent to "whoopee", but in fact it is contraction of a phrase whose meaning is obscure; it means either "Oh, sh-t! it caught on fire", "Help! my hair is burning!" or "Ha ha! look at the clown with no eyebrows!" It is a little known fact that the Greeks learned to make cheese from the Germans, and the name "kasseri" is a borrowing from the German "kaeserei" (more or less: cheesery). The same word made an interest round trip, and was borrowed back into Yiddish, a Germanic language. The Jews thought that fried cheese was disgusting, so the word took on a pejorative meaning, and eventually generalized into the present "chazzeray". Some people may not believe everything I just said, but I assure you that cheese saganaki is delicious. ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.