In our next episode of “Wot sajcht Ejtmon”, we will be posing questions about tomatoes. Now as we know, us Mennonites have always abided by Beefsteak tomatoes. Nice slices of tomatoes, bigger than your hand on a fresh tweibach & butta with reiwe zipplen met ätikj (raw onions and vinegar).
On a previous visit with Ejtmon, he sad that he no longer abides in Beefsteak tomatoes. Can you imagine that?! Instead, he grows Roma tomatoes. Now, I’m not sure about this. It’s a little bit like switching churches. If we abandon our Beefsteak tomatoes, do we also abandon our culture? Roma are Italian tomatoes. So, will be loose our Plautdietsch and suddenly take up speaking Italian if we grow Roma tomatoes? It’s a slippery slope when we start to make such changes. Now, I’m not going to judge. Maybe you can grow Roma tomatoes and still attend the same church. Maybe it doesn’t matter? But rather than risk it, I sad to my mumtji that we are going to stay with Beefsteak and Plautdietch. What they do in Loma Plata or Grunthal is their business! So, Ejtmon plants Roma, I plant Beefsteak..and we are still friends. Check back for the next issue of, "Wot Sajcht Ejtmon" when we will ask the question: "can you taste the difference of Roma tomatoes in the Mennonite borscht"? And how much star anise is too much?
Fun Mennonite fact: A tomato in Plautdietsch is Bockelzhonn. Pronounced Bockle-zhon.
Enjoy getting reacquainted with those forgotten Plautdietsch words of yesteryear and learn interesting new phrases that you may have never heard before! We have three different dictionaries to choose from!
Want to make some borecht that will impress all your friends from Jant Seid? The Mennonite Treasury cookbook is still available. Check out the link below.
Check out our back issues of the Mennonite Enquirer by clicking on the barn below.
