Re: Kefir vs Kombucha -proto-indo-european...

January 10, 2005

Special K:

>The real mystery is: why do all these probiotic foods start with

'k'?????

>kefir, kraut, kombucha, kimchi ....

" kvass " is apparently a cognate with " cheese " (cf Latin " caseus " ) so

there's the whole cheese thing going on too, with /k/ sounds often

softening to /ch/ sounds.... which led me to this:

cheese: O.E. cyse, from W.Gmc. *kasjus, from L. caseus " cheese, " from

PIE base *kwat- " to ferment, become sour. " Earliest refs. would be to

compressed curds of milk used as food; pressed or molded cheeses with

rinds are 14c

So whoever mentioned proto-indo-European was on the mark with a *k- root

for " ferment " : KWAT!

(Oh, while we're on the K sound - maybe klabbered and kurdled milk? And

isn't there something fermented called ?kumiss?)

Helen

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January 10, 2005

> So whoever mentioned proto-indo-European was on the mark with a *k-

> root

> for " ferment " : KWAT!

God I love etymology.

Lynn S.

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Lynn Siprelle * web developer, writer, mama, fiber junky

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