A long time ago TPP and his friends got in trouble with the ex-Marine who was our high school assistant principal, i.e., disciplinarian. Not the brightest bulb, so after cracking down on profanity, we sought out all the words we could find that sounded "profane" but weren't. Our favorite was "scud". And upon hearing this exclamation, our drill sergeant would pin you against your locker and ask, "And just what does that mean?" And we'd give him the definition, where upon he'd haul you down to his office and check his dictionary (probably a secretary's). With a puzzled look he'd let you go to class. We were later scolded by the principle for baiting him, but he gave it away with a smile.
So the way a word sounds certainly has some significance. SMUT! This one is even worse because it actually has two really different meanings, the one everyone will be seeking when Google brings them to this blog. But it's also the common name of a fungus that infects maize and replaces its fruits (corn kernels) with fleshy reproductive bodies that upon maturity turns black and releases innumerable spores. In Mexico corn smut is called huitlacoche supposedly meaning excrement of the gods in Mayan, which is sort of smutty. These are the truffles of Central America and actually cultivated. So what is needed here is some creative re-labeling. So rather than smut or excrement, how about Mexican truffles? Ah, that has a nice sound to it. Hmm, not even a recipe in my Frida Kahlo cookbook, and this has never appeared in a market in this part of the USA and we do have some pretty good Latin American groceries. Mexican truffles probably don't travel well. Anyone out there with some recipe examples?
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