Stuffed derma, of all things

[Jonathan Weiser]

Is the "derma" of "stuffed derma" a clever invention to translate the untranslatable (and barely digestible) or is there any genetic etymological affinity with Gederem or Darm or any other Yiddish word? Has the food item ever been called by any name but "kishke," other than by the waiters at Grossingers? Fundamentally, why would the East Side menus insist on using derma over kishke?

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[Dr. Avraham Ben-Rahamiël Qanaï]

Jonathan,

 

        From the Answers.com dictionary:

der·ma² (dûr'mə)
n.

Beef casing stuffed with a seasoned mixture of matzo meal or flour, onion, and suet, prepared by boiling, then roasting. Also called kishke, stuffed derma.

[Possibly Yiddish gederem, intestines, from Middle High German darm, intestine, from Old High German.]

 

        According to the Muret-Sanders Enzyklopädisches englisch-deutsches und deutsch-englisches Wörterbuch (Langenscheidtsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1910):

Darm

    1. anat. intestine, intestinal canal. gut; Därme pl. auch: bowels pl.; die Därme betr. intestinal, enteric.

    2. (Wursthülle) skin of a sausage.

Avraham

[rdhob...@notes.cc.sunysb.edu]

It's like "phylacteries".  Is there anyone who knows what phylacteries are who doesn't also know what tfillin are?

Bob Hoberman