JUNKET:originally a basket

　　We have here a strange tie-up between a rush basket and the pleasure junket that a group of congressmen take,we'll say, to the Philippines, and the junket that we feed to children.In old France the custard that was made there of"cream,rose water,and sugar"was taken to market in the jonquette,or basket of rushes,and this custard soon took on the name of the basket in which it was carried and was respelled junket.These baskets suggested a picnic and the junkets the congressmen go on certainly have the character of a picnic,and received their name because of this.So there we are,except that this all stems from the juncus of the Romans which was their word for "rush."

　　LUNCHEON:a lump of food

　　The origin of this common word is so old that it has become somewhat clouded.Lunch first meant"a lump"and lunshin,an English dialect word,meant"a lump of food."But there also existed the dialect word nonschench which splits into anon,"noon,"and schench,"a drink."High authorities claim that these two words nonschench and lunshin blended to form the word luncheon which could then roughly mean"a lump of food with a noon drink." Of course,when you have breakfast,you merely"break the fast."Dinner is from the French diner,"to dine,"and supper is"to sup,"which is really to "sip"either food or drink.And a morsel is a"little bite"since it comes from the Latin term morsum,"bitten."

　　MANHATTAN:origin unknown

　　Of course the name Manhattan,whether applied to the drink or the city,belonged to the tribe of Indians who originally inhabited Manhattan Island.The Manhattan cocktail came into vogue toward the end of the last century,and the year 1894 is the earliest recorded use of the name,but as yet there is no further explanation of the origin.The history of the martini is equally

　　obscure.

　　NAPKIN: first a little tablecloch

　　The tiny paper napkins that we use at times would never have done in the old days when knives,and spoons were limited,or nonexixtent.Then you needed a tremendous linen square to mop up with.These enormous napkins were a sign of elegance long after flat sliver came in,and even in the 1890's large napkins were an important part of any top-drawer dinner.We have the word napery now for table linen,and in this term is buried another word,nape,which once meant tablecloth.In our language when we say napkin we mean a little nape,which is an Old French word,and so "a little tablecloth."In Old French the derivative of nape was naperon.This was borrowed into Middle English as naperon and an apron was first called a napron,but by error the initial n became joined to the a and an apron took the place of a napron.In similar fashion the snake,an adder,used to be called"a nadder."And all of this finally derives from the Latin word mappa which also meant napkin or"cloth."

　　OMELETTE:originally a thin blade

　　The history of this word is just as mixed up as a modern omelette.The term came to us by a series of absurd blunders.The Latin word lamella,"a thin plate,"entered French as la melle,and later the word was reinterpreted as l'alemelle.But the French already had a word alemette which meant the thin blade of a sword,and before we know it l'alemelle is being spelled l'alemette,and later on,omelette.So,if you have followed through this labyrinth,you will see that an omelette is really a thin blade and has practically nothing to do with eggs.And while on the subject of omelette the word yolk comes quite understandably form its color.It is a derivative of the Middle English word yolke through Old English geolca,from geolu,"yellow."

　　ONION:related to a pearl

　　In Latin there is a word union which is translated as "oneness"or"union".The word onion is derived form this Latin term.It rates its name because it consists of a number of united layers.There is also another interesting analogy between union and onion.The rustics about Rome not only used the word unio to mean onion,but they also thought it a suitable desigation for a pearl.And even today a cook will speak of "pearl onions"when she means the small,slivery-white variety.