Hominy

[igenlode]

I thought I'd bought some popping corn from a Jamaican. But it turns out to be Miracle Hominy instead, which is little shards of maize kernels: a bit like the difference between rolled oats and whole oat grains. And they don't pop -- I tried!

So I had hominy porridge instead, which takes over an hour ;-p
With my new Jamaican sugar, which is basically demerara sugar...

Comments

[watervole]

Which promptly makes me think of the song 'Down in Demerara'. Heaven only knows where I learnt it - I think some old novel referenced it and I went to look it up

Ah yes, it was Dorothy Sayers!

Here's the song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-XY14q9wD4

[igenlode]

I don't know where we learnt it -- probably from one of those collections of children's songs, along with "Oh, Kafoozalum", "King of the Barbarees" and "I'm Shirley Temple (the girl with curly hair)", which must itself date back to the 1930s -- but I've known it all my life.

Oddly enough it never occurred to me to wonder where Demerara actually was. https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=30683

I'm surprised I didn't come across Demerara during my researches for the final chapter of "The Choices of Raoul", which involved reading an entire book on Surinam and the three Guyanas -- maybe I did, but as I was focused on Paramaribo as a port of call for banana boats in the early 20th century I forgot about it!

[watervole]

Which set of lyrics do you know to Kafoozalum? The ones I know are a bit crude.. (Hi ho Kafoozalum, Harlot of Jerusalem)

[igenlode]

The only bit I can remember just goes "Oh Kafoozalum, Kafoozalum, Kafoozalum, Oh Kafoozalum, because I fell off me donkey".

I've just looked up the children's songbook and it gives the verse, which sounds familiar:

I'm a soldier you can see
Just in time for a cup of tea
Now I'm out upon a spree,
Riding on me donkey.

The donkey is evidently an important element :-)

[watervole]

I think the music of the last line is a bit like the chorus line for 'Donkey Riding' which probably helps explain it.

If you want to see the version I came across while wondering if there were lyrics to a sword dance tune I came across, then Mudcat cafe has them (http://awe.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=3344) but they're crude even by crude standards...

[igenlode]

Yes, I did a search for Kafoozalum on Mudcat after you mentioned other lyrics... I regretted it!

[watervole]

Fascinating thread on Mudcat. Off topic in Suriname, but still really interesting to read.